Member postings for Robin

I got one of them. They were on offer for £62.96 inc VAT delivered.

I thought it was a tiddler but when it arrived it was 5" and I could barely lift it.

I can't decide whether to keep it in my man-cave or take it up the workshop.

So it sounds like I have bought the Chinese knock off, metric threaded, Dremel clone from the Lucky Monkey Productorium in Guang Dong Province while you all have the pukka Yankee threaded, Imperial Dutch original.

Well, I am not going to let it bother me, but if I ever wanted to get one of these posh Dremels, like what you have, what do I look for? Where do I go?

Opinions on the Dremel nose thread vary. I have the Dremel 200 which I measured as M19x2.5

I printed the thread as a separate part then glued it in. Saved printing big, time consuming failures and allowed me to line the Dremel shaft lock button perfectly vertical.

I eventually printed it as M19.5x2.5 through a 16.5mm hole to get snug.

I admit that after a hard day bent over a hot soldering iron on Friday the jolly old Ersin Multicore left me feeling a bit chesty, but despite all the abuse my lungs are still in fine fettle. What I really need are some new teeth, wifelet has forbidden me from smiling in public until this is done.

Good try Neil but it ain't gonna happen

I just found a new CW-3000DG chiller for £165 with free shipping from Germany on that auction site.

This is wonderful, arguing about fume extraction has got me back on to lasers.

What a wonderful forum this is, I totally approve of anything that comes with a shopping opportunity

In the real world you get a laser, you put the fan on the back, you put the ducting on the fan, you open the window and realise there is no easy way to connect duct to window so that the fumes wouldn't just blow straight back in to the room. You sort of wedge it in a half open window but it is so insubstantial it won't stay put. You resolve only to cut things that don't set off the smoke alarm. Problem solved.

Am I allowed to confess that I am not very concerned with Health and Safety,

I already know what is going to get me, I take pills for it

On the blue box the extraction "duct" doesn't seem to reach anywhere useful. I cut it out with an angle grinder.

The air inlets were accidental rather than carefully positioned to get any useful flow going.

What it really needs is air piped in to keep hot condensing solids off the final lens.

The fan that came with it was actually quite good, unfortunately it was designed for something completely different.

It is all very well looking for a big air flow but which parts of the case are you going to cut out and what are you going to do with the air once you have sucked it?

If there was an off the shelf way to silent fume extraction I'd probably go for it. We just have to wait for technology to catch up with us

I like quiet, I have no less than 3 Bambi compressors, is this "quiet model" shop vac for real or just wishful thinking?

Edited By Robin Hewitt 1 on 05/09/2017 19:58:05

I bought one of those Chinese blue box 50W laser Johnnies second hand for taking apart. I am a bench top explorer.

The software had some weird dongle, but sort of worked once you got the idea. The final lens had about 1/16" of gunge which I took to be glue residue from burning plywood. The aquarium pump designed to circulate cooling water soon demised and I melted one of the mirrors off the laser tube end. The fume extraction was totally ineffective. The high voltage power supply was an open PCB and looked frightfully dangerous.

However it sliced Perspex/Acryllic like there was nothing there. It just disappears where the laser light touches it. These things are God's gift to anyone wanting to cut acrylic.

I bought a new tube, a new PSU, I am choosing a new chiller pump frame and head.

Also the below workpiece table, a sort of frosted aluminium plate designed to scatter the beam. Could do with a bit of a raise lower mechanism. Maybe some of that honeycomb aluminium.

The laser head needs air blowing downwards to clear the fumes away.

I 3D printed new clamps to hold the tube. The originals were the wrong size and well packed below to raise them up. You get the picture.

Do all model engineers want to take motorcycles apart? It has been years since Swarfega could no longer take me back to pink. Is it allowed? What about SWMBO? I don't even own a crash helmet.

I'm using the UP! Plus 2, I liked the way they used folded steel for the frame and profile rail for the slides, it looked comfortably rigid.

I now have a hankering for a second nozzle so I can print a dissolvable support structure. I can program to stop at preset thicknesses to add a bit of non-stick, but what a palaver.

I don't think the resin zappers have quite got it together yet. OTOH, something that would print wax shapes for a bit of investment casting could be fun.

I printed a Dremel attachment, not exactly fine pitch but does the job.

Makes you wonder how we managed back when printers were dimensionally challenged

There you go making me nostalgic, found myself searching e-bay for an old Brooky to put on my ML10...

I'm coming over all unnecessary at the very thought of it.

Yes, I think I am going to fit right in here

If I officially put my feet up I suspect the wife will put something in my tea rather than vacuum around me, so I'm winding back slowly.

I have about 40 years worth of unfinished stuff to go through, wondrous machines to play with and antique guns. I got this thing about antique guns and went a bit wild.

I subscribed to Model Engineer back in the '70's has anything changed?

Robin

Seaford Sussex