"Now I'm a believer"

I was always told hard work pays off. Here is the first 95% complete prototype CNC facia. The last 5% is a little sanding and to drill the holes for the mounting screws.

I figured everyone would be excited to see this.

And another view..

OH OK now I know which one is which.
Dam good job.

Cute line. I was already humming the tune before I clicked on the thread.

Just watched the Shrek DVD with the kid a few days ago, you see...

Mmmm. Bubblegum pop reduced to kiddie fodder. Will the young-uns thirty-five years from now be chanting along with their favorite virtual-reality flick to the tune of ``...Baby One More Time''?

No worse than John Lennon selling sneakers to our generation ("Revolution" selling Nike). Or Ozzy and Randy selling cars ("Crazy Train" selling an SUV)...

Very impressive!

My favorite is Iggy Pop's heroine-addiction themed "Lust for Life" being used to sell all sorts of clean, corporate, family oriented products!

Ok, I want them!
You have one customer, 100%.

This is a seriously impressive piece of work. Excellent

How much machine time does one panel take? Are you looking at anodising the panels you do?

Can you give us , if not already done, your email to enter the Queue .....

What sort of hardware/software is needed to do something like this? I've heard of the University of Texas having some sort of three-dimensional scanner, which can fax it's data to a remote site with a prototype mill, but I'm curious what sort of work it takes for an average joe to get something like what you've got here.

I heard you mention earlier something about a three-d model of the object, but did you come up with one of your own for this facia?

g

Cutting time for wood is approx 4 hours
Cutting time for aluminum is approx 10 hours

Setup time for each piece is approx 30 minutes to an hour.
Setup time for the first prototype was approx 80 hours.

Yes.. I will send out the aluminum facias to have professsionaly anodized.

Rob

>> Can you give us , if not already done, your email to enter the Queue

Sorry. Not taking orders yet. I plan to begin in December.


Rob

>> What sort of hardware/software is needed to do something like this?

I use a small desktop CNC mill combined with a very powerful 3D Milling CAD/CAM software (www.onecnc.com). The main drawback is that the desktop machines are very slow compared to larger production machines. But, since I only plan on doing a limited run (maybe 100 pieces) my machine should do ok (even if it takes 3 months).

To get a setup like mine the costs are about $5000 in hardware, $2000-10000 for software (depends on the features of the software) and hundreds of hours of patience learning to cut.

Some of the major names in desktop CNC mills are MAXNC (which I have) and SHERLINE. The maxnc units are CNC out of the box, the Sherline models have to be retrofit with CNC gear.

www.maxnc.com (I have the 15CL2 model)
www.sherline.com

Rob

One more question. I don't know if you noticed this or not BUT,
the buttons are held in by the fascia by a sort of flaring of the button openings. i.e. smaller in the front and larger in the back.

Were you able to machine that?

It doesn't look like it from the pictures...

If that's the case my machine should run circles around yours. I've got to find out how to enable it to do the 3 dimensional routing.

I think I'll take a look at that software you're using because a $45,000 machine should not be able to be outdone by a $5000 one.

Hey Darkstorm or CruzThs, or can you make a facia out of acrylic? and have it buff finished? Sort of a translucent empeg look?
As tough as the aluminium is, a translucent face would be cool

I think I'll take a look at that software you're using because a $45,000 machine should not be able to be outdone by a $5000 one.

A $100 Microwave will boil water faster than a $10000 Sub-Zero restaurant freezer.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Just for the laymen around here like me, what kind of machine do you have? ie. the 45k one.

$5000 and a couple of k on some software could easily pay for itself just making some small parts for mountain bikes - of course having all the CAD files to start would be a big help. :)

Oh man, I am afraid I would buy that too. Please stop, I have to save some money for food and fuel!
Anyway, good idea...

How about transparent aluminium?

"Computer. Computer? Heloooo, computer..."

Last milling machine i used was a big cluncky handimatic thing for cutting vavle seats this work is damn impressive

With (for instance) CNC machinery, 3D Solid Modelling software and new technologies such as Rapid Prototyping becoming more affordable & commonplace, Engineering can be quite exciting sometimes. It's a pity Engineering has an unglamourous image here in the UK and there's so little money in it. We're lucky to make £30/hr on machinery which costs £250,000 to buy and a fortune to keep running. I don't know what it's like elsewhere in the world.

I've often thought about building my own CNC Mill but it's too big a project for me at the moment. I might just have to save my pennies (or win the Lottery) so that I can buy some of this stuff. It's my dream to have somewhere large enough (funds allowing) to have my own CNC machine shop (I used to be a CNC Programmer/Setter) and rapid prototyping machine(s) and lots of lovely 3D Solid Modelling & CAM software ... maybe one day...

Getting back to reality though the photos of the Fascias that CruzThs has done look pretty good. That software he's using looks very good for the money too. Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings...

I've got a couple of questions. First, any thought of also milling replacement MkII handles? It looks like it's just held on by four screws (not that I've tried to take it off). It'd be nice to have the handle match the new fascia. Second, you said somewhere that you plan on making them until you run out of orders. Any more thought on a new design? I'm one of the folks that can't see the upper left corner of the screen and I'd rather not pay for something that continues to have the same problem, although I would definitely like to get one if it could improve my experience. Looking cool is just that much more of a plus.

eww, touchy subject. The debate on the Mk2 facia was far ranging. I personally think that the expense of designing and reprogramming the CNC for the facia would be prohibitive. Cruzths has dedicated a lot of time already (at no charge yet) to get this one available.

I do plan on making custom facias in the future. Most of it is limited to my experience with 3D CAD drawing. I'm learning new techniques everyday and I'm sure it won't be long before I can start playing with the design. The first tweaks will be slight modifications of the original that will allow better viewing for left hand side drivers. The next hardest thing is finding the time. I'm a full-time software engineer by day and full-time husband (however no kids yet) at night.

Rob

Simply excellent work. Kudos to you.

"A keyboard. How quaint..."

Marcus,
I'm afraid that Engineering, has a similarly unglamorous image here in the state. I grew up outside of Detroit, centre of US auto manufacturing, and the area was dominated by light manufacturing, tool & die, etc. as part of the supply and suport chain. Several of my school buddies went in to ME and are still there.. but they were the exception.

Unlike software development, where kids can pick it up and learn in school or at home if they have a real interest, none of the schools have anything more modern than a 40-year old lathe in "wood shop". Teenagers with artistic talents that wish to do fabrication don't have much more of an outlet than sculpting clay in art class.

And it's really a shame, because talented teenagers who could invest the time in modelling, would produce some really interesting stuff (and a lot of not so interesting) before they graduate to adulthood and have to make only what pays the bills.