2015 POTD Thread Archive

Phil,

It's just some hot rolled mild steel. I didn't want to nod the head on the mill just for
this project so I used another V block to hold the square stock in the vise at a 45. The
cutter for the V was a half inch end mill and I used a 1/4 inch end mill for the
clamp grooves.


Nice work.
Did you just use a square endmill at 45* to cut the vee grooves? And what sort of steel did you use?

Cheers Phil
 
I Went to make sure the mini-crane I built to move boulders around was still working and the tires had air today in preparation for my new lathe coming soon. When I tried to fill the tires, found I was not getting any air. Investigating further, I found the compressor on my 5hp rig was frozen.
I check the oil, seems fine. Take the belts off, and wrestle the thing onto the bench and take it apart. When I drained the oil, about a half quart of water came out before the oil started to flow :(
Rod bearing for the little piston was seized up.
Checked the price on a replacement, upwards $1,000.00! I only paid about $300.00 for it used twenty years ago. It is way more compressor than I need.
So I broke the bearing free, wiped out the innards, and put it all back together, drained the tank (was almost no water in it), and fired it back up. I figured the worst that could happen is that I would have a nice 5hp motor to play with, a few hundred pounds of cast iron to machine into whatevers.
Runs loader now than before, but it still pumped right up to 150psi in no time.

I'm 6' 5", I'm standing on the box I used to lift it back up onto the tank (hard on an aging back..). Have to wait for my son to come around to shoehorn it back into the corner.

You can see the goop in the sight glass, and just make out the center dot.
IMAG0211.jpg

IMAG0213.jpg

IMAG0211.jpg

IMAG0213.jpg

IMAG0211.jpg

IMAG0213.jpg
 
IMG_0529.JPGIMG_0531.JPG
For a little more info. I attach the iris with a split collar arrangement and you can see the inner workings of the iris. Yes there are two shutters that need to be re-milled. I was getting ahead of myself and did not leave enough clearance between parts and the cnc gave me what I asked for.

Jim B

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Re: Weekend POTD : V-Block and Clamps

Here's a photo of my weekend project. I couldn't decide if I should cut it in half and
make 2 V Blocks so opted for not cutting it for now. The V part is made from one
inch square stock and the clamp part was 1.5 x 1/2 stock. It will hold shafts from
1/8 inch to a full inch so will be handy for smaller projects.

nice job
 
Halligan - good to see you around these parts. I enjoyed your videos on AC work then found your ones on machining, keep up the good work. The screw jacks look good, i should may myself a set one day. The fun of so many projects, not enough time.
 
In the late ‘60s, working in the boat factory, a repair job came in, the owner wanted something done. Our crew went inside and got to work. I spotted a neat little oriental table, took it into the shop and drew it off. I figured with time I ought to be able to duplicate it. It had four legs, the details of which were continued in the top rail, and the four sides were cut out in an interlocking design. I recorded all the dimensions and traced the cut out design on a piece of brown wrapping paper.

Fast forward 50 years.

I found the brown paper and realized that if I was ever going to build the table I’d better start. I had accumulated a fair stock of mahogany, so I cut out all the parts and got busy on the skirt details. I drilled through all the open spaces and did what cutting I could with a sabre saw mounted upside down in a vise. I probably put in six or eight weeks carving and sanding the skirts. In the process I stumbled upon a biscuit cutter in an auction and added that to my tool supply. Great for joining the legs to the skirts and the top itself, I couldn’t make the top from one board, too wide, so I’d have to glue it up.

The leg detail was simplicity itself. The legs were 1” square, with a bead on the outer corner, and the surface beside the bead was faired from the bottom of the bead into the side.

I puzzled on how to duplicate this without carving the whole thing, use the table saw at a slight angle and sand forever…. Was the best I had come up with.

For no good reason, one night, awaiting sleep, I was remembering projects done in the past, one, a roll top desk that needed a couple of segment, I had made a pair of router bits to form. Couldn’t I make a router bit to cut the profile for the table legs? Sure, why not.

I found a piece of ½ O1 steel, turned one end down to .250 turned ½” length on the other end to .390 and filed the profile to make the detail. The turret lathe I have doesn’t have profiling capability.

I puzzled a while on how to hold it for fluting, then came up with a pair of clamps, each with the diameter suited for its end. A short piece of ½ by 1 CRS caught my eye, I drilled two holes in it and a little hacksawing and milling (for parallel) and I had my clamps.

I’m cutting the flutes .150 deep from first touch, this will leave .200 in the center. I’ve found I have to take care to leave the cutting edge on the proper side of the cutter.

Two weeks later.

I’ve made two of the cutters, they cut OK, but aren’t deep enough. The relief between the ½ inch stock diameter and the .375 bearing, (.062) just isn’t enough to develop the profile I want. I’m going to have to find some larger diameter O1 stock.

Yesterday I finished the third iteration, used 5/8 O1, milled the flutes, hardened, drew it back and sharpened it. I made a dummy leg from a piece of scrap, tapered it and after so many years of waiting to figure out how to do the profile, I’m now ready to go.
Final router bit and product small.jpg

Final router bit and product small.jpg
 
Last night I finished up my new power drawbar for my milling machine. I fabricated one when I first got my new mill but I saw one that a guy (Collin @ Comp Edge X) fabricated and really liked his design, so I copied it somewhat. I liked his design because it was so much more compact as he used the air cylinder in the "pull" fashion rather than "push" so I was able to keep the overall height much less. I also went and machined some of the brass fittings rather than used over the counter ones purchased from my local hardware store.
Here are my preliminary drawings for the base plate and top plate along with all of the ports and screw holes for the butterfly air gun.
212vm29.jpg
14muype.jpg
Top plate roughly layed out. I will get exact once I put it on my mill table and indicate off measurements exactly using the DRO.
2vun5f7.jpg
Top plate machined to size and drilled/tapped for the butterfly air ratchet.
2430ytw.jpg
Bottom plate machined to size and drilled for the mounting location as well as the holes drilled and countersunk for the vertical guide rods. Also pictured are the guide rods.
sxm986.jpg
Guide rods mocked into position. Bronze and brass in the background to be used for the bushings and the "tees" for the fittings.
20k7jmg.jpg
Completed unit and bolted on the mill. Looks and works awesome.
245y2xi.jpg

212vm29.jpg

212vm29.jpg

14muype.jpg

14muype.jpg

2vun5f7.jpg

2vun5f7.jpg

2430ytw.jpg

2430ytw.jpg

sxm986.jpg

sxm986.jpg

20k7jmg.jpg

20k7jmg.jpg

245y2xi.jpg

245y2xi.jpg
 
Last night I finished up my new power drawbar for my milling machine. I fabricated one when I first got my new mill but I saw one that a guy (Collin @ Comp Edge X) fabricated and really liked his design, so I copied it somewhat. I liked his design because it was so much more compact as he used the air cylinder in the "pull" fashion rather than "push" so I was able to keep the overall height much less. I also went and machined some of the brass fittings rather than used over the counter ones purchased from my local hardware store.
Here are my preliminary drawings for the base plate and top plate along with all of the ports and screw holes for the butterfly air gun.
212vm29.jpg
14muype.jpg
Top plate roughly layed out. I will get exact once I put it on my mill table and indicate off measurements exactly using the DRO.
2vun5f7.jpg
Top plate machined to size and drilled/tapped for the butterfly air ratchet.
2430ytw.jpg
Bottom plate machined to size and drilled for the mounting location as well as the holes drilled and countersunk for the vertical guide rods. Also pictured are the guide rods.
sxm986.jpg
Guide rods mocked into position. Bronze and brass in the background to be used for the bushings and the "tees" for the fittings.
20k7jmg.jpg
Completed unit and bolted on the mill. Looks and works awesome.
245y2xi.jpg
That is one of the nicest home built units I have ever seen!

212vm29.jpg

212vm29.jpg

14muype.jpg

14muype.jpg

2vun5f7.jpg

2vun5f7.jpg

2430ytw.jpg

2430ytw.jpg

sxm986.jpg

sxm986.jpg

20k7jmg.jpg

20k7jmg.jpg

245y2xi.jpg

245y2xi.jpg
 
Thank you.

However, I can't take all the credit. A guy on youtube (Colling @ CompEdgeX) gave me the idea. I really liked the style/design better than my original, although my original one worked just fine.
 
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