Posted on

Cutting Flange Bearings for my DARwIn-OP robot clone

I almost decided to buy the 4 Flange Bearings FR07_F101 needed for a DARwIn-OP clone. But it just took me one afternoon to cut them on the lathe and drill them on a mill.

Finishing a FR07_F101
Finishing a FR07_F101
Four FR07_F101
Four FR07_F101

I tested the assembly of a bearing joint as described in the DARwIn-OP Assembly Manual. I haven’t anodize the parts and it seems  I’ll have a hard time disassembling the joint, the bearing is very tight.

Bearing Joint Assembled
Bearing Joint Assembled

The gcode cut programs are in the Code Section and zipped in File Section in sourceforge repository for cloning the DARwIn-OP Robot.

Now I can continue testing the full assembly of a leg of my DARwIn-OP clone.

Posted on

DARwIn-OP Robot Clone Bearing Idler

Just got the MF106ZZ ball bearings and some 6061 aluminum bars for my DARwIn-OP robot clone.

Ball Bearings
MF106FF Ball Bearings

I cut a bunch of HN07-I101, and RX28-CAP on my lathe as in my test cuts. I devised a tool to hold the HN07-I101 and FR07-F101 while drilling the missing eight 1.6mm hole pattern.

Holding Tool with Blank HR07-I101 and Original HR07-I101 on right
Holding Tool with Blank HR07-I101 and Original HR07-I101 on right

The hole pattern is drilled on a Sherline Mill using a #1 center drill and a 1.6mm drill.

Drilling Hole Pattern on HR07-I101
Drilling Hole Pattern on HR07-I101

Finally the HR07-I101 Bearing Idler has to be tapped to M2.

Finished HR07-I101 on left and HR07-I101 original on right
Finished HR07-I101 on left and HR07-I101 original on right

Updated: The gcode cut programs are in the Code Section and zipped in File Section in sourceforge repository for cloning the DARwIn-OP Robot. The tool is machined on a lathe and finished on a mill for the 4 clamping screws.

Posted on

Finished with the Lathe Cuts

At last I finished cutting all HR07-I101 parts, with a few spares. So I am finished with the lathe cuts. The DARwIn-OP robot clone requires 15 HR07-I101s, 15 RX28-CAPs, and 4 FR07-F101. I thought about buying all these parts but making them wasn’t so bad, specially with the lathe’s quick-change tools it is easy to make identical parts. Tapping all the 2mm threads was a bit tedious.

Bunch of HR07-I101
Bunch of HR07-I101

Now I will polish and try to anodize the HR07-I101s and RX28-CAPs with natural aluminum finish (all other parts should be black anodized, still waiting for the black dye) before mounting.

Posted on

CNC Sherline Mill Extended Table Upgrade

I decided to upgrade my Sherline Mill. I got an extended 19″ X axis table from A2Z and a 14″ matrix plate from High Tech Systems. Sherline also has an extended table, but I wanted to try this brand because it is a little more taller and milling frames for a DARwIn-OP robot clone is a very low profile work and the endmills used are too short. The matrix table helps in height and supporting a 4″ wide work.

Extended Table and Matrix Plate
Extended Table and Matrix Plate

The matrix plate is quite nice, just one corner got scratched, probably on the trip to Chile. The extended table is quite long. To install it requires to adjust the gib on the base dovetail which took me hours, now I have a 360mm range on the X axis.

I drilled a new pattern of holes in the matrix plate to better hold aluminum plates for cutting DARwIn-OP’s frames.

New Hole Pattern
New Hole Pattern

The hole pattern has M2.5 threads. The holes are ½” apart to align to the preexisting pattern. I made 3 hole lines, one at the middle and one at 5/32″ from each border of the 4″ plate.