8982K872_Multipurpose 6061 Aluminum 90 Degree Angle.zip (231.3 KB)
Attached is the solidworks part file. You can change the dimensions using the sketches.
svg for 1/8" acrylic, no screw holes. Nor holes for anything else (control box, vacuum)
box.zip (1.1 KB)
[Shapeoko XXL CAD file - Shapeoko - Carbide 3D Community Site](https://Shapeoko CAD file)
Don’t weld anything without me!!! I bought 1 lb of filler rod and a couple of those green electrodes which have been collecting dust, and anyway I need the practice.
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26" height would provide a lot of clearance and allow us to efficiently use the sheets we have on hand.
I think Tim was planning to do the welding in his garage …
Maybe we are putting the cart before the horse on this. A solution in search of a problem. We did some testing with the existing dust shoe with plastic & aluminum. We created a 3” diameter pocket .100” deep. The amount of debris that came out of it was close to nothing. The aluminum we may have had 1 chip. Any time there was any chips on the brush & the machine would go to the next depth of cut, they would clear.
Here is a couple videos of it.
The aluminum results, well it doesn’t have enough mass too keep the chatter down & movements smooth enough to have good results.
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I agree, I don’t see a problem. You have total and easy access. While noise isn’t attenuated as would be with an enclosure - itself a workshop not a library. Buy few replacement shoes and the attachment, so as they wear they can be replaced.
Is this the underlying issue, or is that users are under the impression that composites/fiberglass wouldn’t be allowed until an enclosure existed?
I don’t believe any of the proposals I’ve heard include the cost of a HEPA vacuum. So the prohibition on say, carbon fiber, would still exist.
@SWA in the April machine shop committee meeting, when the topic of aluminum was broached, it was disclosed that the committee had previously decided that before any material other than plastic could be used on the machine we’d need an enclosure, hence the focus and push to build or buy one and move onward.
@TBJK where do we go from here?
I would like to do some plastic and some foam for tool boxes, but time doesn’t exist. I expect the foam might also be a no-go unless an enclosure existed.
Sounds like we need to more testing on more materials.
Taller enclosure make it easier for the flex hose
After the first time I cut MDF on there you pointed it out to me yourself. Afterwards I scheduled about two hours of setup time to ghetto rig temporary enclosures out of trash bags (effective but requires constant reinforcement), the acrylic sheets below the machine (sturdy but have to get the sawdust off afterwards), foam flooring things, etc. And about an hour afterwards to mop up. Yes, the enclosures were very effective, I used the colored acrylic sheets to judge this qualitatively. The tricky part is taking down the enclosure in such a way as to avoid disturbing the dust inside.
The materials restrictions suck, but it’s not a particularly easy issue to address. People have an expectation to spend time at the makerspace without being exposed to toxic stuff, MDF dust can cause nasty respiratory symptoms and cured composites are much worse. The woodshop at least has an room that is apparent to everybody, so people are likely to understand the nature of the health risks.
Do the cons of the enclosure (more difficult for beginners to use) outweigh the benefits, and does the machine accomplish its purpose already?
If you check the shapeoko inc. website, the new version of the dust shoe has a feature where it slides up and down. The version we have does not slide up and down, and it becomes much less effective when it’s at the wrong height. Just like this season’s F1 cars.
There are also related issues like shooting dust rooster tails out of the cutting channel on longer parts. Some of these issues could be solved in multiple ways, like not running the spindle at nine trillion RPM at all times, but that brings up other issues like the fact that the Z axis is held by weak magnets, an improvement from the other shapeoko inc. router, which uses superstition.
Keep in mind that we are not supposed to be doing wood on this. The equipment in woodshop is for doing that. They have the dust collection and associated equipment to deal with it.
The height on our dust shoe is adjustable. Loosen the black compression lever, move up or down, tighten.
The use cases for MDF or wood are primarily spoil board/jigs/wasteboard. It would be nice to do a resurface from time to time I think.
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