# A good exercise for machinists and machinists to be



## PEU (Feb 9, 2009)

Today I found a nice cnc blog, spent a good couple of hours looking at different projects, one of them is making a turner cube. 
This kind of cube can be made on a lathe or a mill and given the precise operations needed to make them, I tought it could be a nice exercise to test your own skills.
Here is the link to the blog entry: http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCTurnersCube.html 











I know I will make one sooner or later, anyone else? 


Pablo


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## Nitroz (Feb 9, 2009)

Let me get out my dremel!








No way, that is quite impressive and awe-inspiring.


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## 1wrx7 (Feb 9, 2009)

That looks like a good home for a tritium sphere. Maybe some slots milled in the sides for viles as well.


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## StrikerDown (Feb 9, 2009)

Add a few button cells, a clicky and an emitter and... :twothumbs

That looks like a real brain teaser for a newby! 

Lets see the pics... Right Will!


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## tino_ale (Feb 9, 2009)

Excuse my ignorance butis this part supposed to be complicated?


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## PEU (Feb 9, 2009)

tino_ale said:


> Excuse my ignorance butis this part supposed to be complicated?



Yes and No, depends on the amount of metal you leave at the corners, more metal = easier... methinks


Pablo


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## PhotonFanatic (Feb 9, 2009)

In the time that it would take to make one of those, I could make a nice Ti flashlight. Hmm, Turner's Cube or Ti Flashlight . . . :devil:


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## greenLED (Feb 9, 2009)

Don't they (somehow) make those such that a sphere is contained in the innermost cube?


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## Anglepoise (Feb 9, 2009)

PhotonFanatic said:


> In the time that it would take to make one of those, I could make a nice Ti flashlight. Hmm, Turner's Cube or Ti Flashlight . . . :devil:




+1
Right on


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## precisionworks (Feb 9, 2009)

That cube is no sweat at all ... with an EDM


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## 65535 (Feb 9, 2009)

Hell I think the easiest way would be a properly sized 4 flute center cutting endmill and a cornered vice. Just milling out circles.


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## gswitter (Feb 9, 2009)

Took me a while to find it again, but I knew I'd just seen this exercise for sale somewhere.


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## gadget_lover (Feb 10, 2009)

65535 said:


> Hell I think the easiest way would be a properly sized 4 flute center cutting endmill and a cornered vice. Just milling out circles.



Easiest? Mount in the chuck of a lathe. All of the cuts are concentric bores, so 4 ( or is it 5 ) progressively deeper yet narrower bores, the flip to the next face and do it again.

Daniel


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## 65535 (Feb 10, 2009)

I think you would get less error using a vice on a CNC mill. 4 jaw chucks are either decent in run out or SLOW to center.


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## gadget_lover (Feb 10, 2009)

Add CNC and it MIGHT be quicker, but I would not bet on it. It would probably be slower take time to model it in cad, set up the CNC, mount and align the work, etc. To get more accurate circles you'd need to use a rotary table, right? And those can be a hassle to center.

You can center a block in a 4 jaw on a lathe just like you do with a mill by using a center punch and then a wiggler. 


But I could be wrong. I've never done that project on either lathe nor CNC mill.


Daniel


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## 65535 (Feb 10, 2009)

Too bad I was planning on getting a 3 Jaw chuck for my micro lathe or I'd try my hand at one of these. I may get a 4 jaw just to have one. Since micro lathe chucks are relatively cheap at under $200 for Sherlines and around $50 for other brands.

I think with depth stops and some quick spot drilling it would be pretty quick. I think the biggest thing is in the design phase choosing what sizes you like.


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## PEU (Mar 13, 2009)

Finally made mine, 35mm side cube:























Nice eye candy. I felt like I was cheating doing the part in the CNC mill, but I don't have a 4jaw chuck in my lathe. 
Good exercise, I enjoyed doing it.


Pablo


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## McGizmo (Mar 13, 2009)

Cool Pablo,
When I first saw this thread, the item reminded me of those amazing ivory balls that are intricately carved with something like 7 balls inside each other.


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