Nomad Airblast/Mister & Dial Indicator Bracket

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

So I finally picked up a mister nozzle from amazon

(i shorted it a bunch as the stock length was obnoxious, you definitely want the tool to remove sections…makes it way easier)

then designed this bracket, and after a bunch of testing with folder paper printouts, im getting ready to have sendcutsend make it for me out of stainless.

it also provides a place to mount a dial indicator with a small arm, using a threaded insert

the slots on the side should allow it to be adjusted out of the way of the spindle noodles that drive it, and the slots on the top should allow for adjustment of the mister nozzle so that it sits above the collet nut so the nozzle wont ever be in the way of the part being machined.

the notch allows the spindle wire to pass through with its normal routing

the notch in action

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

well, as far as I can tell my latest revision of the bracket should work great, so ive sent it off to SCS to have them make it.

once it arrives, I will report back and if all goes well, I’ll upload the DXF as well as the SCS bend configuration so anyone here can order one of their own.

heres hoping i didnt just toss $45 down the drain. (i had them bend & powdercoat it since im 95% sure it works)

ideally the only thing i have to do is grab some hardware & insert the rivnut when in arrives and I should be all set.

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

I also was finally able to route the air hose through the drag chain, which took a bit of fiddling. the extra should be plenty of slack to let the spindle move through its full range of travel without issue.

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

sssooooooon. very sooon.

in the meantime i ziptied the air line into the other bundle so it doesn’t get in the way. and once the bracket comes, it will be ready for install.

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

bracket came in, just waiting on some hardware to actually get it mounted to the side of the nomad without using a bunch of washers. the shortest M4 machine screws at the hardware store are 10mm which is still too long.

I will also probably lengthen the slots on the side to allow for a little more adjustment. sendcutsend overbent the top piece a bit i think so i had to pull it back so when its sitting on the machine it doesnt interfere with the spindle belt.

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

tight packaging.

in theory you shouldnt be able to knock the nozzle against your part, since the nozzle sits above the collet, and you cant really be inside a hole thats any taller than that.

I do think i f***ed up by shortening my locline so much. but oh well. the amazon blast nozzles arent super expensive.

the hole on the bottom bracket should allow me to insert a rivnut for use with my indicator arm as needed.

there is a notch to allow the spindle cable to pass through un-harmed

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

aaaand. i adjusted how the tube is routed because i think my initial idea/routing would never have worked (or certainly would work poorly). now it follows the motor path, and i’ll end up needing 2 right angle fittings to get the hard turn into the airblast block.

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

finally held under its own power as it were. I had to order some 8mm M4 screws since the 10mm ones I had on hand were too long. Its held in place with some lock washers & regular washers. Hopefully this is enough to keep it in place, as I would rather not use loctite at all so it can be removed.

some 8mm 90 degree fittings are on their way to get the hose into the air block as the bend radius and tension on the tubing once installed currently is just too much [and i think it will hit the roof of the machine too]

this should hopefully be plenty of clearance to not hit parts. I might also try and take this one apart and install a new longer hose, since i shortened the loc-line too much. if i have more length, i would be able to bend it up higher, but my silly shortening of this one means i cant do that.

the side mounting slots need to be wider most likely, since it needs to be on the max setting to not interfere with the spindle belt.

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

I had to modify the bracket, but it is complete!! (except for the fact that I have no real easy way to turn the air-blast on or off in between jobs, or changing tools etc. I would LOVE to have the machine control a solenoid but that’s a bit too much work simply because I am lazy, but I would love to find an on/off switch (preferably something that doesn’t require power)

I added the nutsert this evening, and to my pleasant surprise the arm for the indicator was able to thread in, (i was concerned the small amount of thread wouldnt be able to reach inside the nutsert)

I will be honest its a giant pain to put the indicator arm into place, or at least it was when the Z axis was where it was. It would definitely need to pretty much be at the very top of its travel in the home position so you have enough room for your hand. A small little wrench for that will definitely be needed to snug it up. I dont use it all that much since the SMW jaws have the indexing pin that keeps them pretty much dead nuts aligned to the machine.

[while i was typing, i found switch that looks perfect for what I want to do. I will just block off the secondary out port, and leave it for future use.]

As I mentioned, I did have to modify the bracket, because the tubing and motor wiring needed to move up past my notch when the spindle was at full droop (i tested below the bottom of the SMW plate, and while I will never need that much travel, I want the machine to retain full functionality.)

you can see above that I had to cut the notch out, so that the wiring could move up and down.

feel free to gander through the rest of the glorious (indulge me…its been a lot of revisions and patience.) photos of the setup. and dont hate me for using white zipties, its what I had on hand, and theyre the tiniest ones i had, and technically its recycling since they were never used with the product they were provided with.

i am going to try and work on getting the fusion file updated with the notch so it can be cut by others via sendcutsend or whatever method you desire.

[rb_designs (Ryan Blajda)]

link to the fusion file for anyone to download & make themselves.

the latest version of the file includes larger slots to allow for the bracket to be brought out further from the motor pully bands, if desired, and brings the back cut relief all the way to the top to allow cable/air line movement.

Airblast Bracket.