Chasing Perfection…or a working Prototype

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last update here, but work continues on the little coaster. This time, CNC work is focused on tracking material. For the ride track I intend to use HDPE and LDPE. There are a few strategies in mind, but it’ll take some testing to see if they are successful.

A 6x6 HDPE sheet

With every piece of material there are slight imperfections. Usually, there is some warping in the material and the key is to flatten out the stock prior to detailed work.

You can see in the picture above the lines created by a facing cut with a quarter inch end mill. The next operation was to drill the through holes for mounting to the supports. These holes are 1/16 inch.

So. Many. Brackets.

The third operation after facing and drilling was contouring. The contour cut was supposed to stop with 0.02” of the bottom of the material; however, due to what I mentioned with material warping a few parts cut straight through. This resulted in piece going airborne. Sigh…

Regardless, I will have to improve this process going forward. For now, I have machined around 128 track brackets that will satisfy the ride’s supports. There will be specialty brackets for any bent that has varying track angle and horizontal curve.

So. Many. Chips.

This is just a little update, and I hope to be publishing the next video soon! Also, if you haven’t yet, check out the Patreon for a deeper look and more behind the scenes information. Subscribers to the Patreon will be given a better look into real ride design and my methodologies for creating working coasters!