The Home Machinist!

Well, not exactly $1.99, possibly less, if everything from the scrap box is considered free.

I needed to taper some 1 3/4" square bar for some forks I am making for a friend's tractor. For a right angle cut, there are multiple options, but not for a 16" long bevel, and I did not want to do it on a milling machine.

So, two pieces of conduit, some scraps of unitstrut and clamps for the track, some allthread and a cordless drill for motive power, and a simple carriage running on old ball bearings with a few simple adjustments with a holder for a regular torch. I set the tip size and gas pressure per the Victor book and it worked great. Not the last time it gets used, I am sure.

Some of the large lumps are weights to improve stability.

Way cool, Russ! The poor man's track cutter.

Harold

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Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.

I love it, the only thing I can not see is what did you use on the bottom of the carriage to ride on the conduit.

Mike,

One side of the carriage has several small ball bearings mounted in a V pattern so that they track on the tube, the other side has some bearings that ride on the top of the tube. I have a box of surplus bearings, 3/16 id x 7/8 od. Good for projects like this. The tube in the center is the guide for the allthread.

The picture is a bottom view of the carriage if you haven't already guessed.

Back to back;

The next step is to weld some verticals on the forks. The forks are clamped back to back and the vertical piece is aligned then fixed with a temporary strut. A bit of preheat is applied before welding then a whole bunch of passes are made with 7018 rod. After it has cooled for a few hours, the clamps are released and the forks are straight. Much easier this way than trying to straighten a couple of bananas.

While it was cooling, the track cutter was cutting out some sides from 1/4" plate.

Thanks Russ,

Very cool setup

Ken.

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One must remember.
The best learning experiences come from
working with the older Masters.
Ken.

Russ, This is one of the best ideas I've seen for a while. I suck with a cutting torch, but sometimes there's not alternative. (Sitting here running my scrap inventory through my mind right now.) I see a new track cutter in my future. Thanks.
Chuck

What are the standoffs that hold the bolts that act as axles for the bearings? Are they off-the-shelf items or did you make them? I don't recall ever seeing anything similar.

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Ed

Atlas 618 lathe
US-Burke Millrite MVI mill
Files, snips and cold chisels

Those eyebolts happen to be surplus from long ago. You can accomplish the same intent by using short sections of small angle or turning the standoffs from 5/8" or similar stock. Depends on what is in your scrap box!