Go to L – milling experience

A cog with a slit and an L-shaped piece that fits the slotWhile waiting for client feedback, I came across a couple of people (F. and J.) who were picking apart a broken mechanism, but couldn’t find an easy way to fix it. It had some 3D printed parts, and the ABS had twisted apart, and was jammed inside because it had a flared end. So, I milled down some plate steel while J. drilled out the broken plastic and worked out how to keep a spring out of the way, then we fitted the steel key. In place of the flared end we put in a notch and wired the steel into position. The top needed a star shaped meshing mechanism, so I cut that out of plywood on the laser cutter.

The steel cut pretty easily, but I had to be careful with the vice, as it was thin and I got to the point where I couldn’t safely hold it, and we were very lucky that was a perfect fit for the mechanism. I could take off a 1mm step with the 16mm end mill, and I did that repeatedly, with lube, and it works just fine.

We need more molyslip.