Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamHeard
This certainly depends on the team and their specific resources.
We now have the resources in house, and at sponsors, to make a pulley with all the pocketing and mounting holes (for a bolt circle) we might desire out of solid stock in about 10 minutes of machine time (this includes a 2nd op on a manual lathe to face to thickness) per pulley, and at a lower material cost than purchasing pulleys. This reduces both cost and lead time (for us).
There are certainly many cases where COTS is the better option.
What's really key is constantly re-evaluating your own resources and best designing to match what you have (and also pushing to add resources to fill the holes you have).
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Do you mind sharing your process? I've played around with toolpaths for pulleys in MasterCAM, but we need a smaller than .125" endmill for the 5mm HTD profile. Do you put a circular feature in the center and broach a hex, or do you try to make the hex on the CNC (if you even use a hex at all)?