Swerve Drive Concept

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by magnets

You're right, to make the orange plate would waste a lot of material, so I think the little tabs could be replaced with a steel bracket, and then I could put a could more bolts straight down through the orange plate and into the blue side plate, like you described.

You could use this type of joint.

[magnets]

I could, but then I would have to move the side plates in a little bit, or make the tabs thinner than the side plates. Also, I don't really know how those right angles could be machined easily.

[nathan_hui]

You won't be able to machine the female slots the way they are in the picture (at least not with conventional subtractive manufacturing). What you could do though is do a pair of slots oriented orthogonal to each other (one provides constraint in the Z axis, the other provides constraint in the Y axis, and the screw/surface provide constraint in the X axis). As for the male bosses, you'd clamp the piece in the vice so that the bosses would be sticking straight up, and mill across the top. Not very nice if you've got a long piece (or you'll want to use a horizontal mill). That tab design is generally reserved for plastics cut on a laser cutter.

[CENTURION]

Originally Posted by nathan_hui

You won't be able to machine the female slots the way they are in the picture (at least not with conventional subtractive manufacturing). What you could do though is do a pair of slots oriented orthogonal to each other (one provides constraint in the Z axis, the other provides constraint in the Y axis, and the screw/surface provide constraint in the X axis). As for the male bosses, you'd clamp the piece in the vice so that the bosses would be sticking straight up, and mill across the top. Not very nice if you've got a long piece (or you'll want to use a horizontal mill). That tab design is generally reserved for plastics cut on a laser cutter.

I assume you're replying to this post:

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

You could use this type of joint.

You're right, those sorts of joins are generally used in laser cut parts. However it can be done with normal machining, the design just needs to be modified a little. Your cutter will leave a radius in the corners of the female slots, so just add a matching radius to each corner of the male boss.

As long as there are still flats on each side of the boss and hole, there won't be a change in effectiveness. In fact, having the radii in the corners will increase the strength of both parts. (Sharp corners provide a convenient fracture point for the material)

[BobbyVanNess]

Do you plan on making or buying the bevel gears? They would probably wind up being one of the most machining intensive pieces in this design.

[magnets]

The miter gears are from http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/search.shtml?searchQuery=l110y&op=search&Ntt=l110y &N=0&GlobalSearch=true&sst=subset

[CENTURION]

Originally Posted by bobby5150

Do you plan on making or buying the bevel gears? They would probably wind up being one of the most machining intensive pieces in this design.

I don't think I've ever seen anybody make bevel gears besides gear manufacturers

The process of cutting good gears is not a simple one, and it requires some pretty specific equipment, very few professional machine shops even have that kind of stuff.

[Navid Shafa]

Originally Posted by CENTURION

I don't think I've ever seen anybody make bevel gears besides gear manufacturers

Well then, check my video out :

Bevel Gear Tube Drive

I was asked to cut these high quality bevel gears, for the exact purpose to show that with today's machining capabilities, you don't have to be a gear manufacturer to produce high quality bevel gears.

Several of these displays are travelling to Trade-shows and Expos, to highlight the capabilities of the OMAX Waterjet's:

"A-Jet"
A-Jet Demonstration Video


I <3 my job

[DampRobot]

Originally Posted by Navid Shafa

Well then, check my video out :

Bevel Gear Tube Drive

I was asked to cut these high quality bevel gears, for the exact purpose to show that with today's machining capabilities, you don't have to be a gear manufacturer to produce high quality bevel gears.

Several of these displays are travelling to Trade-shows and Expos, to highlight the capabilities of the OMAX Waterjet's:

"A-Jet"
A-Jet Demonstration Video


I <3 my job

This is unbelievably cool. I assume you cut the bevel gears on a multi-axis head waterjet?

[Ankit S.]

Originally Posted by Navid Shafa

Well then, check my video out :

Bevel Gear Tube Drive

I was asked to cut these high quality bevel gears, for the exact purpose to show that with today's machining capabilities, you don't have to be a gear manufacturer to produce high quality bevel gears.

Several of these displays are travelling to Trade-shows and Expos, to highlight the capabilities of the OMAX Waterjet's:

"A-Jet"
A-Jet Demonstration Video


I <3 my job

Wow. That is quite awesome

What would it take to get access to one of these fine machines

[CENTURION]

Originally Posted by Navid Shafa

Well then, check my video out :

Bevel Gear Tube Drive

I was asked to cut these high quality bevel gears, for the exact purpose to show that with today's machining capabilities, you don't have to be a gear manufacturer to produce high quality bevel gears.

Several of these displays are travelling to Trade-shows and Expos, to highlight the capabilities of the OMAX Waterjet's:

"A-Jet"
A-Jet Demonstration Video


I <3 my job

Cool stuff!

Though I'd classify a five-axis waterjet as "specialized equipment", that most shops don't have. You could do a similar cut with a four-axis mill and some fancy cutters too, but a lot of shops don't have those either.

[Navid Shafa]

Originally Posted by DampRobot

This is unbelievably cool. I assume you cut the bevel gears on a multi-axis head waterjet?

Thanks, as noted above, it was cut using the OMAX "A-Jet", which is a multi-axis head capable of cutting at angles up to 60 degrees relative to the material surface.

Originally Posted by Ankit S.

Wow. That is quite awesome
What would it take to get access to one of these fine machines

Thanks! I'm glad you asked, OMAX offers discounts for FIRST teams! If you are serious about getting a machine and would like a quote on a machine that would meet your needs, I could send your info. to the appropriate sales rep. Just PM me

Originally Posted by CENTURION

Cool stuff!
Though I'd classify a five-axis waterjet as "specialized equipment", that most shops don't have. You could do a similar cut with a four-axis mill and some fancy cutters too, but a lot of shops don't have those either.

Thanks. You are right, this capability is generally not wide-spread. The interesting thing is that a basic water-jet is pretty common, and it doesn't cost too much more to add on the A-Jet or retrofit one on an old machine.*


*Not sure of exact $