3 weeks by cncdivi

Imagine you were tasked with constructing a series of space frame tube chassis similar to this one:

GoblinFrame

Making a bunch of space frames means notching a lot of tubes…

Making all those space frames means notching a lot of tubing.  Sounds like a little CNC-style automation is in order.  That resulted in this CNC-driven plasma cutter tube notcher that I came across over on Reddit:

Frame2

Start by welding up a simple frame.  The plasma torch will ride along that rail…

iwgljkG

A simple chain drive pulls the torch sled up and down the rail…

EyS20X2

The sled itself is very simple and rides on ball bearings that engage the rail corners…

vBdeX0e

Another view of the sled showing the attachment to the chain…

zqc11CU

A pivoting bar will hold the torch.  It rides on the tubing (bottom) to be cut so torch height can be set…

foVpeD8

Torch is held to the bar with brackets…

0SEYCbk

The tubing sits on skate wheels (so it can rotate) on a parallel frame…

Fo3E8xZ

A Chevy Cobalt wheel hub is the perfect base for the 4th axis…

2AVXNtD

Add a 3-jaw chuck from a weld positioner to hold the tubing…

xuFfHc8

Stepper motor for the chain axis is also chain driven…

JVLtTk2

With another chain-driven stepper motor for the rotary axis…

Gh2leFw

Throw on a little paint to make it pretty and you’ve got a CNC plasma tube notcher!

Mach3 is perfect to drive it.  The architecture is just 2 axes, but one is rotary so a lot can be done.  The tubing notches come out great.

Be sure to check out the DF Kit Car site that’s what all this is for:

Goblin

I bet these little Goblins are a real handful but a total blast to drive!

 

Like what you read on CNCCookbook?

Join 100,000+ CNC'ers!  Get our latest blog posts delivered straight to your email inbox once a week for free. Plus, we’ll give you access to some great CNC reference materials including:

  • Our Big List of over 200 CNC Tips and Techniques
  • Our Free GCode Programming Basics Course
  • And more!

Just enter your name and email address below:

Full Name
Email *
100% Privacy: We will never Spam you!

5/5 - (1 vote)