LED Cyr Wheel: Jig for groove
First, I got my HH-66 Vinyl Cement mentioned in the adhesives post. I tested gluing a piece of wheel together, and it works somewhat..although it takes a long time to dry and doesn’t do any “gap filling” like I was hoping it would. But, the real test is the pull apart test…and I was hoping it would be impossible (or really hard) to pull apart. Unfortunately, it is probably just as difficult to pull apart as the hot glue, and the hot glue has the advantage of quickly curing, and being able to fill gaps. So, gluing together is really not an option. I need to groove and fill over the LEDs with a filling.
I made my slotting jig , but I’m making modifications on the fly. First off, the height needs to be 1.5″ (plus 2*3/16, and a little more) to allow it to fit over a horizontal wheel piece flat on a table. I cut out two pieces on the band saw out of scrap maple:
I think they should be close together to allow stability once I move past the end of the wheel (otherwise, the line might not be straight at the end. I’m guessing 2.5″ or so.
I was going to make a wood top, but decided on a piece of 1/8″ aluminum I had laying around. It allows precise cutting on the mill. My router plate base has holes in an equilateral triangle, each edge 4″ long. I had to do some math to figure out how far to move each axis, and where the center of the triangle was at. Doh..it’s been so long since I did real trig that I had to look up my sin/cos functions.
I drilled a small hole in the center for locating over the tubing at the right spot; it will be enlarged to fit my router bit (1/2″, the size of the LED strip width). The bolt holes are counter sunk with a 3/8″ end mill.
Not much more done tonight…I’m taking my time! My first LED wheel was hacked together really fast.
