Found Dreaming

Harry wrote:Latz, sorry I have been a bit preoccupied lately. Looking at your part I see two things that would be troublesome, one is the need for a holddown since I do not have a vacuum. This could be either tabs or an onion skin and either would mean some finish work on however many parts you are looking at there. The other issue is more problematic and that is in the tight radius, just looking at it I would say the area at the narrow point of the protruding connectors might be pretty tight getting a bit into there and the 9* taper on the bit will mean the bit is a smaller diameter at the tip than up at the top of the piece.

I think it would be very possible with the right design, I can also imagine it would involve quite a lot of time with so many pieces. I am thinking one would first run the tapered sides with a bit that matches the slanted edge and no tabs on these sides because when you use them with a tapered bit you get lines up the side of the piece then using a straight endmill cut the other two sides leaving tabs. It would certainly make for a very interesting piece especially with a variety of woods.

Hmmmm, been sitting here looking at it and I dont think it could be cut with a tapered endmill and fit together right. I think it could be done though by setting up a fixture to hold the stock at 9* and cut with a straight endmill. If you want to get a cost estimate I would be willing to set up a test but I can imagine it might be 5 to $10 per piece plus material. Send me a PM to get my attention (triggers an email to me)

The tabs/ears do not have to be as tight as long as they still look like a puzzle piece and more importantly, still fit together...

For material, I would buy that and either have it shipped to you directly, or I can have it sent to me, cut it down into workable squares and then ship to you...

Send me a PM with some files Latz, preferably 3D models but if you dont have those I will draw some up. Which is you choice on the size of the pieces? I know you had the 9* idea out there first but honestly I think the larger pieces would show more curve to each individual piece after turning which might enhance the look. I can do a test cut in material I have and send you some pieces to make sure they will work for you. No promises as I am no master of this machine but I think this project is very doable and would be a good one for me to learn a little on. From the way I am thinking it should be a simple matter of cutting a fixture at the * of angle desired then using that fixture to cut the angled sides, then cut a flat fixture and cut out the remaining straight sides.

Piece of cake, right?

Will send them when I get home this morning.

Thank you...

Here is a new thought. The dimensions are wrong in the last 2 pics, but the thought is correct. The main square would be 2.8" which would proportionally throw off the tabs & ears. Also, at 2.8", I only want to go 3 rows high... I do realize this would require 4 different programs..

I dont think it would change things much in the amount of work, just have to switch code for the different pieces.

The drawings look great BTW.

Thanks Harry. My buddy has been a CAD engineer for quite some time. He also said for the top & bottom row, it would be a simple code change to not cut the tab or ear...

Here is a couple of pics with the correct dimensions.. The thickness is .8125".

Will the '.dxf' files work? Tate (CAD buddy said you should be able to load that and go...

I use Mach3 and I think it will take dfx but I will need to break this down into operations so I can refixture after cutting each sloped side. The two straight sides should be able to cut on a single fixture though. Each part will go through three times so run one operation, switch part ect... until all parts have been through then change code for the next operation and run them all again, now for a simple outline cut the dfx would work as you friend suggested.

Got ya....

Spent some time today during the Rain delay for the Daytona 500 (that eventually got postponed) working on the files to cut these pieces. Still need to do the fixture I will need for aligning the pieces as each side is cut but I have verified the pieces can be cut. I ended up drawing them from scratch so I could open up the interior radius areas a little to make room for using a 1/4" endmill.

Latz look this over and let me know if it will work for you. I used the dimensions of 2.8" for the square of the piece and 11.25* for the angle. Using 3/4" thick material there should be enough to turn out a shell of at least 1/4" as long as everything is lined up precisely in glue up and mounting on the lathe.

The OD is 14" and the height is 8.4", not sure if this ratio is what you were after so I want to verify this. It could be cut down during finishing but would look better I think if the pieces were adjusted as close as possible for the finished height desired.

Pardon my french , but fuckin' A! That is exactly what I envisioned. I am really excited about this.

Two things that are different. 1) The O.D. of the shell will actually be 13.875", this allows the drumheads to seat themselves easier. 2) I believe the wood will come to you as .8125" thick. Hopefully, it will not make a difference in your program.

I may try to get it closer to an 8" depth by taking a smidge from the top & bottom. However, I don't want to make things more complicated than they already are. I also would like to keep the square portions of the pieces square, i just think it would be easiest. To be honest, by the time I put the heads on there, you won't be able to tell it was cut down. I also may not have the heart to cut it at all after we get it all together, so we'll see. As far as the opening up the radiuses, doesn't matter to me, I really like the drawing.. whatever makes this the easiest.

A side note that will be important while cutting is that the grain must run parallel to the top and bottom. I know you just colored it for effect, but it is something that will have to happen while cutting.

I need to know how you want the lumber. I can cut it down to squares of a determined size (angles and all) so all you have to do is load 'em and go. I may leave it a little thicker for rigidity, possibly .375", but there is plenty of material for that. All of the numbers I supplied are from a calculated stave drum, it was just the ears and tabs that are 'extra'.

Harry, I can't thank you enough. Please PM me with what you need: Lumber dimensions and everything else we talked about. You have my cell phone if you want to discuss..

Thanks again, and I apologize if my initial reaction offended anyone, I've had my hopes up for this to work..