Looking for ideas to cut 1mm silver in my Nomad. Sheet are no big maybe 40 by 80mm max. Need to be flat on the bed. Which table and clamps recommend. My main use with Nomad is jewelry made by silver and gold. Some ideas please.
Most folks doing sheet metal work use fixturing wax: https://shop.carbide3d.com/collections/tools/products/machinable-fixturing-wax
I intend to do similar work on my Nomad although, so far, I’m working on mastering wood and pearl on a jewery size scale. If the piece is relatively large, say 10 mm, I suspect the double stick tape would work; at least it has done so with the pearl. For anything smaller the wax might be better.
One issue with the wax, as reported by a member here, is that the surface of the stock will probably not end up square to the mill, that is, not have a uniform Z value. If you’re just cutting silhouettes or drag engraving this may not be an issue. Otherwise, here is how I square small pieces.
I fabricate waste boards from maple smaller than the Nomads bed and fasten them to the provided wasteboard via T-nuts in the wasteboard.
I then fasten my stock to this smaller wasteboard then attach that to the big wasteboard. Using a dial indicator I can then shim the smaller wasteboard to true it up. If lacking a dial indicator you could jog the spindle over the surface, a bit above the stock, and inspect with a feeler gauge.
Two other sweet features of this system which make it practical even if you don’t need to true the stock. You can remove the small wasteboard with attached stock for any work you may wish to perform outside the Nomad’s purview then replace it and not need to re-zero/re-allign for additional opperations. Also, these smaller boards are easy to construct and replace.
If going this route, use the Nomad to fabricate the holes in the wasteboards, both original and the mini’s.
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I’ve used a slab of aluminum with sheet material superglued to the surface. Worked great.
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