2019 POTD Thread Archive

Had my regular duty of removing broken Grade 8 bolts in hardened dies . So , got a broken bolt , a broken tap , and I just added some carbide in there to boot ! :applause 2: Next stop , the EDM . ( I don't own any unobtainium end mills ):grin:
 
Yesterday we got lots of wet snow and today temperatures dropped deep in negative, so after spending half my day shoveling snow i did some work in my machine shop, first i made me a tool for shaping, i welded on a broken piece of HSS on a rod, then a clean it up and sharpened it on my bench grinder, i chuck up the pulley in my lathe and put the tool in the tool holder and used my rapid feed to move the tool in and out as a shaper. I did manage to make the key channel, the crooked hole i drilled made to top of it wide but should work just fine, then i started on a another project, i made me a small chuck key, i turn down the end for the square, supported it with my live chuck and parted it, then i cross drill it and pressed in a small rod, and finally i ground a square on the end, a also made couple of odd sized nuts and turn down the end of a broken socket extension so i can use it in a drill.
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Back to using my "regular" machining tools (angle grinder, drill/press, welder), to make a new bracket to hold my taillights (it's a flatbed truck). The original one rusted off right along the sole weld, and the lights were just hanging by some bailing wire I wrapped around it to hold it in place.

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Original bracket at top, and new one at bottom. Should have done this when I changed the taillight's from the oem plastic/rubber/incandescent bulb setup to a metal box with 3 6' oval led lights, as it weighs significantly more than the original unit. The new bracket is overkill, made from 1/8" sheet metal.

Unfortunately, I believe I let out some of the magic smoke from the drill I used to cut the hole for the wiring harness to go through. I guess I demanded it produce a little too much torque at low rpms with the hole saw I used.
 
This weekend I started a project that was way overdue. After 20 years of not having enough time for myself to do things the way that I want to do them, I am finally at a place where I can work at my own pace and not be surrounded by useless clutter from the past. How I finally arrived here I could have never guessed. Divorced my first wife of 17 years. Get custody of my 3 kids, beutifull twin girls and my son . Get remarried to the girl of my dreams! The kids grow up. Twin girls move out (well one was asked to leave). My son who is an excellent machinist still lives at home and has grown frustrated with the lack of space for his projects and parts for his many toys, has rented garage space elsewhere.
So my project is to add an 8' long bench in my machining area but to do that I had to dismantle a storage area in my basement first so that I could move shelving that was on the wall in the pictures. Get the drawer units out of the basement to make the benches. The best part is all the stuff that is getting thrown away! Anyway its late and thats enough for tonight.154857339532744ee3ff5b8393f3ff27337d5d8669d653d569f810e8654fdfcd965ba1f877a015c3047db7cea4cdab...jpg1548579504300ede93edbd470c1bea3227e400ae01b3264b99eb8c5af5597cb06989413e0ccaf76c9ec6c5d0d9775d...jpg
There is goingto be a 1 1/2" thick top, a couple of bult in shelves and a large back board.
 
Unfortunately, I believe I let out some of the magic smoke from the drill I used to cut the hole for the wiring harness to go through. I guess I demanded it produce a little too much torque at low rpms with the hole saw I used.

Who let the smoke out, The saying here is: You are not trying hard enough if you don't break something, Little smoke is nothing, if you talking about a good quality cordless drill, if it still works don't worry about is at all. At work a guy managed to fill an entire bus interior full of white smoke from a 18v makita cordless drill trying to drill thru a 1/2 inch stainless plate with 4" hole saw, and the drill still is working.
 
Made this slitting saw arbor from a piece of round L-6 die steel that was laying around. I have had a pile of 3" dia. slitting saw blades for over 60 years and decided to put them to use since I just finished building my mill. They are Cutting Tool Co. brand new old stock with 1" center holesslitter.JPGcutters.JPGexpld.JPG, and were old when I got them in the 1950's.
 
This didnt happen today only, but I finished it today, minus some rust preventative measures. Ideas on prevention are very welcome and appreciated. Anyway, short reason for building this. I found blueprints for it. Seriously that's why I built it. I found blueprints and since it isn't dice or a burr puzzle 305, I wanted to try something above my skill level to see if I could do it. It isn't perfect, but I'm happy with it. I may edit this post tomorrow because I'm in my phone and it's easier to post with a PC. This project started about a month ago give or take. Did it in my free time but it took a LOT of free time!!!!

I bought torch cut metal( on 3 sides) and started here!
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Did a t slot.
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Indicated the plate to the bottom of the t slot, and faced it off. This is after I tried to make the face flat on the mill. I could feel it wasn't flat with my finger. Very small but not flat either. Was hoping the lathe would make it flatter and I think it did. No surface plate so I cant tell you for sure, but it feels better!!!!
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This was a bit nerve racking on the base plate but it seemed to work out ok.
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This is quite a way through the process. I screwed up the dowel pins when drilling by using a drill bit too big. And it was a harbor freight so throw that in the mix too. Never reamed metal ever in my life so I adjusted the blueprints I found and made it work. One cool thing to me is the holes for the dowel pins fit(in my opinion) very well with everything being machined separate. Other than length on the dowel pins, they all fit correctly during assembly. Shocked myself on that one. I did however somehow get a bolt hole off a little and had to modify one hole on one hinge plate a little. 7 out of 8 fit very well. In very pleased with that and the dowels fitting too.
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From here on out the pics show the finished product. I made everything, minus 12 socket head screws, and 2 snap rings.
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While I was doing this and reading the blueprints, etc. I did find some math errors in the process. The bad thing is the errors came from me!!! Still a lot of work(for me) but a great time was had!!!!!
 
Great job Dhector.
Where did you find the Blueprints?


Thanks. It was fun. I was really happy the dowel pins and the pivot shaft lined up really well for my experience level. Little snug on a couple blocks, but the dowels didnt need modified to fit. I think I could have done some things different that would have saved a LOT of time and provide a better finish in some areas but thats ok. It seems like it will be functional.

As far as the blueprints, not sure how I found them and they dont seem to be copyrighted so here is the link. If its an issue maybe a mod can delete the link.

http://www.homemetalshopclub.org/news/11/newsletter1106.pdf#page=4
 
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