The Home Machinist!

Harold and All-- I'm back. I have been grading the road and other stuff. My internet connection has been worthless . (Hughesnet.) Another reason is that it has been over a hundred here. The shop is not air conditioned, yet . I followed Harold's advice about the clearances and bit radius with great r...

Harold and All-- Sorry for taking so long to get back to this issue. I brush hogged a few acres for a neighbor and graded the road and . . . Harold, do these pictures tell you what you need to know? The cutter has no visible radius, but it does have clearance. No radius . . . radius.jpg Clearance . ...

Harold and All-- [Note to All: This is taking a long time because I am not in a hurry and my primary objective is to continue learning, especially as I've been away from my shop for years. I appreciate you sticking with me and all the help you give.] I took your advice on ditching the insert-based t...

RussN and All-- I took Russ's advice and raised the bar as much as I could and still have clearance between the top of the bar and the hole I am boring. That produced a nice--acceptable to me, anyway--bored finish. The axle has a nice, no slop fit. Sliding a 0.500"+ plug gage into the hole prod...

John and Harold and RussN and All-- Harold , I rebored the piece with a 1/64" radius carbide insert, which, following John's guidance, I tilted a few degrees down. The results are much better. Next, I will raise the bar as John suggested and see what happens. (I am at 0.491"d on the way to...

John and Bill--

Thanks. I'll look around and see what else I've got. I MIGHT have something that will work without spending money. In any case, I'll report back!

Thank you for the help.
--Bill

Harold and All-- Harold , drilling the phosphor bronze went exactly as you predicted: very smooth. I got that bronze squeal on my first pass and knew not to go that deep again. I spent quite a bit of time drilling the hole where a pro would have taken no time at all. Still, I enjoyed it. I pecked at...

liveaboard--

Ha! I started with the brush cutter. I had actually seen it quite some time ago in my YouTube surfing! I'll watch the rest of them.

--Bill

liveaboard-- It sounds like a very usable machine! No special diesel exhaust considerations on a machine from 1985? No computers involved! Plenty of weight and horsepower to match. Enhanced hydraulics. What's not to like? I use mine extensively in the forest. I use the backhoe to take down trees. At...

Harold--

Drill undersize and bore to size. That was my plan. Slow-ish surface speed. Thanks!

I am familiar with that bronze squeal!

--Bill

whateg0 and Harold and Mauro and liveaboard-- whateg0 , you are a philosopher of my own ilk. Harold , thanks for the vote of confidence. By double drill, do you mean step the hole up from say a quarter inch to my desired half inch? Mauro , I get it! :) For example, I have the 1/2" axle on the m...

Ronald--

Hey! Those bearings would cost me $3.65 each and would have prevented me from spending 83 bucks and change on a piece of phosphor bronze that I do not how to machine! Where's the fun in that?

--Bill