Machined Part Request - Tripod Camera Quick Release

WOW
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Your links require a log in W00d...

What happened?

Not sure where the images went, but I was going to say that the angled sides would make that a difficult part to make. If it could be a cube then there would be no issue, just CNC a block and then turn it over to finish. With angled sides you would either need custom ground tooling or done as a 3D process with a ball mill.

Sorry lets just call this one 'personal' issues ...

   

Unfortunately the angle is needed as it is used to lock into the tripod's quick-release mechanism. However the wall thickness is not important. Whats important here is the inside dimension offer enough clearance for the Bolt which attaches the camera. Which can be as simple has a smaller counter sunk hole into a larger. Important is the out side angles remain accurate but the 'tolerances' would be somewhat loose by +/- 1mm. In fact all the  'tolerances' are rather loose, except the base dimension which must be allot more accurate and I'd guesstimate around +/- 0.1mm

EDIT: The Camera and Mount or a better look as to how it all works ...


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BUMP, sorry for the bump ...

So can this be made for a reasonable price, and would you or anyone be willing to make this for me if feasible, if the price is right

If not there's no point in my drawing accurate plans for cutting ...

Thanks
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PS: After looking for this thread myself and not finding it where I thought it was then upon finding I realized this is probable not the right forum, sorry! If the admin wants to move it somewhere more appropriate !?!

w00d, the 3D nature, hollow, thin wall elements of this part make it extremely difficult to machine/setup. because of the angled sides I could see this part 10 - 12 hours to setup for and finish. If the sides were straight up and down (a simple cube) then it would be a 1 hour job. Your part would need to be done with either custom ground tooling (Lot's of $ and weeks of time to have it made), a 5 axis milling machine ($400,000.00 machine).

Or with what I have which is MeshCam and using a two sided method with holding tabs that get cut off later. But I have never done this before so I have no idea what it takes to get it right:

http://www.grzsoftware.com/users/larryw.html

Thanks for answering PP

Would it make any difference if I said the inside didn't need to be cut out ? The part don't need to be hollow ...
... The original part is only hollow to accommodate a fastening bolt but this I could do myself with a little 'redesigning' ... I could drill the holes this needs

Only the outside dimensions are important, the two angle-cuts are what makes it work so those it must have


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wOOd - Do you know the exact angle of the sides?

...Tiger

Don't know the angles at the moment Tiger, I will have to find my protractor, or calculate.

I will get back to ya when I have the numbers.

Thanks

According to my calculations the angle should be 57.1º, rounded to 57º
... using this calculator ---> http://www.1728.org/angsize.htm

Given the 'angle' was not actually measured w/ a protractor the angle as calculated should be close enough
... tolerances are not that tight anyway

The measurements used to 'calculate' which are also pretty close but I would have to double check before actually machining ...

   

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Do you have this drawn up in a 3D format? If you do and can produce a .STL file I can load into Meshcam and see what it looks like for doing a "water line" process with a ball mill. How big would the finished center hole be?

No I don't have it in 3D format, I drew the above w/ photo editor by hand.
I can't say I know how to make a .STL file? Can't say I know how to draw it up in CAD either?

PS: Don't need the hole, to save time I can do that myself Although I can/will add the hole detail to the above drawing

Update: Center holes (camera attachment) added to drawing

I have a 3D CAD program, but don't know how to use it very well. I think there is enough data on the drawing to work with, so I can try to see if I can produce a 3D surface model, which is needed to work with. A water line operation is what would work the easiest I think. And the hole would actually be required to machine it. Otherwise you could not hold it down when it is time to turn it over. Can't promise anything as this is un-explored territory.

Thanks PP, I look forward to what you come up with ...

LOL, I tried to CAD again and I don't know what it is about them that is making hard for me. I can 'draw' but when I try to translate that drawing skill into a CAD program it's just better I not have tried ...

So I gave it a try tonight, somehow figured out how to draw something in 3D, then exported to a .STL and opened in Meshcam. For some reason I can not get the tool profile to daylight out on the angles. I know Meshcam does not like straight sides, but it should be able to do the whole part when it is a solid model. I will have to ask the guy who wrote it.

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If a guy has something like this laying around and wondered if it would work, where would he send it???

...Tiger

[size=1.2em]WOW, Wonderbar and what a great surprise [/size]
... I'll send you a private message to discuss cost and where to send my payment?
[size=1.2em]Thanks Tiger
  And thanks PP for all your hard work
      Everyone's effort is most appreciated[/size]
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With some after the fact thinking (smell the w00d burning) or from an academic point of view ...
... Yes I wanted my Quick release made out of aluminum but I'm wondering if there's a 'plastic' that might be better suited for this purpose?
... I'm not sure what type would be readily available or what would be easily machined but if this plastic we're hard (but not brittle) or solid enough I'm sure it would also work
... A plastic would make for a lighter product

hehe, I even thought of going at it with my Dremel
... making it out of some form of hardwood such has mahogany or maple maybe !?!

Also a question for PP ... How much does that CAD software you used cost? Would be better if were free as I know some are but it looks more professional than most of the free online stuff I've found?


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Looks like Tiger beat me to the punch, part turned out nice. I was doing my testing in Delrin Acetal which is a defacto standard machining friendly plastic. It is very, extremely, durable material. But once the machine code is complete you can use the same code for anything, just change the RPM and travel speed.

When I got up this morning I just needed to watch the right YouTube video and find out that I did not have a setting correctly set in the software, so now it looks like it would work. I will probably still run it to see how things turn out.

I used Alibre CAD, which I think full price is something like $1,500.00 but I got it on sale back in 2010 for much less:

http://www.alibre.com

For machining I used MeshCam:

http://www.grzsoftware.com

You can check out FreeCAD, it is free, i downloaded it, but have not used it much:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/free-cad

So here is what the toolpath looks like since I figured out the settings, this should produce the full part, the little lines are where the cutting tool will travel around the block, it will step down each time at a distance of .005" while allowing for a round profile:

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As always, very nice work John.