Best way to make gussets?

[jkelleyrtp]

Originally Posted by Nebster

Good to know. My team recently won a grant for the 1000x1000 x-carve, it just came in and we haven't assembled it yet. Did you upgrade the router that came with it? Our main shop mentor seems to think it will not cut aluminum well enough even for gussets and things.

I'm working on a white paper for the end of build season about the xcarve. So far, it has cut everything on our robot. Bellypan, gussets, tube, etc

[roystur44]

Originally Posted by Cory

You should investigate using tabs to make your gussets. It will save a lot of time. Essentially you contour almost the entire perimeter of the part, but you leave a tab or two connected on each side that is ~.020-.035" thick and as wide as necessary (usually .25"-.5"). If the part is thick enough you can hammer it out from the remaining stock, otherwise you bandsaw it loose. From there you can snap the tabs off with a pair of pliers - this gets it pretty close to flush. Then you sand it as flush as you can without gouging the part (120 grit 1" wide sanding belts work well). Finally you finish it off with some scotchbrite. Once you get good at this it will be virtually indistinguishable from a fully machined surface. See an example here

Back in the old days before lasers and CNC punches we use to make brackets like this with a shear, drill template, a right angle notcher and a tumbler. We could make a couple hundred of these in a hour.

Have you guys ever used a Whitney punch for sheet metal?