7.Computer controlled machining¶
Overview¶
This week was all about learning Aspire, our labs ShopBot, and wood working with joints and sanding
Fusion/Aspire¶
Overview¶
In Aspire I had to create a piece of wooden furniture or something similar that used press fit joints and used more than 1 meter volume of ply wood, either 1/2 inches or 3/4 inches.
Process¶
I decided to create a stool for my project, however I encountered some problems along the way that hindered the final result’s effectiveness. A. Step one was to look a previous documentation for ideas on how to create my project. Specifically Ryan Kim and Ginny Foster.
B. Next the goal was (in Fusion 360) to create the general design for the project aka how I wanted it to look. I decided to create two legs that fit into each other with one top holder to keep the legs together and provide an adequate place to sit.
C. I had to be sure to create a parametric value of the thickness of the desired wood. I decided to use 1/2 wood which was a mistake that I will talk about later. So any openings that relied upon the thickness of the wood would remain the same no matter the size of all the other pieces of the design.
D. After creating a working model in Fusion 360 I had to move the design into Aspire to help create the files for the ShopBot milling machine. I exported the Fusion files as a DXF file which I could then import into Aspire.
E. In Aspire, specifically material setup, it is very important to choose cut from machine bed not material surface, remove any offsets at all, and put the correct dimensions for the machine bed. The reasons for these changes are to ensure that the shope bot cuts exactly where I want it to cut, in the correct x, y, and z positions.
F. After importing the the DXF file I removed any unnecessary lines that Fusion might have accidentally sent out, like dimensions lines or construction lines.
G. Finally I had to add the dog-bone bit to the design so that the pieces of wood could fit together correctly. Unfortunately the tool I was using (3/8s compression spiral bit) was too big to create the bit in my design, so I had to use the T-Bone bit instead which is why they are a thing, when the bog-bone is too small.
H. Finally I had to create the tool paths for all 3 pieces of wood. This was a pretty complex process with lots of tiny steps so pay extra attention. blah.
ShopBot Milling¶
Overview¶
The Desktop Max Shopbot Cutting in the Charlotte latin lab is a machine that can be dangerous but only if it is not treated with respect. Be sure to follow ALL rules when learning how to use it, and follow the darn workflow.
Process¶
A. Pull up the Latin ShopBot workflow on the Fab gmail account. It will specifically walk you through how to cut out wood using Aspire.
B.