Cam Operated Reverse-Armature Rotary Machines - The INDEX Rotary

the cam driven design is pretty much a slingshot with a cam lobe instead of a drive bar. i have put a lot of time and thought into this, and i really believe a cam driven rotary with dampening is the best way to push a needle in. of course i am keenly aware that every artist's hand has different preferences. i believe this cam design is the best for all-around use, and for the greatest variety of artists. i am just going to list my reasons here for you. i'm not trying to force my ideas on you, i just want everyone to see where i'm at.

1. the cam driven slingshot is precise and predictable. most rotaries have some play in the mechanism. this play causes shock damage to the parts, and makes the device very slightly imprecise. i have been wrestling with this issue since my first build. when the cam style is adjusted correctly, there is no play in the mechanism. this makes for almost robotically precise perfomance from the machine.

2. the needle acceleration curve produced by a cam is OPTIMAL in my opinion. i have used the cam style in ultralight delrin and heavy brass a bunch in the last week. the way the needle increases in speed and pressure against the skin feels super perfect to my hand. again, your hand may be different and not like this sensation.

3. we don't have to make a frikkin drive bar. the drive bar is a bitch to make, really. we have some manufacturing in the works which will make them more accessible, but for now we hand mill them out of delrin. it's too time consuming to make this part by hand. every one is different and gets adjusted to match the machine it's on - no two are alike. we can't overlook how horribly inefficient this process is when they can basically be printed out by a computer.

4. they are quite easy to repair and get parts for. there's really nothing to them but geometry, and a motor that's being treated rather gently by the rest of the mechanism. the parts are easily accessible from me or from the hobby store, and they are all identical. we basically cannot survive if we have to keep repairing machines - we need you to do it like you do with your coil machines. we made these so anyone who can turn a screwdriver can fix them. no rotary lasts forever although i have seen some pretty miraculous performance from most of mine. if we streamline our operation by shortening our time spent in the repairs department, we might be able to stop worrying about bills and start getting ahead in life. since our clients really punish our machines, i will end up replacing motors on a lot of them. the repairs will be cheap or free, depending on the circumstances. i'm committed to this knowingly and gladly, but i do like to make time for other projects.

the cam driven slingshot can be very simple or very fancy. at the moment we are primarily building brass ones with very little extraneous bling. the first round will all cost around $450-$500. when we make aluminum ones they will be around $400, and the hand milled delrin plastic version will be around $350.

to sum up, the cam slingshots drive a needle well, are easy to repair, and easier to build. our aim with this design is to make a device that has a fair price tag, works well, repairs easily, and lasts a long time.