Page 145 - CNC Robotics

CNC Robotics

A little rust won't pose a problem but does add clea ning wo rk to
the pro ject. Take a look at the rusty material I picked up at the
scrap ya rd. The first order of bu siness is to cut the material to
length. I have a n abrasive chop saw to use for this pu rpose (see
Figure 6.3),

Figure 6.3
Steel in saw ready for
cut.

The material is heavy enough to tip the saw when clamped in
place, so I supported it at the far end. Ide ally you wa nt a cut that
is square to the sides of the material; as long as you don 't use the
ends as a mating surface for a nything du ring construct ion , squa re
cuts don 't matter. Having the pieces cut to length, I fit them
together upside down on a flat surface, or in my case a reall y old,
wavy, con crete floor (see Figure 6.4).

It won't matter if the surface is perfect because when you cla mp the
pieces together, the frame will straighten out. After the cutting and
fitting (to make sure I hadn 't made an y mista kes), I cleaned the sur-
faces that would be in contact with one an other (see Figure 6.5).

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