Saw this gizmo on IG and thought about how to make it myself.
It is a great idea that makes setting the height of the tool bit really fast and easy.
I could have 3D printed it but the laser is so fast.
I 1st found a shaft, bearing, and bubble to design around, the rest was easy.
With this you dial up or down the tool bit until the bubble is centered.
For certain sharpening projects I just wanted a simple grinder orientation, unlike the elaborate one in my earlier post.
After having made made my vertical milling attachment for the lathe I realized that with a very simple rt angle I could have an easy to use mount for the Dremel.
This set up allows for any size grinder bit to be used.
Adjusting to the height, diameter, and position of the bit is all done with the hand crank wheels.
The 3/4 - 10 thread is the only unusual thing in the whole project; you just need a Big tap holder!
I have wanted a complete set of Metric drills so this so where I started.
1mm thru 10mm by 0.1mm = 91 pieces
To get an even 90 = 9 rows of 10 I had to drop out the 1mm drill. I rarely work down in that range.
As mentioned in other projects I am fixated on using each machine for what it does best; Laser cuts flat stock, 3D Printer makes complex forms.
The trick with drill storage is compactness verses accessibility AND readability of the markings.
Yes it takes forever to map this out in CAD but worth the effort; any time spent in CAD always pays off in the final outcome.
I used CATIA for the body and Rhino for the Lettering.
The top panel is on a 10 deg angle so I had to compensate for the thickness of the material. Each hole had to become a slot.
Lettering each of the drills made no sense because of the logical arrangement of the rows and how difficult would be to see the markings, so I just labeled the "bookends" and the intermediates on the first row only.
So the 3D has all the features incorporated: 3 different ledges to drop the Laser cut panels into.
I found that 0.25mm clearance all around was perfect for assuring that the wood and acrylic panels would fall right in.
I also brushed Polyurethane on all the laser cut wood edges.
I Do a lot of welding with my rotary table and because it is so high above the bench I started using a wrist rest a few years ago.
I had a portable gun rest too but realized that the two could be combined.
I don't have a permanent weld bench set up so I arrange it and tear it down after each session.
Nothing helps welding than a steady rest for your hand.
Had one of the Gantry wheels split in half on the GF Basic
Only noticed it because I took the Laser head off for cleaning and saw it laying in pieces
Even though I was a little out of warranty GF sent me a new one.
In the mean time I trudged thru the GF user forum and found several references, seems like this happens a lot
https://community.glowforge.com/t/broken-glowforge-rollers-a-trip-to-the-hardware-store/62632/54
A known problem it is a weak design that has little alternative but to break in two
The choice of the 12 x 6 x 4 bearing is likely not a problem but the root cause is the close placement of the wheels to the rail
The plastic roller pressed onto the bearing is about a 1/2 mm thick in the middle and so it is thinnest where the splitting forces are the greatest
While waiting for the replacement (it came very quickly) I thought I would try one of the 3D models offered in the users thread, they are not workable.
I went thru careful efforts to measure a good one and came up with a very good CAD model hear for your use
I increased the thin mid section as much as possible and made the roller a little taller because the 3D45 needed a little more material to print reliably.
I'm going to run the 3D version until it breaks.
3D Printed at the highest resolution, solid fill
For a test I made the gauge for setting dividers
Precision is right on and the straight lines show no waviness
Update!
Finally got an Optical comparator so I can truly measure the original wheel. I'll be looking into that this summer.
The Glowforge has (as with all new tools) aloowed for the creation of objects that I would never have tackled before.
So there are two layers of drills with storage beneath in one drawer and fractional in the other.
I came across this MonoCraft storage box and repurposed it to the job of storing spare number set drills.
I had previously had them each in a different container; terrible!
I spent the hours to lay out the format and add the text.
Using the Maple 1/8th board from Glowforge for the top and 1/8th Draft board for the bottom of each I nailed them together.
The veneers from GF are pre-finished this is actually super nice. If you were making hundreds of things you would have to try something else.
Having made a couple of things I now understand that the thing you have to figure out before you start cutting is how you are going to attach these vary thin parts.
I've been doing prov-out cuts in paper and this is really important!
I always make a change or find a mistake, in this case I checked that all the bits would fit and found a typo.
In between projects I like to do some shop organizations.
This is an organization of my taping tools that makes the process of picking and taping much faster.
The decision matrix for which tap to use and what hole size to drill comes with experience.
After deciding large hole vs small hole then it's which type of tap, I use one of three types:
FYI, there is only one reason I have sooo many taps and holders; Estate Sales
I have a huge reserve of these items that I pay between 1/4 to 1/10 full price.
The set up required a drawer slide shelf
This slides out from the peg board wall across from the drill press
This is crown jewel, I wanted Hi-Low-Med drill sizes and the three aforementioned taps grouped together, it is a real grab and go set up.
The drill range is around 55% - 85%
In addition I have the most common sizes loaded into both short and long bar handles.
The short tap handles are in this rack
The long are in this rack
I buy any long taps I come across because I would likely never buy one for a one time use.
So the opening for all this is the 3D45 printer, and the Glowforge
I've been experimenting with the use of 1/8" draft board and eco-abs from Dremel.
Basically I would not 3D print a flat sheet so that's where the GF comes in
The 3D45 then is for parts that can be thought of as castings. I print the the tap hole and then tap them afterwards.
The draft board needs to be finished after cutting, I use 2-3 coats Minwax water based Poly.
