Hand Duplicator

Hand Duplicator

Hand Duplicator - A simpler, hand operated machine, without a pantograph mechanism is shown in Fig. This gives a 1:1 copying ratio and is designed for two and three dimensional hand copying of dies and moulds from same size masters. It is particularly suitable for producing spark erosion electrodes and prototype components.

Hand Duplicator

The two horizontal slides are mounted on recirculating ball bearing sleeves, and the slides allow the cutter and the stylus to move freely in any horizontal direction. The cutter and stylus are mounted on one common apron, and their centre distance spacing can be varied between 229 mm and 305 mm. Both these spindles may be tilted through 30º on either side of the vertical, for dealing with vertical profiles.

Vertical movement of the apron is through two pairs of short, parallel arms the vertical movement is 38 mm and the parallelogram movement ensures that both the cutter and the stylus always remain vertical.

The movement of the cutter and stylus is controlled by the hand lever through the linkage arms, and balance weights provide a balanced movement. The cut is applied by the force applied at the handle by the two hands of the operator, with 2*3/4 : 1 mechanical advantage.

The cutter is driven by a rope belt to give twelve speeds over a range of 1600-20000 rev/min. To increase the output from the machine when more than a single component is required, a second cutting spindle may be mounted to enable two components to be machined simultaneously.