Encasing the Monocle without breaking the bank

I was thinking that before I use the replacement cutter bar I should take some precise measurements so that I could cut a new one from stock on the lathe… :relaxed:

Here’s an example answer on amazon about replacement blades:

That’s probably easier than working HSS on the lathe. :roll_eyes:

I was referring to the tramel for the nibler.
I don’t think that needs to be HSS.

However, I almost missed this bracket:

Now I’m thinking I will make a benchtop nibbler that has a flat surface perpendicular to and at the right height to the cutting blade.

I am guessing this is the cutter head:

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In the more expensive ones, they do make bench attachments for them. In a since deleted YouTube video, someone made a benchtop table saw type arrangement but using the nibbler as the blade.

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Oh! It was in a box inside the main box and was definitely “packaged for individual retail sale”. But a quick search for YT-160SR did not find it available separately. Also I didn’t know it was called a tramel, so thanks for giving me my new word for the day! :tada:

Looks like it.

And I think this is the cutter:

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Heh! I spelled it wrong it’s trammel!

It’s one of those tool names I learned as a kid and I never challenged. Just knew it was a tool for making circles.

Its actually a word that has a broader meaning and use than I imagined:

…a restriction or impediment to someone’s freedom of action.

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So then the Trammel won’t let you free of the trammels of incorrect pronunciation. Or will it. :wink:

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I may be late to the party here, but I did something similar with aluminum flashing. I used particle board though. The flashing will cut like butter on a table saw. I glued mine to the particleboard after rough cutting it. Then I trimmed it to size using the table saw again.

If I am cutting thick aluminum, I will use a high tooth count blade, but for this flashing I used a DeWalt battery powered table saw with a thin cheap low tooth count blade that came with the saw.

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I saw both spellings out there and wasn’t sure if they were regional variants or US/UK variants or just… variants. I had to look for the definition in the context of carpentry before I understood what part you were talking about. But when I read about the definitions, I realized how it came from the early trammel used to limit how far apart a horse could move its feet. Today i was “one of the lucky ten thousand:relaxed:

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@Cg_Mullr cool, not just me! What kind of glue did you use?

There are blades for aluminum. I have also read that you can take a standard blade and turn it around, never tried it.

Generally cutting thin Al on a table saw is asking for a nasty kickback. At least try and use a sled. Laminating it first would be another good alternative.

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I used contact cement. It was not low VOC, but I just did it outside. The smell is gone after about 5 minutes. I bought the 10 inch wide aluminum flashing at Home Depot that comes in a 10 foot roll.

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I did a rough crosscut to approximate length on the table saw to make the curled up aluminum easier to handle. I then laminated it. After drying I cut the laminated wood and aluminum as one. I cut a lot of aluminum. I prefer the chop saw, but I have cut aluminum plate with a table saw. I used a crosscut sled and even screwed a piece of polycarbonate across the cutting slot of the sled as additional eye protection. I did all this cutting to build my first CNC machine. Now I use the CNC machine to cut the aluminum. It is so much easier and the cuts end up being prettier.

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I ended up deciding to use part of an old computer case to make a plenum for fume exhaust. After finally getting some sense knocked into me about air filtration I decided that at least for now, I will be routing fumes out the back rather than trying to build a filter box underneath. So I needed to make that happen.

I nibbled out two pieces that slide together to make the top and sides of the plenum, like this:

I haven’t yet drilled holes for screwing it to the frame and screwing the two parts together, nor have I cut out a bottom piece yet. But here’s what I learned about the nibbler so far:

  • The vast quantities of sharp crescents are hard to clean up. They are sharp and dig into my workbench as I try to sweep them up. I’m not sure why I didn’t embed one in a hand already. Very different from the rectangular chads I get from my hand nibbler.
  • The trammel is not amazing at least as a fence. I expect it works better as a compass for circle cutting. That said, it was better than not having it; some of my cuts it didn’t reach a reference edge and I had more trouble holding a straight line.
  • There is an opening in the cutting head that collects the crescents of doom in a pile of grease, and then they catch in the cutting blade edge, and it’s very hard to remove the head to clean it.
  • Where my cut went through folds in the metal, I had to pull out the angle grinder (or I could have used a hacksaw I guess) to cut it apart and open up a slot that I could fit in to start the next cut.
  • The hex wrench for removing the cutting heads from the tool body is also the right size for the fixing screw on the trammel.
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they sell nail picker-uppers at the home stores which are a long bar magnet and are quite handy for finding lost nuts/bolts/screws/nails/etc as long as they are not SS or aluminium. I purchased one 20 years ago when I put on a roof and have used it many times after that for thinks like picking up your nibbled PC case parts. And I use old PC case sheet metal also. Stronger than flashing and already painted.

Still pretty cheap too: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Anvil-Telescopic-Magnetic-Pick-Up-Tool-95212/300998736

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I hadn’t thought of a magnet broom. Good idea!

I was doing my layout in fine point sharpie. I changed my mind what to cut out for the bottom piece, so I had two set of layout lines on it. Of course then I started cutting along the wrong line for a couple cm, so I patched up with foil duct tape.

Got all 16 holes drilled, and touched up a few places with the angle grinder for a better fit, and now the plenum looks good to me. When I button everything up I’ll put tape on the seams, but it is structurally good now.

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I hate when that happens. Done it enough times to now quite habitually I will draw scratch-out lines across the incorrect line or an arrow marking the one to follow.

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I usually mark them out too. I even went to do that, and then said to myself “oh it doesn’t matter this time, it’s too obvious.”

sigh

Because the metal is 1mm (probably nominal 3/64" I suppose), I have M5x8 screws, and the v-slot tracks are 6mm deep, I really need 1mm washers under the heads to finish the job. I’m using drop-in t-nuts in the sides, and this will be foil-taped to the back, so I think these screws I’ll want to loctite into place for final assembly.

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I remembered that I had impulse-purchased a set of of neodymium bar magnets on a good sale. I had a piece of scrap steel channel in the bin, and cut a foot off it, put some magnets in it, and then put aluminum tape around it and a piece of wood on the back for a handle.

It picked up the shards into ovals that were lined up with the edge of the magnet on the other side of the steel.

It also didn’t pick up all the shards. I found them embedded in the workbench after trying to clean up, and had to pry them out one by one.

I think I will buy the real thing instead of using my attempt at a quick hack.

For cutting out a rectangle matching that plenum where I had previously cut a circle, I didn’t use the cutter. I again scored the flashing with a knife and tore it. Way faster, more accurate, and neater than the nibbler for the flashing.

Also, I had previously cut the bottom piece to mount underneath the lower frame C-beam. I decided that I will instead install it in the bottom v-slot groove. I had already attached the aluminum to the masonite, so I put it aluminum side down and cut it down to the new size with the plywood blade. It made a clean cut, but I was glad I was wearing chemical-splash-style gogges for eye protection, because aluminum splinters went everywhere. I vacuumed my hair out afterwards!

Incidentally, the fence/trammel for my circular saw was meant to bear on lumber not a thin edge, so I couldn’t use it to cut a reference edge. I found a piece of 8mm aluminum stock in the scrap bin, and used some spectape (thanks @donkjr for the recommendation!) to hold it to the fence, touching the bottom plate of the saw, so that it could accurately track the edge. It worked really well!

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A post was split to a new topic: Making a table nibler

I decided to fit the bottom of the case into extrusion slots instead of using screws to attach it to the bottom. I cut it down with the circular saw, sending both Masonite dust and tiny aluminum shards everywhere.

Then, in a rare moment of lucidity, I decided to finish fitting the back of the laser chamber before putting in the bottom of the case. This way I could sit inside the machine envelope to work on the back. I cut Masonite panels to glue to the back side of the flashing to avoid oil-canning I used acrylic tape to fasten the flashing to the extrusion, then used aluminum duct tape to hold the edges in place and close off places for air to flow into the chamber from unhelpful directions.

I removed the front C-beam and then with great difficulty got the bottom fitted into the extrusion slots. Then I tried to put the front C-beam back on, and discovered that I cut the bottom piece sightly too large. Better than too small, but ugh. I’m going to have to do a lot more careful measurement before I try again to fit it in place!