Well, I am at it again.
I've have for ages wanted to fabricate a tube notcher.
I had originally considered incorporating it as part of my lathe setup.
It is great to be able to look at what others have done before deciding what direction I would go in.
There are several really good setups out there, but I eventually decided to base my project around the attached model.
Where I come from they sell for about $1800.
Way too expensive in my book.
I guess a lot of that is profit, shipping and taxes.
I missed out recently on a different setup, that was top notch, it was near new second hand and in really good condition.
Anyway, much of this build will be done by my local laser cutter.
Taking a step back, the setup I've chosen uses a self centering vice which helps keep any diameter sized tube in the same centre line.
I had earlier considered designing my own set of jaws and centering vise, but it was going to take a lot of time and maybe several protypes before I would be happy with it.
As luck would have it, I discovered a Forum where a guy had posted a drawing of a self centering vise project he had come up with.
I joined the Forum and was able to acquire a set of decent drawings all legit.
I then took these electronic drawing files to my local laser guy, who converted them to metric dimensions and will cut the pieces out for me to use 8mm bolts instead of 3/8".
I will post the pieces once I get them back from the laser guy.
