Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Quick and Dirty One-Offs?

>>I think it's sad that so many people share the idea that CNC is for
>>multiple items of the same type...
>>
>Yup, I want to second this! The very first part I did when I got my 2-axis
>CNC system going was a part to mount the motor for the 3rd axis.
>But, now that I had CNC, I was free to make a part that I would never
>have made manually. It had a big bore in the center for the motor, a
>rounded outer part around the motor, and a part with an odd angle.

Count another vote on this side of the argument.

My intention for my machine (if I ever get it finished) is to cut out
parts for clocks and clockworks, like gears. I've tried cutting gears
by hand -- gear cutting wheels come in sets that "approximate" the shape
of the gullet, and provide a less than ideal (but in fairness, still
pretty darned good) tooth profile. I've also always had a hard time
getting the arbors perfectly centered...it's infuriating when you're
working on something that stops if you look at it wrong, when a gear
does not run true.

CNC provides the precision necessary to do this kind of work, custom, in
realistic amounts of time, and at a cost that is not completely bizarre.
In fact, I'm finding myself considering clock designs I'd have never
drawn up, simply because my tool is almost ready to go! (Wiring up my
terminal strips, tonight...maybe I'll apply power, tomorrow!)

Say, does anyone have the URL for that gear generating JAVA applet? You
input the number of teeth, etc, and it spits out the g-code. I saw it a
while back, on the list, and forgot to bookmark it.

-- Chuck Knight