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How do you make your custom parts. — Parallax Forums

How do you make your custom parts.

InstinctzInstinctz Posts: 18
edited 2009-11-24 05:57 in General Discussion
I was curious if anyone had some hints on what they use to make different parts of their robotic structures. I had planned to just use thin aluminum sheet, using a carbide bit to cut them out but thats turned out to be pretty sloppy.

So, any suggestions?

Comments

  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2009-11-23 20:31
    Look around at all the items that are recycled or discarded and see if they can be repurposed to make a robot. Plastic and metal containers in various shapes and sizes could be modified easily enough to seve as platforms and protective housings. scrap angle iron and aluminum can be used for supports and building structures, etc.
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2009-11-23 21:12
    If you are wanting to get into making parts from aluminum or plastic, you may want to explore getting a small bench top CNC mill. It is an investment but well worth it if you are going to be building gadgets for a long time. There are not a lot of shortcuts to cutting aluminum. The closest thing I can recommend is to get a good scoll saw or band saw, and belt sander to clean up the edges. Get some 6" calipers for around $20-$30 and learn how to set them and score a mark on the aluminum for very precision guide marks to follow with the saw. Clamp a gate on the saw table to get a more straighter cut.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2009-11-23 22:48
    I've got a Taig lathe with a milling attachment. It's a bit limited, but quite useful.

    Leon

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  • InstinctzInstinctz Posts: 18
    edited 2009-11-23 23:00
    Yeah I think thats what I'll have to do, for now I have used heavy duty snips to cut the sheet pretty well. But for detailed area's it still is lacking.

    Guess I'll just have to use a small drill to get as close as I can. CNC machine is what I really want, but not yet heh.
  • Gunstar1Gunstar1 Posts: 18
    edited 2009-11-24 03:44
    The most useful tool I have for adapting one thing to another is a Dremel rotary tool.·
  • TimmooreTimmoore Posts: 1,031
    edited 2009-11-24 04:13
    I have a CNC taig mill. For a couple of larger parts I have used pololu.com (laser cutting) and bigbluesaw.com (waterjet and laser)
  • InstinctzInstinctz Posts: 18
    edited 2009-11-24 04:49
    Ive got a dremel, but Im not really looking to "hack" items, i'm interested in designing the parts. Thanks for the links and info, I'll check'em out.
  • TimmooreTimmoore Posts: 1,031
    edited 2009-11-24 04:55
    Are you near one of these http://techshop.ws/locations.html?
  • InstinctzInstinctz Posts: 18
    edited 2009-11-24 05:57
    I'm in oklahoma, but if I get very involved I'll be running a customer catered CNC shop.
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