Scratch built tunnel portal


K

kregan

New Member
I thought I would share a scratch built tunnel portal that I engraved on a CNC milling machine. I used a drag engraving bit to scribe the brick pattern onto the sheet styrene.

Can't figure out how to embed the video so here is the link:
http://youtu.be/g_IOFgiCQv0

The video shows the machine doing the engraving.

photo%25201.JPG


Dal%2520Tunnel%252001.jpg
 
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That's cool. I've been wanting to build a small CNC for quite a while, but never got around to it. I've scavanged a lot of the parts I need from old printers.

I thought it would be good for cutting out shapes from brick sheets, but it hadn't occurred to me to actually create the brick pattern with it.

Steve S
 
That is very nicely done, however, what I would like to see somebody do is make brickwork that's slightly irregular, with the joints not exactly lined up. A lot of the time in older brick buildings, the bricklayers weren't told to align the joints, and I assume the work went a little faster for that reason. And there would be plenty of irregularity in general. Example:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28291527/brick_wall.jpg
 
John P said:
That is very nicely done, however, what I would like to see somebody do is make brickwork that's slightly irregular, with the joints not exactly lined up. A lot of the time in older brick buildings, the bricklayers weren't told to align the joints, and I assume the work went a little faster for that reason. And there would be plenty of irregularity in general. Example:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28291527/brick_wall.jpg
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, that type of brickwork is or was used in Britain where a double thickness was used. You'll notice that every 6th course 1 brick is placed so that it would tie the 2 "skins" together, the reason you can see the end of that brick instead of it's side.
 
Sure thing!

The CNC milling machine started out as a manual mill from Machine Tool Warehouse - model MD001.

The conversion to CNC was done in my shop and I posted a build thread at CNCZone.com here:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/benchtop_machines/141561-kellys_machine_tool_warehouse_-_md001.html

The thread covers the entire build from ball screws to the belt drive and power draw bar.

The engraving was done with a pointed bit ground from a broken drill bit. The holder is a spring loaded design made to hold a swivel knife for cutting vinyl sign material. So the spindle is not turned on (the bit does not spin) during the engraving operation it simply drags the bit across the plastic sheet.

The hardest part is holding the sheet flat to the table, I used spray adhesive on a spoil board.

Dale_Tunnel5.JPG
 
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Steve S said:
Do a google search for DIY CNC Machine and you'll get lot's of hits.

Steve S
Click to expand...

Yeah. I've done that .. I was just curious about his specific setup. I've run a CNC mill years ago .. but it was quite a bit larger .. in the order of 40,000 lbs if I remember. :)
 
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