Alright, I have been thinking about this for a while. Most of us simple can
not afford a laser scan and CNC setup to scan a part and then just tell the
machine to make one.

How about some type of stylus setup for duplicating a part? A stylus tied
in in parrallel with the cutting point on the a mill which allows you to
trace over a part will cutting a piece of stock? Does it exist? Is it
practical? Maybe just for rough pieces?

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Alright, I have been thinking about this for a while. Most of us simple
can not afford a laser scan and CNC setup to scan a part and then just
tell the machine to make one.

How about some type of stylus setup for duplicating a part? A stylus tied
in in parrallel with the cutting point on the a mill which allows you to
trace over a part will cutting a piece of stock? Does it exist? Is it
practical? Maybe just for rough pieces?

Tracer mills were very common for core-and-cavity work (moldmaking) until
they were replaced by CNC in the late '70s. There are a few old Bridgeport
hydraulic tracers around; I think someone here had his eye on one a couple
of months ago.

It doesn't give you the accuracy of modern CNC but it's quite effective for
roughing out shapes, and even for fairly fine work that doesn't require high
absolute accuracy.

Another device that once was common was the pantograph tracer, which was
available in 2D versions for engraving work and a few 3D versions for small
cavity and relief work, mostly for making coining dies. The 2D types were
all mechanical. I don't recall how the 3D ones were set up, as I haven't
seen one for 30 years. Deckel made some really fine ones. These may still be
available on commercial routers (they were as of 10 years ago, anyway),
which are like lightly-constructed mills, for machining aluminum and wood.
Some are quite large.

You could cobble something up from the old designs, I imagine, if you really
wanted one.

--
Ed Huntress

On Oct 6, 5:10*pm, "Bob La Londe" wrote:

How about some type of stylus setup for duplicating a part? *A stylus tied
in in parrallel with the cutting point on the a mill which allows you to
trace over a part will cutting a piece of stock? *Does it exist? *Is it
practical? *Maybe just for rough pieces?

Here's an early machine tool that duplicates a master part:
http://www.nps.gov/spar/historycultu...-blanchard.htm

It's in the Springfield Armory museum in Springfield, MA.

....
available in 2D versions for engraving work and a few 3D versions for
small cavity and relief work, mostly for making coining dies. The 2D types
were all mechanical. I don't recall how the 3D ones were set up, as I
haven't seen one for 30 years. Deckel made some really fine ones. These
may still
....

I'm still kicking myself, I stood by at an auction and watched a 3D
pantograph go for $400 with a very complete set of tooling. Commercial guys
won't bid on one.

Karl

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message
anews.com...
...
available in 2D versions for engraving work and a few 3D versions for
small cavity and relief work, mostly for making coining dies. The 2D
types were all mechanical. I don't recall how the 3D ones were set up, as
I haven't seen one for 30 years. Deckel made some really fine ones. These
may still
...

I'm still kicking myself, I stood by at an auction and watched a 3D
pantograph go for $400 with a very complete set of tooling. Commercial
guys won't bid on one.

Karl

Yeah, that's one machine type that doesn't have much of a market anymore for
commercial work.

--
Ed Huntress

On Mon, 6 Oct 2008 14:10:19 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

Alright, I have been thinking about this for a while. Most of us simple can
not afford a laser scan and CNC setup to scan a part and then just tell the
machine to make one.

How about some type of stylus setup for duplicating a part? A stylus tied
in in parrallel with the cutting point on the a mill which allows you to
trace over a part will cutting a piece of stock? Does it exist? Is it
practical? Maybe just for rough pieces?


Its called a Tracer Lathe or Tracer Mill.

I just gave a Cadillac Tracer (lathe) away the other day.


Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

On Mon, 6 Oct 2008 18:19:33 -0500, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:

...
available in 2D versions for engraving work and a few 3D versions for
small cavity and relief work, mostly for making coining dies. The 2D types
were all mechanical. I don't recall how the 3D ones were set up, as I
haven't seen one for 30 years. Deckel made some really fine ones. These
may still
...

I'm still kicking myself, I stood by at an auction and watched a 3D
pantograph go for $400 with a very complete set of tooling. Commercial guys
won't bid on one.

Karl



If...if you have the room...a Gorton P2-3 is a wonderful thing to
have in the shop

http://gorton-machine.org:8080/machines/index.html

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

Jim Wilkins wrote:
On Oct 6, 5:10 pm, "Bob La Londe" wrote:
How about some type of stylus setup for duplicating a part? A stylus tied
in in parrallel with the cutting point on the a mill which allows you to
trace over a part will cutting a piece of stock? Does it exist? Is it
practical? Maybe just for rough pieces?

Here's an early machine tool that duplicates a master part:
http://www.nps.gov/spar/historycultu...-blanchard.htm

It's in the Springfield Armory museum in Springfield, MA.

Interesting that it compares to a key-cutter.

You might look at one of those for the basic elements to copy.

I sold one recently for $50.

Bob La Londe wrote:
Alright, I have been thinking about this for a while. Most of us simple can
not afford a laser scan and CNC setup to scan a part and then just tell the
machine to make one.

How about some type of stylus setup for duplicating a part? A stylus tied
in in parrallel with the cutting point on the a mill which allows you to
trace over a part will cutting a piece of stock? Does it exist? Is it
practical? Maybe just for rough pieces?




I'd much rather have a molecular storage scanner and reproduction
unit.... Set the part on the table. Scan it. Push the duplicate button
and the MSSR uses the various atomic structures in the air to produce
however many copies you want..

Of course this device is not yet in production BUT....


For a more practical item a stylus mounted on a pantograph with a few
digital encoders to provide input to a cad program might work. Sort of
like the 3D modeling that can be done using a stylus pad and CAD.

--
Steve W.


----== Posted via Pronews.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.pronews.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups
---= - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

Steve W. wrote:

(...)

For a more practical item a stylus mounted on a pantograph with a few
digital encoders to provide input to a cad program might work. Sort of
like the 3D modeling that can be done using a stylus pad and CAD.

Faro Arm. Mmmmmmm.

http://www.faro.com/SelectCountry.aspx

--Winston