Machine Design
Link to the group assignment's webpage
This second week I was in charge of cutting almost all the pieces for the machine with the CNC, and printing some others so that we had a working rack & pinion system
We started doing all the wholes in the material (we used HDPE due to its strength and good mechanical properties) and then chamfering the sides that needed to be in contact with the gliders.
We used a special tool that Martin gave us, which with you can cut directly with an angle and chamfer the material.
After that we did the profilling, which take quite some time due the rack & pinion system. We ran the machine at 12000 rpm though.
This is the result of one of the sides of the machine
At the same time I started investigating the best way to work on the pinion. I first did some tests with acrylic. We had good results but as the laser goes inside the material, the gears were smaller than need it, and didn't work well.
That's why we decide it to print them but first trials didn't turn out very well.
We used the Formbyte for the first time in FabLab but the pieces weren't really good either. The machine moved very much during printing, and the lines weren't really straight.
We finally used the Ultimaker machine, with 0.1mm height and 100% infill. The pieces were ok, although we think the best way to produce them would be milling metal or a really strong material, as the plastic won't survive very long (we guess)
