THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

How are other systems alike/different from the Shark?

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EdThorne
Posts: 345
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by EdThorne »

drueth wrote:EdThorne, Tonydude

The answers to your questions about the Mayan calendar
bit = 0.50 V bit
paint = Rust Oleum Hammered Metal Gold Must allow 24-48 hours to dry befor stain
stain = Ruet Oleum wood stain color = Kona (almost black) In the link it called for a gell stain but I was unable to find any local.
wood = popular 7 slats were glued up to make a 24 x24' board. The grain is fliped up or down after each board is glued together.
cut time = about 5 1/2 hours Set your feed rate to about 50 and the plunge rate to 20

This link is were I found all the infomation and also the .eps file to do the cut. The file "Mayan Calendar.eps" should be about 2/3 the way down on the first page of the link
http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtopic. ... r&start=15

Good luck and thank you all for the comments.

PS read the part about adding a circle 0.125 larger than the original file to cause the entire output to look like mine LOOK at the tung of the figure in the center of the calender.
Hi Drueth,

Thank you for sharing your formula. It came out perfectly. I really, really like it.

Ed

EdThorne
Posts: 345
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by EdThorne »

4DThinker wrote:I ran a test cut with 1/4" spiral up straight bit in some 3/4" Baltic Birch plywood today. The cut was a profile cut, but only 5/8" in to the plywood. Shortly into the cut the router slipped down. The bit cut through, then dug into the aluminum t-track and ran another 2 inches or so before I hit the e-stop.

The clamp as designed is horrible.

I'm training faculty how to use the Shark HD tomorrow, so I had to at least temporarily fix this. I started by taking the router out and the clamp plate out as well. There is no friction between this plate and the router shell.

The front down-bolt holes on the plate prevent the clamp from closing, so I clamped the plate to my wood mill and using a 1/4" end mill made a slot out from those front holes about 1/16".

I found a latex glove and cut about 2" of the cuff off. It stretched and slipped snugly over the router shell and down to the clamp position.

I put the plate back into the Z-lift bracket. Tightened the rear bolts. Left the front bolts loose.
Slipped the router with it's latex condom down into this plate with no problem.
I put a c-clamp across the open end of the clamp plate and used it to pull the clamp plate closed around the router.
I tightened the front down-bolts.
I'd put large washers under the head and nut of the front bolt, and tightened them as much as possible.

I "seems" like I've got the router in tighly now. I'll see tomorrow. NextWave you own me a strip of 3-slot T-slot. JMHO.
Hi 4D,

Maybe not a perfect solution but if you didn't completely cut throw the aluminum t-track, you can flip the track over. You may see a little dimple near each end but it will be an improvement over the cut-up deck.

Also, Rockler has some of the tracks on sale right now. They don't see black but blue is available.

Ed

4DThinker
Posts: 951
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:00 am

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by 4DThinker »

EdThorne wrote:Hi 4D,

Maybe not a perfect solution but if you didn't completely cut throw the aluminum t-track, you can flip the track over. You may see a little dimple near each end but it will be an improvement over the cut-up deck.

Also, Rockler has some of the tracks on sale right now. They don't see black but blue is available.

Ed
Thanks, Ed. For now I'm leaving the gash there as a reminder to myself and others using it that damage can happen. It runs across two track pieces. The slots aren't blocked but it sure is ugly. I may take advantage of Rocker's sale to get some spare track for later though.

Wolffie1
Posts: 270
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:46 pm

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by Wolffie1 »

EdThorne wrote:Hi Wolffie,

That is wonderful. It would probably cost me at least 4 times that much because I would need to farm it all out. I don't have any tools capable of doing the cutting. Maybe someday I can justify the expense. Meanwhile, I will have to do less expensive improvements and hope for incremental improvements.

I would really enjoy seeing your finished machine. I bet it is going to be beautiful.

Best regards,
Ed
rungemach has posted a great tutorial how to cut aluminium on the SHARK, I shall try to find the link and post it.
Have a read here and a couple of posts further down.
http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.p ... 1342#p7154
Bob is always willing to help if you send him a PM :)

Cheers
Wolffie

EdThorne
Posts: 345
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by EdThorne »

Wolffie1 wrote:rungemach has posted a great tutorial how to cut aluminium on the SHARK, I shall try to find the link and post it.
Have a read here and a couple of posts further down.
http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.p ... 1342#p7154
Bob is always willing to help if you send him a PM :)

Cheers
Wolffie
I am very interested in machining aluminum but I have lots to learn and really realize just how much when I look at the CNC upgrades that you and these other people have done. I am very impressed. I even noticed that Tim is following that thread.

Thank you for keeping me updated.

Best regards,
Ed

EdThorne
Posts: 345
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by EdThorne »

rungemach wrote: As some of you that contacted me were reluctant to give cutting thick aluminum a try, I asked a machine shop for a price, and they gave me $40.00 in quantities of 1, for the clamp in 3/4" 6061=t6 aluminum material.

Bob
Thank you Bob and I just received the fabricated clamp and mounted same. Wow, it is PERFECT. Anyone may send me a PM and I will provide the contact information for the person that makes these. He used 1" thick for my clamp and it couldn't be any better.

You will need an 1-1/2" by 5/16" bolt and washer. Be sure to use washers for all bolts that contact the aluminum. You may also need new bolts tand washers o hold the clamp in position.

The price is hard to beat as even a block of aluminum this size costs more than $40 at McMaster-Carr. Nothing on the router rotates that shouldn't even when wrenching on bits. Beautiful solution. Thank you again Bob!!
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BillK
Posts: 885
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:08 am

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by BillK »

That clamp looks very well made.

Just a word of caution about over tightening this type of clamp. You could be putting additional force on the router's bearings. Additionally you may force the bearing outer race into an out of round condition. Both of these will be detrimental to the life of the bearings.

Just a word of caution as I have seen many bearing failures due to these conditions in many applications.
BillK
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Twitter: @CBKwoodcarver

EdThorne
Posts: 345
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by EdThorne »

BillK wrote:That clamp looks very well made.

Just a word of caution about over tightening this type of clamp. You could be putting additional force on the router's bearings. Additionally you may force the bearing outer race into an out of round condition. Both of these will be detrimental to the life of the bearings.

Just a word of caution as I have seen many bearing failures due to these conditions in many applications.
Thank you for the caution, Bill. I didn't need a lot of force to make the clamp work properly. My particular clamp is 1-1/4" tall so the force is spread out over more area. It would be nice to have a touque spec.

Best regards,
Ed

rungemach
Posts: 460
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:24 am
Location: Sarasota, Florida

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by rungemach »

Hi Ed

The clamp turned out quite well. I like the added thickness as it will help keep the router straight and minimize tilting.
That thickness would be impractical to try and cut on the shark.

Regarding the tightening, I certainly would not tighten it with a 3 ft breaker bar, but with a reasonable wrench it should be difficult to harm the bearings. You would be trying to crush the router housing with a circumferential clamp which should be exerting force evenly around the body. The router was made to be held this way, and in that location. The bearings, both top and bottom, will be some distance from the clamp as the lower bearing in the router has to sit a good distance below the clamp in order to clear the plastic mount and the dust shoe so you can get the wrenches on to change bits.

BillK has a good point, don't be a gorilla when you tighten things. I found a moderate force on my 5/8 aluminum clamps is more than enough to hold the router body very tightly, as the clamp is not slippery and does not loosen over time due to plastic "creep" deformation.

This might also be a good solution for mounting a water cooled spindle. Sam at Dixie Billet has told me he can put any size/shape hole in these. He can be reached at Business (at) Dixiebillet.com

Bob

4DThinker
Posts: 951
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:00 am

Re: THE NEW MAKO IS HERE!!!

Post by 4DThinker »

One thing about the original clamp as well as this aluminum replacement.... are the front holes oversized or slightly slotted? To tighten with those front bolts tight would have to either shear those bolts or fail in some other way. I had to slot those front holes, finger tight the front bolts, tighten the clamp, then tighten the front bolts on my HD 2.0 to get the router tight enough I couldn't turn it while tightening a bit.

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