I Needed Some Collet Racks

[awemawson]

Recently I was looking for TG100 collets, and a kind fellow Mad Modder (thanks Dave!) put me in touch with rather a lot. Trying to sort them out in rows on a table proved impossible 

[awemawson]

Now TG100 collets span 3mm to 25.5 mm in 0.25 mm increments (some makes cover 0.25 mm others cover 0.5 mm) so this means rather a lot of categories to sort them into - I need some collet racks 

Now my best current workshop friend (My CNC Plasma Table) volunteered willingly to make me some

So , the usual thing - a quick drawing in Autocad, save as a .DXF - import into Sheetcam, port over into MACH3 running the CNC Plasma and press to go button.

I laid them out with 'upstands' so four bends in the Edwards Box Pan folder and out they popped

The results were very good considering the ten minutes from concept to finished article 

[awemawson]

Now of course that hasn't actually sorted them - but at least I now have the tools to do the job 


  Did I ever tell you - I LOVE my CNC Plasma Table 

[John Rudd]

Now of course that hasn't actually sorted them - but at least I now have the tools to do the job 


  Did I ever tell you - I LOVE my CNC Plasma Table 

I love all the tools I have for doing various jobs.....   including the thirty something electric drills I have....

Nice job Andrew....just need to sort your collets out...

[jb3cx]

Cracking job Andrew,
Peter

[Pete.]

Those are some flash-looking collet racks Andrew!

[Brass_Machine]

Nice!

 

[sparky961]

Now TG100 collets span 3mm to 25.5 mm in 0.25 mm increments (some makes cover 0.25 mm others cover 0.5 mm) so this means rather a lot of categories to sort them into - I need some collet racks 

I hope you made more than one.  Doing the math and looking at the amount you have there....

0.25mm increments, eh?  I'm jealous.  Some might think that 1mm increments in ER25 collets would be great, but I'd love to split that in four!

[Pete.]

0.25mm increments would cover all metric and imperial sizes.

[SwarfnStuff]

 
Next job - Build a rack to hold the racks that hold the racks that hold the collets, eh, Andrew?
  Hmm, seem to have one too many racks in there. Never mind, just build a bigger workshop to hold the lot in case they breed.
   Good buy though, think of the possibilities holding stuff.
John B.

[AdeV]

Andrew - do you have computer control of the power of your plasma gun? It seems to me, if you cranked the power right down, you could have used it to "engrave" those labels instead of making sticky ones!!

[awemawson]

Thanks for the kind words chaps 

Ade it is possible to just mark with a Plasma cutter, but if you are not piercing, the resulting vapourised metal is bounced up into the torch wrecking the consumables. For this reason when cutting, the piercing height is higher than the moving / cutting height (3.8 mm and 1.5 mm in the case of the 1.2 mm steel I used here)

Some professionally made tables have a 'plate marker' which is a pneumatically driven vibrating engraver with a tungsten tip. I have a hand held one, and may at some time incorporate it.

[RodW]

Some professionally made tables have a 'plate marker' which is a pneumatically driven vibrating engraver with a tungsten tip. I have a hand held one, and may at some time incorporate it.

Now my table is taking shape, this is on my todo list and I have got as far as buying an oiler for the air operated engraver. They are pretty simple and in my case it will just require making 3 parts, a surplus air ram got for free, a piece of leftover linear rail and a matching carriage.

The higher end plasmas can mark plates using a different gas and lower voltage. I've seen one working and it only cost $130k! I think it used acetylene. I see now that this technology is making its way down into the 40 amp plasma range in the Hypertherm 45XP using Argon (This machine also offers RS485 control of plasma parameters like air pressure and voltage). Very cool, I want one!

[DICKEYBIRD]

Wow, acetylene plus plasma; those are the main ingredients of the Star Trek warp drive system, yes?

[PekkaNF]

That is big bunch of collets. Feel like buying some exact size (most of them +0,5 mm) + couple odd sizes for tapping drills.

Those flat pack designs look nice. Have you used plastic or wood? How do they compare?

Pekka

[awemawson]

"Those flat pack designs look nice. Have you used plastic or wood? How do they compare?"

Sorry Pekka, you've lost me there 

The collet racks are CNC Plasma cut out of 1.2 mm mild steel on the CNC Plasma Table I re-built in this thread:

http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,11797.0.html

[PekkaNF]

I am sorry...something lost in translation.

Those plasma cut parts looks nice and they are falt when they come out table. "flat pack" like Ikea flat pack htat you need to assmble yourself. In this case ou bend them. My imagination just running amok you churning them out, mailing them on flat pack and end user bending them.

I have been trying to deside between materials. My first instinct is wood...your's sheet metal. I was just wondering if you tried wood or plastic before. I am using small plastic containers that are actually pretty good. They dont't make best of space in my tool chest, been thingking of augementting them with wood/plastic/steel ER-collet racks.

Anyways compliments for getting the process really fast and right from CAD to plasma table. Well done.

Pekka

[awemawson]

Pekka,

When I sat down to draw the rack I had initially intended to cut them in plastic using my CNC laser engraver, but then realised that I didn't have enough suitable plastic in stock, but I did have a full 2.5 x 1.25 metre sheet of 1.2 mm Zintec mild steel. Actually I think the steel is probably a better choice as the plastic is too flimsy.

4 mm plywood flitted though my mind briefly, but I've had bad experience of tools in wooden racks rusting where contacting the wood - presumably it retains moisture.

[PekkaNF]

Thank you. I thoug you have tried/thoght this out.

I am not sure if I like the plywood here, least it should not have any oak or any corrosive wood in the mix...I was briefly thinkking of making a little plug, and use vacuumforming to make small recesse, that would guide hole saw....but I really should do proper job and use milling machine or make a jig for drilling. Bit shape to plastic and it would not be overly bendy?

If I would go for steel sheet, I should use punch for holes. Your method is more elegant.

Pekka

[awemawson]

Now when I started out making these racks, it was purely to have something to use sorting out the collets, but now I need somewhere to keep the set that I'll retain for my own use. Conveniently I have a two drawer cupboard / worktop unit that lives just where my CAT40 / DIN 69871 tool holders live, and the drawer contents could be put elsewhere.

Less conveniently the drawers were an inch too narrow 

[awemawson]

Never mind - tweak the Autocad drawing, trim a bit off each side and make a bespoke set for the drawers. This does rather reduce the area for labelling, but I'm sure I'll get over that 

[Symon]

Love that level of ocd organisation

[awemawson]

Believe me, with 0.25 mm increments so 80 of them, and some of the marking being very faint, they NEED to be organised 

[spuddevans]

A very neat solution to the storage problem 

It's a pity your laser cutter couldn't be pressed into service to laser-etch the labels ( but then you'd have to make a 3rd set of collet holders to etch them before bending!!! )

Tim

[awemawson]

Well Tim, I don't know if you recall the discussion we had here on the forum concerning marking steel with a Laser Engraver using 'Dry-Moly'

http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,11174.msg135000.html#msg135000

I did consider marking the sizes boldly using that process, but it would take absolutely ages and this collet business is a distraction from an interruption from a diversion so common sense said STOP