[metalworkz]

Yes the second one looks better than the first. As long as you let the mold cool down it will probably be OK, but if you are not pushing to get it done right away letting it set overnight will not hurt. When I am trying to get a part done the same day I will just wait a few hours. It is tempting to open it right away and see what you have worked so long to make but have patience and let it cool.

[AxelFoley]

I just found out we have many "Hackerspaces" here in phoenix where you have access to cnc mill, lathe, 3d printers, cnc woodworking routers, etc.

I think at the very least I will recreate everything in sketchup and just route out my patterns, although really what i'm thinking of doing is casting the primitives at home and cnc milling them all out.

I know that kinda skips a lot of the DIY aspect of this, but I've certainly had my fill of manual pattern making. I appreciate how it's done, but if there are smarter, easier ways...

I would probably end up with a better machine anyways.

On that note, I am almost of the mind of thinking there could be an updated edition suited to the things that are available now - Online shopping, hacker/maker spaces, 3d printing, etc.

Of course, Gingery isn't with us anymore, perhaps someone could create a some additional chapter/volume. Even if you want to do everything by hand, there are cheaper ways to go about this.

[jannos]

Hi. You should try lost foam casting.There are some pictures http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc-wo...nc-router.html

[RotarySMP]

There is no point changing to different sand, or differnent process like lost foam, as long as you are not putting in the work to make accurate smooth finished patterns with correct draft. It is a hell of a lot easier to bring the wooden pattern into shape before moulding it, than is is to try and clean up a metal casting like that.

You are probably also pouring too hot. Alloyavenue.com is an excellent backyard casting forum. Also MYFORDBOY has a brilliant set of how-to videos on Youtube which will step you through all aspects of casting.

[AxelFoley]

So I went down to an open house at a Maker Space today, and got to do a little more work.

I need to give a quick shout out to them. They are called Ideas Squared, and are based out of Phoenix. Nate and Preston were very nice and gracious hosts.

This is their website:
Ideas Squared - Makerspace, Product Development, Manufacturing | Phoenix AZ

I went and manually machined out most of my carriage, still need to do some trimming on the sides and my wear pads/slide depth, and my trench. Unfortunately we ran out of time today, I spent much of my time learning how to operate a mill.

They happen to be interested in casting as well, so they went ahead and started a print of my cross slide in PLA plastic. We will use that to do a lost investment casting next meetup.

As for the rest of the parts, I am of the mind to cut them out of foam with a cnc router and then cast them.

Some parts I may just mill out of steel stock. I know this carries me faaaar away from what the book is doing, but hey, I will end up with a far better machine than what I could have ever built with hand tools alone.

[AxelFoley]

Okay, long time no update. I've gone through many scope changes and material changes before settling.

I am going to do most, if not all of this out of steel.

I found an industrial metal supply in town with pretty cheap hot rolled remnants (.79 a pound) and decent CRS (1.59/pound) in a variety of shapes and sizes.

All tubing will be filled with some sort of as-of-yet aggregate mixture. Given that I've done a lot of cutting/grinding/welding, I have amassed quite a bit of iron/steel shavings and carbon. I figure I will just throw that into whatever EG mix I come up with. (I saw some documentation online of a test where that increased the dampening ability).

What can't be easily made from tubing/bar stock will just be cnc milled out. At this point I'm just using his drawings as a springboard for ideas, but oh well. At this point I just want it done, and I want it to be a lot better quality than what I would get from an all aluminum machine.

I'm also making the bed 30" long instead of 24" long.

I'm thinking about increasing the height of the lathe spindle to give a bit larger of a swing as well.

The Cold rolled steel is 3/4" thick solid bar. I couldn't find any remnants that were thinner but still long enough.

Yes I know the welding is... not that great. It's a 50 amp only (cannot set lower) $20 welder i got off craigslist, and i'm also learning. It seems only 5/64 works decent with it.

Some more cleaning up is due before I attach the CRS. Those will be attached with tapped holes/threaded rods.

I figure ultimately this will all get attached to a common HRS plate.