The "Jester" Milling Machine

Aluminum Mold Cutting Machine

. . . . . . . . . . . . The Jester was designed to cut aluminum molds . . . . . . . . It is named for the voice in my head that drives me to do things that people say are impossible . . . . . . . . They said nobody would want a machine made out of plastic . . . . . . . . They laughed at Roller Blade Bearings riding on Gas Pipe . . . . . . . . Then when the bearings worked they said it was an old idea! . . . . . . . . Everybody knew about Roller Blade Bearings but nobody said anything! . . . . . . . . They said you can't cut aluminum with a homemade machine! . . . . . . . . Then when people cut aluminum with my machines they started saying steel . . . . . . . . 10,000 members and only a handful of finished machines! . . . . . . . . 10,000 members and they only have 300 or so messages per month Now! . . . . . . . . Now I am their JESTER! . . . . . . . . They bought $800 stepper motor systems without having a plan or clue! . . . . . . . . Some went on to upgrade to servo systems . . . . . . . . At best a few hang glider style machines were cobbled together and then sold on Ebay for parts . . . . . . . . Buying a $1000 servo system does not give you a design degree! . . . . . . . . It was fun but sad to watch! . . . . . . . . I coined the name "MOTORSPINNERS". . . . . . . . In any field you have to learn the basics . . . . . . . . When somebody starts to spout ask to see pictures! . . . . . . . . Get ready for the excuses . . . . . . . . Seven years worth . . . . . . . . Be careful there are people out there who will Email you work done by someone else! . . . . . . . . That's why they won't make them public! . . . . . . . . I have seen it all over my eight years in this hobby . . . . . . . . Learn to use the Internet Wayback machine in order to learn how old a website is! . . . . . . . . Look up: http://members.bellatlantic.net/~barrel/ it was where I first sold my CrankOrgan Booklet in Aug 2000 . . . . . . . . On October 19,2000 at 7:48 am in meassage 13366 I announced to the world I had a set of plans! . . . . . . . . How to Make a Simple CNC Machine was launched . . . . . . . . The fat heads immediately started picking on my website . . . . . . . . I had switched from Bell Atlantic to a FREE Geocities site . . . . . . . . There was a tiny popup ad! . . . . . . . . So I quicky realized I was dealing with people who did not care about me or my ideas! . . . . . . . . That's when I stated picking on them! . . . . . . . . Where is their machine? . . . . . . . . It's Seven Years Later and I am still here!!! . . . . . . . . Show me! . . . . . . . .

        The "Jester" was a personal challenge. I gave the name "Jester" to that voice in my head that says what if?  When I was younger I was fascinated by people who built machines out of simple easy to find materials. The one thing that bothered me was their plans always required welding or a home foundry.  So as I got older I put my thoughts into designing things that are Cheap, Simple and Easy to make without welding, a home foundry or a complete machine shop.  The "Jester" is the result of that kind of thinking.
          If you surf the Internet you will find people who have used inepensive square steel tubing. I bought my tubing at my local home center. After looking it over I saw quickly why they had poor results. Welding this stuff is a big mistake, it bends when it gets hot. It also has other problems.  I found a way to work around these problems.
         This project was built in order to see how much machine was needed to cut aluminum and to test routers and spindles. I learned several important and not so obvious things. There are more expensive materials I could have used. I decided to really keep things cheap and simple. Most of the machine was made with a hacksaw-drillpress and belt sander.
         I set out to cut aluminum at 1/16 deep and 1/8" at 6". I never bothered to get a 1/8" collet for the Porter Cable so I did my tests with a 1/4" bit. Lets just say my jaws dropped when I saw what this machine can do. This project is not for beginners. Although it is simple and cheap to make it requires the use of calipers and the know how to use them.
          The booklet is a 29 page step by step build. When I say 1" Square Steel Tubing, Angle Iron,Roller Blade Bearings,PVC,Delrin you have to know where to find these materials and how to work with them. This project is not for a beginner. Check out my other mills if your are a beginner. This project can also be taken further by using a better leadscrew and aluminum instead of some of the PVC parts. This booklet is $36 and it is only sold to the US and Canada!


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