I'm all discombobulated...

[latzanimal]

Not sure if my absence has been noticed or anyone cares, but here goes....

At the end of October my boss comes to me and tells me they are getting rid of 3rd shift. However, there is a guy retiring in December and we'd REALLY like you to take his spot. I'll spare the details and just tell you guys this. I'm now on dayshift, not happy about it, didn't have a choice and it has me all discombobulated. Twenty years of graveyard will do that. Not sure how long it will take me to adapt. Not sleeping well or at all. Ugh...

May need a CNC program. I can't concentrate long enough to make any progress. Its for a piece for one of my drums. I can provide the drawing as an EPS, PDF, SVG, etc. Just can't seem to get it to work.

Anyone interested? We can work out compensation...

Hope everyone else is well or on the mend (Jammer)...

[cae2100]

That sucks to hear latz, I go through that twice a year here, and it really messes with you.

I dont do cnc stuff, but there's one guy on the one discord server Im on that designed his own CAM software and everyone that's tried it seems to swear by it. He's always doing work on it and adding new features to it, so this might be what youre looking for.

https://github.com/kfoltman/DerpCAM

[Jammer]

I worked swing shift for about 18 years. Basically I could sleep anytime anywhere. I've been out for 12 years and now have trouble sleeping sometimes. I would suggest getting into a schedule. Go to bed and get up at the same time, even on your days off. Maybe try some Melatonin.

I've been doing some CNC stuff but I don't have a 2.5 or 3D program. Are you making a pattern to cast a part or will it be the part for the drum? You can send me a picture, I'll look at it. I use BMP or DXF. Oh, I can only do wood or softer right now. I'm trying to hook up a beefy motor to try some aluminum.

[latzanimal]

Thanks for the advice. It will take me some time..

I just need the part drawn. I can draw it in Illustrator and export it, but I'm lost in FreeCAD and Fusion360.

I have a CNC to cut the pieces, just can't program... Thanks!

[Jammer]

Doing the drawings is my main problem. I've tried to do stuff in Fusion 360 and FreeCad and always end up pulling my hair out. cae2100 says he will teach me but we can't seem to get together for more than a couple hours. He's about 2 hours from me so by the time I drive over there, catch up and cast or forge something I've got to head back home.

[cae2100]

Oh, what part do you need doodled up in freecad? I know the basics enough to make about any pattern I would need in freecad, but I can always doodle up what you need as long as it's not too insanely complicated, lol.

[latzanimal]

A segment. 7" long, 14" arc on outer and inner, .5" wide. with each end 30 degrees inward.

Might be easier if I supplied a pic...

1414 Segment-label.jpg (579.87 KiB) Viewed 1262 times

I should be able to extrude the depth, but we can start with .75"

Thank you!

[cae2100]

yea, that one's really simple, did you want draft on it in any direction or any other stuff done to it? To change the thickness of it, just double click on "pad", and you can change that there. Everything is symmetric to center line, so you should be able to change the dimensions to whatever you need without much effort. With 14" diameter on both inside and outside, the part is thicker in the middle, is that right, or is it supposed to be parallel all the way around? I made the 1/2" the thickest part in the middle, but I can change that so the ends are 1/2" instead.

Here's the file so far. Files are in the zip file at the bottom, if you need anything else done to it, just let me know. I also tossed in an STL file to cut it out on the cnc, just load the stl file into your cam software for the cnc and set up your paths and tooling, then youre good to go.

Edit: I dont know what I was thinking about measurements, but all is fixed now, so the stuff in the zip file should be good now.

[latzanimal]

cae awesome! Thank you!

Yes it will be thicker in the middle. Would prefer the ends to be .5" wide.

The thought behind both arcs being the same is that I hope it would cut down on cutting paths when I do multiples..

What do I owe you?

[cae2100]

oh, give me a second and Ill modify it so the ends are 1/2" thick then.

All done, here's the new freecad file and STL file, ends are 1/2" thick, middle is a little thicker as you wanted it. And you really dont owe me anything, it only took a few mins at most to doodle up anyhow and I just did it up before I passed out for the night, lol.