Death Star Plans, Data Card - All Metal

[alexbailey]

Inspired by work in this thread

Many thanks and appreciation to genZOD - for posting the plans in the thread linked above.

Started work on this, just a test of the engraving, worked well the actual.
Finished piece will come out of ground tool steel, which is very flat and doesn't need machining on the face. Therefore will have a nice even surface finish.

Before and After

And after cleaning up the burrs.

 

[alexbailey]

Started on the actual parts engraving the back to start. The profile will get cut on the other side, along with the circle pocket for the gold insert.

Blanks to start with, 70mm x 1.5mm ground gauge plate.

 

[alexbailey]

Here's the main part finished. now have to make the circular insert and the base section

On the fixture plate after machining the final side.

You can see the tabs holding the part to fixture plate, these can be easily cut and then cleaned up on the linisher.

 

[Halliwax]

how did i miss this!? love it

 

[alexbailey]

Had a first go at machining the brass insert.
I had some initial success with this approach, using CA glue to fix the brass to an aluminium block, however when I did the engraving it wasn't flat enough, the engraving looked uneven. As I attempted to face the sheet to get a level face the glue failed, further experimentation to follow.

Success to this point. ill get some more photos showing the issues.

 

[alexbailey]

This is the fixture plate I used for the first engraving attempt, some grooves and holes to help with the glueing and de-glueing .

This is what was left after is flew off the plate while I was trying to face the brass level, I tried engraving the sheet brass without cleaning up the face. This was somewhat successful however the flatness wasn't good enough, you can just see this in the width of the engraving lines - thicker on the left and finer on the right. I think my mistakes here are, I need to plan to face the material, so start with thicker material probably 1m and finish at 0.5mm. Secondly while facing use a smaller tool reduce the forces on the work. Finally I will probably use a different fixturing technique, I will likely use a similar approach to the one I used on the other piece (see previous posts). I was keen to try the glueing and I may well persist with a few more attempt.

 

[ApostleofColor]

Woah I’ve been trying to make a double sided one for EVER. Following this

 

[alexbailey]

I have machined a brass part for the data card. Decided to use double sided tape to hold it to the fixture block. This worked much better. Combining better holding with a smaller diameter tool I was able to skim the brass to get is flat enough to engrave evenly. Happily after carefully removing the disc from the block, using some heat, I was able to use the same double sided tape to stick the parts together. Now onto the slightly thick block at the bottom.

A selection of action shots.

 

[zenix]

Woah. This is going to be way cooler than the ones I made.

 

[alexbailey]

Made the base sections of the data card.

Slot for the card to be glued in.

Here's the arc cutout feature and then got the darker texture by heating it up with the blow torch and then dunking in water. With this tool steel it also hardens the steel but this is only a side effect to the nice colour and texture, now just have to glue the card into the base.

 

[alexbailey]

Now finished, I think it turned out well.

 

[division 6]

Beautiful work.

 

[alexbailey]

Beautiful work.

Thanks

 

[Halliwax]

Incredible build

 

[thawn_es]

beautiful!

 

[almar bouwman]

Looks awesome!!

 

[alexbailey]

Looks awesome!!

beautiful!

Incredible build

Many thanks all.