[CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Basic questions

An idea I've seen, for porous materials, is to drag a sheet of 'cling wrap'
over the workpiece to make it airtight. How much gets cut away before
vacuum is lost is another matter. I suppose a new sheet could be pulled
over between cutting passes.

Regards
Roland

On 2 January 2012 23:13, John Jackson <jackson@...> wrote:

> **
>
>
> 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
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>
>


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