Dauntless CNC Z-Axis Upgrade Complete

[Stan Clayton]

We have upgraded our CNC router's z-axis capacity from 6" to 24", and as I write this the router is doing the finishing cut on a test piece of foam. With the new upgrades in place, the work area capacity is now 8' by 4' by 2', which should give us much greater through-put on heavily 3-D projects, which up to now had to be sliced into 6" tall sections.

Here is a photo of the router in action, taken just a few minutes ago. Sorry about the cell phone photo, but I forgot my camera this morning.

If we can help you bring your project from the dream stage to reality, give me a call. Our rates are very reasonable and the backlog is currently just a week or so.

Thanks!

Stan Clayton
Dauntless Racing
707-718-4725

[Stan Clayton]

I found my camera and snapped this photo after the work was complete. For this test run I just used 2" white insulating foam because I had a piece laying about. If the machine wasn't running right, or I had it misaligned, I would be out a dollar's worth of foam, and not a much more valuable piece of tooling board.

[Buc01]

Very Kewl Stan!

Aaron

[DB4 Tim]

Sweet...and not inexpensive to do

[Stan Clayton]

Thanks Aaron! And if you've never seen a CNC in action they can be quite mesmerizing to watch.

Sweet...and not inexpensive to do

I'll say! (...as another 5-figure$ floats out the window... )

I decided to take a couple more photos this morning with a real camera to show the new vertical range of the router. Yours truly (complete with the shameless-plug-for-Dauntless T-shirt...) standing next to the z-carriage to show scale. First photo shows the cutting tip down near the wasteboard (it can actually go down into the board). The second photo shows the tool up near its new maximum height.

That should be tall enough to machine an engine cover in one pass, for instance. Or a sidepod. Or a fender, nose cone, center section or tailpiece.

[DB4 Tim]

Good idea to show the size one really doesn't know the scale until .....

[Buc01]

Stan,

While I don't have any CNC routers.... I manage a machine shop for a living and we have several pieces of CNC machining equipment (lathes & mills).

Yes, they are amazing machines and with 3D modeling software, amazing things can be done in many forms of base material.

Regards,

Aaron

[Stan Clayton]

While I don't have any CNC routers.... I manage a machine shop for a living and we have several pieces of CNC machining equipment (lathes & mills).

The breadth and depth of Apexer's experience never fails to amaze me!

[starkejt]

Nice literary reference.

[Fred Michael]

Stan! That's a good looking shirt.LOL
Nice new attachment for the router too.

[mbrandt1402]

How about a "CNC molds for dummies" on how this could be used. I.e. is there an affordable media that yields a usable form for fiberglass layups, etc. The "tooling board" reference is just a cruel tease!

[Stan Clayton]

How about a "CNC molds for dummies" on how this could be used. I.e. is there an affordable media that yields a usable form for fiberglass layups, etc. The "tooling board" reference is just a cruel tease!

Mark, for a quick reference for tooling board take a look at the "Last A Foam" listings at Fiberglass Supply. We use a competing, though similar product. With 6-lb/cf board a skilled (and very careful!) person can fill, sand, prime, sand, polish and compound out to a surface from which one can pull a mold. It takes careful attention to detail and time...lots and lots of time.

Of course, that ignores the time required to design the project, put it in CAD, toolpath generation time and machining time, etc.

[10rmotor]

Can it machine those famous Dauntless carbon fiber clip boards? I hear there is a demand for them

[Stan Clayton]

Not only "can" it, but we have 5 of them almost ready to mail out.

[10rmotor]

Exxxcccellllennnnttt!

[Tiago Santos]

That is awesome I "finished" converting my milling machine to CNC this weekend, it's pretty darn cool to see the thing move by itself!

[Stan Clayton]

Congrats, Tiago! It's quite the feeling to convert a couple of pallets of hardware into a moving, working machine.