Patio's projects
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:51 am
Hello Everyone!
Well it has been 6 months now since I started to learn to do machine work. I am going to start this new tread to post all my new projects in. My original thread (http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/vie ... =4&t=87984) does not apply anymore, as I am not new to machining, although very much still a beginner, and I have more than one post now. My original thread ended with me posting that I had to leave the shop as I was making to many mistakes. More on that in a moment.
Because I am such a beginner I am lacking in many of the tools and tooling to do some basic machine work, and because I am also lacking in money to just by tools and tooling I either make what I need or work my way around what I don't have. What I do have is basic tools, a couple of bench type drill presses, sanders, a wood cutting band saw that I may put a VFD on, a 7" Logan shaper and a Southbend 10L lathe. Both the lathe and shaper are well used but still usable.
The shaper has taken the longest to get to operating condition and for me to learn how to use. I have remade one part (in my other post) and probably will remake it later. I did find (after a lot of measuring) that the vice was out of kilter, and decided to use the shaper itself to correct the problem. It was during this process that I damn near ruined the vice. My intention was to take off about .005 to make the vice parallel with the table. Cause of my inexperience in machining I had gotten to much rake in my tooling, causing it to pull itself into the work. So before I new it, the tool had taken a .025 dive into the work, I reset it and damn if it didn't do it again and again. That is when I decided to take a break for the night. After contemplating on it for the night and next day, I came to the to much rake conclusion. I reground my tool and tried again, this time with great success. It is now within a couple of thousandths across the six inches, which is as good as the machine can do for itself, and much better than the .006 it use to be. I am happy with the results for now. I may have a friend do more with it later on his mill.
All this messing around started cause I thought it would be nice to make a unicorn log splitter (look it up on Youtube). To do that I need to have my taper attachment working, for that I need the bracket that connects it to the bed of the lathe. They are quite expensive, even on fleabay, so I thought I would make one. That is when I found out how hard it is to find a chunk of steel 3"X3"X6" in my neck of the woods. I did find a 2X3X6, but that will require me to lay out the part at an angle in the material......so....now I need a hold the work to a couple of particular angles, being 5 and 40 degrees. Back to that thing of no money and tooling. What to do? Make a sine bar, so I can make a couple of angle plates.
I had seen Glenn Wegmans post of his project (http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/vie ... t=sine+bar) and decided to give that a try. Mine is not as near as nice as Glenns but came out well enough to do what I will need. Thanks Glenn for posting that, it helped a lot!
I started out to make a 5" sine bar and quickly realized it is to big to set in my vise. I started over making a 3"er. It is make of an aluminum bar with steel wheels.
I know it is soft and will not hold up in the long run, but this is as much practice of work as much as making something useful.
Here are the pictures of my process.
Practicing cutting the aluminum on the shaper. Real smooth finish, you can almost read "Staples" in the reflection. Layout of the 3" bar. Cut off excess on band saw, with wood blade in it, and running to fast. (More of that making do thing.) Turned some 12L14 on the lathe to .750 for wheels. I used the cross slide dial on the shaper to get my 3" measurement for the cuts in the bar. (More of that making do thing as I do not have any gauges.) Here are the parts all cut out. Now for the drilling of the wheels and plate. This was the most trying part of the process, as I don't have a mill or any counter boring drills. I set the wheels up in the drill press with a cheap cross sliding table and my little vise. I used the, lay the scale on the top of the wheel, run the center drill down on it to pinch it, them move table till scale is level, method of finding center. (No edger finders, or DROs). I do have a couple of pretty cool old clamps though. I can tell you that is was a real pain getting the wheels to set in the corners just right though, as the holes in the wheels did not come out on center and the holes tapped into the bar were not perfect either. The second one I drill was much easier than the first. After much fiddling I got it all together. Then I put it back in the shaper and planed both sides. Then I took careful measurements of the wheels to top of bar distance, set it back up in the shaper with some shimming, and on the second try got it within .0005 of each other, as measure with my chinese micrometers. Here it is in its done state setting on the block for the taper attachment bracket. Another view.
Side view of layout drawing. Now to make some gauges blocks on the lathe (Using the carriage, dial indicator holder I made) to setup for the angle plates, and test them with my layout of the bracket.
I know this it simple stuff to some of you guys who have been at it awhile, but it is just my leaning process, and I would hope that some of you will find it to be at least and interesting read and maybe to inspire others that maybe just beginning, and be in the same boat as me, with little knowledge or resources.
“It's not that I'm so smart , it's just that I stay with problems longer .”
Albert Einstein
More to come later.
Well it has been 6 months now since I started to learn to do machine work. I am going to start this new tread to post all my new projects in. My original thread (http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/vie ... =4&t=87984) does not apply anymore, as I am not new to machining, although very much still a beginner, and I have more than one post now. My original thread ended with me posting that I had to leave the shop as I was making to many mistakes. More on that in a moment.
Because I am such a beginner I am lacking in many of the tools and tooling to do some basic machine work, and because I am also lacking in money to just by tools and tooling I either make what I need or work my way around what I don't have. What I do have is basic tools, a couple of bench type drill presses, sanders, a wood cutting band saw that I may put a VFD on, a 7" Logan shaper and a Southbend 10L lathe. Both the lathe and shaper are well used but still usable.
The shaper has taken the longest to get to operating condition and for me to learn how to use. I have remade one part (in my other post) and probably will remake it later. I did find (after a lot of measuring) that the vice was out of kilter, and decided to use the shaper itself to correct the problem. It was during this process that I damn near ruined the vice. My intention was to take off about .005 to make the vice parallel with the table. Cause of my inexperience in machining I had gotten to much rake in my tooling, causing it to pull itself into the work. So before I new it, the tool had taken a .025 dive into the work, I reset it and damn if it didn't do it again and again. That is when I decided to take a break for the night. After contemplating on it for the night and next day, I came to the to much rake conclusion. I reground my tool and tried again, this time with great success. It is now within a couple of thousandths across the six inches, which is as good as the machine can do for itself, and much better than the .006 it use to be. I am happy with the results for now. I may have a friend do more with it later on his mill.
All this messing around started cause I thought it would be nice to make a unicorn log splitter (look it up on Youtube). To do that I need to have my taper attachment working, for that I need the bracket that connects it to the bed of the lathe. They are quite expensive, even on fleabay, so I thought I would make one. That is when I found out how hard it is to find a chunk of steel 3"X3"X6" in my neck of the woods. I did find a 2X3X6, but that will require me to lay out the part at an angle in the material......so....now I need a hold the work to a couple of particular angles, being 5 and 40 degrees. Back to that thing of no money and tooling. What to do? Make a sine bar, so I can make a couple of angle plates.
I had seen Glenn Wegmans post of his project (http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/vie ... t=sine+bar) and decided to give that a try. Mine is not as near as nice as Glenns but came out well enough to do what I will need. Thanks Glenn for posting that, it helped a lot!
I started out to make a 5" sine bar and quickly realized it is to big to set in my vise. I started over making a 3"er. It is make of an aluminum bar with steel wheels.
I know it is soft and will not hold up in the long run, but this is as much practice of work as much as making something useful.
Here are the pictures of my process.
Practicing cutting the aluminum on the shaper. Real smooth finish, you can almost read "Staples" in the reflection. Layout of the 3" bar. Cut off excess on band saw, with wood blade in it, and running to fast. (More of that making do thing.) Turned some 12L14 on the lathe to .750 for wheels. I used the cross slide dial on the shaper to get my 3" measurement for the cuts in the bar. (More of that making do thing as I do not have any gauges.) Here are the parts all cut out. Now for the drilling of the wheels and plate. This was the most trying part of the process, as I don't have a mill or any counter boring drills. I set the wheels up in the drill press with a cheap cross sliding table and my little vise. I used the, lay the scale on the top of the wheel, run the center drill down on it to pinch it, them move table till scale is level, method of finding center. (No edger finders, or DROs). I do have a couple of pretty cool old clamps though. I can tell you that is was a real pain getting the wheels to set in the corners just right though, as the holes in the wheels did not come out on center and the holes tapped into the bar were not perfect either. The second one I drill was much easier than the first. After much fiddling I got it all together. Then I put it back in the shaper and planed both sides. Then I took careful measurements of the wheels to top of bar distance, set it back up in the shaper with some shimming, and on the second try got it within .0005 of each other, as measure with my chinese micrometers. Here it is in its done state setting on the block for the taper attachment bracket. Another view.
Side view of layout drawing. Now to make some gauges blocks on the lathe (Using the carriage, dial indicator holder I made) to setup for the angle plates, and test them with my layout of the bracket.
I know this it simple stuff to some of you guys who have been at it awhile, but it is just my leaning process, and I would hope that some of you will find it to be at least and interesting read and maybe to inspire others that maybe just beginning, and be in the same boat as me, with little knowledge or resources.
“It's not that I'm so smart , it's just that I stay with problems longer .”
Albert Einstein
More to come later.