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Posted by MetalHead on February 27, 2006, 7:52 pm
Too_Many_Tools wrote:
> We are in the fortunate situation to have been given access to a shop
> with MANY aluminum dropoffs for a period of time. During this time, we
> can have any of the 6061 dropoffs that range from circular pieces to
> pieces of plate to square/rectangular pieces.
>
> So with the bonanza standing before us, the question is what should we
> take before it disappears?
>
> Considering that storage is always a concern, what are the "useful"
> pieces that one should salvage for later robotics construction?
>
> What shapes, sizes and thicknesses do you find useful in your robotic
> construction?
>
You don't say what size robots you are building.
For small machines say under 18" in length:
1/2" square bar stock is nice for making bearing mount blocks.
2" square bar stock is nice for mounting gear motors (bore, slit an
edge and tap to make a heat sinking mount clamp).
1" - 3" round bar stock is good for wheel hubs.
If you have access to sheet metal forming tools 0.050" sheet formed into
a shallow pan will make a pretty decent chasis for this size range. With
no sheet metal tools, 0.090" - 0.120" sheet can be sawn directly into a
base plate and hardware screwed to the top.
I built a machine in this size range for doing software development for
a motor controller system I am working on. As I am finding that I enjoy
the mechanical construction more than the software development, it was fun.
Good Luck,
Bob
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> with MANY aluminum dropoffs for a period of time. During this time, we
> can have any of the 6061 dropoffs that range from circular pieces to
> pieces of plate to square/rectangular pieces.
>
> So with the bonanza standing before us, the question is what should we
> take before it disappears?
>
> Considering that storage is always a concern, what are the "useful"
> pieces that one should salvage for later robotics construction?
>
> What shapes, sizes and thicknesses do you find useful in your robotic
> construction?
>