Baker Sonic Build

[socalswimmer]

This is the beginning of my baker sonic. I've used the dimensions as posted by Scarfwearer. So far, its just a wire model i drew in MasterCam, revolved into a solid for your viewing pleasure. The dims have been converted to inches since thats what my CNC is. I'll be adding drafting dimensions on another layer to the project file. The emitter will be a separate part in the same project, though initially it will probably be a solid piece turned. I've got to work out the toolpaths next, I work with a very limited set of tooling. First run of it will probably be scaled down, somewhere along the lines of the mini baker sonic by eddyc, made from steel. Once I refine the toolpaths the final will be aluminum at full size specified by Scarfwearer's dims. Eventually I'll be refining it even further to include the spring loaded grip ring and upper shaft as illustrated in the image posted by greatwazoo24.

Machining is not new to me, but MasterCam is. I made the mistake of drawing this at home on my demo copy I use for taking online MasterCam courses. Unfortunately it cannot be imported into an industrial use copy, so I have to redraw the entire thing at work. lol oh well

[greatwazoo42]

Look at it as getting more practice in with the new software.     Your initial drawing looks very good.  This will be a fun project to watch evolve.  Keep up the good work.

[socalswimmer]

well, I've messed with toolpaths and got my tool library loaded properly. trying to do some plunge turning, cant seem to get it quite right. needs a little more finessing before i go ahead and run it.

that may take longer than i had hoped, my car got stolen yesterday and i cant get to work anymore. updates to this will be slow, sorry

[socalswimmer]

Alright! It's finally time to continue this build. Due mostly in part to life in general, I've had this on hold for many months. Unfortunately, at this time I do not have access to proper size stock to use for a full scale replica, so I've applied a scaling factor of .652 to the rendering you see above. I have made 4 blanks for machining, so if I get these done in time I'll have Christmas presents for a few select friends.


this is the material before machining, .594" diameter mild steel. Makes for a heavy sonic for the small size


First, I had to modify my CAM drawing to machine the back side of the sonic first. This end had to be done first so that I can grip it in the collet to machine the other side. Not much to this side, rewriting the program and machining this end took less than two hours start to finish.


And there it is! The completed body of my Baker Sonic Screwdriver! As you can see there are a few blending issues (a change in the surface finish of the machined part) but these are mostly confined to the two smaller diameters on either side of the grip ring. A bit of tweaking with my G-code will hopefully fix that.

Coming up next: the emitter! This shouldn't be a problem to machine at all, but I think attaching it to the body will prove a small challenge. Since the end is so small, I'll have to drill and tap for a much smaller screw (actually both the emitter and the body will have tapped holes and I'll attach them by grinding the head off of a machine screw) and I have to very careful doing so in the manual mill.

[chriskingbees]

Wow, I like the look of this. I like the look of the digital micrometer, too


KB

[greatwazoo42]

Bravo and very well done!

[tailgunner30uk]

Nice work, steel would definitely make it durable.  Attaching the head was the part that caused me the largest amount of concern due to the small amount of contact area.  In the end I milled a recess in the head and a matching pin on  the screwdriver body  The parts were than joined with an epoxy.  This worked well for Aluminium, if the head is steel, being much heavier I am not sure if it would work as well.  I thought about a screw fastening but the small amount of area meant I did not feel it would provide any more support than the gluing method.

[socalswimmer]

thanks guys! tailgunner30uk, i thought about simply using a pin and drilling into the body and emitter and using Loctite to secure them, which I can do very reliably having access to a cylindrical grinder. I can drill and grind a pin to anywhere from a loose fit to an interference fit of .0003" perhaps that would be a better way to go than drilling and tapping, I was thinking of tapping a 4-40 thread into both the body and emitter and Loctite together. Its definitely durable lol

[socalswimmer]

So here we go with more photos!


chucked in my 2nd op lathe for drilling and tapping of a 6-32 thread in the sonic body


another action shot


the emitter heads after turning both sides


there there are, the little beauties! ready to be assembled!




against a scale so you can tell how big they are (or aren't!)


and the finished item! needs just a tad more sanding, 600 grit to even out the blending but overall fantastic imo


and of course, my beast. the only thing that made this all possible. since i dont have an engine or mini lathe to do this all on, the only way i can make complex parts is via CNC. LOVE this machine

There you have it! My scaled version of the Baker sonic is complete! I'll be making a full size out of aluminum shortly, and having it hard anodized to protect the soft metal. I may perhaps combine elements of different sonic emitter heads into that design. And I just might make it more than just a static prop, having the moving sections and all. Questions, comments, anything very welcome!

[tailgunner30uk]

Nice work, nice machining centre, I'll have to put one on the wishlist for Christmas....

A lot of the problems I have encountered whilst designing and manufacturing my sonic screwdriver have been, that although the design looks big, as more work is done there is less and less space for everything to fit in.  The walls in places are less than 1mm thick which can present a challenge when machining as gouges and buckling of parts is easy.