03-23-2015, 06:55 PM
Nice project! I'd LOVE to make something like that.
How are you going to make the "male" part of the ball detent indexing? I might attempt doing it the hard way with a concave "corner rounding" type of cutter. Of course it would be easier to spot the locations on the back side and make a punch and die to press them in.
OTOH, does the mechanism actually use the male side or just the female side where it's so easy to just make the pattern with an appropriate ball end mill. Nothing would appear on the other side that way though, of course.
I wouldn't use aluminum, too weak for the forces it will see. I'd use 316SS or (at least) 304SS, or a regular steel and chrome plate it.
You should be able to get a close enough measurement of the ball sockets with a simple radius gauge, no?
How are you going to make the "male" part of the ball detent indexing? I might attempt doing it the hard way with a concave "corner rounding" type of cutter. Of course it would be easier to spot the locations on the back side and make a punch and die to press them in.
OTOH, does the mechanism actually use the male side or just the female side where it's so easy to just make the pattern with an appropriate ball end mill. Nothing would appear on the other side that way though, of course.
I wouldn't use aluminum, too weak for the forces it will see. I'd use 316SS or (at least) 304SS, or a regular steel and chrome plate it.
You should be able to get a close enough measurement of the ball sockets with a simple radius gauge, no?