678-929-7294
LOGINBig Blue Saw Blog
General Updates
- Details
- Written by Simon Arthur
- Parent Category: Big Blue Saw Blog
My favorite features are
- The glowing indicator light made from a uranium-glass marble flanked by six high-power UV LEDs.
- The fact that it can flip itself over and run upside-down just as easily as right side up.
Most of the external metalwork was done by Mr. Lindsey, but he used Big Blue Saw to make the internal frame. He writes
The primary chassis of the robot is made from a single piece of waterjet-cut steel plate from Big Blue Saw. I was originally reluctant to order parts made for the robot as I wanted as much of it as possible to be hand-made, but having parts custom-cut turned out to be a very good idea. I was able to get some very complex and organic pieces of metal made with great precision, which eliminated issues with servo alignment in previous versions.
Read more about it at his blog or see photos in the Flickr photoset.
- Details
- Written by Simon Arthur
- Parent Category: Big Blue Saw Blog
- Details
- Written by Simon Arthur
- Parent Category: Big Blue Saw Blog
Our online quoting system now supports metric units in DXF files. If your DXF file has its default measurement unit set to millimeters, the your part will now show up as the correct size.
- Details
- Written by Simon Arthur
- Parent Category: Big Blue Saw Blog
{yuizoom ratings-june2009-small.png|ratings-june2009.png} Most stores that use Google Checkout have listings on Google Shopping that shows their seller rating. We don't sell stuff that could be listed there, though; everything we make is custom! Thus, you, our customers, can't see our ratings. So I thought I'd post our ratings here for all to see.
Our average score is 4.8/5. Nobody has rated us lower than a 4/5. That's pretty darn good. Thank you, customers!
- Details
- Written by Simon Arthur
- Parent Category: Big Blue Saw Blog
We are proud to announce today that Big Blue Saw is now offering a brand new service: low-taper waterjet cutting. We have had many of our customers tell us that they needed a more accurate machining technology than what we offer with our ordinary waterjet machining, and this should help meet their needs.
In the image above, you can see the effect of low-taper waterjet cutting. Both parts are identical in design (the "butterfly" example from the part upload page) and stock material (0.75" thick 6061 aluminum), but the part on the right is made with low-taper waterjet cutting. Each of the parts above rests on its machined edge on a flat surface. The face of each part is shown placed against a machinist's square. The part on the left deviates by a couple degrees. This is referred to as taper. However, with our low-taper waterjet cutting process, the taper is eliminated and the part sits perfectly flush with the square.
Many of you will want to know if you should order low-taper waterjet cutting or stick with our standard service. In general, our standard service is less expensive and is appropriate for many uses. However, for thicker parts and for pieces which must connect or touch other parts along the machined edge, it's very worthwhile to order low-taper waterjet cutting.
For instance, you probably want to use standard waterjet cutting with these types of items:
- Instrument panels
- Signs
- Stencils
- Decorative pieces designed to be viewed straight on to the original material face
- Enclosure faceplates
Low taper waterjet cutting works better for:
- Gears
- Bearing blocks
- Thick parts that fit or slot together along their cut lines
- Thick pieces that must rest on the machined edge
To order a part made with low-taper waterjet cutting, just choose the "low-taper" option when adding the part to your shopping cart. That's it!
For more information, see our FAQ on low-taper waterjet cutting.