Awesome Motorcycle Brake Rotors by Braketech, Feeds and Speeds by G-Wizard

Check out these awesome brake rotors by G-Wizard users Braketech:

Gorgeous motorcycle brake rotor by Braketech…
We always enjoy seeing what our customers are up to. If you’ve got some parts photos you’d like to see published, drop us a note. We’ll help you get the word out and give you some link love back to your site as well.… Read the rest

I Want a Barbot!

Much as I like to whip up cocktails when friends are over, I love the idea of building a Barbot. I figure a robot of some sort has to be a future CNCCookbook project, but until now, I hadn’t really settled on any particular kind of ‘bot. I think a cocktail-making robot would not only be a lot of fun to build, but would also be one I’d get some actual use out of. Here’s one example of a Barbot I found in a recent MAKEzine article:

Each flask contains a different liquor or cocktail ingredient…
This particular barbot was created by EMSL (Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories), and there is a whole write up on EMSL’s web site.… Read the rest

RAMTIC: Fast Super-Precision Manufacturing on Cheap Machines

A friend and I were discussing the problems of a lack of temperature compensation when 3D profiling. He was talking about how he’d run a group of 4 parts and the first one might have a big 0.003 or 0.004″ step in it at after a toolchange because the machine wasn’t warmed up properly. I got to wondering about temperature comp and eventually discovered an article on MMSOnline about RAMTIC by using CNCCookbook’s Machinist’s Search. There are so many great ideas there that I had to write about it.
First, what is RAMTIC?… Read the rest

The Alpha (dog) of Flashlights by Jason Hui, Feeds and Speeds by G-Wizard

It’s always a kick to see what kinds of parts machinists are making with the aid of our G-Wizard Machinist’s Calculator. We’ve got customers making all sorts of interesting products from household brands for things like shotguns and big yellow tractors to the much more exotic I-could-tell-you-but-then-I’d-have-to-kill-you sorts of things. The other day I received a very nice note from Jason Hui telling me he really loved G-Wizard and had written a review of it as a result to share his experiences. Jason was modest and didn’t even mention what he was doing with G-Wizard, but I soon discovered while prowling his blog that he makes some very cutting edge flashlights.… Read the rest

A Mechanical Iris

Some mechanisms are fascinating to watch and play with. I’ve always liked Geneva Mechanisms, for example. The mechanical iris is another intriguing mechanism. This video was forwarded to me by Sebastian Larsson to show the iris he made on his Sherline mill and lathe:

A Mechanical Iris…… Read the rest

Spudgun Madness

Time to blow off a little steam!
They say anything worth doing is worth overdoing, and a machinist with a well-tooled shop is in a position to overdo a lot of things. I recently came across a site called the Spudgun Technology Center. What a hoot!
First, a spudgun is a homemade device that shoots potatos. The same technology has been adapted to shoot ping pong balls, T-shirts at rock concerts, empty 2 litre soda bottles, and probably an assortment of other crazy things (see the women’s garter shooter below). They’re fun, probably somewhat dangerous (we hear a lot about NOT using PVC for air systems because it gets brittle, but I don’t know if these spudguns last long enough to get brittle).… Read the rest

Homebrew 40W CNC Laser Engravers

Somewhere along the way it got ridiculously cheap to build your own laser engraver. I’m not sure where I missed it, but last time I looked the CO2 laser tubes were much more expensive than they are now. As I write this, you can buy a 40W water cooled tube from sellers on eBay for circa $118. They come to you direct from China and look something like this:

40W water-cooled CO2 laser tube…
More powerful tubes are available too, with the seller I looked at (love happy shopping) offering models up to 100W.… Read the rest

Carbon Fiber Wingtips for a Fighter Plane, Part 2

I recently wrote about a project a friend was doing to create a set of custom wing tips to improve the aerodynamics of an L-39 Albatross jet fighter. To refresh your memory, here is the shape he was looking for:

Cool project!
This project has ultimately involved making a number of molds using a big CNC router (gantry mill) to capture all the components for the wingtips. In this installment, I want to walk through the vacuum-bagging process that was used to make the parts with the molds.

When last we left our project, we had just finished CNC’ing and prepping this nice mold…

The mold process is called “vacuum bagging” and requires a vacuum pump.… Read the rest

The Emeco 1006: Made in America with Quality and Style

Manufacturing an iconic “best” of its kind that is both art and function right here in America. How do you go wrong with a story like that? The Emeco 1006 (ten-oh-six) was originally designed for the Navy, where it saw service on ships and submarines. Lately, its timeless style (the seat was said to be molded to Betty Grable’s bottom) has captured the imagination of the fashion and design world, and revived this once sleepy but proud manufacturer. You will have seen the 1006 many times either in person, in movies, or on the television.… Read the rest

Tormach Tool Changer Getting Closer

There was an update to their blog a few days back, so check there for full details. The beta test has been underway for about 1 month for some lucky Tormach owners. You’ve probably seen the original Tormach ATC video, but this new one shows a lot of other cool features:

You can see from the video they’ve done a real nice job with the Mach3 screens for the changer, and the integrated tool touch setter is really slick too.
Should be a pretty amazing productivity upgrade for these great little mills.… Read the rest

Carbon Fiber Wingtips for a Jet Fighter

As I mentioned recently, I got the chance to see some serious carbon fiber work in action–building a set of wingtips for a jet fighter. To be precise, these wingtips are going on Czechoslovakian L-39 Albatross planes destined in some cases for the Reno Air Races:

Talk about a cool project!
This is Sky Greenawalt’s project, and I want to walk you through it a little bit. I’m hoping to get Sky to do some guest blogging here too, especially to talk about how he did the CAD work for this project, so let’s start there.… Read the rest

Carbon Fiber: UFO Quality Material

Carbon fiber has always captivated me. Its such a space age material, and when done right, it looks awesome. I’m fortunate to have owned a car or two with beautiful carbon fiber work, for example on the dashboard. I’ve always been interested in possibly making something out of the material, but have never had the time to learn.
Recently, a friend in the area has offered me a chance to swing by his workshop and see how he makes carbon fiber parts. He’s in the aviation business. Last night we trimmed the molds for some carbon fiber aircraft wingtips on my bandsaw and I’m going to get to see the vacuum bagging operation that puts carbon into place on these molds.… Read the rest

Henderson “Piggy” Motorcycle is the Coolest!

I need to design some cool looking brackets to mount some glass shelves in our home. I plan to CNC these, and I wanted something with a cool design motif, so I started cruising Google Images with searches like “Art Deco Brackets”. Somehow, I came upon this Henderson motorcycle, which has to be the coolest bike I’ve seen in a long time:

Our kids refer to the big-grilled Chryslers and Bentleys (the modern cars) as “piggies” because of their evocative features. It’s a term of affection, but this bike has to be the King of Piggy art.… Read the rest

Speaking of Art Suitable for Billionaire Playboys: Welcome Back Widgitmaster!

I’ve followed Eric, who goes by “Widgitmaster” for a long time and corresponded frequently. He’s been one of my remote machinist mentors, and I’ve learned an awful lot from him. He’s been out of the shop for quite a while owing to some family issues, but recently came back to build this exquisite display of a Turner’s Cube:

This cube is mounted on a wallnut base between ball bearings and is motorized to spin slowly. For more on how it was made, check out Widgitmaster’s CNCZone thread.    Something like this would make a wonderful gift, perhaps for that understanding spouse who wonders why you’ve tracked so many chips onto her nice clean carpets.… Read the rest

A Photo Album for Machinists and Billionaire Playboys

Ever since seeing the owner’s manual for Billionaire Playboy Larry Ellison’s custom Cobra, I have wanted to make one. In many ways, it is cooler than the car itself, which is no small feat. But the thing is, I’ve seen a lot of Cobras, and have even owned 2 (one of which I stiill drive). They’re wonderful cars, but I had never seen a photo album quite like this one until I came across it reading about Larry’s Cobra. There are many more details in the book than I can document here, so read the article on Kirkham’s site about the book and the car.… Read the rest