A basic milling project for students

[Frank Ford]

I just put together a detailed instructional article for a milling project for students. It's a simple mechanism - the "Two Slider"




If you're interested, please take a look:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Machini ... ider1.html

[Jose Rivera]

Frank ... too cool!!

I have seeing those in souvenir shops made out of wood.

I appreciate you sharing this very much.

Thanks, thanks, thanks !!

[Errol Groff]

Frank:

That is a VERY nice photo/text essay. My compliments!

[mechanicalmagic]

Frank,
Very nice presentation and description. I like your style.

Now for the critique, (you know, the perfectionist/machinist side).
1. You show a caliper in many pics. I believe a true micrometer is more appropriate for training whenever possible. I think it promotes better, early habits.
2. You describe the slotting process, with a R&R during the rough machining, and again for finish pass, and imply the same for the T slots. I think best practice is to clamp the part once, and do all T slot machining in one setup. (As well as the surfacing.)

Sorry, if this sounds overly critical, I don't mean to offend. But I think best practice should be shown, when possible.

(I would welcome your critique on my latest project, both content and style;
http://home.comcast.net/~david.johnson11/MyCamper.html)

Dave

[Frank Ford]

Dave -

That's a well-taken point about micrometers. I think I'll add a bit about it. I hesitated to include a "real" micrometer because from what I've experienced with my "target" audience, reading a micrometer is a bit intimidating, unless it's digital. This project is part of my involvement with the TechShop, and the students are hobbyists and tinkerers who will be getting their first introduction to machining. As it is we find that if we give just enough instruction that a really motivated person might just dive in and work solo, most are left with a feeling of helplessness and the need for a bit more direction.

Good job on that camper! I like your style and presentation. You might consider reducing the size of the photos by using lower JPEG setting, say 30 instead of 60. That way you wouldn't have to add the disclaimer "slow loading" with a file size of around 250 instead of 750K. I find there's very little color and resolution loss at that compression.

[scott oz]

As a student my suggestion would be that you should consider an introduction alerting the student that the project assumes that the vice and quill is aligned to the table before commencing the project.

Think I got the terminology right

Will be good to see a few more of these on the site.

[mechanicalmagic]

You might consider reducing the size of the photos by using lower JPEG setting, say 30 instead of 60. That way you wouldn't have to add the disclaimer "slow loading" with a file size of around 250 instead of 750K. I find there's very little color and resolution loss at that compression.

Frank,
Thanks for the suggestion, your site is much better done than mine, and I respect your opinion. (Now, to find the time to re-size the picts.)

Dave J

[bob whitmoyer]

Hi Frank

Nice project, sorry for the late post but computer was down.
Just wanted to complete the story. The mechanism first appeared
on some eu-centric lathes in the 1800's. It was used for the
creation of oval shapes. If you slot the center slide hole in the
arm , you can change the amount of oval that the outer part of the
arm scribes when turned. I made my crank-arm with a U-shaped base
to hold a router. I used this device for many years to make oval
picture frames. The wooden ones described eariler were often called
"do nothing machines" Little history from an old guy. Drop me a line
at - whitmoyer @ sssnet.com- if you need more info
Bob Whitmoyer