- Joined
- Feb 2, 2013
- Messages
- 3,627
Hello again,
this morning i had an itch to scratch, and i scratched it really good.
i purchased a beat up biax scraper a while back.
all the blades that i have for the unit are the short, very stiff shank with carbide blades with the exception of the longer, twisted carbide tipped blade that is used in dovetail work primarily.
the short stiff blade is good for a lot of things including hardened surfaces, but i have found it to be a little annoying to use on cast iron.
Cast irons lend themselves to scraping very nicely, a stiff blade is not usually necessary, a longer more flexible blade is more desirable in some and many instances.
Sure,
i could call dapra and get a new set of blades coming and spend a small fortune and still have to wait
OR
i had a flash of inspiration and a desire, plus the machines, materials and ability to make my own from a few materials i had laying around the shop.
You guessed it , it went with Plan B:
i started with mild steel, 1.500" wide x .187" thick x 7.250" long.
i laid out the general dimensions on the body using the short stiff blade as a reference
using the industrolite M500, i milled the drive end of the blade...
i then milled the center of the drive end fork.
then i used a .750" diameter slitting saw .090" thick to slit the pocket for a Sandvik 620-2530 insert.
i brazed the insert into the pocket with the oxy/acetylene rig with a low flame and Harris LFB 1/8" rod
i did a minor hand fit job and cleaned up the blade a little with the flapper disc on the 4.5" grinder
and mounted er' up for a test flight.
the added blade shaft length really made a nice difference in the performance, not to mention improved feel of the tool against the work.
i would liken it to more of a fluid scraping motion rather than a slightly jack hammering feel.
the blade will we able to be sharpened on my newly constructed diamond sharpener.
when it's worn down to a nub, i'll simply melt out the old brazing and pop another insert in it's place then braze it back up again for another 100,000 miles or so....
as always- thanks for reading!!!
feel free to participate, question and comment!
this morning i had an itch to scratch, and i scratched it really good.
i purchased a beat up biax scraper a while back.
all the blades that i have for the unit are the short, very stiff shank with carbide blades with the exception of the longer, twisted carbide tipped blade that is used in dovetail work primarily.
the short stiff blade is good for a lot of things including hardened surfaces, but i have found it to be a little annoying to use on cast iron.
Cast irons lend themselves to scraping very nicely, a stiff blade is not usually necessary, a longer more flexible blade is more desirable in some and many instances.
Sure,
i could call dapra and get a new set of blades coming and spend a small fortune and still have to wait
OR
i had a flash of inspiration and a desire, plus the machines, materials and ability to make my own from a few materials i had laying around the shop.
You guessed it , it went with Plan B:
i started with mild steel, 1.500" wide x .187" thick x 7.250" long.
i laid out the general dimensions on the body using the short stiff blade as a reference
using the industrolite M500, i milled the drive end of the blade...
i then milled the center of the drive end fork.
then i used a .750" diameter slitting saw .090" thick to slit the pocket for a Sandvik 620-2530 insert.
i brazed the insert into the pocket with the oxy/acetylene rig with a low flame and Harris LFB 1/8" rod
i did a minor hand fit job and cleaned up the blade a little with the flapper disc on the 4.5" grinder
and mounted er' up for a test flight.
the added blade shaft length really made a nice difference in the performance, not to mention improved feel of the tool against the work.
i would liken it to more of a fluid scraping motion rather than a slightly jack hammering feel.
the blade will we able to be sharpened on my newly constructed diamond sharpener.
when it's worn down to a nub, i'll simply melt out the old brazing and pop another insert in it's place then braze it back up again for another 100,000 miles or so....
as always- thanks for reading!!!
feel free to participate, question and comment!