john_ibw Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 My model building workspace is a mess and I wanted to get organised. Not a New Years resolution though! :) Anyways, the stuff I checked out online are cost prohibitive to buy and import to here. I decided to build some myself. Attempts to use power tools / hand tools to cut and size 5.5 mm and 3 mm MDF proved to be time consuming. I then decided to give laser cutting a try. I spent a few days (more if you add the time it to took me to learn illustrator!) creating the drawings and headed out to a DIY centre that rents the laser cutter / engraver by the hour. After 3 hours of cutting, this is the result. I am yet to glue them and finish them. But, so far I am happy with the results. I have so far drawn 3 modules, 1 a 6 drawer module, another a 3 drawer module and corner module. The straight modules are 30 cms wide, 15 cms high and 15 cms deep. Whereas the corner module is more like 30 cms by 30 cms. I plan to create a few more drawings for paint racks and tool cribs. It may be a another 3 weeks or so before I can go back to the laser cutter cause the drawings take time to create. 1 Link to comment
cteno4 Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 John, Uber cool! nice job on these, you have the beginnings of a business! its nice you have a diy shop near like that. our local one is quite pricy for that sort of stuff (sadly i think its just that there is not a huge interest in that sort of stuff here these days). did it take much tweaking to get the finger joints tight? jeff Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 Nice. You made your own versions of the Hobbyzone workshop modules ;) 1 Link to comment
john_ibw Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 John, Uber cool! nice job on these, you have the beginnings of a business! its nice you have a diy shop near like that. our local one is quite pricy for that sort of stuff (sadly i think its just that there is not a huge interest in that sort of stuff here these days). did it take much tweaking to get the finger joints tight? jeff Thank you Jeff! No tweaking at all! So, if i created a tab on one part, the adjoining side's slot was created with the same dimensions. The laser leaves a hairline gap after the cut. This worked well for me. I was asked to reduce the slot by .2 mm to get tighter joins. No gluing will be necessary after that. I did not like that much for a couple of reasons. It tends to put some stress on the MDF on either sides and at 3 mm thickness a thin slot may rip off. The other reason, all sides of the boxes are square! And to be honest, I did not know it when I was drawing it. At the centre, I remember a couple of guys making boxes using tab and slots and had issues when they tweaked the dimensions. The sides were not square. Nice. You made your own versions of the Hobbyzone workshop modules ;) Yes Martijn...these modules are similar to hobby zone. Most of the rest of the ones that I am gonna cut is custom. Making a wall display case too! The laser is also giving me ideas for a modular baseboard :) Link to comment
john_ibw Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 Jeff, I meant to say "thin tab may rip off" instead of slot... Link to comment
cteno4 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Very cool, I'm envious of your diy shop! There is a company out there doing a modular layout frame work that just clicks together like this. New world with CNC laser and router systems to do this kind of milling. Especially to use materials like mdf, which as you noted don't play well with traditional woodworking for precise work! Oh how I want a lasercutter! Sometime here. I need to get the portrait going first. Jeff Link to comment
john_ibw Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 Jeff, The DIY space I go to is a 5000 sq ft setup with FDM 3D printers, a laser cutter (1200 mm x 900 mm bed size), leather / vinyl sewing machines, wood working shop, a library, cafe, conferencing facility and wi-fi access. Its a perfect setup for hobbyists to come and work on projects alone or as a group. Though the machines are not from the best name brands, it still works out well for my needs. I saw something online too. I think the one I checked on the internet doing the modular workbench was a UK one. You should get yourself a desktop laser cutter at least? Theres so many options in the US. In fact, as an hobbyist, those in the US, Europe and Japan are better off than those like me in India. Anything here is an import and the costs are insane. Any purchase should be well thought of. I ordered a glowforge on kickstarter when it was available at 50% off in the month of oct last year. It made sense though it was expensive to ship to here. I can't make any hobby purchases this year though! :) But, I liked what I saw on the internet about glowforge. The unit will arrive only in the second quarter of this year. Hope to do some fine model work for the layout after that. John Link to comment
cteno4 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 John, Wow,mthat a wonderful! We have one place sorta like that here,mbut its 45 min drive from me w.o traffic and it's really pricy. I think it's set up more for high school and college entrepreneur types than jsut the general hobbyists. Hourly prices were pretty high and usually have to take a pricy class to use pieces of machinery. Hobby stuff is not in vogue the last decade here in general. Yes I keep looking,mbut am holding off for the new generation coming out here and also to make sure I have the time for it. I have to get going on the portrait first and if that gets my juices flowing good then more momentum for a small one. Finally the cheap Chinese ones are below $400 for a 40w (not heard great things about them though) so finally they are coming down. I really just want to do 2mm or less wood and chipboard and maybe very thin metal for details. Jeff Link to comment
john_ibw Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 Jeff, One thing I learnt while I was laser cutting last week. Some of the cheaper machines do not have the same laser intensity though out the cutting bed. The areas closer to the origin point (starting corner) cut through the material at faster speeds while away from the origin, at higher speeds it tends loose intensity to cut through the material. Which meant I had to reduce speed for the entire sheet. Lower speeds mean more machine time which means more money to use. Thought I would let you know. The other issues I learnt from the net...Though there are many cheaper machines available, there is an issue with os compatibility. Almost all of the cheaper ones run only on a Windows PC. I am mac only at work and home. After sales service and spares seems to be an issue too. Little or no documentation available. No reliable source to get spares from. The parts are not coded and listed anywhere! You have to be an electronics genius to figure out a compatible replacement. Calibration and first time setup. Unless you find an expert in your area, who cant tweak it to crank up right first time, people like me will be in trouble! Link to comment
Mr Frosty Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Excellent. For those who do not have access to a laser cutter, Hobby Zone do a similar modular solution, as well as wall mounted paint storage shelves and organizers http://www.hobbyzone.pl/en/ Link to comment
tossedman Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I'm with Jeff I. I want a laser cutter as well. With any kind of luck (and maybe a lucky grant or two) we might be able to get one at school. Good job on the modules John. Thanks for sharing. It's another idea filed away i the vault for future reference. Cheers eh, Todd Link to comment
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