Coupler/Drive Shaft

Due to complications with a purchase order, we decided to manufacture our own coupler and drive shaft with steel found around the shop. With the lathe, we produced the coupler that will be in direct contact with the outer ring and the motor drive shaft on respective ends:

Motor side of coupler

Coupler

Device side of coupler

In addition, we selected a steel rod to machine as the drive shaft. Before we can machine it, we need to determine the final positioning in the oven to determine its length.:

Drive Shaft Selected for Machining

Pins/Rods/Motor Completion

After changing a few designs for our motor, we assembled it. With the input of Mohamed, we decided to put "glove-like" material between the acrylic face and the oven wall  to prevent as much heat as possible from getting into the acrylic motor box. Our box will require two power sources, one for the motor and one for the Arduino:

Aiming to put the rods 120 degrees from each other in the inner ring, we threaded the ends of each of the three rods:

At the same time, we aim to machine the shafts on each of the rings today, 6 total, using the vertical machine. Given the large nature of the outer most ring, multiple supports were need to reduce the movement and vibrations associated with the cutting.We ran the tool at a feed setting of 5 and 1500 RPM:

As of 3:40 today, we were able to fully manufacture the outside ring and its spins effortlessly:

Ring Machining

Machining of the rings today out of of a half inch thick sheet of steel. We first cut out a piece of acrylic for the jig on the CNC machine:

During the machining, the support structures were tapped by Andrea and Dan:

In order to begin the machining of the rings, it was suggested that we drill and tap 4 holes into each of the three rings and attach them to the acrylic jig below.this ensures that he rings will not move during machining.

Machining would continue until roughly 7 PM, at which point, the first ring was finished and the inside of the second ring was in progress:

Machining of Stands

Having sent the Creo drawing of the outside stands/housing to Senior Lab Technician Mohamed Haroun, we were ready to machine. Essentially, the files were used in accordance with Mastercam in order to produce the desired G-Code. 

Consulting with Lab Manager Robert Stark, we were able to flatten the surface of two of our 6 bearings in order to easily mount them to the outside stands. This was done on the lathe. 

Adjusting the CNC machine accordingly in order to mount our first piece of stainless steel, our team was ready to begin machining after gathering the required mills/bits:

Initially there were concerns regarding the stability of the support structures. However, as the cutting process was nearing the end, one lab member used a glove to hold onto the freed side of the steel before pulling the piece away from the drill to ensure it did not come loose. The cutting process went smoothly and lasted roughly 2 hours for each side of the housing:

For the first housing piece, the order of the cutting went as follows: inside removal, drilling of holes, then outside material removal. For the second housing, we drilled the holes first, then went for the removal of the inside and outside in order to minimize the changing of the tools. Our final product:

In the meantime, Andrea also went to pickup our oven in New Jersey: