Milling Rite

[pontiac428]

I might have a press for you. It's a bench top 12 ton. I'll get pics when I can. I bought it for automotive work when I was in Germany, now I've got my floor press back out of storage so the little guy is redundant.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

I might have a press for you. It's a bench top 12 ton. I'll get pics when I can. I bought it for automotive work when I was in Germany, now I've got my floor press back out of storage so the little guy is redundant.

Interesting capacity; I've seen some benchtop 6- and 10-ton models, but never a 12. And yeah, send some pictures; I'll be glad to look at it.

In unrelated news, I figured out why only four bolts were holding in the upper saddle/table gib: it's because the fifth one is a different animal altogether.

Pictured: At least this part is clean...ish.




Left-most hole with the shallow recess: that's the fifth mounting hole. You can see the other four in a line across, along with the set screws that adjust the gib; those are no issue, but the fifth one needs to be 3.25" in length, or so. I can probably come up with one of those, I just didn't have one on-hand. Nothing in that area of the saddle comes near the knee, so it shouldn't matter if the head of the bolt/screw is projecting.

Today's projects include hopefully getting those dowel pins removed, sizing and ordering new ones, and - le sigh - ordering gears. I haven't heard back from anyone aside from Maedler, so I guess that's who I'm going to go with.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

Slight Update: I got one pin out, but the other is in there TIGHT. I think that whatever broke it actually wedged it first, or otherwise deformed it. I center-drilled the first one and got an extractor in it, and it spun out without a great deal of protest...but that second one has already broken a bit, an extractor, a second bit and a small adjustable wrench, and it didn't care a whit about a rod being welded to it. So... I'm going carefully drill it to nearly the 5/16" diameter and see if I can collapse the remaining material, and then extract what's left beneath that. And since those bits are now among the deceased, I'll be trying to find replacements before I proceed.

Also, I ordered gears. So, small victory.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I looked at presses again just a minute ago, and it's - ...wait for it... - depressing to see how expensive they are. Without starting a debate, I can see why Chinese imports have taken over the market: they may only have 75% of the quality and 50% of the fit/finish of US-made options, but they offer 95% of the capacity at 20% of the price...and that's hard to ignore. $1300 for a 3-ton Dake ratchet vs. $250 and free shipping for a Vevor isn't even a comparison...and sure, it's not an equal comparison between quality, either, but the bearing being pressed off doesn't know that. I'm kind of tempted to get one and just tune/fix/modify until it works well; I can probably accomplish that for less than $1000.



I thought about surplus lab ovens just because of temperature stability; I used to do that exact thing with the toaster oven and a temp probe, but I got such unpredictable results and screw-ups (mostly with paints and coatings and stuffs) that I literally executed my toaster oven via firing squad. Might just have been that oven that sucked so much, or it might have been just me...but I thought that if I could find a countertop/shelf model, if might do well for me.

I tell ya what, that is a nice little press for the money.

VEVOR Heavy Duty Arbor Press 3 Ton, Ratchet Leverage Arbor Press with Handwheel, Manual Desktop Metal Arbor Press 21.5 Inch Max. Working Height, for Riveting Punching Holes | VEVOR US

Discover VEVOR Heavy Duty Arbor Press 3 Ton, Ratchet Leverage Arbor Press with Handwheel, Manual Desktop Metal Arbor Press 21.5 Inch Max. Working Height, for Riveting Punching Holes, Iron Construction & 3 Ton and Ratcheted Lever with Handwheel at lowest price, 2days delivery, 30days returns.

www.vevor.com

I had a #3 Dake, but I sold it wen I got my hydraulic press. Now I want this one for the basement.

Jerk...

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Slight Update: I got one pin out, but the other is in there TIGHT. I think that whatever broke it actually wedged it first, or otherwise deformed it. I center-drilled the first one and got an extractor in it, and it spun out without a great deal of protest...but that second one has already broken a bit, an extractor, a second bit and a small adjustable wrench, and it didn't care a whit about a rod being welded to it. So... I'm going carefully drill it to nearly the 5/16" diameter and see if I can collapse the remaining material, and then extract what's left beneath that. And since those bits are now among the deceased, I'll be trying to find replacements before I proceed.

Also, I ordered gears. So, small victory.

Use the easy button my friend.

I did a thing today, worked better than expected.

Broke off a 5/64th Allen wrench in a 10-32 flat head cap screw and could not for the life of me get it to shake loose. Tried a pick, a punch, foul language, sacrificed a chicken, nothing doing. Then I remembered something called (I think) hydraulic impact jacking and tried it as a last...

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[Dave Bonzo]

I tell ya what, that is a nice little press for the money.

I thought so too. I've seen a couple of people modify them to make them work better, too; they'll never be a Dake or Greenerd, but they'll still do what I need them to do... I hope.

Use the easy button my friend.

I can try it, but I'm not sure if there's enough of a void at the bottom for it to work.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

Well, I'm calling it quits for the day.

I did everything I knew to do to get that pin out, and it's not moving. I basically can't drill it any further; I've gone out to 1/4", dulled every bit that I have, and after I got out towards the edges of the pin it was just shattering...so I'm within a millimeter of punching through the bottom, but it might as well be a mile. Can't use the bread trick, and I'm not sure that it would worry anyway; this thing may have been driven into place. I can't even get in there and crush it; there's no real access from the top. So, I don't know what can be done at this point, aside from letting someone with a functional mill lock it into place and try to bore out the remnants...and hope it's exact enough. I think one could possibly reinstall the nut with a replacement pin and use the existing hole as a guide, but that operation is also currently beyond me. So, yeah... before I get impatient and chimp it up, I'm stopping. Good thing we have plenty of machine shops in the area with people that actually know what they're doing.

 

[Ischgl99]

and it's - ...wait for it... - depressing

LOL

I have a Grizzly hydraulic press I bought about 20 years ago, I probably only use it once per year, it’s not Dake quality, but it does a decent job. I would think the arbor presses would work good enough too. I have a hard time spending on US built too for things that are not used often, but if I was buying for my business, I would get the Dake.

I thought about surplus lab ovens just because of temperature stability;

That’s a good idea, my toaster oven does vary the temperature quite a bit, I’ll have to look into the lab ovens. I saw at some point in the past someone putting a PID controller on a toaster oven for better temperature regulation, but I imagine the lab ovens probably have better insulation too and would be a better option.

I literally executed my toaster oven via firing squad.

I love target practice to get the frustrations out LOL

 

[Dave Bonzo]

I love target practice to get the frustrations out LOL

I could use a LOT of it right now; the frustration is strong with this one.

 

[pontiac428]

I have used a diamond abrasive bit meant to be used for boring ceramics to save my butt before. It wasn't too expensive, but I can't recall where I ordered it. Slow going in a hand drill, but I didn't scrap my valuable part.