POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

[H-M Founder]

This is a new thread that I am starting. We want to know what you made in your shop today. No limits, just tell us what you did.

 

[Video_man]

Posted this yesterday and it got lost in the server crash, so bear with me. My son's hobby is restoring BMW's, he needed a factory tool that is no longer made, but had a shop drawing. So I made one for him. It is a tool for setting front suspension heights.

 

[Lordbeezer]

Sure didn't do it all today but did finish today.pig cooker.mountain smoker.big grill.people seem to have different names for them depending on where they're from.

 

[dlane]

Coulda sworn there already was a thread on this

 

[RandyM]

Coulda sworn there already was a thread on this

Yup, and if you go the last few posts of that thread it will explain everything.

 

[cathead]

I made a tiny boring bar from some scraps laying around in the shop. The scrap consisted of a 1/4 inch diameter piece of H-13 steel rod, a scrap of
5/8 inch hot roll round bar and a carbide tooth that had a previous life in a circular saw blade. It was a little machining, drilling, and silver
soldering and grinding project. Most of my boring bars are too big for any small boring so this will come in handy when that small diameter
hole needs to be bored. The bar mounts in a C size DTM holder that has a groove in the bottom for holding round materials. This will be handy as
one can adjust the cutting angle to the job at hand. It looks like it will
fit into a 5/16 diameter or so hole. It looks a little long(3 inch overhang) but time will tell I guess. It can always be shortened if needed.

That's what I did.........so far.

 

[roadie33]

Nice little boring bar cathead.

 

[T Bredehoft]

My eyes cannot see from your image, I expect that the cutting tip leads the tool into the bore, else the front flank will hit the bottom before the cutting point does. In other words:
Is the front edge tapered back from the point?

Sorry, I was just reading a French translation and my word order became confused.

 

[cathead]

My eyes cannot see from your image, I expect that the cutting tip leads the tool into the bore, else the front flank will hit the bottom before the cutting point does. In other words:
Is the front edge tapered back from the point?

Sorry, I was just reading a French translation and my word order became confused.

Yes, it's relieved and tapered back.

 

[zmotorsports]

Nothing too major but on Saturday morning I thought I would mock up the new towbar to the Jeep before we head off on the next trip. I figured with my luck the wife and I would be hooking up the Jeep to the coach and discover something wasn't right. Sure enough, the new towbar connection points were a whopping .025" wider than my last towbar and wouldn't fit into the mounting tabs, both towbars were made by the same manufacturer, Roadmaster.

Placed it in the milling vise and began to take a little material off.


Removed from milling vise and deburred.


I knew this when I purchase the new Roadmaster Night Hawk towbar that it came equipped with a 7-pole plug at the RV side and a 6-pole round at the toad end. I have my Jeep equipped with a 4-pole round electrical connector so I swapped the 6-pole on the toad end with a 4-pole. This towbar has strip LED’s along the arms that illuminate when the running lights are turned on. Seeing as how we travel at night on many occasions I view this as a safety feature.

Connected, electrical complete and all ready for many miles of flat-towing the Jeep behind our coach.


Thanks for looking.

Mike

 

[roadie33]

Hey Mike,
Doesn't towing that way wear on the transfer case ? Even with everything in Neutral.

 

[zmotorsports]

Hey Mike,
Doesn't towing that way wear on the transfer case ? Even with everything in Neutral.

The transfer case does turn as well as the axles but wear is minimal, nothing that I have ever been concerned about.

I've flat towed my first two Jeeps well over 125k miles combined and this one around 25k in the 6 years I have owned it and axle and transfer case issues have been non-existent. I do keep my fluids replaced quite regularly though.

Mike

 

[chips&more]

Today I made a R8 tool holder with Weldon shank hole to go with my set of annular cutters. Used a billet of 1144 and about 2 hours shop time. Nothing really hard to do. I may have taken more time than needed when I set-up the R8 taper. I mounted a factory Bridgeport R8 in my lathe chuck and carefully indicated the compound in and called it good. Before I put the 3/4” hole in it. I took the unfinished tool holder over to the Bridgeport, mounted the holder and took a skim cut off part of the OD. This referenced the holders concentricity. Went back to the lathe indicated the holder to 0.0” from that skim cut I just made and then did the 3/4” hole. Tool holder runout when mounted in the Bridgeport is within 0.0002” now, I’m happy…Dave

 

[dave_r_1]

Hey Mike,
Doesn't towing that way wear on the transfer case ? Even with everything in Neutral.

There is some, just due to the parts turning, but my understanding of the problem with towing vehicles is lubrication.

You shouldn't tow 2wd vehicles with automatic transmissions because a bunch of parts get rotating, but they aren't getting lubricated because the A/T oil pump is normally driven by the A/T input shaft (so everything gets lubed while the engine is running, regardless of whether the vehicle is in motion, so you can shift gears at all times).

The transfer case in my truck ('04 Sierra 3500 with NP261 TC) has an oil pump that is driven from the output shaft, so, when towing the truck with the TC in neutral, the oil pump is busy pumping oil everywhere so it stays properly lubed. Other vehicles like that Jeep likely have a similar setup.

But, there probably are some 4wd systems that don't work like this. It should say in the owners manual if you can tow it with the rear (or front for front-wheel drive) wheels on the ground or not.

 

[Buffalo21]

Today I made a R8 tool holder with Weldon shank hole to go with my set of annular cutters. Used a billet of 1144 and about 2 hours shop time. Nothing really hard to do. I may have taken more time than needed when I set-up the R8 taper. I mounted a factory Bridgeport R8 in my lathe chuck and carefully indicated the compound in and called it good. Before I put the 3/4” hole in it. I took the unfinished tool holder over to the Bridgeport, mounted the holder and took a skim cut off part of the OD. This referenced the holders concentricity. Went back to the lathe indicated the holder to 0.0” from that skim cut I just made and then did the 3/4” hole. Tool holder runout when mounted in the Bridgeport is within 0.0002” now, I’m happy…Dave
View attachment 262329
View attachment 262330

Dave,

I bought 2 of them, one with an R8 shank and one with an MT#3 shank, for the mill and the drill press, so I could use the annular cutters, from my 3 mag drills. The 2 I bought, have a spring, so the alignment pin moves up as you drill, then kicking out the slug. Are you using the alignment pin?? What are you going to do about the slug??

 

[dirty tools]

my Mule (M274A) won't start. SO far I found no ground at the starter and the starter mounting hole are 3/6" and the mounting bolts are 3/16". This could allow the starter to turn and cause lots of problems. To night I will make two bushings so I can press them into the flange. This will also make the ground connection (I hope) pictures to follow.

 

[chips&more]

Dave,

I bought 2 of them, one with an R8 shank and one with an MT#3 shank, for the mill and the drill press, so I could use the annular cutters, from my 3 mag drills. The 2 I bought, have a spring, so the alignment pin moves up as you drill, then kicking out the slug. Are you using the alignment pin?? What are you going to do about the slug??

Hi Jack, the holder has a through hole so the alignment pin can freely move. But I do not intend to use the alignment pin. These cutters are typically used on a mag drill press. You move the dress press around, aligning the pin to say a center punch mark, then turn on the magnet. The alignment pins are a sloppy fit in the cutter, I don’t like it. I will be using the cutters on a milling machine. Aligning will be of other ways, probably.

I’m never doing production work. So there is plenty of room inside the cutter for the blanks to stack up before it gets crowded. So no spring or other means of blank removal other than taking the cutter out and removing the blanks. Something similar to dealing with the blanks when using a hole saw.

I did not want a LONG nosed tool holder like you can buy. I wanted as stubby as possible. It’s more rigid, less table Z cranking, increased Z envelope size, to name a few.

I could very easily add a spring. I will leave that option on the table, but for now, no spring. Thank you for your interest…Dave

 

[zmotorsports]

I only had about an hour to work in the shop last night so I fabbed up the mounting brackets for my power steering oil cooler.

Here’s what I started with, a 3” long piece of 2.250” diameter x .120” wall tubing that I cut in half lengthwise to saddle over the 2” diameter cross member and two pieces of 1/4” flat strap.


Saddles welded to tabs after drilling and tapping the tabs to match the coolers bolt pattern.




Mounted to the oil cooler.


Oil cooler mocked into position.


WOW, that thing is filthy under there and needs to be detailed.


Bead blasted, painted and ready for installation.


Thanks for looking.

Mike

 

[jdedmon91]

Working on my boring bar holders. Getting closer to finishing up. Just need to drill and tap the set screw, and adjustment stud holes.

Also using the toaster oven to heat sink the parts to give them a finish


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[extropic]

Also using the toaster oven to heat sink the parts to give them a finish

I hadn't heard anything previously about that method of metal finishing. A couple of Google searches didn't provide any leads. Can you post a link or describe your heat soak process and the result? TIA

 

[jdedmon91]

Also using the toaster oven to heat sink the parts to give them a finish

I hadn't heard anything previously about that method of metal finishing. A couple of Google searches didn't provide any leads. Can you post a link or describe your heat soak process and the result? TIA

I seen bits and pieces about it on YouTube. What I did is simple, put the metal in the toaster oven to heat it up as hot as it gets witch is 450 degrees. Let the material get hot and will change color a bit. I left the first blocks in about an hour and half. Then I dropped them in oil to let them cool. In fact it was some old tractor trans. / hyd oil. The parts have a gold burnished color.

Hopefully that answers your question


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[savarin]

Very quick job today.
6 rods in stainless. 12mm dia, 30mm long with 20mm turned to 6mm and threaded M6x1
One side to be milled flat so I can drill and tap 2x3mm holes for fixing some flat brass strip to.
This was the third design I eventually decided upon.
Turned the 6mm dia, threaded the end m6, parted off to length, repeat till all 6 were done.
Then I reset each rod and rounded the end with the curved part of a router bit
Then mounted each rod in a tool holder, set the height and using a 10mm end mill to face off the length of one side. Repeat again.
Start

finished in one pass

The 6 finished parts with the router bit I used to round over the ends.

These will eventually hold the spiders on the giant binocular.

 

[woodchucker]

I only had about an hour to work in the shop last night so I fabbed up the mounting brackets for my power steering oil cooler.

Here’s what I started with, a 3” long piece of 2.250” diameter x .120” wall tubing that I cut in half lengthwise to saddle over the 2” diameter cross member and two pieces of 1/4” flat strap.
View attachment 262413

Saddles welded to tabs after drilling and tapping the tabs to match the coolers bolt pattern.
View attachment 262414

View attachment 262415

Mounted to the oil cooler.
View attachment 262416

Oil cooler mocked into position.
View attachment 262417

WOW, that thing is filthy under there and needs to be detailed.
View attachment 262418

Bead blasted, painted and ready for installation.
View attachment 262419

Thanks for looking.

Mike

wouldn't attaching the cooler to the exhaust pipe actually pick up more heat from the exhaust? I would think you would put it away from a heat generating component.

EDIT: it's been pointed out that it's not an exhaust pipe..

 

[Bill W.]

wouldn't attaching the cooler to the exhaust pipe actually pick up more heat from the exhaust? I would think you would put it away from a heat generating component.

Not sure Jeff, but it looks likes it hanging under the front part of the engine. maybe that is a tube that is part of the frame. ???

 

[Brento]

No thats an exhaust pipe for sure

 

[Bill W.]

No thats an exhaust pipe for sure

Then the "exhaust pipe" has a hole in it near the right hand bracket...

 

[Brento]

Nope im wrong now that i looked closer at it. It looks like its attached to the nose of the vehicle. The giveaway is you can see the belts and pulleys. Prob support for the radiator. @Bill W. @woodchucker

 

[woodchucker]

Then the "exhaust pipe" has a hole in it near the right hand bracket...

Agreed, in the standard view the image info blocks that, but using the full size function, I see that now.
Obviously not an exhaust pipe.

 

[stioc]

I installed a couple of inexpensive DROs on my 9x20. I can get them to register .0005" of movement even though the rated accuracy is .001" - which may actually be true but I didn't expect that they would increment in .0005". Not too bad for $60.

 

[kvt]

so what ones did you install.