kerrazy
03-19-2009, 02:56 PM
Anyhow,
about 3 years ago, I went to visit a buddy who also owned a shopbot.
While there working on his Shopbot, I spied this crazy Jig he had made to aid him in machining elliptical extrusions of PVC, that form part of their display systems.
The foundation of the jig, was very rough and in my opinion hobbled together, but what captured my attention, was the incorporation of pneumatic actuators and these UMHW sliders that were created to clamp the elliptical parts.
The design that went into creating the sliders was in my opinion quite remarkable and very forward thinking.
Well this past August I came onboard with this fellow's company as fabrication manager, and well that meant I needed to get fairly intimate with his set up. The ShopBot and other tools... no problem. But that jig... man that haunted me.
you see it weighed a tonne, and of course it always had to be loaded and unloaded from the shopbot table each time we were required to machine some of these elliptical components.
So this gave witness to several issues;
#1 The unit was too cumbersome for one person to load and unload onto the shopbot bed.
#2 due to its design and weight it was beating the hec out of the spoilboard.
#3 due to base components being made of MDF and c channel Aluminum, it was not very flat or square which lead to machining inconsistencies in depth of cut and constantly needed part file tweaks to test cuts run before production began, even with some registration point on the table.
#4 quality of cuts were not consistent as frame would torque and therefore twist and pneumatic cylinders were undersized for required force needed.
So taking what already in my opinion was a great idea, I expanded on it to overcome 5 primary goals.
#1 ability to load and unload it on the table by one man
#2 when placed on the table, it had the ability to self register so when secured you were done, ready to produce parts
#3 ensure parts were secure to increase quality of cut.
#4 increase cutting capacity in parts machined at once and maximize the length of parts that could be machined.
#5 Ensure the main structure was bullet proof, so it would always lay flat and maintain its squareness, considering it would be man handled and bumped and banged when being loaded and unloaded.
I did some homework on the 8020 product (www.8020.net (http://www.8020.net)) and used there components to create the undercarriage. all corners of the 8020 Aluminum extrusions were tapped at the suppliers to ensure squareness. We also beefed up the corners and cross frames with there gussets and T plates.
I designed this unit to produce 9 parts up to 99 inches long in one session. We previously could only produce 6 parts up to 72"s long, anything longer we would have to flip the parts to machine the opposite end, which meant handling the parts twice, and 2 machine files.
We increased the size of our first pneumatic cylinder closest to home where the cuts being machined there have a crucial tolerance, and then increased the number of cylinders along the length of the jig as well.
I installed ball bearing wheels on the home end, and suitcase handles on the opposite end, so an operator can just pick up the handles and slide the jig back onto a gurney for easy one man loading and unloading with out damaging the spoilboard.
I also attached 4 pieces of 1/4 inch aluminum that were machined for registration point and they are fitted with 5/16 bolts with Jig Knob heads that feed in to corresponding t-nuts through the ShopBot table.
Now the user loads the jig, installs the bolts runs a jig homing routine.. and voila (the french was for Paco!) he is good to start making parts.
we can now machine 9 parts in about 12 minutes, which previously took about 1.5 to 2 hours from start to finish. And the best part is no waste all machined cuts are great and consistent.
Now my friends I have to say... That is a JIG....
7004
7005
7006
about 3 years ago, I went to visit a buddy who also owned a shopbot.
While there working on his Shopbot, I spied this crazy Jig he had made to aid him in machining elliptical extrusions of PVC, that form part of their display systems.
The foundation of the jig, was very rough and in my opinion hobbled together, but what captured my attention, was the incorporation of pneumatic actuators and these UMHW sliders that were created to clamp the elliptical parts.
The design that went into creating the sliders was in my opinion quite remarkable and very forward thinking.
Well this past August I came onboard with this fellow's company as fabrication manager, and well that meant I needed to get fairly intimate with his set up. The ShopBot and other tools... no problem. But that jig... man that haunted me.
you see it weighed a tonne, and of course it always had to be loaded and unloaded from the shopbot table each time we were required to machine some of these elliptical components.
So this gave witness to several issues;
#1 The unit was too cumbersome for one person to load and unload onto the shopbot bed.
#2 due to its design and weight it was beating the hec out of the spoilboard.
#3 due to base components being made of MDF and c channel Aluminum, it was not very flat or square which lead to machining inconsistencies in depth of cut and constantly needed part file tweaks to test cuts run before production began, even with some registration point on the table.
#4 quality of cuts were not consistent as frame would torque and therefore twist and pneumatic cylinders were undersized for required force needed.
So taking what already in my opinion was a great idea, I expanded on it to overcome 5 primary goals.
#1 ability to load and unload it on the table by one man
#2 when placed on the table, it had the ability to self register so when secured you were done, ready to produce parts
#3 ensure parts were secure to increase quality of cut.
#4 increase cutting capacity in parts machined at once and maximize the length of parts that could be machined.
#5 Ensure the main structure was bullet proof, so it would always lay flat and maintain its squareness, considering it would be man handled and bumped and banged when being loaded and unloaded.
I did some homework on the 8020 product (www.8020.net (http://www.8020.net)) and used there components to create the undercarriage. all corners of the 8020 Aluminum extrusions were tapped at the suppliers to ensure squareness. We also beefed up the corners and cross frames with there gussets and T plates.
I designed this unit to produce 9 parts up to 99 inches long in one session. We previously could only produce 6 parts up to 72"s long, anything longer we would have to flip the parts to machine the opposite end, which meant handling the parts twice, and 2 machine files.
We increased the size of our first pneumatic cylinder closest to home where the cuts being machined there have a crucial tolerance, and then increased the number of cylinders along the length of the jig as well.
I installed ball bearing wheels on the home end, and suitcase handles on the opposite end, so an operator can just pick up the handles and slide the jig back onto a gurney for easy one man loading and unloading with out damaging the spoilboard.
I also attached 4 pieces of 1/4 inch aluminum that were machined for registration point and they are fitted with 5/16 bolts with Jig Knob heads that feed in to corresponding t-nuts through the ShopBot table.
Now the user loads the jig, installs the bolts runs a jig homing routine.. and voila (the french was for Paco!) he is good to start making parts.
we can now machine 9 parts in about 12 minutes, which previously took about 1.5 to 2 hours from start to finish. And the best part is no waste all machined cuts are great and consistent.
Now my friends I have to say... That is a JIG....
7004
7005
7006