The Craftmans Shop > New from Old
Rebirth of a Denford MIRAC CNC Lathe
awemawson:
No good putting it off any more - time to cut out the metal 'hole' for the window.
The window rubber takes up a significant space, so the opening needed to be larger than the polycarbonate by 9 mm all round. So that I could 'draw round' the already cut window, I turned up an 18 mm diameter 'washer' from a bit of tufnol I had lying around, and put a 4 mm hole in the middle to take a Sharpie pen.
Overall the rubber is about 25 mm wide, so I moved the window position slightly so as not to foul the upper slider channel.
I cut the straight bits using a 1 mm cutting disk in my angle grinder, and cut the radiused corners using my jig saw. Seems to have come out OK but the real proof is when the glazing is fitted and held in by the rubber. Once the rubber and glazing are in place there is a 'filler strip' that holds the rubber tight - hopefully I've left enough allowance to get the glazing in, but not so much to let it fall out again :med:
awemawson:
Putting the cover temporarily on the machine the opening 'looks right' but I'm going to have to sort out the brush seal - probably replace it with one with longer bristles mounted further back to give more flexibility.
I don't want to mount the rubber and glazing until the cover is painted, as I suspect once they are fitted they'd be the devil of a job to get off again without damaging them.
The glazing rubber obviously has a slot for the 'glass', a slot for the metal frame, but it also has a strange shape moulded in to take an infill trim that is not just decorative but serves to tighten the grip of the rubber on the other components. It uses a special tool to insert in - fortunately this is the same rubber profile that I used on my Traub lathe so I already had the tool :thumbup:
awemawson:
While I was doing all this, the postman kindly brought me a block of Delrin that I will be fashioning into a lower slider to take the weight of the cover.
First it needed slicing length ways on the band saw, then cleaning up on the mill and a suitably placed channel milling for it to sit comfortably on the lower slide bar.
Undecided as yet whether to make it a short minimalist bit so that the door is effectively on three points (two up at the top) or to keep it full length
awemawson:
I ended up fitting two short guide blocks, one at either end on the lower sliding rail.
Today's job: Make a little bracket to stop the sliding door lifting off it's rails. Simple in concept but very fiddly to decide how to form it and measure up for the making. Not only has it to function - it has to be possible to fit it !
Cut out a bit of 2 mm plate and hot bent it as 2 mm has a tendency to crack with tight bends. The bending went OK except I made one bend in the wrong place :bang:
Never mind - get it cherry hot, flatten it out and put the bend in the right place - plonker !!!
Once bent roughly to shape I fitted it to the door off the lathe and tweaked things to fit - it works actually quite well :ddb:
awemawson:
So having made the lift stop all we need now is a handle on the door and I can get on painting it :thumbup:
Two spacers of Delrin cut from a 25 mm black rod, a 25 mm x 4 mm x 310 mm round edged bar and some M6 bolts cut to length and we have a handle. Pop a couple of holes in the door and bingo there we are :ddb:
Now I've had problems with the Simonize satin black spray paint I've been using chipping off unless the metal has been sand blasted. OK I can sand blast the handle, but the door it too big for my cabinet blaster and the weather isn't conducive to using my big pot blaster. So I'm experimenting with a (new to me) paint intended for vehicle chassis work. Reputedly sticks to anything, doesn't need a primer, and minimal surface preparation.
Handle duly sprayed and awaiting final verdict when it's cured
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