Lots to share.

Hey everyone! Wanted to give an update, as I've got some more time off work, and there's been a lot happening this week.

First of all, machining parts for the tripteron has been going pretty well. Very glad to have the mini-mill in the workshop, it's making second operations way more manageable. I've been able to get things 90% finished with the fourth axis, and then clean up the last face manually, as well as add hole features that would require a fifth axis. I have started to notice some inconsistencies with the cycloidal drive, still not 100% sure it's it's my setup, or if I'm not getting consistently proportional rotation (kinda seems like 90 degrees is a bit off, but it gets back to 0 fairly consistently).




I came across another design for zero backlash reduction last night, known as a howimat drive. Will definitely be having a crack at one in the future.





For now, I'm addicted to 4th axis machining. Seriously; it's like crack. Being able to completely machine parts like these in almost a single setup is so close to the idea of CNC machining I think everyone has in their head (even with the insane amount of cam that goes into these parts)





But it's not enough, so I've started brainstorming a small, desktop-ish size, 5 axis machine. Will be doing some experiments with epoxy granite, and I've ordered a couple of cheap harmonic drives to see what they're like, and I've been doing a lot of reading on control options. Would love a Masso G3, but it's not exactly approachable for everyone following along at home. If anyone has experience with UCCNC and the axbb-e control board on 5 axis setups, would love to hear about it!

Also got a new spindle for the column mill in the mail this week, it's a bit more proper than the last. I'm thinking the new headstock will be a great place to conduct those epoxy granite experiments, and an automatic tool changer build would involveme some discussion about control options.





Have done more 3d printing in the past 2 weeks than ever before; definitely don't regret e-begging for that X1C. The parts are coming out beautifully. Has been great playing with the CF filaments - even if they're weaker, they look damn sexy, and the extra rigidity is fantastic.





Anyway, for now I've just got to make a few more parts for the tripteron, and then start on the controls for it. Talk soon.