there are loads of guides to building retro pi machines. but this is a slightly different build as going to use 1TB SSD image so will be running an SSD drive on a pi 4 B
So why am I doing this well I was going to put together a retro flag GBI 2 but as raspberry pi modules are limited supply here in the UK/World Wide I decided as I had a pi4 B gathering dust I would review a different case that supports SSD drive.
I have been wanting to build something that I can let my son play with as he is a little young for the ps5 or the VR headset. I was looking at desktop cases and then found argon one v2 with USB SSD support.
A little bit of an update will be building a reviewing a GPI 2 in September as have managed to buy one in Germany and ship it to a hotel I will be staying in so I can get around being outside the European Union. 2022 issues I hate that we left not going to get political.
So what you will need to build this
Raspberry Pi 4 Modle B.
Small micro sd card.
1TB SSD drive.
Argon one v2.
USB adapter for SSD drive.
pihut argon one adapter for SSD 2.5 drive.
game controller Xbox pc controller I had kicking around
Burning the image:
Now for the fun bit, I tried this process with the 1TB image and the imager took around 8hrs it didn’t like it so instead I’m using etcher software to create the SSD image I have the drive in a quick swap 2.5 enclosure USB C so loaded the .img file into etcher and hit write
Bear in mind this is going to take a long time to burn at least 3hrs once it’s done we are ready to build the system.
Didn’t work again argh so after joining rick dangerous discord group and chatting with him and some of the great users I found 2 issues one I had a bad drive enclosure not compatible with raspberry pi. 2 the retro flag enclosure I had originally brought didn’t want to work so I sent it back and off the group recommendation I brought an argon one v2 and USB drive housing for it off pi Hut. that turned up surprisingly quick. Rick’s discord link below and his youtube channel.
I also learnt from rick about the about-to-be-released version of his drive the [1tb]-Rick.Dangerous.Insanium.Edition.RPi4. Over 60 systems and 8,400 games on board and growing with user input.
A week later it launched and I downloaded it off Usenet 3hrs 30 with the new version I then imaged to a SSD drive from an old project that I had kicking around the workshop. it ready to use. more information can be found on the link below.
this isn’t too complex you will need to put the heat sync tape on the 2 chips mentioned in the documentation. once they are done place the pi into the enclosure at this point you will need to plug the sideboard into the audio and HDMI ports and power then insert the pi into the gpio pins will post some stock images below. 7 screws and it built
Plugged in the power and turned it on wow Rick’s image is awesome some screenshots are below and it’s continuing to grow. this is on my 65″ 4kv and there are a lot of systems from my childhood. I will be having a retro night soon.
I will be doing a full review of the drive shortly once I get back from holiday and work commitments
ricks also going to develop a hand-held version for the GPI 2 I will be coming on the journey shortly with the discord team.
sorry, not a lot has been going on have had a bit of a day job work overload going on and will be going on holiday for some RNR hoping for 9 days off when I get back more stuff coming up.
So this week will seem very busy but it’s not as it’s been over several weeks.
accounting +
let’s kick things off with accounting + a very rude but fun game this is definitely an 18+ game that’s very twisted have spent about an hour diving into this game and well it’s just plain strange it involves puzzle-solving and rude anecdotes from the different creatures you meet in the game. so what do I mean well I have helped summon the horned beast from hell and I have had to battle in court with a tiny lawyer. it’s one of the games that is very much for a cult following as it’s hard to categorise what it is. just expect a lot of f-bombs and another Rudeness defiantly one I will go back to.
Addictive puzzle solving with no plot just a lot of rude words and jokes jumping from area to area in a random way characters that you have met in other scenes will come back with a new seen one cursing you for getting them in trouble. there is zero chance of motion sickness with this game and can be played sitting down.
£8.99 on the quest store
3/5
I expect you to die
I love puzzle games saw this when it first came out on the psvr just was having issues with space in my room so didn’t buy it but now I have the quest 2 so why not and seeing as I love puzzle games. This is a great game for sitting down and solving puzzles so I am 3 missions in and they are getting harder it involves you exploring the scene finding clues and then opening up parts and adding bits to machines very good for true puzzle-solving experience in vr.
It has a lot of moving parts to solve each mission. it’s my nightly game for winding down at the end of the day some parts are timed so you have to work quickly have only had to look at a walk-through for help once but defiantly worth checking out. only frustration is timing of some of the puzzles currently stuck just got to get the timing right oh wait i thougnht it was over but its not played another 2 mission i presumed it was over due to the data disk wrack was full just stuck on the last mission.
at £18.99 it’s a little more pricy but I do like these games I will be buying a second outing once I have completed this one.
5/5
Population:one
a Fortnite-style game that involves climbing and building and shooting so what not to like about this multiplayer game. I have done the training and played a few matches against others seems fun I will be playing more over the next few weeks as love first-person shooters.
the only thing I hate so far is lots of kids chatting shit and in one multiplayer game, someone was trying to chat someone up. so a little off-putting but this is the joys of multiplayer without your friends. seems solid and they are regularly updating the system so I’m sure the kinks will be worked out.
Will give it some more gameplay and report back on it.
price wise it’s up near the top price bracket at £22.99
2.5/5
A Fishermans tails
This is a great little puzzle solver animated adventure that threw me at first but soon got my head around it after tutorial loving it so far and I am only on the first hour of play no issues playing seated again easy-going game for someone who wants to unwind for the day.
lead for a great night’s sleep last night this reminds me of an old pc game black and white a god-type game. the key to this game is perspective as you are a wooden fisherman within a world within another world and loving it so far. The only annoyance is you need to complete each chapter otherwise it don’t save.
3.5/5
1976 back to midway
this is based on the classic arcade game that i grew up with it comes with multiple control options from joystick to actual VR stick control loving it a bit more clunky than the original.
good for a short bit of fun one to fill some gaps from time to time not sure its worth the £10.99 price tag there is a demo for you to decide.
1/5
Robo recall
This is one of the reason I is why I brought the system and it dose not disappoint fast base action with cheesy one liners great replaybility it’s a nightly pay for buy me have not finished the game yet but will update this post with more as I play
5/5
Walkabout Mini Golf
Fun for the whole family nice easy to play mini-golf game mutable courses to play and lots of challenges not had the time to play as need to stand so only when the wife has gone out
5/5
Pistol wiped
Just wow love it cool tracks so much fun to play hooked will give you a sweet on even when sitting will be.playing this some more I am sure this will just get more complex good physics and speed top play so far this evening.
5/5
The Last Clockwinder
the clock master has vanished the clock tree needs maintenance and you are set logic puzzles to help save the tree you can use your army of robots who will mimic your movements to achieve these tasks.
you start off having to get access to your robots this was tricky as i did not know what was going on but soon figured it out then once
took me 5 mins to get my head around the physics after that loved it spent a good hour picking berries and delivering them to the machine. that was the first puzzle done.
one I will be keeping on my device.
4/5
Vr sports
Was a little disappointed at first with one but once you have got the movement down it’s good fun but not one I would have rushed out and brought but hay it’s on there but have a feeling it will be removed for better games as I get them.
2/5
Wings 1941
New game and what a fun little 8bit battler your hand controls the plane and trigger fires the machine gun’s left hand is your magnetic grab loot and health. i played through the first mission and loved every second of it a great on to play if you like the 1942 sort of games
this will be a regular play and a great new game for the oculus
4/5
World Of Mechs
as someone who remembers playing mech warriors in submersive VR back in the early 2000s in the Trocadero in the west end. so to have this advanced version is great to me was having issues login in so will report back about online play soon.
4/5
Down The rabbit hole
Alice in wonderland game with puzzles and interactive storyline have just added it to m list on my device and had a good 30 mins playing good graphics and so far great fun
I finally bit the bullet and purchased a 256GB Oculus 2. I have previously owned the PSVR but had issues with space in the house so have shipped it down to my holiday home in wales so i felt the time was right to get back in to VR. why now well as someone who is going to start to travel again I wanted something fun to go with me on my journey.
well, let’s get started what’s in the box?
charging plug adapter
USB C cable
2 controllers
1 silicon cover
1 glasses adapter plate
head set
So I started by charging the headset as I always like to do to make sure I can test things out so let’s start with the set up you will need an app on your phone and a Facebook account and payment method you will then need to link the headset once done your ready to go so out with the first run app and got to learn movement and grabbing shooting etc. fun for five mins. over to the app store have chosen a few games I wanted to play and downloaded them with a slick interface and easy to use.
lots of games to choose from have selected a hand full of games I will be reviewing shortly.
Battery life is good at around 1 hr 40 mins approximately not the 2hrs that’s stated
functionality so far so good managing to play with a smaller playfield than I could with psvr with the latest firmware update there’s also hand physics in play to will be testing this out shortly as look cool.
loving the updates and more features on the way including streaming high graphics over the net it’s beta atm but looks promising. as yet to try pcvr link but will be covering this soon.
There has been a lot of flack about having to link it to facebook but this don’t bother me as people were complaining they were being baned on Facebook for breaching rules but that won’t affect me as not that rude on fb or chat rooms.
pros
constantly being updated games are being patched so always involves
a good selection of games at reasonable prices
big community on Facebook
great for 3d playback content.
play games for free in development by side-loading them.
good controls.
cons
I hate the standard strap too loose for me.
Battery life could be better.
Misting on lenses when playing physical games
Controllers straps
Games I primarily downloaded to play
Beat sabre
I expect you to die 1&2
Walkabout mini golf
robot recall
rec room
metaverse
big screen
+more
will be reviewing the over the next few weeks I will be adding them to my collection.
Accessory and improvements
Straps now there is an elite strap with extended battery connection I there are issues with these snapping so I did some research and decided to go with the bobo Vr m2 pro strap with the hot-swappable battery pack I managed to get this on offer for £39 its now £60 so look out for deals on amazon.
Next up i wanted to get rid of fogging so again after strolling through the FB group bobo VR F2 fan came up and i brought this too and yes its worth the money no fogging is dropped in price since i brought it now £30.
the final upgrade I went for was the kiki grip upgrade for the controllers with ring protection as seen some horror images of damaged controllers and I didn’t want to add to them. splashed out £39 on these but make them comfortable to wear.
is it worth getting yes it is love it so far has been a blast playing some games yes it connects to the pc as well just don’t have a pc that’s powerful enough to test that out yet but I am sure I will be buying one soon enough
so games range from £40 to £4 for a game it can be played seated or standing up and has a great anti-collision system built-in that you can customise your space for play so you wont punch a wall tv etc.
So far not had any motion sickness but still have a lot of games to test out you can add side loading and pcvr if you have a supported graphics card.
lots of games in development with a side loader you can test some out before release and more experiences.
Yes, there is a way to play a lot of games for free using bootleg loader but I won’t go into this as I tend to pay for all the games I play. yes, it does work and google-fu will definitely give results.
there is a 2-hour refund policy if you don’t like the game you have paid for I am yet to test this out.
There’s a great Facebook group for chatting with other users. one word of warning if you are outspoken on Facebook and get banned a lot might want to use a secondary account for your device as banned in one banned in all.
lots of kids in multiplayer mode but more on this in another post.
anyhow let me know your reviews of games I should play.
Don’t worry about me giving up just diversifying and adding my other passions to the site so will be reviewing games and hardware gadgets and more I will and adding more skills to my arsenal. I know I said this before but this time I am going to do it might even do some travel reviews as the world is opening up and I am itching to get out there.
So when is this going to happen well it’s already starting shortly your going to start seeing gaming reviews and hardware equipment. being added here.
Phase 2 will be domain name swap with the new site going live hoping by the end of summer. will be cleaning the blog up by giving them each area on the site I will also be running trying to run a daily blog and might even try some vlogging.
as always I am looking for sponsors and freebies to review as any help will be appreciated.
So as some on who loves to problem solve I thought I would share my first world problem and solution. So during the lockdown, we purchased a hands-free foaming soap dispenser this thing has had a mind of its own as light-sensitive so have moved it around the downstairs bathroom and now randomly dispenses soap on the floor so have decided to make a catcher so it will go in the sink.
So out with callipers and radius tool, this is a game-changer
now I have some radius and dimensions I have made a simple sketch infusion 360 that i will now take from 2d to 3d.
I then printed a small test form so I could make sure it fitted the operation as didn’t want to make a 17hr print to find it did not fit.
test print just to make sure all is wellfront is a tight fitrear wont fit
ok so have adjusted from the wall to the front lip as 96mm fitted front but there is a 2mm deviation further you go to the corner. So now ready to print the 94 mm version just need to order some PETG in white that will be here tomorrow before I kick off the 17hr print might even film it for fun.
Time to print fingers crossed this will fit.
so will check back in the morning to see how it’s done as it’s only 54 mins in time to play some VR on my oculus quest 2 before I check in on it again. woke to spaghetti filament had jammed thankfully it stopped itself. So away we go again.
3hrs in will check back later
16hrs om there’s been some warpages on the base but should not matter 1hr 50mins left I’m going to bed report back in the morning.
Well, the results speak for themselves and works well I might add some foam tape to fix it in place as it does move when pushed.
As my pc died over Christmas I have been putting this off for a while but now want to make some bits and the CNC will be perfect for this so I am going to get the machine working. and do some more modifications to it on the route. this is a 3040T Chinese milling machine.
I am also going to try CNC carving and milling with fusion360 as prior I have used other packages but seeing as fusion 360 is my go-to for design. as I learned on AutoCAD it shares a lot of similarities. more on this later.
The Story so far
This is so you don’t need to go back through the site. I brought this machine thinking CNC was easy as 3d printing and laser cutting it’s not. had the machine collecting dust for a year. during lockdown made an enclosure modified the machine to add some custom made end-stops and got rewired it and had a light bulb moment. then made a custom wast board with threaded inserts.
So as I wait on components from china for the cave monster time to clean out the enclosure and add make some bits to make my china CNC machine great and teach myself some more about CNC.
the spoil board is where I got to last time before the crash. and was working on a custom dust shoe. then other projects took over so I’m now going to start to make more stuff on my machine. So this I blog of my progress. see the photo montage below.
Time to clean my machine
As the machine has been sitting for a year since I last switched it on.
Before I get started getting a feeling I am going to need to clean the cooler water for the CNC machine, Ok not terrible but needed a cleand as organic material in the bucket. out with the old and time to clean the bucket fill it with some a 50/50 mix so 5L anti-freeze and 5L of deionised water as then bucket should keep it nice and clean going forward. now to pump it through the system see the pink in pipes and check for leaks, no leaks.
Now I have a clean machine I now to set it all back up. so over to the pc well remote link to the pc as it’s cold outside. so installed a remote desktop on the cave computer and have the machine running as the control box is on.
The Setup
Now to find my note as need to revisit them and get all the settings plummed back in.
Have installed mach3 need to install a plugin for the control board and MPG luckily have saved all this all in my dropbox so just drag and drop it all into my mach3 folder.
next up remembering pin set up so port 3 pin 1 = estop pin 2 = home switch pin 3 = limit switch and pin 4 = probe plate. so into inputs check there all right and enabled they are.
following the Chinglish guide, I go through the motor tuning and select all the right bits.
Config menu ports/pins
make sure all motor axis are selected
Next select input signals copy below
as i have added home and limit swtiches this is off wha the manual said now scroll down and enable estop and prob.all done
Now over to output signals tab.
now to click ok
Motor tuning for x y x follow below
now for A and splindle
now spindle
dont for get to hit save Axis settings after each change.
now one thing i forgot to set limits and homing that will mean your homing in revirse so on x and y dont forget to home Negtive only on x and y and your golden i have also set up the soft limits to prevent from crashing.
now to home the machine hmm it all z homes right x and y
adding edge finding and z zeroing tools scripts I highly recommend checking out
The legend that is Charlie Sarsfield followed his instructions on adding limit and home switches and his tool zeroing and edge finding scripts and install them
and now to make sure the machine spins and does what it’s meant to all works fine will be adding a new calibration plate so will test the scripts work like a charm
So the machine is back to working but me being me time to modify it some more.
Upgrading dust extraction system
before I start running some projects I am going to revisit the dust extraction as it’s okay just not brilliant lots of leeks for dust. so I’m going to make this modular and dust-tight hopefully I have added some fins to my dust shoe so it should suck all the dust-up am also adding parts so that vacuum tubing that will go through a flang that I can plug my shop vacuum in and out of. so over to fusion 360 to model the flange.
outer flange
now to test fit that before I make the inner flange. well it sorts of works i forgot to attach the inner tube so is floating so now making 2 outer tubes one so made them box the 35,2mm inner and then made so it will fit over the centre tube then enlarged it out to 36.5 mm with a 45mm outer
intenal section for hose attachementenclosuer external input
as for the tube end, I have made an inner opening end for 39.5mm and the flange end made it 35.2mm have then glued them to the flange. and screwed it to the enclosure. I forgot to take pictures doh here it is partly assembled with a vacuum hose attached from the vacuum end.
Have 3d printed a nozzle for the 40mm vacuum tube that I have a 5m length that i brought previously so I could extend the hose for the shop vacuum. I found a design some time ago and had test fitted it so I have cut down some vacuum hoses for the internals of the enclosure now going to print some clips to secure the hose internally to the roof of the enclosure.
all plummed in have ordered a new dust shoe from that has arrived fits well got to make adapter tube up infusion nothing flashy inlet side is 38.5mm and output of 36mm
quick sketch
2hrs later and it fits like a glove just need to trim down the hose lenth and install clamp
as now can plug the shop vac in and out. I might upgrade that too as is not too powerful think that will be next month’s shop if I feel it needs it.
Clamps
First up I needed clamping arms as I had a few issues with the tape method that everyone raves about. i might revisit this
so found some CNC clamps that I saw teaching tech use on a video so going to give them ago I will also test out some style ones as well as I need different ways of clamping down materials.
So new untested eSun PETG filament loaded into neon orange and away we go will check seems to be laying down fine layer 5 and only a little mess on the bed will check back later.
work fine now to re set up the machine
have now printed 3 diffrent styles will be testing them all out once I have the machine up and running. as we have some nice weather coming over the next few weeks willl get some diffrent materials as well.
3 different clamp types
I will be testing them all out I have a feeling the big one in the middle is too big for my hobby CNC machine.
have also designed my own one as well will do seprate post on that as this is already gone from being a quick post to entertaing me to another
Zeroing tool upgrade
Next up going to change my zeroing tool for a new one I have purchased off eBay.
new zeroing platedesigned to sit on corners and give true zero
as I was clever and used the power connector just need to unplug the old one and swap the wiring over now. All done and the magnet works well no hassle of crocodile clips well worth the £30
now back to the automated edge finder and tool z hight scrips now I know the XY thickness is 10mm and the z is thickness is 12mm so need to change the variables as shown below.
you will need to do this for all 4 scripsZ script
time to test the system
test complete have moved the plate off material and hit go to zero not bad going it a little off I didn’t set the tool diameter so that might be the reason it’s away from the corner.
Setting up Chinese CNC with fusion 360
Now I could do this using a different method as having used other CNC design software in the past and still have access to it but me being me decided I would go another route as keen to learn more about fusion as it is more than just 3d modelling tool.
So time to put some scrap wood in and see how we go, going to start with something simple as I am going to use my go-to program for design to try the manufacturing side of the program that I have no experience with so going to make a pocket in some wood with a simple part to see how it works.
as with anything design related i need to take some measurements so i am going to start by measuring my scrap of pine in the machine, I make it 200mm x 200 mm x 12mm then made a note of this so when it gets to it the program will know how big the piece is. i am going to machine is.
Next, i will need to make a list of tools as all the sample tools are developed for big milling machines with quick-change collets one day when I have a big workshop I will get a bigger machine. but for the time being, mine is only 3040 well actually it’s less than that more like a 3727.
time to gather some data for tools so I have ordered a set of six tools from china and with that i have the following data. so going to add them to the system along with some end mills and facing tools that I have in my collection.
incoming bits from china
I have also found prior information on some other bits I ordered in the past so been collecting them in a file to add as well.
will need to add these as well
The tool adding can be found in utilities under tool management
Click library then click the plus icon you will be greeted with a tool selection screen
you will be greeted with a tool selection screen screen
so in this case will be adding a 6mm end mill so I select the end mill.
Time to give the tool some description vendor name as I don’t have a link or id won’t add them.
tool i am adding
No to add cutter detail so I have this information on the tool
all the information added
I have copied speeds from another package as the default 5000 speed on the tool was mega slow. so have now upped it to 16000 and have calculated a minim feed rate 17.882 meters per min now running it 650 feed rate as 18 was way slow for wood.
now hit ok as don’t have a holder template for the depth of tool 0 as I don’t think it’s necessary as will zero tool after each tool changes this is more for an auto-loading tool machine perspective.
tool set up complete
So infusion I have made this test part nothing special just make some pockets and will do more if it works this is a stage of learning so let’s see how it goes.
test part is not needed for anything just a quick sketch to see if it works
Now to switch from design to manufacturing add the tools then let’s see what they do.
manufacturing mode
Now for the set up this did seem a little daunting in the beginning think I have figured it all out I am going to only use one tool as this is experimental.
Click the setup button I am first going to move the origin from the centre to the front of the design is the same as the stock size it’s easy just click the dot on the front. as show below
Origen now front of the pice.
now the stock tab I have changed the stock to be relative to the box with no offset.
The dimensions from earlier 200 x 200 x 12 and the stock match perfectly
Next to the program number and comment.
just added a comment and then press ok
now we have this set up I am programming in a 6mm end mill so adding to the tool library.
so have programmed this six mm end mill in as the quickest one to add
first up going to perform this in 2 processes first am going to be pocketing the selected areas in the design then I will boar out the corner holes.
so to start going to the 2d pocket will then set the tool as my 6mm endmill. I will then select the 5 areas that I need to pocket out. click ok next under the 2d tool panel i selected the boar function with a 6mm tool selected each hole all 4 of them. selected ok.
I have run the simulation and it all looks like a good time to test it.
time to test it.
Time to post-process it then load it to the machine. and zero tools find the edges and we should be good to go.
The file generated not sure if mach3 accepts that but let’s have a look
Ok, the .tap isn’t recognised as a file in mach3 but I duplicated the file and changed the extension to .gcode will now load this into mach3 and see what it spits out.
loaded as you can see thinks the part is top left corner need to zero the tool to material height and find the edges using the zeroing tool and edge finder.
right zeroed the tool correctly and fount the edges got to love the auto edge and z finder. as you can see the image has been generated to fit the stock
right that’s worked will run the test programme and see what happens to wish me luck. Ok, that failed as it went in the wrong direction. I think the Origen is reversed going to change that in Fusion 360 then try again.
ok, I am a tit missed out on something from setting up in the homing limits in mach3 doh so I needed to tick 2 boxes. now homes correctly. as I am here also going to set up some soft limits so this all works right.
Away we go slow but steady think I need to mess with the speed and feed as it’s in and going down yay and the clamping just failed.
fist cutfaild clamps let go
As I have caught covid again in bed writing this so have had some time to reflect on the failure of the first run. back into fusion 360
go tool management and time to set some parameters so Spindel speed upping to 16000 and 650 meters per min feed rate I have also added multiple depths so it will now not go down 18 mm and try cutting out so now have set it to 5mm per pass switched to 2D adptive clearing.
let’s try running this test program recalculated with new clamps fingers crossed, going to use the same blank as woods not cheap and being pine won’t kill me on the dust.
first, to zero all parameters so out with the new zero tools and find the edges going to jog the too over the zero probes I have a magnet connected to the tool then on mach3 hit tool zero. the probe will go down and touch the plate touch and retract then go to jog x side of the tool and go to offset screen and hit auto x will move to the x-axis side of the tool and retract repeat on Y size using auto Y same will happen tool will move to the tool and retract system all zeroed now to remove tool and magnet off a bit. hit zero and the tool will be sitting just above the bottom left front.
z zeroedx&y axis zeroedready to run
Now to start the program away we go.
working but feed rates way off so going to update .
so back in to fusion as my gcoding days are long time ago so i am letting the program do the legwork. as you can see scraps had some battle wonunds not to self dont go to zero all when tool is down in the wood hoping it will be machined over have stopped the job. time to restart it. as the rate it was running would have taken a long time machine. now upped feeds from 18 to 650 mm/min so will now run the final 4 pocket first one turned out well.
faster feed and we are finaly making dustafter a hoover a little tearout but mimal
so have removed one pocket out of the design i think will run some other processes on this modle as i go but will attach the dust shoe as well as could feel dust in the air. but think i am going to leave that for another post as this has dragged on all week.
Now that I have figured out the basics I want to try running some projects carving from an STL file. making a 2d PCB and then using a bit to drill make the holes and engraving tools to make the tracks on single and double-sided copper PCB board, make some complex parts out of aluminium and more. these will be broken into different learning posts as don’t want to bog down this blog so will be another post as I learn more about both the software and machine.
Parts Incoming just had a bumper instalment of bits. so will be a post about this soon as want to make this a quick to set up stable.
In this case, I have 50 wooden yoyos I will be customizing. so I needed to make a jig for doing 4 at a time as I have 6months to complete this job for my boy’s birthday.
so first up I have my yoyo. so out with flang tool and callipers
in this case, I have used this to make a jig to hold 4 wooden yoyos so in this case, I used my callipers to measure the radius of the yoyo height and then used the fillet gauge to work out the curved radius on the edge of the yoyos 11mm then using
So over to light burn as this is where all the engraving magic going to happen drew a rectangle 120x120mm drew a circle 52.5m then using the array tool made 4 circles I grouped them then centred them in the rectangle. now to save this file will come back later to use it for the job. will export the file as a .dfx
ready for export
Now to open fusion 360 to import the dfx into it. as I want things to match between the 2 files. now that I have my 2d sketch in fusion. time to extrude the base by 22mm I will then flip it and cut it to the base by 18mm with 4 pockets I then added the fillet tool using 11mm and ready to print.
Jig ready for a test print.
ok now to slice it and print it.
time to print.
now back over to light burn to finalise the jig. I have measured the inner dim of the yoyo to 41.32mm ruffly i am going to size the centre at 40mm across. so will draw a circle in the centre of each circle this is my outer engrave marker.
Now to make some trim lines as going to make a cutoff board with a cutout for the jig. as shown below will make a 120mm hole for jig and also cut the bard size down in size hopefully.
so the red line is the cut line the teal lines are frames so just show and don’t cut just marker.
after the initial cut, I will turn all red lines into frame lines
jig board is now made this will be placed on the laser bed at the beginning of running a job.
fixing is now printed I could of run this using my CNC machine to make it in a fraction of the time part but printed instead as my CNC machine needs to be set up as i had a drive crap out on me so lost all settings. that is for another time.
now to use it on my machine but first, a test fit wow like a glove. just got to finalise the design for my son’s birthday party.
will do some engraving next in the machine. all set up will do a test run soon and up date this post
the cut out for the jigThe jig fits well ready for test run
test run done just simple engraving on one to see how it works before I run more.
Dead center logo too small for detailMy son will love it though
well, this was a bit of fun for the 2-day quick project more to follow as love putting out these quick easy projects.
here’s is a list of tools I have printed and have found useful to help make create and fix issues in my workshop. these are all things I have tested and used in my workshop some have been featured by others but hay this is my definitive guide to what i am using in my workshop at the moment.
this is a must for workshops that have lots of small parts that they need to put in small draws. this is my go-to tool when I get boxes of screws in to sort into their draw project.
nice quick 1hr 32 to print nice and compact to store.
3. Airbrush Wall Mount Holder with Drip Trays & Anti-Tilt by cncartist file can be found here.
in my very small workshop means my airbrush is easy to access off this handy little wall mount.
4. Screwdriver bit wall mount by SaKes file can be found here
use this and its remixes for drill bits and all my quick release bits.
As you can see I have a whole collection of bits easy to access with these wall mounts.
5. Spray can wall mount by Isalvador file can be found here
great for clearing some more spaces off my shelves for more kit and tools got 8 cans mounted behind the cave monster might add more. as a nice quick print, any wall space is a game changer for extra space have since got carried away and done both sides of the racking.
6.Disposable Glove Holderby mkelly file can be found here
12h48 print but saved me around £15 buying one off amazon.
Been meaning to buy a glove holder to mount on the workshop wall, As I have a box of nirol gloves kicking round workshop covid/resin work/ resin printing etc and I found this box so 1 money was saved for the next creation.
Metric Screw Hex Nut byJigby HDRI file can be found here
was a little slap hand with the pen highlighting number works well.
Love this great for determining what size that bolt you need is within seconds just used this as had a screw was too long by 10 mm so placed it in the guide figured out it was a 40mm bolt and I needed 30mm also identified it was an m5 bolt I required. one for my small tools tray. great for sorting that box of mixed bolts I have kicking around.
Wall-mounted spanner holder8 pcs by DaFed file can be found here
more saving spaces in draws as every spare wall space is used in my workshop as it’s so small. found this the other week love it went for the 8pces version as just needed to clear some space from my toolbox and this worked for me.
there are more bits I’m currently printing and testing which I will add to this list in the near future
you will need a licence for fusion 360 I have a free hobby licence that is limited but till i get time to learn the cam side of the program it’s free to me unless Autodesk feels kind and wants to give me a licence. not that they will read this anyhow.
open up fusion 360
the file I am going to remix is this spray can holder.
Now to remix it or in this case, I am going to create 2 bars for aligning it on the wall by using its original parts as a template. over to fusion
then go to insert drop-down insert mesh
you then can position it how you want i this case will keep it as it is so select ok,
now press s on your keyboard then type mesh you will select convert mesh.
Now select the stl
then hit ok on defaults as all other options only in paid verison.
sketch will now look like this
at this point you can simplify the sketch and make it fewer polygons by selecting segments and removing them hitting delete as shown below
selected poligondeleated smooths up shapepartly cleaned
So why do this well on flat surfaces makes it easier to select planes.
go to the sheet metal tab select Create Sketch, you are now going to select face to edit.
select highlighted plane and click you will now see it like below.
I am going to start off making a bar so i am going to hit L on the keyboard and will give me a line command.
as I am using snap to have determined the endpoint where I want to start the line click mouse to start the line
I next go to the bottom right corner of where I want the box i am making to be this will give me a guideline.
like below can now draw the 2 lines needed
close the shape
Now hit enter.
so that is literally the only bit i need for my idea but actually going to 2 as I want the top and bottom lugs to make int to alignment bars. so going to repeat this process and then we will continue.
I am now going to remove the original part from the system as i have the 2 elements i require for the alignment bars as will be easier than removing all the material I don’t need.
then hit del and sketch will remain
now to extrude it on both parts 100mm as think it’s a good size so hit E on the keyboard when selected object
hit enter and repeat on the bottom section of the file now change view please not i have moved them together for illistations.
Now to make the parts you now want to go to utilities tab select make
select the parts and in chose options as 2 body will need to do this twice.
this next part is as I have set my Prusa slicer to open when I make them so at this point you could save them as stl
now the part is in my slicer i am going to set it up for print by changing position before i save it out as an stl.
first to make it flat to the bed i will use the place on face tool F for a quick keyboard cheat
will select the bottom face
part ready to print in this case going to save it as a stl.
click the part then right-click and select Export as STL
save and parts done. then added them to one file ready to print will show more detailed remixes soon
then its over to the printer via octoprint in my case and away it goes as i have doubled up the parts as to racks going on the wall will take 2hrs to print.
parts all done ready for a test fit.
perfect fit love now to glue them all in place.
can find my files here do love a quick 1 day project parts are in to finish off the cr-10 so that should be up soon.
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