The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

The New Hotness

  • MPCNC: Diamond Drag Engraver vs. Acrylic

    Drawn at Z=-0.1 mm on scrap acrylic with the diamond engraver in the modified collet holder:

    MPCNC - Diamond point - acrylic 0.1mm
    MPCNC – Diamond point – acrylic 0.1mm

    The badly rounded corner comes from a Z touch off in facepalm mode; the poor diamond must have been trying to dig a 2 mm trench through the acrylic.

    Then again at Z=-0.5 mm:

    MPCNC - Diamond point - acrylic 0.5mm
    MPCNC – Diamond point – acrylic 0.5mm

    At half a millimeter, the holder applies well over 100 g of downforce. There’s no way to know how much lateral force the tip applies to the holder, but it’s obvious the parallel beams on the MPCNC drag knife adapter lack lateral stability:

    MPCNC knife adapter mods - OpenSCAD model
    MPCNC knife adapter mods – OpenSCAD model

    Bending beams still seem much better than a linear bearing, though.