sled roll is an issue on the original design as well (where it is more of a title issue)
the weights will compensate as good as in the original design - and finally could be moved even further away from the center if it really would be an issue (but overcompensating might as well lead to an unwanted counter effect)
stabiliser pole:
I already thought of a pole attached to the sled that extends to the center/top of the Maslow table like the hand of a clock. The pole should be attached to this table center/top within a hull that allows for an up/down movement of the pole and a rotation as well. This would finally prevent any (uncontrolled) tilting movement.
Is it a bad idea to raise the chains (and their motors) in the z-axis and create a pivoting connection point directly above the router¢s motor in line with the center of the router bit? In effect, the chains really would be physically connecting to form a triangle.
They are raised, they don’t attach at the base of the router. you want the
router + bricks + sled to be reltatively balanced on the chains in the Z axis.
If the chains attach too high or too low the sled would be more likely to tilt
away from the workpiece under some conditions.
As the majority of folks are using the Ridgid 2200, and most routers have some
sort of handle knobs this should be a pretty general solution.
I wouldn’t bet on that, we get a LOT of people posting about using other
routers. There are a lot of people building these who already have routers
around and would like to use them instead of buying a new one (especially a home
depot house brand)
In quantities over 50 laser cutting a half circle ring becomes pretty cheap my guess is around $5 out of 1/4" steel Keithg222@gmail.com could quote if you sent a dxf file
Why mess around with trying to repurpose some ring to fit the Maslow when getting one custom cut is so cheap?
You could sell them in the Maslow store and I’m sure many people will buy if it trueLy improves performance
A strip of umhw tape on the inside of the ring and another strip of umhw on a slider block might work as well
@aluminumwelder I agree for the most part, but one argument for not using something generic has to do with the Open Source nature of the product. Ideally its not a kit of specialized parts only available from one source. Then again, this is an optional improvement and so we are only talking about an add-on so I think you’re reasoning is valid. I wouldn’t mind an official “ring mod kit”, if we figured out a cheap block to go with it.
open source is easy to accomplish, just share the DXF file and anyone can get it laser cut or plasma cut if they want. However the economics favor one company mass ordering and distributing it.
The upshot is that this will be easier to affix than the ring. I figure the actual cost is rather low. One could cut something similar using the maslow, but I am not sure how the rolling resistance would be.
that looks beautiful, simple and effective, not sure how well acrylic will hold up, perhaps a strip of metal on the inner radius would help, but then again a lot of router bases are polycarbonate and it seems to last fine.
it is possible to cut aluminum on the maslow, cut it out of 1/4 aluminum plate
and it should be pleanty strong (and be thick enough to fit bearings reasonably
well
one problem with using plain bearings is that they do nothing to stay centered,
so you end up with the sides of your bearing housing rubbing against the rail.
any of the v-grove bearings (like I linked to on ebay above) will avoid that
problem, and they’re pretty cheap (as long as you are willing to wait a bit for
them to arrive)
I really think we can get away with a 1/4 circle rather than requiring a half
circle, MUCH less wasteful of material when cutting it out.
This is what I’m thinking of in terms of a sled with one fixed and one mobile chain, it looks like a 70 degree angle between the fixed chain and the start of the rink will work, but the real world may point out something I’ve missed in the cad mockup
Wouldn’t the tendency to tilt be based on the position of the weights? If the weights were positioned in line with the chains, there would be a minimum of tilting moment and that could be compensated for by raising or lowering the weights over the base plate.
I’ve taken to using four 3" chunks of 1"x3" steel bar for weight. They are smaller than the bricks and I can distribute them around the sled to balance the weight. The cost was about $16 at the local metal supermarket (no connection).
Bar,
Thanks for great work - I am busy setting my Maslow up. I am installing two 1/4" x 1/2" bearings directly on the 1/4" cutting bit with two elbow shaped bearing holders to connect to the chains. These allow access through the Rigid router support bars without modification. This allows a direct tug on the rotating bit very close to the cutting edge force. These bearings work great on shaper bits that are following patterns and are able to survive the high speed. This would seem to reduce the required sled size since the forces from the cutting pressure moments are much smaller. I am curious about your thoughts.
Roger (born in Quito Ecuador)
the primary purpose of the large sled isn’t to prevent tipping, it’s to provide
a large surface to ride on. The larger the surface the lower the psi of force.
There’s also the need to have the sled be large enough to avoid falling into
cuts in the workpiece.
One problem I would expect to have with your approach is that you have all the
weight outboard from the chain attachment points, that will tend to cause the
router to tip away from the workpiece.
you want the chains to attach fairly close to the center of balance so that the
sled hangs straight down from the chains.
I think that is a very interesting idea. It hadn’t occurred to me that it would even be possible to connect the chains directly to the router bit. It’s always possible for things to go wrong in the implementation, but I think this is a very cool idea. I can’t see a reason why it wouldn’t work, and possibly could work really well.
My only concern would be witht the sled trying to tip over. I’ve found that adjusting how far above the sled the chains anchor helps make the sled ride more smoothly and this type of adjustment would be difficult.
Please, please, please keep me posted about what works and what doesn’t!
On a personal note, I had the good fortune to spend some time in Quito last year, it’s a wonderful city.
Bar,
I will continue my experiment. To solve the tippy thing a simple line from a pivot on the top center of the router to the chain some distance up the chain might work. Alternatively stiff bent struts that pivots with the lower bit bearing and a top mounted 1/4 stud allows precise tilting control. I will post drawings of the arms once I finish them. Do you think the sled might be reduced to factory size faceplate if these other things work out? Also, I was considering ducting the cooling air from the motor into a set of holes in the sled so it could float on air like an air hockey puck and table. After all, the air is already there. I am making 4x8 vacuum table as well so I can cut veneers, etc. with a draw knife.
Roger
PS = any Ecuadorian jungle visits? I spent 15 years in the “selva”.
@krkeegan, I like this idea! And the idea of a group buy of steel of some sort to push the price down. I also agree with @dlang that a v-groove bearing would probably be the best way to go to aid in centering the bearings. Looking forward to seeing how it works for folks and eventually testing it myself once my kit arrives this fall.
