2019 POTD Thread Archive


that looks bloody fabulous, well done!

Here's my project of the last 3 years. Started thinking about this 3 years ago almost to the day, finished it today - poly-v spindle and countershaft pulleys for my Atlas 618. Quite a bit of close tolerance machining in that, plus the first turning between centers I've done. Came out pretty well :)
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full thread here
 
Today i've spent the entire day from sunrise till sundown in the big garage. I started in the back of the Niva, all the wires going to the tail lights had chue marks from mice so i cut a lot of them out and replaced them, i cramped new connectors and connected them. I also left wires for the trailer hitch. Then i started going forward replacing some of the wires insulation some and i wrapped all the looms with protective tape, i like this soft type because it doesn't rattle as much as the plastic tape. I found couple eaten thru wires behind the fuses that fixes some of the lights and made the light relays sound like a buzzer. So i replaced all the relays, then i changed the indicator relay with a used one and still they won't worked so i grabbed another one and that one worked, that fixed both hazards and indicators, new switches fixed the lights and heater fan, with that everything works except the interior lights. Then i started the herculean task of replacing the fuse box. I had this fusebox from a citroen saxo so using a multimeter and a test light i spent the next 6 hours rewiring it, i run an extra fuse because i ran out of circuits in the fuse box now everything works all the time including the interior lights, no shaking wires or fuses needed. Big job and i'm glad is finished.
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Truly the labours of Hercules.
Not long now.
 
Made a sleeve for skate sharpening machine for the local shop. The machine is no longer supported so used an idler pulley from a Chevy and naturally the bearing has an ID larger than the original. So made a shouldered sleeve to adapt it. This morning semi finished the section of driveway that had been stone for the last few years. Snowblower and cats loved it so I replaced it with pavers. Took a month of weekends to dig out and flatten the gravel base. Done enough now to relax for the rest of the day!

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Got the power feed to move the table back and forth on my surface grinder. Still lots to do before it is working correctly, but at least it moves under its own power now.
 
My wife went to visit a friend in Seattle for the weekend.
That gave me some time to make some t nuts for the rotary table. Now I can start working on the pallet or sacrificial work plate.
I didn't notice that before? One of the nuts has a hole off center. Hmm, something must have moved.
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Today i started my day by calling around trying to find a front windscreen, and the closest to me was next town over in skopje, so i went there, brand new 50$ this took me couple of hours, then i focused on installing the rear windscreen, removing the chrome strip and washing the rubber seal and soaking it in hot water. With the help of some soapy water and a rope i installed it. Then i went to the front and install the heater inlet and the hood rubber seal, Niva badges in the rear and couple other small things.
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POTD was a “Honey-Do”, pun intended. My wife Tracy made a bee hive last year for honey and bees wax and stocked it with a swarm this spring. Guess the bees like where we are as in about a month’s time they filled the first of two boxes with comb, brood and honey. She happened to check the second box a month later and it was full also. Problem is, if the bees have no place to build their comb, they could swarm and leave to find a new home.


Lower hive box on June 30
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Upper box on June 30
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Both boxes full by August 7
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My wife can be quite meticulous on her projects. Her hive boxes have finger-joints that were cut on our table saw, then hand filled (die filer) and fitted with furniture-quality joinery. Quality can take time, she spent about a month in the evenings making the original boxes. There was a sense of urgency for a couple of additional boxes, so she solicited my help.

I’ve made many finger-joints on my table saw with an indexing jig on the miter gauge, but took the opportunity to do a little CNC programming on my new to me Tormach 1100 mill. I bought the mill close to 2 months ago but haven’t had the time to do anything on it. I have a Bridgeport with a circa 1983 Anilam Crusader 2 controller and am pretty adept at its conversational programming. But until now hadn’t done any G-code programming.

One nice thing about the PathPilot Tormach control is it shows your programmed path on the screen. So, no surprise wild moves because of a fat-fingered coordinate.

The box sides were too long to cut vertically, so that meant cutting with an end mill on the flat which would leave a radius in the corner of the joints. The routine spot drilled, drilled 1/8” corner holes, then milled/routed out the fingers with a ¼” 2-flute end mill. The 1/8” hole minimizes the radii in the corners of the joints.


Basic set up for all of the joints. Really like the fixture plate on my Tormach. It's within 0.0005" across 20" last time I checked. Nice to drop in a few 1/2" dowel pins and know you're square to the mill.
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Spot drilling
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Drilling 1/8" through holes in the bottom corners of the finger joints
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1/4" end mill doing the routing
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Nice thing about the CNC is naturally repeatability if/when I make multiples. The routines take an extra 0.002” on each side of the notches so there is a little clearance for a slip fit. Figured glue, wood expansion and bees filling any holes naturally would take care of a paper-thick clearance in the joints. Proved out the routines on a scrap piece of plywood, then on to the pine and cedar boards.

One box end has a window cut in it. Used a laser center finder to find the penciled layout lines and wrote a routine to cut out the window. Used a Rotozip bit for the cutter.


Laser center/edge finder picking up the pencil lines for the window cutout
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Wrote a routine to cut out the window with a rotozip bit
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Assembled "super" box which has a screen under that the queen can't fit through, but the worker bees can. The queen lays eggs for brood in the honeycomb, blocking her from this top box means it'll only have honey in the comb. The bees build the comb from the bottom of sticks called "frames".
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Finished standard box with the "peeping Tom" window
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Peek from above of the filled 2nd box
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Everything went together like a dream. Puts a smile on my face every time I see the mill doing what I’ve told it. Also like the auto tool changer as it automatically changed between the spotting drill, 1/8” drill and ¼” end mill. Gives the option of walking away for the 1 ½ to 3 ½ minutes each routine took to run.


My better half adding the new boxes
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Plan is to learn Fusion 360 so the G-codes will be generated from its CAM package, but for now I’m happy with doing G0, G1, G2/3, M06 G43, G81, etc. manually.

Thanks for looking,


Bruce
 
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POTD was more of a few weeks project to build a new chicken coup for our chickens, ducks and turkeys. My wife built the original coup out of shop scrap around 10 years ago. We attached a 5’ x 10’ dog kennel to the side so the birds could get out of the coup, but were still safe and secure.


Original coup was 4' x 8' by 6' tall. 5' x 10' dog kennel attached on the East end.
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My wife designed the new coup in Unigraphics. We learned some lessons on the first one that resulted in a much-improved new hen house. One problem with the original design was it was tough to muck out the coup as the roosts were fixed which made it tough to shovel. Also, being made from shop scraps, most of the lumber was not exterior grade.


Nice to work from a plan. The new coup is 5' x 9' x 8' tall at the top of the shed. 3' entry door makes for easy clean out. Dog kennel was expanded from 10' to 5' x 15'. Roof over the kennel area is 6' of barn steel and 9' of polycarbonate.
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We made the cuts in our shop and pre-assembled the basic structure. Then broke down the walls and hauled them up to the house.


Stood up the walls and worked out the details in the shop. Kind of committed once we torn down the old coup to get the new one up.
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The dog kennel area got expanded from 10’ to 15’ long. It has a steel roof with rafters and perlins, standard pole barn construction. Attached 2 x 4’ sole plates to the top of the dog kennel sections with lag screws through the top pipes. Then framed up from there (studs and a top plate).


View from the dog kennel end. The trash can in the corner is a collector for rain water off the roof (added eave troughs after this photo). My wife put in a watering system using something called "chicken nipples".
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Coup end
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Box under the RH window is a nesting box where the chickens lay their eggs
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The roosts are now on a pivot with stair stringers on the ends. They swing up to the back wall which opens up the floor for easy shoveling. Also ran a 110V 20A circuit for lights and power (heated water dish and a 250W heater in the winter).


Look inside. What looks like stairs are roosts for the chickens. The whole thing now pivots up out of the way for easier clean out.
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Still a little more work to do. Next will be insulating the walls and putting up ¼” luan to dress out the inside. Didn’t shoot pictures of it, but added an eave trough on it that drains to a 30-gallon trash can for auto-watering the birds.

Thanks for looking,

Bruce
 
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