J
jimbo
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Greetings,
The way the device works is that the drill bit is a soft metal
tube driven by the piezo unit in a slurry of cutting grit (~100
grade silicon carbide) in liquid (mineral oil or water). The
action of the tube pounding grit against the substrate (jewelry
bead, gem, or anything with a hardness lower than that of the
grit) simultaneously eats away at the bit and the substrate, thus
drilling the desired hole.
From the design specs of manufactured multi-thousand dollar
units, it appears that I want something that drives a
piezoelectric transducer at around 40kHz.
I'm starting from square one. I can wield a soldering iron and
have played with the 300-in-1 type electronics kits a bit over the
years, but am not at the point of being able to design a circuit
for anything like this.
It appears that I need suggestions for:
1. a signal generator capable of operating at 40kHz (am willing to
experiment with different waveforms to see which is most efficient
at cutting)
2. an amplifier
- capable of good slew rates at 40kHz
- high input resistance matched to the piezo transducer
3. good candidate piezo transducer
Thanks for any help in advance.
--jim
The way the device works is that the drill bit is a soft metal
tube driven by the piezo unit in a slurry of cutting grit (~100
grade silicon carbide) in liquid (mineral oil or water). The
action of the tube pounding grit against the substrate (jewelry
bead, gem, or anything with a hardness lower than that of the
grit) simultaneously eats away at the bit and the substrate, thus
drilling the desired hole.
From the design specs of manufactured multi-thousand dollar
units, it appears that I want something that drives a
piezoelectric transducer at around 40kHz.
I'm starting from square one. I can wield a soldering iron and
have played with the 300-in-1 type electronics kits a bit over the
years, but am not at the point of being able to design a circuit
for anything like this.
It appears that I need suggestions for:
1. a signal generator capable of operating at 40kHz (am willing to
experiment with different waveforms to see which is most efficient
at cutting)
2. an amplifier
- capable of good slew rates at 40kHz
- high input resistance matched to the piezo transducer
3. good candidate piezo transducer
Thanks for any help in advance.
--jim