- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
- Messages
- 786
Over the weekend I converted my Boyar Schulktz 6x18 Hydraulic feed surface grinder to flood coolant. After spending a day siliconing up all the leaks in the carriage, I figured now would be a good time to do my yearly regrind the chuck. That all went well and I've got a nice shiny, smooth chuck to show for it. It ran continuously for about 3 hours while doing it.
Then I figured I needed a better way to balance the wheels. I found a 4" length of 1" hardened shafting in my junk pile. I never used it because it was too hard to machine. I used a chop saw and cut off two 1 foot sections. These I laid on my lathe bed in the grooves formed by the V-ways. I had already made a balancing arbor, so I balanced my wheels with success. The balancing arbor used these as runners. Since my lathe bed is level, this worked great! The grinder has never produced such great surface finishes!
That of course, started a new fun thing to do... Grind all sorts of things to see how good a finish I could get. That said, I ran the machine another 3+ hours.
Wondering about the mess yet? Well, those of you who know about Boyar Schultz surface grinders know they don't have ball bearing ways. They use scraped flat ways which are fed by a lubricator. Mine is equipped with a Bijur type one shot lubricator that's also driven by a clockwork mechanism to automatically provide oil to the ways. This oil, after it lubricates the ways, drips down onto a tray in the base/vacuum. The base has a small drain that's plumbed to a can on the back to collect all the waste way lube. After having this thing in my shop for several years, I completely forgot about the catch can. That is, 'til tonight. I saw oil everywhere around the machine on the floor. At first I thought I sprung a hydraulic leak (there is a separate hydraulic pump and hoses to power the X and Y axes). I saw nothing wet more than normal, Then I remembered the catch can. As soon as I tried to take it off, oil squirted out as I gripped it it was so full. Of course, that made an already bad mess worse.
I used paper towels to mop up the loose oil then used Super Clean (good stuff) to degrease the floor. Good thing I painted the basement floor concrete with epoxy paint two years ago! I hated the thought of using cat litter - you never seem to get it all up. And, since I can't get under the grinder (about 1/2 gap off the floor), the cat litter really couldn't be gotten all up. I'm sure there's still plenty of oil under the machine, but that's gonna have to stay there...
By the way, flood coolant really makes a difference on a grinder! I took the one that came with my milling machine that I never used (too messy) and put it on the grinder. Grinding thin pieces is MUCH easier now...
John
Then I figured I needed a better way to balance the wheels. I found a 4" length of 1" hardened shafting in my junk pile. I never used it because it was too hard to machine. I used a chop saw and cut off two 1 foot sections. These I laid on my lathe bed in the grooves formed by the V-ways. I had already made a balancing arbor, so I balanced my wheels with success. The balancing arbor used these as runners. Since my lathe bed is level, this worked great! The grinder has never produced such great surface finishes!
That of course, started a new fun thing to do... Grind all sorts of things to see how good a finish I could get. That said, I ran the machine another 3+ hours.
Wondering about the mess yet? Well, those of you who know about Boyar Schultz surface grinders know they don't have ball bearing ways. They use scraped flat ways which are fed by a lubricator. Mine is equipped with a Bijur type one shot lubricator that's also driven by a clockwork mechanism to automatically provide oil to the ways. This oil, after it lubricates the ways, drips down onto a tray in the base/vacuum. The base has a small drain that's plumbed to a can on the back to collect all the waste way lube. After having this thing in my shop for several years, I completely forgot about the catch can. That is, 'til tonight. I saw oil everywhere around the machine on the floor. At first I thought I sprung a hydraulic leak (there is a separate hydraulic pump and hoses to power the X and Y axes). I saw nothing wet more than normal, Then I remembered the catch can. As soon as I tried to take it off, oil squirted out as I gripped it it was so full. Of course, that made an already bad mess worse.
I used paper towels to mop up the loose oil then used Super Clean (good stuff) to degrease the floor. Good thing I painted the basement floor concrete with epoxy paint two years ago! I hated the thought of using cat litter - you never seem to get it all up. And, since I can't get under the grinder (about 1/2 gap off the floor), the cat litter really couldn't be gotten all up. I'm sure there's still plenty of oil under the machine, but that's gonna have to stay there...
By the way, flood coolant really makes a difference on a grinder! I took the one that came with my milling machine that I never used (too messy) and put it on the grinder. Grinding thin pieces is MUCH easier now...
John