2014 POTD Thread Archive

Wow that is really neat! To me that is the epitome of learning and having a home machine shop; you never stuck for a tool or part...just build it yourself!

Hopefully one day I will have mastered the sufficient skills.....:))

Machined an adapter plate for a friends project car, this allows one to use a Volvo front wheel drive 5 cylinder or 6 cylinder engine and mate it to a Ford T5 transmission to be installed in a rear wheel drive car.

Thought it was going to be a one-off, now a few more Volvo fans want one...
 
I had to drill 986 holes last year when I made a new exhaust system and muffler for my 1965 Honda trail bike. I didn't have the fourth axis set up for the CNC, so I rotated the pipe manually for each row. It sure was easier to do with a little help from the computer. Steve's method is even better.
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Nice work, I don't think a cake could be so heavy to require tapered roller bearings!

P.S.: We would be glad to see some cake photos, too :)

Thanks! They're actually standard ball bearings though, I'm fitting a thrust bearing to take the vertical loading. This thing is never going to break.

carlos,

For aligning a center point in a 4-jaw chuck I made a "wobbler". Not my invention...several on Google Images. I added the small scale in the talestock chuck to give me a reference on my adjustments.

Ken

The Wobbler was actually what inspired the build, I was wanting to make one but found I didn't really have the parts and tools to do it how I liked so I made the pin instead. Yours looks very nice indeed.


My friend and I have started building the parts for our 5'' steam locomotive. I'm teaching him some basic machining and we're having a great time. We started with the axles, using stainless steel because the BMS I had was much greater in diameter. Seen in the picture is one of the axles partially machined, using a pointed tool set so that the cutting edge 'rubs', for fine surface finish.
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Needed a custom (longer than standard) tube for my bicycles custom handle bars.

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Scrounged some tube that was near size and turned it down a little.
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Roughing procedure setup.
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All roughed up.
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Eyeballing the angle will do here.
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Yea ole pantograph mill.
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Mating part.

Now I need to scrounge material for an adapter sleeve to make it fit at the neck.

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After I bought my "Barbie Sunday Woodworker Bandsaw" I watched many videos to learn how it works etc.
In a video I noticed a strange jig keeping the wood pressed against the fence: a neat idea, able to save some fingers.
A search brought me to the Rockler site: this jig is called "Rockler Thin Rip Tablesaw Jig" - http://www.rockler.com/thin-rip-tablesaw-jig
Of course, since the table of my bandsaw is made with coffee can tinfoil and not with a cast iron slab with good guides, I had to invent something else, even because $19.99+shipping for such a jig seems to me a bit excessive.
So I got a couple of 608ZZ ball bearings (those for skates), an M8 bolt, a piece of iron, a couple of scraps of my usual plastic and the handle of a broken Chinese pipe cutter.
A scrap of aluminum profile became the "guide" of my tinfoil table.
Here is the result:

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The head of the bolt is cut to leave just a support for the bearing, and I placed one of those adhesive felts used for the chairs feet below it to avoid to scratch my precious table.
The iron bar slides inside a dado cut in the plastic with a wood router bit.
I still have to round a bit all the corners, but the jig works smoothly (actually better than the bandsaw itself!).

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I had to drill 986 holes last year when I made a new exhaust system and muffler for my 1965 Honda trail bike. I didn't have the fourth axis set up for the CNC, so I rotated the pipe manually for each row. It sure was easier to do with a little help from the computer. Steve's method is even better.

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Nice old bike. Is it a restoration project?

A couple of months back I needed to champher 1080 (10mm) holes in a granulator grid plate. Thankfully I had a CNC to help me with that too.

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Handy tool to have Marco, I must try and remember this. What is the red plastic, some sort of cap?
 
Handy tool to have Marco, I must try and remember this. What is the red plastic, some sort of cap?

Thanks!
The red plastic is the handle of a pipe cutter I broke, with an M8 thread bar.
Probably if I'd have to buy it alone it would be more expensive than the whole pipe cutter :lmao:
 
The bike is something I wanted back when they were new. A friend had it kicking around and I bought it from him. I'm slowly fixing it up as a rider. I made a rack for the back of my car to carry it up into the hills.

The big sprocket is for off-road speeds up to 20 mph. It is mounted over a smaller sprocket that allows road speeds. I doubt I'll ever use the small sprocket.I have three better bikes for highway use.

The next model featured a high/low range shifter for easier mode changing.
 
Okay, finally finished up my new bench grinder pedestal and downloaded the camera.


I purchased a package of four high durometer rubber/poly feet from the hardware store and made three corner mounted plates for the underside of the base. These were drilled and tapped for a 10-32 screw through the center of the poly foot. I recessed the drilled/tapped plate up under just far enough to allow only about a 3/16" of the foot to protrude below the base. This will keep metal shaving and debris from gathering under the base.


Here is the poly foot attached to the drilled/tapped plate under the base.
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Here you can see roughly how far below the bottom of the base the poly foot protrudes.
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The fourth foot I mounted on a 10" piece of 1/8"x2" wide strap that is welded to the opposite corner of the base. The poly foot is then screwed to the end that is not welded to the base. I fabricated a 1/4" thick piece of steel that is drilled/tapped for a 3/8"-24 set screw that can be adjusted to retract or extend that fourth foot for final adjustment. I drilled a hole through the top of the base in which an allen wrench/T-handle can be inserted and adjust the level of the stand.


Here is the fourth poly foot screwed to the steel strap.
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Here is the small opening for the allen wrench for the adjustment.
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Here is the 3.5" square tube fit and welded into the base.
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Closeup of one of my welds on the base to column.
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Prior to paint I decided to add a small tray to place drill bits or lathe tools on when grinding. I was going to add a small water tray but I have a water container mounted on the disc/belt sander right next to this that I figured I would use rather than have two pieces of equipment with water trays attached.


Here is the frame for the small parts/tool tray. I bent some 1/2" wide .125" thick steel to the shape that I wanted. I also added two triangular mounting tabs which will be used to secure the tray to the column. I didn't want to weld it on so I made it attach by two button head socket machine screws drilled/tapped into the column. After getting the frame bent I placed it on some 12-gauge P&O and traced it, cut it on the vertical bandsaw and TIG welded it together. I then metal finished it and prepped everything for a coat of machinery gray paint.
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Here is the tray along with the stainless steel button head socket head screws attaching it to the column.
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Completed with the Baldor grinder bolted on and ready to use. It looks right at home between the Jet drill press and Wilton disc/belt sander. It looks like it has belonged there all along.
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And of course, last but not least the sticker that gives me the warm and fuzzies because without this it would probably kill me if I used it.
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I wish I could take complete credit for the design but I cannot. I stumbled across it on the internet a few months ago and thought to myself that I liked the design. You know what they say, imitation is the the most sincere form of flattery. However, I will be damned if I can remember where I saw it at. I was flipping through machining images on Google and stumbled across it somewhere. I just added my personal touch to it.


Mike.
 
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