Angle Plate "rescued"

[Digitallad]

So I was with a client a week ago and wile walking around his yard I saw a piece of Angle Iron with some stuff that was on its way to the Scrap Yard, I could not resist and politely asked if I could buy the piece from him he just smiled ( knowing my passion for shop work ) and gave it to me.
It was not pretty but quite sturdy with dimensions of 95 mm x 95 mm and 10 mm thick. So I decided to build a angle plate from it on my Alba A1 Shaper.
I really love working with the shaper as it has this soothing rocking sound and the way the metal curls while you hear the shearing noise brings me at piece after a long stressful week.

I am not going to give a tutorial on how to make a angle plate as there is a huge amount of stuff out there on how to square a angle plate. I will however note that using two cylinders is by far the best way getting close to square.
Now for the eye candy for those who would just like to see the picks

First setup I tried did not work well as I could not hold the work piece proper and there was some shifting



Then I used two Cylinders and that gave me a much better hold.


Now unfortunately I got so involved with the work that I did not take more pictures but it took a couple of passes and some measuring to get the work piece as square as what I could measure it. It seems to be about 0.05 - 0.1 mm over the 95 mm but I will admit that I only have a small 25 mm thick granite plate and I have no idea how accurate or level it is. If I use my master square I can barely see any light go through on the far edge and apparently that is quite good.

Here is the finished angle plate:




Oh yes I did weld a extra piece at the back to make it a bit more rigid.


I also love the finish that the Shaper produces and here is some closeups ..



Now to find a project that I use this plate on ........

Best Regards

Paul
South Africa

 

[Franko]

Nice job, Paul.

 

[RJSakowski]

Nice work, Paul. I like the keyholes; makes it easy to insert a bolt head. What did you do to get the finish? It looks ground.

There was a recent post which got into a discussion of checking a square. You might want to have a look at it http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/verifying-an-angle-plate.36384/#post-310679

Welcome to the group!

Bob

 

[basildoug10]

Hi Paul, great job, just the sort of tool that I need. I am new to machining and trying to think of ideas how to clamp a job in the mill often makes me abandon the the effort to make something. Using two pipes to clamp your job, brilliant!
This is why I really enjoy this HM forum because the members are helpful, thanks for your post and ideas.
Kind regards Basil ( originally from Durban SA)

 

[kvt]

Like it, Like the brace put on it to keep it from giving, what did you use to mark it.

 

[brino]

I really love working with the shaper as it has this soothing rocking sound and the way the metal curls while you hear the shearing noise brings me at piece after a long stressful week.

....another poet of the workshop. I know exactly how you feel!
There is something primal and grounding about finding the beautiful, shiny, useful metal piece buried within the gnarly scrap.

Great pictures and description. Thanks for sharing it with us.

-brino

Oh yeah, and nicely done....

 

[Digitallad]

Like it, Like the brace put on it to keep it from giving, what did you use to mark it.

I used a processes called Saltwater Etching , http://www.instructables.com/id/Salt-Water-Metal-Etching/
Only difference is that I use Toner transfer to mask the rest of the steel.

Paul

 

[Digitallad]

Oh just for fun , the pics were taken with my Galaxy s6. It is just amazing how far this tech have come!

 

[Firestopper]

Beautiful finish.

 

[Kennlindeman]

Hi Paul from a warm Cape town, looks like the summer is finally arriving. I recently acquired a Alba 1A but the down feed is missing a few parts, The top bush and dial are missing. Any chance you could take some photos of yours for me

Thanks
Ken