On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:40:05 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:

What I have in mind is a device that is like an arm, with several
joints with balls in them. One could turn it any way they want and
then tighten screws on these balls so that the device stays in the
chosen position. A remotely similar device would be a gooseneck lamp.

What would such things be called?

Positionable arm, articulating arm, RAM Mount.
http://www.rjcooper.com/articulating-arm/
http://www.ram-mount.com/ some really neat rubber mounted balls.

For crafting or electronics, try "helping hand", VERY HANDY!
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...itemnumber=319


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On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:58:14 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:

Thanks Larry. I am wondering if anyone simply sells arms with balls
and a way to connect them together, instead of all that complex stuff.

Now that's a troll if I ever heard one.

Got a lathe and/or mill? Got some rod and some bar stock? Got bolts,
washers, and wingnuts? Go for it! 'Taint rocket surgery.


--
Strong like ox, smart like tractor.
----------------------------------
www.diversify.com Oxen-free Website Design

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:58:14 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:


Thanks Larry. I am wondering if anyone simply sells arms with balls
and a way to connect them together, instead of all that complex stuff.


Now that's a troll if I ever heard one.

Got a lathe and/or mill? Got some rod and some bar stock? Got bolts,
washers, and wingnuts? Go for it! 'Taint rocket surgery.


I do believe, Larry... this was a topic some months back, or at least
someone posted and had a show and tell on his site. Right good stuff as
I remember and quite formidable for strrength and rigidity by it's looks.

Bill

In article ,
Larry Jaques says...
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:58:14 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:

Thanks Larry. I am wondering if anyone simply sells arms with balls
and a way to connect them together, instead of all that complex stuff.

Now that's a troll if I ever heard one.

Got a lathe and/or mill? Got some rod and some bar stock? Got bolts,
washers, and wingnuts? Go for it! 'Taint rocket surgery.


Here's what I do...

http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand01.jpg

http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand02.jpg

Weld or braze two clamp collars at 90 degrees to one
another. Two of these assemblies and a few pieces of rod
will give you 6 degrees of freedom. The rods in the photo
are 1/2", but I've made up connectors as large as 1-1/4"
when rigidity was important. 1/2" collars are around $2
each from McMaster.

Most collars are 12L14, and though I've never broken a weld
on one, you should keep this in mind if bad things are
likely to happen if the weld were to fail. I TIG weld with
SS rod.

If you mill a shallow groove as wide the thickness of the
collars on each collar they'll nest together and are self-
fixturing while welding. Like this...

http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand03.jpg

Ned Simmons

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 23:07:15 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:29:44 -0700, Larry Jaques novalidaddress@di wrote:
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:58:14 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:

Thanks Larry. I am wondering if anyone simply sells arms with balls
and a way to connect them together, instead of all that complex stuff.

Now that's a troll if I ever heard one.

Got a lathe and/or mill? Got some rod and some bar stock? Got bolts,
washers, and wingnuts? Go for it! 'Taint rocket surgery.

Thanks Larry. After some thinking, I found some pieces in my junk pile
that, I think, will work nicely. They are three pieces from some
conveyor system that was at a now defunct envelope factory. On each
piece, I can move an object along the axis and also rotate it around
the axis. I can tighten bolts that would stop the sliding or
turning. The axis is a square. That means that with three of them, I
can make a system that would use two of them as vertical legs, and one
as a horizontal axis. I would them use a threaded rod to move the
horizontal carriage along the horizontal axis.

Be sure to post pics/specs of the jig on the Dropbox when you're
done, Iggy.


I only wish I took more of these from that guy. He was closing down
that factory.

Yeah, if only our hindsight was foresight then, eh? sigh


What I want to do is to make a system that would move a tig torch
precisely along a straight line. That's the idea.

Hell's Bells, man. Mount a pair of magnets to a drawer slide, lay it
next to where you want the weld, lay a strip of leather over it (to
keep out sparks, etc.), then lay your torch hand on that. Now roll
along in a straight line at full TIG speed.

Maybe this would work for other projects. It sounds as if you have
this one covered.


--
Strong like ox, smart like tractor.
----------------------------------
www.diversify.com Oxen-free Website Design

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:09:09 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm,
BillP quickly quoth:

I do believe, Larry... this was a topic some months back, or at least
someone posted and had a show and tell on his site. Right good stuff as
I remember and quite formidable for strrength and rigidity by it's looks.

Ig and I must have missed that thread.


--
Strong like ox, smart like tractor.
----------------------------------
www.diversify.com Oxen-free Website Design

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:09:37 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, Ned
Simmons quickly quoth:

In article ,
Larry Jaques says...
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:58:14 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:

Thanks Larry. I am wondering if anyone simply sells arms with balls
and a way to connect them together, instead of all that complex stuff.

Now that's a troll if I ever heard one.

Got a lathe and/or mill? Got some rod and some bar stock? Got bolts,
washers, and wingnuts? Go for it! 'Taint rocket surgery.


Here's what I do...

http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand01.jpg

http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand02.jpg

(The links broke when you put them on 2 lines, but I managed.)


Weld or braze two clamp collars at 90 degrees to one
another. Two of these assemblies and a few pieces of rod
will give you 6 degrees of freedom. The rods in the photo
are 1/2", but I've made up connectors as large as 1-1/4"
when rigidity was important. 1/2" collars are around $2
each from McMaster.

Most collars are 12L14, and though I've never broken a weld
on one, you should keep this in mind if bad things are
likely to happen if the weld were to fail. I TIG weld with
SS rod.

If you mill a shallow groove as wide the thickness of the
collars on each collar they'll nest together and are self-
fixturing while welding. Like this...

http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand03.jpg

Nicely done, Ned. (Gonna derust and clearcoat 'em?)


--
Strong like ox, smart like tractor.
----------------------------------
www.diversify.com Oxen-free Website Design

Ignoramus27362 wrote:

[snip]
Yes, I will post them to my projects page.
[snip]

Gotta link?

Thanks,

Wes

In article ,
Larry Jaques says...
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:09:37 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, Ned
Simmons quickly quoth:

Here's what I do...

http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand01.jpg

http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand02.jpg

(The links broke when you put them on 2 lines, but I managed.)


Weld or braze two clamp collars at 90 degrees to one
another. Two of these assemblies and a few pieces of rod
will give you 6 degrees of freedom. The rods in the photo
are 1/2", but I've made up connectors as large as 1-1/4"
when rigidity was important. 1/2" collars are around $2
each from McMaster.

Most collars are 12L14, and though I've never broken a weld
on one, you should keep this in mind if bad things are
likely to happen if the weld were to fail. I TIG weld with
SS rod.

If you mill a shallow groove as wide the thickness of the
collars on each collar they'll nest together and are self-
fixturing while welding. Like this...

http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand03.jpg

Nicely done, Ned. (Gonna derust and clearcoat 'em?)


I knew I should have tinyurl'd them

http://tinyurl.com/eymgc
http://tinyurl.com/dz8su
http://tinyurl.com/c7gzc

Since the brackets are handy for positioning things like
photosensors, they often end up leaving on something I've
built for a customer, so I consider them consumable and
don't get fancy with finishing. But looking at the photos,
I must have set the camera in rust enhancing mode. You
probably wouldn't see the rust on the actual parts unless
you noticed it first in the pics.

Ned Simmons

On Sun, 23 Oct 2005 17:02:46 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, Ned
Simmons quickly quoth:

In article ,
Larry Jaques says...
http://www.suscom-maine.net/
~nsimmons/news/MicroscopeStand02.jpg

(The links broke when you put them on 2 lines, but I managed.)

Nicely done, Ned. (Gonna derust and clearcoat 'em?)


I knew I should have tinyurl'd them

http://tinyurl.com/eymgc
http://tinyurl.com/dz8su
http://tinyurl.com/c7gzc

You put the brackets around them and that would have sufficed if you
hadn't broken them in the middle. 6 of 1...


Since the brackets are handy for positioning things like
photosensors, they often end up leaving on something I've
built for a customer, so I consider them consumable and
don't get fancy with finishing.

Leaving on projects, eh? How so?


But looking at the photos,
I must have set the camera in rust enhancing mode. You
probably wouldn't see the rust on the actual parts unless
you noticed it first in the pics.

Flashes are like that. Yeah they are. g


--
Strong like ox, smart like tractor.
----------------------------------
www.diversify.com Oxen-free Website Design