Thought I'd show you the setup for notching beams. Went to check the automatic uploads from my phone to find that somehow something had automatically made an animated gif of Surly working the Bridgeport:
A few observations:
- The rotary table and right angle unit belong Surly's shop-mate and patriarch to the Boston burners, Doug Ruuska.
- We had some crazy ideas for how to cut these before, such as using the type of heavy-duty hole saw used by some tube notchers, but they did not cooperate. This one relatively cheap end mill, however, is delivering the goods.
- Some of you might have noticed that piece of square tube securing the beam in the vice with an hex key. That's a jig to orient the beams for the cube corners. Once clamped into place, he can rotate the beam to get new notches at right angles.
- The most observant of you might have noticed that the beam Surly is notching is way too short to be part of the structure. You are correct. What it's for, however, will have to wait for another post...