Enough fucking around… The VariGage

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

Well, After some time thinking about it, it’s time to take things into my own hands and design what I want, the way I want it. Since it’s shortly after my 34th birthday I’ve realized that time is getting short and I have to forge ahead.

Hence, the VariGage. I’ll change the name later but it suits it just fine for now.

The prototype VariGage. Not much to it right now but the implications of a miniaturized version are great.

The prototype VariGage. Not much to it right now but the implications of a miniaturized version are great.

This device will allow for a multitude of gaging options with full communication between the anvils and expansibility. Gagemaker makes something quite similar however, mine differs in a number of ways in both design and use.

  • Affordability, the average machinist should be able to afford a unit to fit in their repetoire. While it’ll be a very expensive tool, it’d be nowhere near the 12,000 bucks or so of the GageMaker device.
  • Anvil communication. The device will communicate with the anvils allowing for future use of anvils that weren’t available upon first creation of the device. also this allows for cheaper calibration of anvils rather than the device itself.
  • The device is motorized. It will position itself to the desired location and hunt when the user is pressing and calibrating a gage on the device. The final version will involve a clutch to allow rapid hand positioning
  • Light weight with modular display design.

These are a few of the differences. The market is completely different from what GageMaker sells. I’m not even completely sure it’s sell able but I simply have to build it. I have a few other ideas and designs I have to get done but this is the first in the line and I think it’ll be very interesting when done. Heck, it’ll be nice to have if I go to another shop even, who knows. :)

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Three years at Rejent!

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

Well, It’s been three years at Rejent (plus a week). Since I haven’t updated in a while I figured I’d go through some of my Solidworks files and post a few of the things I’ve worked on during my time here. After looking through the files I am quite amazed at how freakin’ many parts I’ve worked on over the time I’ve been here. Hundreds of different things!

Anyways, here are some pics of a few things I’ve worked on during my time here, albeit a very limited selection of them.

That was just a few of them that I randomly found, nothing too crazy since some of I couldn’t really show. Well, let’s see what the next few years brings.

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The project is finished! And other goings on.

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

I have just finished the project that has taken up the last 3 months. Delivered to the customer and they are very happy with it.

A view from above on the two sizes we made for the customer.

A view from above on the two sizes we made for the customer.

I’m so glad to be done this project. While it wasn’t a terribly long project, I’m glad it all went off without any real problems. It measures better than they’d hoped and it’s a pretty attractive little package, for what it is. Next iterations will be significantly smaller and I will look at new encoders to use.

Also, as an aside I have set up my new office. It’s nice to get out of the basement. I now have a lot of free room now so it’s nice to spread out and be able to sort through all my shit and set it up as efficiently (for me) as possible.

This is my new office for 2013. I have a new computer coming soon.

This is my new office for 2013. I have a new computer coming soon.

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Final version of Digital Gage almost done!

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

This device is almost complete. Yes, It’s missing its buttons but the device seems to work well and nice and smooth. The real anvils are almost done and the device will ship to our customer fairly soon and I’m glad to see these guys be done!

DigiGage top Digigage from the right Digigage from the top panelThere are still some tweaks to make especially in the realm of overall rigidity but overall it’ll be a neat device to attempt to bring to market in different ways.

 

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An update on the ol’ measuring tool

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Steven Mackaay
The prototype gage and the gage ring. looking good so far.

The prototype gage and the gage ring. looking good so far.

Well, it’s coming along with some speed. I am now going to build the final version complete with internal battery charging, better logic and a severe reduction in mass. Hopefully this will go down well with the customer.

The display of the gage. the large 18650 batteries are housed in the right hand side. This will be rectified in later versions.

The display of the gage. the large 18650 batteries are housed in the right hand side. This will be rectified in later versions.

Anyways, this post was for posterity. As always I hope it turns out well. :)

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The Electrolytic Deburring Machine

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

Something I haven’t worked on in a while but is coming up is my new electrolytic deburring machine. I figured I’d post a couple of pictures for posterity.

In it’s current state, it does work to a degree. I need to work on the chemistry of the fluid. Right now it seems to just pit the material. Perhaps the voltage is too low or too high but I suspect it’s purely a lack of conductivity or the incorrect chemistry for this type application.

Eventually we should be able to deburr cutters and various other items. Just thought I’d share.

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The Mitutoyo AT715 and me

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

It’s been a while since I’ve posted and that’s primarily because I’ve been working on a project. I have to keep some of the details to myself but I will show some pictures of the prototype that has taken me a couple of weeks to design and build.

The precursor to my project, the Ultigage.

The precursor to my project, the Ultigage.

The device uses the AT715 from Mitutoyo and what an interesting device it is. With a resolution of .0005mm and an RS485 interface, it is an ideal device for measurement and for use on machines. The device, which uses magnetic induction, uses 30ma whereas a lot of other glass scales use up to 250ma @ 5v. This is a pretty cool device.

The prototype board for this device

The prototype board for this device

Well, I can’t get into a great deal of detail because the product I have in mind may compete with other gaging companies like Gagemaker with a universal, handheld, high precision, digital gage that has active, rugged and dynamic probes. The images shown are that of a rough prototype, I’m not normally secretive but once one is built in a few weeks I can post some images of the more refined version.

After all, this is simply a post for posterity. :)

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A quick little game, Pongo

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

I’ve been playing around with Game Maker HTML5. Pretty neat I must say. This game is pretty simple and revolves around multiple balls flying along the screen and you protecting your net. The grey, recently created balls do not count as a score so you can ignore them. Nothing special really.

pongo

Well Check it out!

 

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A look at Rejent Tool in 2013

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

Well things are proceeding apace in the shop these days. Over the last two years we’ve been pushing ahead and growing the shop in terms of equipment and technology.

I have a couple of photo’s, taken from the same spot over a difference of a little over 2 years.

A look at rejent too in November 2010

A look at rejent too in November 2010. a little empty looking.

A look at Rejent in February 2013

A look at Rejent in February 2013. A Bit messy since the machine on the right has just been moved in.

You can see that the shop is much fuller and has much different machines in it. We’ll see what the next couple of years brings, perhaps a new shop?!?

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A Simple Die

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

Just posting some images of a die I made. It came in for servicing and so I decided it’s be prudent to post some images of it for posterity.

A broad view of the simple die, it just simple accepts conduit and punches a couple of slotted holes in it. nothing special.

A broad view of the simple die, it just simple accepts conduit and punches a couple of slotted holes in it. nothing special.

A closer view of the die. As you can see, the punches and dies are both insertable. Since the material it punches is quite thick, the gap is quite large, like .006"

A closer view of the die. As you can see, the punches and dies are both insertable. Since the material it punches is quite thick, the gap is quite large, like .006″

Anyways, nothing too special but I figured I’d keep it here for posterity.

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The YIHUA PS-3010D DC Power supply – Quick Review

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Steven Mackaay
The glorious PS3010D with its blinking segment and cracked screen. The front panel to the screen was cracked because I flicked it with my fingernail seeing if I could shake it a bit to make the segment work. Nope, just cracked the screen.

The glorious PS3010D with its blinking segment and cracked screen. The front panel to the screen was cracked because I flicked it with my fingernail seeing if I could shake it a bit to make the segment work. Nope, just cracked the screen.

Having needed an adjustable power supply with a bit more current, I decided to buy this guy for about $140 off Ebay. I’ve played around with it a bit and I decided to review it because I’m sure there are a lot of people like me who buy cheap test equipment. You don’t pay much and you can’t expect much, but you can just hope it does the job.

I performed a few tests that you can see below:

So, if you looked at the values shown, you’ll see it works OK. Anyways, here are some pros and cons to this device.

Pros:

  • Cheap
  • Reasonably effective
  • Knobs and switched feel good
  • Nice high current for a unit like this
  • Nice grill effect over the LED’s make it look like a dot matrix LED
  • Standard size case

Cons:

  • LOUD LOUD LOUD! Not quite vacuum cleaner loud but louder than anything else in my office.
  • Front power connectors are kind of flimsy and cheap
  • Displayed and measured values do not quite jive
  • Does not have a handle on the top, it’s nice to have a handle on test equipment

Otherwise, the unit works as expected and I’ll write the LED flicker off as a coincedence. It’s too bad that it’s so loud, they could’ve used a different fan or something, becomes a real distraction. If you need something like this that produces 30V at 10A, this may be good purchase.

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My bench as of January 2013

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Steven Mackaay

A quick post, a shot of my work area as of 2013. Still not tons of equipment but it works.

labpano

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