I hereby declare the beginning of the Summer of Chips, 2020
What are your CNC goals for this summer ?
Mine is to tweak less, and cut more stuff.
Stretch goal: use up all of those by the end of September:
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Scotch makes a lot of different types of the blue painters tape. In your picture the 2090 is what you have. Is 2090 the only type tape you use. If so why this model and not other types.
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I don’t know the first thing about the subtleties of the different types. I have used everything under the sun based on whatever I could get my hands on most easily at the time, and if applied correctly (enough of it, a stroke or two with a roller to push them against/into the wasteboard and stock, a wide zig-zag glue strip, then a very firm long push while joining the two), they all work. I did have a mishap or two with the cheapest no-name ones so I stick with 3M now (pun intended). That 2090 reference I bought just because it came in a set of 5 with a good discount (it ends up being expensive when you use lots of it), and it’s the “non-smooth surface” variant that I prefer over the completely smooth one (I can’t remember the reference) which is not forgiving if the wasteboard/stock are not completely flat.
@The_real_janderson can probably chime in to provide actual sound advice on which tape reference is likely best for our use.
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Summer goal - to machine the biggest slabs of billet ever seen in the Shapeoko community for an insane dual plenum intake manifold. 100+ pounds
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What’s the butterscotch / orange car in the background?
(Do you get the urge to quote Mr Wolf whilst driving it?)
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…Just a couple more tweaks.
I’m in the same boat as you @Julien: less time and money on the machine, and do more building.
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Do I read correctly from what’s written on the slabs;
9 X 25" and 2" thick?
Finally got around to carving an actual 2.5D design after hemming and hawing about it for months. Used Vectric V-Carve Desktop and 2" of MDF to cut this butterfly I am going to use to make a mold to make concrete stepping stones for my wife’s flower gardens. It’s ~16.5" wide.
I made the design 1.10" thick and added the additional 0.90" to make the stepping stone stronger.
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That’s awesome! Even cooler that you’re going to make a mold for concrete. I’ve always been interested in messing with concrete since it seems like it’s cheap for a bag. Save some energy at the end of the project for a tutorial! Haha
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Is that linear rail for X and Y there?
Sticking with belts or going full ballscrew?
I don’t recall seeing a tutorial here about making a concrete mold from start to finish, so I was going to throw something together when it works out (or fails spectacularly).
For now, I am waiting on the Smooth-On Super Seal to arrive next Sunday to seal the MDF. I am lucky to have a Tap Plastics 10 minutes from my house, so I can get the rest of the mold making supplies from there, but their website doesn’t have a sealer, so I went with the Smooth-On brand.
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@LiamN Those are just the X-axis rails with cut offs - they started off as two 1500mm rails (I have an XL). I have another set of rails for the Y-axis floating in the stratosphere, slowly making their way over.
I think I’m going to stick with belts for now and see how it goes. I might entertain ball screws down the road. I don’t really make any money off of my machine, I just enjoy tinkering. We’ll see!
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Yeah,
I’m trying quite hard to resist the urge to start ordering linear motion parts for mine…
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The rails/bearing blocks are pretty affordable. I found the longer lengths (1500mm) to be cheaper than the shorter ones at the time. The second pair of 1500mm in transit I picked up for $75.60 - two rails and four blocks. The peripherals for installation add up when you put it all together… hardware, drills, taps, etc… but if you have the stuff on hand already, it can be relatively inexpensive.
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@LiamN it’s a Factory Five GTM Supercar and I don’t drive them lol. It actually just got a new motor after its last one developed a thrust bearing issue. Fun fact, the owner of both those cars owns HyLiion.
@BrokenEndmill yes sir, thats about the size they are. Final part size is around 8x18x2 though.
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Thx,
Are you using your own design for the new mounts or something already drawn?
(he says not helping his own pledge to abstain)
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I’m going with @DanStory’s design since he was so kind enough to put it out there https://community.carbide3d.com/t/shapeoko-on-the-rails/19515
I’m doing minor tweaks mainly endeavoring to keep the different hardware lengths to a minimum since I’m that guy that the peripheral expenses are piling on top of 
I do it to myself.
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I don’t know about anyone else but my summer plans are to find a way to resist buying a Nomad 3!
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