Personal Fabrication Update

I've been spending the last few evenings manufacturing Contraptor elements. Tonight I've half-finished some sliders (I need to find a source for UHMW PE channel to complete them). I'm getting faster and more accurate. Tony G. says that he cuts aluminum with his carbide-tipped blades in his saw, so I gave it a try tonight. I used the cheapie Mastercraft mitre saw instead of the Makita with the expensive blade. It's noisy but it works. The 8.25" Mastercraft blade is only 24 TPI instead of ~ 60 on the Makita, so the edge is a little rough. But it's square, and takes about 1/10 the time of cutting with the hacksaw. Especially the 6063 square tube.

I'm using the template method on the sliders, but gluing the paper on with spray adhesive. I mounted the template last night, and then did all my drilling and countersinking tonight after it had a chance to dry (I went a little crazy with the glue, but that made it easy to adjust the positioning). I don't have a 6-32 tap, so I didn't tap the holes. I may try using steel 6-32 screws as a poor man's tap. Tomorrow night.