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looking for a machine capable of cutting solid polycarbonate sheets 1-5mm

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DiTBho:


my pellet stove had pieces of ceramic in the upper part, which broke because they were too fragile and positioned too close to the door where the pellets are inserted

I redid them both in polycarbonate, using the ceramic pieces as a template (their fragmented pieces temporarily glued together), then I softened the curves with sandpaper

it took 18 hours to make them

jpanhalt:
Why use polycarbonate?  That is my least favorite plastic to work with.  For the pellet stove, why not aluminum?  It's easily machined, filed, etc. and colored or coated.

DiTBho:

--- Quote from: jpanhalt on April 09, 2024, 09:56:40 pm ---Why use polycarbonate?  That is my least favorite plastic to work with.  For the pellet stove, why not aluminum?  It's easily machined, filed, etc. and colored or coated.

--- End quote ---

The primary reason is that I don't pay a penny(1) for polycarbonate sheets  ;D

I have a friend who sends me free polycarbonate sheets classified as "industrial waste" that has been discarded because  of defects, but which I can still fully recover.

Usually if a whole sheet of polycarbonate is 1000x600mm, with thicknesses ranging from 1mm to 5mm. When a solid sheet is discarded, I manage to recover 70% of its area, in the worst case I obtain many small pieces which can still be used to machine small parts.

Many parts of the bicycle are made of aluminium. The brakes, the derailleurs, the wheel rims(3) ... every now and then I file, cut, fix, polish those thing

I find it much more difficult to work with aluminium, both because I would have to wear a closed mask(2), and because I have to anodize, de-anodize (in soda caustic), rather than polishing with a brush using the natural aluminum oxide.

Furthermore, both the drill bits and the files are different. For polycarbonate I use wood tools, which are not suitable for working with aluminium.

(1) in return, I gave my friend about two dozen wheelbarrows of wood, already cut to size for his fireplace
(2) aluminium dust is toxic for the nervous system, but is also harmful to the pulmonary alveoli
(3) lately I've been using (experimenting?) wooden and resin rims, same concept, but better than the one used in the 1940s

DiTBho:



this is the aesthetics of the pellet stove with polycarbonate parts.

I would say...not too bad.

I showed these stove pieces to basically show some of the things I would like to do with a CNC machine

the goal is to take less time and make 100% reproducible parts

jpanhalt:
@ Post #18

We disagree on the relative risk of debris from machining aluminum.  Its particle is usually quite a bit larger than anything that can enter your alveoli.  If concerned, mask wearing is sufficient.  On the other hand, what about fumes from resins?

Anyway, 'free" costs less than per pound surplus aluminum sheet/plate.

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