16. Wildcard week¶
This week’s assignment was to design and produce something with a digital process (incorporating computer-aided design and manufacturing) that I did not do in another assignment
Design process¶
When I knew that we had the opportunity to make something with plasma cutting, first I did some research to understand what I could design and what is plasma cutting. I found a lot of interesting examples of gates, signs, outdoor furniture, and clocks.
I found different interesting designs of clocks. As I made gears for my final project I decided to make a clock that would be a form of gear and also I would put the logo of Armath Engineering Laboratories in the clock. I started designing the clock with SolidWorks. In SolidWorks at the design library is the model of the gear and I decided to use it. Here are the steps.
- I clicked Tools->Add-Ins and I selected Add in now.
- After that I selected ANSI Metric.
- I selected Power Transmission
- Then I selected gears.
- Then Spur Gear
- After that, I gave a module and the properties gear was ready.
- Then I put the logo.
- Then I added other necessary parts and gave the dimensions.
CAM of the clock with Autodesk Fusion¶
As I used Autodesk Fusion Manufacture workspace in Molding and Casting week I decided to use it again and import my design file.
Then I started creating the Setup for my clock and selected origin to left top corner.
I selected Fabrication operation type Cutting and then 2D profile toolpath. I created 2 2D profile toolpath for my clock, the first would cut the inside parts of the clock, and the second would cut the outlines.
Then I selected Tool Plasma Cutter
Then I changed the nozzle diameter and kerf width.
I did the same steps for outlines that I did before.
Selected the tool.
Just changed the tool nozzle diameter and kerf width.
Chose the contours.
After that chose 2 toolpaths and selected the post process after that I gave the name and generated the NC file selected it by clicking the Post button.
After that I selected the machine FlashCut Plasma and selected Post button.
Here is nc code.
Plasma cutting¶
Plasma cutting is a melting method in which a jet of ionized gas at temperatures above 20,000°C melts and expels material from the cut site. During the procedure, an electric arc forms between an electrode (cathode) and the workpiece (anode). First I learned about Plasma cutting CNC machines. From which part it consists of. We changed the electrode and the nozzle of the tool to get a better result.
After that we chose the voltage for best quality and for that we used the CNC documentation. It depends of the material thickness. I used 6mm steel and the voltage needed to be 120V.
Then the cutting process started and I could see the part that already had cut in the machine screen.
When the cutting process finished there was redundant melted metal that I removed.
The final result was this I also wanted to put the mechanism of the clock but it is heavy and I need to think about the holder of the clock.
Here is also the video of the process of the plasma cutting It was really interesting for me because I had never done it before.
Conclusion¶
This week was really interesting for me because I learned a lot of things about plasma cutting and how plasma cutter CNC machines work. Also saw the process of the cutting. At first, I thought that with plasma cutting I couldn’t have the accurate small details that I designed at the clock. But the result was much better then I expected.