Re: Basic questions

Gordon,

My suggestion for work holding would be to get some sacrificial 1/8 or 1/4 hardboard the same size or a bit larger than the material you want to cut. Use double faced tape to hold the balsa to the hardboard and then clamp the hardboard to your router table. This way you can cut through balsa into hardboard but not into the good table.

Test your tape/balsa/hardboard combo first on scrap because some tapes are too good, they would rather rip your balsa apart than give up the part! The stuff I use comes from a woodworking store and is used to hold hardboard templates to wood for routing.

A vacuum table is not a bad idea if you are doing a lot of cutting, as in mass producing kits for sale. Small parts will move on many vacuum tables, especially with balsa since it is porous.

For software I would recommend Vectic's Cut2D (http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectric/cut2D/c2d_index.htm). Demo version on their website with tutorials. It is easy to use, does a good job at making scanned bitmaps of ribs and formers into vectors that can be cut. It also allows for 'tabs' which you can put on a part to hold it to the material; when routing is done just cut through tabs with an xacto and touch up with sandpaper. With good use of tabs you can keep the double faced tape out from directly under the parts

Good luck,

John

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Gordon Anderson <GAA@...> wrote:
>
> Hello, I have been lurking on this list for sometime and I have a couple of dumb questions that I hope someone can answer for me or point me in the right direction. I am very close to buying a DIY CNC router kit like the blueChick. I have read a lot about the machines and control software but my questions are pretty basic and most likely dumb, here goes:
> 1.) How do I hold material on the table? I will be cutting thin wood, liteply and balsa wood. I will be cutting through the wood to cut out parts. My question is how do people hold the material in place and what do you put under the part you are cutting to make sure you do not cut into the bed of the machine.
> 2.) I have old drawings with patterns for formers (mostly from model airplanes) that I would like to convert to gcode files to enable cutting the parts. Is this possible? If so where can I learn more about the process. I hope I can scan them in and then convert them to gcodes.
>
> I hope these questions are appropriate for this list and appreciate any input.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --Gordon
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