End Mill Sharpener ?

No one would ever guess that you didn't sit down and plan this out. Everything fits together like a system, not a random arrangement of surplus goods.

Mine would probably look like the swarf bucket threw up.
 
I take big pieces of scrap and make little pieces out of them.
I found a nice piece of 3/8" aluminum I had hidden away 3 years ago so that will be my top mounting plate. I found 1 linear rail and bearing and although it is a good idea for the table one is not enough so I will try something else.

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I had a 1/4" steel plate with several brackets welded to it that I could use for the bottom mounting plate so out came the torch and the brackets are gone but the face of the plate was not flat anymore from the welding. Put it in the mill and leveled any place that I might need for mounting the rails.

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All painted up and nice.

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I thought I could use some 5/8" X 1" plastic strips (had these almost 25 years) to make dove tails that would slide against each other for the rails.

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They cut really well and looked fine until I took them out of the vice and they curved badly. I thought maybe I could still use them if I put several mounting bolts to hold them in a straight line.

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Well that didn't work!!
Either it was too tight and I couldn't move them or way too loose. Worked on these a whole day and a half and now they are in the scrap bin.
Started on plan "B".

Thanks for looking

Ray
 
Perseverance Ray, remember Dr. Frankenstein didn't make his monster in a day, and had to throw out a few body parts before he was finished. ;)Mike
 
I find this extremely interesting, and it actually looks like it will work. how accurately I am waiting to see, but it is very interesting.
 
thank you all for the kind words.

Mark my workmanship is no way near your great projects but I am getting better.

As I said at the start I have no idea what I am doing just looking at many different designs. The final result will be determined by what materials I have on hand. So far I have bought one spray can of paint and one 3ft piece of 1/2" rod.
I just need to have a project going to be happy.

Ray
 
On to plan "B"
While looking through my mess I came across two of these.

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I also found some dials that were marked with each division being 0.001 of movement. The acme thread is 1/2" X 10 which will work perfectly. I have decided to try and make the X Y table using 1/2" steel rods. I am trying to keep the overall height as low as possible so I can't use the acme nuts. I thought I should probably see if I can cut a 1/2" 10 acme thread in one of the plates before going too far.

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Got out the 4 jaw and it worked better than expected so continue on with the Y axis of the table.
This is the Y axis and top table assembly that has about 3 1/2" of movement. I made a knob and used one of the dials with a thumb screw for a lock.
I did turn the diameter of the rails down some to clean them up and then sanded and polished them before drilling the holes. (1/2" rod from the HD is not round or a consistent diameter)
I found that no matter how accurate you measure and drill the rail holes they will not line up perfectly. I ended up clamping all 4 plates together and reaming to get the holes to line up and run smoothly on the rails.

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This is the top view.
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These are some of the parts for the X axis.

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Thanks for looking

Ray
 
It's amazing what we can do from the contents of our " junk" box. You have done an amazing feat of engineering here.
 
This shows all of the blocks and rails for the X axis. I numbered them so I wouldn't get them mixed up or turned end for end.

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Here they are mounted on the Y Axis. You may notice the 4 mounting bolts are a little thin and cut down. Well in my attempts to keep the unit as low as possible I didn't leave enough clearance for the bolt heads so I had to thin them down.

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Cut another 1/2" 10 acme thread in the right mounting plate and it turned out much better than the one for the Y axis. I think I have the cutter just about right now so I will store it away for safe keeping but will probaly forget where I put it if I need it again.

Three pictures of the completed table with X axis dial installed.

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The table turned out to be quite a challenge but it ended up well. I have some backlash in the acme threads but not as bad as some I have seen and if it proves to be a problem I may have to remake them. The table top is very stable in all directions and locations so we will have to see how it works.

What do you think?

Ray
 
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