Introduction: See Through Gear Chain Guard
I'm making a thickness sander and I realized that there was a good chance that I would be able to do something stupid and get my hands / pants caught in a moving chain.
I decided to make a box for it out of clear plexiglas so that I would be able to see it running. I could have made it out of wood, but that would not have been as cool as this...
I decided to make a box for it out of clear plexiglas so that I would be able to see it running. I could have made it out of wood, but that would not have been as cool as this...
Step 1: Make the Vectors for the Box and Make a Cardboard Test
There are many laser box makers on the web, but the one that I like the best is http://boxmaker.rahulbotics.com/
All you have to do is to plug in the height, width, and length, and you have a PDF that you can pull into corel draw and you are well on your way to making a box.
I needed to make some changes to the files, so I regrouped the vectors for each of the sides. One of the things that I had to figure out was how I was going to affix the box to the thickness sander. I also had to figure out how I was going to get the box over the chain.
I always make a test box out of cardboard first. This helped my to visualize the problems.
All you have to do is to plug in the height, width, and length, and you have a PDF that you can pull into corel draw and you are well on your way to making a box.
I needed to make some changes to the files, so I regrouped the vectors for each of the sides. One of the things that I had to figure out was how I was going to affix the box to the thickness sander. I also had to figure out how I was going to get the box over the chain.
I always make a test box out of cardboard first. This helped my to visualize the problems.
Step 2: Laser Cut the Plexiglas
Once I was sure that I had the design worked out with the cardboard mock-up, I then laser cut the plexiglas.
I leave the paper on so that the soot does not get all over the plexiglas. If you want to see how to laser cut, check out this instructable:
I leave the paper on so that the soot does not get all over the plexiglas. If you want to see how to laser cut, check out this instructable:
Step 3: Glue It Together and Screw It On
I used weldon to glue it together. This instructable shows how to glue plexiglas.
After it was dry, I used a couple of wood screws to affix the case. Notice that the entire case is glued together. I made sure that I had hole pre-cut in the plexiglas to ensure that I would be able to attach the guard.
I am one step closer to getting this thing running. I get the feeling that this will never end.
I made it at Tech Shop
After it was dry, I used a couple of wood screws to affix the case. Notice that the entire case is glued together. I made sure that I had hole pre-cut in the plexiglas to ensure that I would be able to attach the guard.
I am one step closer to getting this thing running. I get the feeling that this will never end.
I made it at Tech Shop