MEW 193 -- Wooden CNC Mill

I must congratulate Richard Gordon

His article is extremely well written and illustrated, and the design is truly ingeneous [which is, of course, the root of engineering].

Using readily available materials and basic hand tools, he has produced a machine capable of significantly better accuracy than the tools that made it.

I am unlikely to build this machine, because I already have a BCA Mk. III, but that's not the point: It is an interesting project, that makes us think ... i.e. exactly what MEW needs.

It would make an ideal project for Schools or Clubs, and may also be of interest to the "Appropriate Technology" folks who assist developing countries.

Thank you, Richard

MichaelG.

Hi Michael

Thank you for your support.

I was expecting complaints about how wood is not suitable for making a mill etc.

regards David

I agree - an excellent article.

Regards,

Tony

Nothing at all wrong with wood - it was after all one of the earliest engineering materials. It is a good choice for making light duty machines - for example, it would make a good choice for something similar to the RepRap machines, and was the subject of a light duty router design in MEW fairly recently. As Michael observed, articles like this stimulate the brain cell.

Regards,

Tony

I was expecting complaints about how wood is not suitable for making a mill etc

The key elements in the mix are probably a shortage of accepted materials(ww2 austerity) and some good old British ingenuity

wood was unsuitable for front line fighter bombers too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Mosquito

Edited By Ady1 on 05/08/2012 09:09:16

Just spotted a slight typo in the text of the wooden mill article - the author wrongly refers to the spindle unit that he is using as being from a Sherline mill; it is in fact a Taig (Peatol) mill spindle, which would be obvious to any Taig or Sherline users reading the article, but might confuse others.

Regards,

Tony

Hi Tony

Are you sure?

If so I can print a correction in MEW 194.

regards david

Hi David -

Absolutely positive. Compare the views in photos 15&16 with the photos on the Taig website here:

**LINK**

In contrast, check out the Sherline mill here:

**LINK**

The shape of the pulley cluster & the longitudinal T-slots on the Taig headstock are a dead giveaway - also, I don't believe Sherline do an integral ER16 chuck on their spindles.

Regards,

Tony

Hi Tony,

If you check the Sherline catalogue, you will find that they do (or have in the past) an ER16 spindle with either a 'cog' belt drive or step pulley drive.

Not sure if they are still available but they were!

Just to throw yet another spanner in the ME works LOL

Taig also produce an ER16 spindle

CB

Hi CB -

You're right - you can order an ER16 Sherline spindle as a special; however, the standard Taig spindle for their mills is the ER6 version these days - and that is the one used in the article.

Regards,

Tony

I'm assuming that the mill author is the Richard Gordon who designed and made Nano and some other impressive models as a teeneager?

Neil