Pushing My PocketNC as Hard As I Dare - Optimizing Mini Crew Dragon Production

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I decided to refine my process for producing baby crew dragons, so I could churn out models on my PocketNC as quickly and reliably as possible. I also added some finishing touches to the capsules using a 3D printed fixture.
The model I used was made by Thingiverse user Zastro.
You can find his model here: www.thingivers...
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[@StephenCoda]

You could warm up your dragons so they expand a bit to get the magnets in.

[@adamgordon9128]

11:39 That transition was 800 grit level smooth

[@zugly1999]

have you ever used sandpaper that has 0.3 microns grit? i tell you, it leaves a perfect polish on steel

[@FutopiaAD]

If you’re going to mill the bottom anyway, you could just start the bottom cutoff to indicate position, and finish it with a hacksaw. Perfectly legit.

[@billstrahan4791]

Check out loctite retaining compound. Not thread lock, but retaining compound. Tolerant of .001-.003" slip fits, and it would be the perfect thing for the magnet in this case. It is designed for permanent attachment on cylindrical fits. I also like press fit and sometimes a shrink fit by heating the female part first, but retaining compound works so amazingly well and can be removed with moderate heat if needed that it's my go-to about 90% of the time these days. Hope you'll check it out.

[@genioee]

Absolutely awesome that you let us in on those very professional "make it perfect" thoughts and tricks!

[@javipk7]

the one with the magnet could levitate and be a cool floating gizmo

[@DarkAeroInc]

Really enjoyed this! Your breakdown of optimizing the machining to cut down the time was great. 😊 We keep talking about getting one of these Pocket NC mills. They just look so fun!

[@WinstonMakes]

It's probably the best way to learn the fundamentals of 5-axis and prototype small parts if you're not ready to drop 5-figures on a big machine. Wouldn't do production work on it, unless it was plastic or very small aluminum parts just due to speed, but it's still handy to have around.

[@CrudelyMade]

if you could create grooves to slot fins into, you could get stock closer to end size and machining time would be cut down by at least 80%. but you'd need a separate function that creates fins, and then you glue or friction fit them in. the overall time savings would be huge. less than an hour per.

[@eHappie]

I didnt even know this was tool existed!!!

[@SantaDragon]

12:35 "nonsense" fits very well xD

[@RobertCowanDIY]

Dealing with heat from cutting aluminum is something I've dealt with a lot before. Take bigger cuts, cut faster, and use an air blast. If you're generating heat, your doing so because of friction. Nice work!

[@SimplySpace]

Pretty cool! Spacecraft models and satisfying machining footage, you've got my subscription.

[@Lossanaght]

I know the Dragon doesn't use a fairing but making one for it anyway would make for really classy on brand reusable packaging. Oh and fill it with black foam with a little spritz of white paint to make a starfield. Or run fiberoptics through the foam and have it light up the stars when you open it.

[@WinstonMakes]

The fairing packaging a cool idea. Would be quite fitting for an X-37 model, since it does launch in a fairing...

[@Lossanaght]

@@WinstonMakes How about painting the box to look like the Vehicle Assembly Building.

[@WinstonMakes]

I like the idea but it doesn't scale up. Painting is a time intensive process. Ink transfer process might work better, or use a vinyl cutter as a stencil.

[@bentlikeitsmaker]

polycarb mix filaments may handle the heat also look into this stuff from loctite 680

[@RichardCournoyer]

Good stuff, thanks for the chuckle...PLA...yeah......HOT.

[@sevendesign1805]

Have you ever used a dead blow? IMO, they're more efficient at energy transfer than a rubber mallet, as the mallet likes to "rebound" after it strikes.

[@davidfarmer]

Pro tip for setting your stock stickout: Follow this guide and enable manual passthrough in the post processor: knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autodesk-hsm/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-use-Manual-NC-options-to-manually-add-code-with-Fusion-360-HSM-CAM.html Make a Manual NC operation, change the type to passthrough, and put this code in the box. Change T6 M6, and H6 to the tool you plan to use. Inspect the point end point of the stock in fusion, and take that absolute y value and use that as your Z value on the line that containes g43. T6 M6 G53 G0 z0 G53 G0 X2.5 Y2.5 A90. B0. M0 (Z stickout) G0 X0 Y0.125 m0 G43 Z2.545 H6 F20 M0 G53 G0 Z0 G53 G0 X2.5 Y2.5 A00. B0. run this operation at the begining of the setup, make sure your stock is not sticking out too far so it wont crash the tool, also you may need to add about 0.020in to the z stickout value depending on how much takeup your collet has. The manual passthrough is extremely useful since you can write in manual code, and not have to add it in manually after each time you post it, and its saved in fusion. manual passthrough is possible on any fusion post. for you router it would be useful as a pin stop, to but the edge of stock up to.

[@bobedwards8896]

I would make this hallow and screw together, top cone part onto the cylinder body with the fins. you could probably cast these too.

[@DPTech_workroom]

Awesome Job! When I will make a 5 axis mill I will try it too!

[@prescientdove]

beautiful work! im a little confused as to why the pocket nc is so expensive.

[@Vohtwomax]

Just wondering if you had thought of doing milk turning? Rotate the B axis while slowly ramping in on Z to take off the bulk of the material. Would probably work for the top side and the underside to potentially save even more time? However, I’m not sure if the machine can handle it either? Something to look at, if you haven’t already.

[@cayenne7792]

I thought by law you were only allowed to make turbo impellers with this machine : )...very nice work!

[@nakulverma7148]

Beautiful as always Winston, thank you.

[@RexusKing]

3:38 Was the tape used to prevent chips from getting into the machine?

[@WinstonMakes]

Not into the machine, but into threaded holes used for mounting workholding/accessories. I'm a little OCD about vacuuming them out every time I check on the machine, so I decided to bypass that problem completely by covering them all up.

[@AntiViGames]

@@WinstonMakes Can't you make something to thread into it and close it off?

[@marios.9191]

@@AntiViGames May be screws.

[@TommyAlanRaines]

Could you have used bar stock that had a small dynamiter, to have achieved a similar result in material reduction? Also could machine an Aluminum fixture to hold the capsule for other machining and eliminate the worry of the plastic one melting?

[@teeengelke7275]

Nice work Winston. Quality video. Adds are annoying but congrats on the sponsor!

[@housdrmoon]

interesting work!

[@davidhashimoto665]

Hopefully the creator of the stl files is o.k with you selling these.

[@deeeeeds]

The model is released under a creative commons license. As long as he attributes the creator (which he did in the description) he should be fine.

[@owenyang3193]

You should make pen housings shaped like dragon 2 and crew dragon as pen caps then sell them as collectibles.

[@garagemonkeysan]

Great video. Awesome fabrication. Beautiful capsules. Mahalo for sharing! : )

[@alexreid4131]

You are a genius sir!

[@jarredmay7496]

I would totally buy this

[@buckbuck4852]

Solid slugs for shotgun nice 👍

[@shinevisionsv]

What is the music called in the background? Found nothing in the description. Thanks!!

[@gagikbuniatyan8360]

Can it use stainless still? What a price?

[@BreakingTaps]

Great stuff as always! :)

[@ryanlopez4550]

Need to send these to that guy who shoots all the different shotgun rounds

[@nerys71]

Taoefladermous!

[@scotttod6954]

Omfg you have to send some of these to Taofledermaus. These would be perfect to test at Mach speeds!

[@MarinusMakesStuff]

Wow Winston, I love these! You could even make a launcher with an electro magnet that creates an opposing field when you push a button ;) Or, if you send me one, I will make a launcher that's 3D-printable and create an instructable on it (and make it all open source).

[@PPYTAO]

So cool!

[@dannyd8799]

Can you replace the drills in a pocket NC. I want to use a diamond drill bit

[@WinstonMakes]

You can install any bit that you can fit into a standard ER-11 collet, but you should also consider whether or not it's a good fit for the machine. Some diamond/grinding bits for a Dremel may not work well at the lower speeds of a PocketNC V2-10. And abrasive dust from materials can damage the machine.

[@diegor1115]

Do you think the NC could do titanium?

[@Spaminator2277]

Nice video. I hope you have the license to produce this model in series!

[@ReckItRob]

I recently saw on NYC-CNC John using hot glue for holding parts when cutting off tabs, do you think a similar method would work at 6:30 when you hold the dragon capsule with your finger, by filling the apposing side with a blob of hot glue to keep the capsule steady (without need for your fingers) :-)

[@sevendesign1805]

I'm going to try that next time. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@nocturnalman]

you know things get real when you bust out wolfram uhuh

[@boaz2578]

Wow, this is amazing and I want one, just subscribed. I’d pay $50 for one with a magnet

[@SeaTurtle1122]

Honestly $50 is a bit low for something like this. 3+ hours of machine time and more than an hour of active time, plus the cost of the stock.

[@gawni1612]

dude is that a mini 5 axis mill?!!?

[@mannycalavera121]

These machines capable of full simultaneous or just positional?

[@WinstonMakes]

Full simultaneous 5. But can't target the facets of an STL file to use those more advanced toolpaths like Flow in Fusion.

[@mannycalavera121]

@@WinstonMakes didn't even know you could cam from an stl.

[@hansdietrich83]

@@WinstonMakes would love to see a follow up video, where you model it yourself and then do full 5 axis mashining

[@scvideoguy1]

are you selling these? If so where?

[@casperjensen4156]

Nice work:-)

[@ahschornjesus]

Why not make a brass coin with your logo that is impeded into the bottom similarly to how you did the magnets.

[@MuhammadAhmad-we5qz]

is the model published under a commercial license other wise selling them might get you in trouble

[@WinstonMakes]

CC 4.0, commercial allowed.

[@troy4393]

A larger issue would be any implicit trademark on the design of the capsule by SpaceX, and they've been known internally to not be very tolerant of that sort of thing.

[@twobob]

@@troy4393 Surely not? Provisional multi-billion tech and they don't want it copied? Churlish much. ;)

[@gawni1612]

um holy shit where do i get a tiny mill like that????????

[@apieridgmail1515]

What CAM software are you using?

[@balkedaquino1268]

Can u do a video talking about different types of cuts cause rn that sounds like foreign language lol

[@bluejayfabrications2216]

So you took a file from thingy now your machining it and plan to sell it ?

[@WinstonMakes]

Pretty much.

[@nova3d173]

Cool Roket. Are you interested in trying 3D printer by the way? Maybe we can cooperate on it?

[@caseyhoke2362]

So are we able to buy one?

[@WinstonMakes]

Not yet.

[@sochyvonnnora6035]

Cast it instead

[@nerys71]

I will EAT SOMEONE to get one of these..... SOO neat!

[@mror6895]

Just got lost on The Ethernet... Again

[@chronokoks]

It evades me why people on small weak machines use adaptive (trochoidal, dynamic etc etc) and claim they want higher efficiency.... it's actually quite sad

[@gregadams3931]

Huh

[@xmattar]

Tesla bullets Eco friendly And noise free Kill people 7 times faster