Question for Machinists!?

[LoserShoes]

Second the Beeswax, forgot all about that, hey it's only been 30 or so years, my XS hadn't even been born then. Works realy good if you have to use a sanding disk on aluminum too.

Steve

[TopCatGr58]

Thanks guys,

The Metal Cutting Bandsaw has a nice VICE to hold the material, along with a stop rod, so it was pretty secure. As stated, the blade didn't even get warm. I have it running at the HIGHEST SPEED it can run, about 200 fpm. I can wear earplugs!!

I screwed up in ordering my parts!! I had read in my owners manual that my machine had an R8 mill head, the stats on the web site also stated that. So...I ordered R8 end mill holders, and drill chuch arbor. HOWEVER, I vaguely remember playing around with my MT3 and MT2 dead centers, and tried them in the mill head hole. The MT2 seemed to slide up nicely, the MT3 was too big! I didn't know the specs on the R8 style, didn't know it was a LARGER diameter, thought it was just a different style taper??

So....of course, my new R8 end mill holders won't work at all! I'm arranging a return/exchange. I've found the proper MT2 Drawbar design on LittleMachineShop's site/catalog complete with drawbar, says it's designed to fit the Harbor Freight "MiniMill", hope they mean my machine??

I got the 4jaw 6" Lathe chuck, but it's mounting holes are just a touch wider than the slots in my 6" faceplate I got! So....I'll be ordering the 1.5" -8 threaded backplate, 6.5" diameter designed for mounting plainback lathe chucks!

My Milling Vise is awesome, but it's also a tad larger/wider than my crossslide table!? It'll sit on it, and it looks like I can drill a couple of holes in the baseplate flange part of it, so that I can get the holes to line up with my T-slots on my slide table!?

More adventures in machining!! I'll get there!
T.C.

[TopCatGr58]

Actually having fun now!

Hey folks,

Just wanted to post a few photos and update. I had gotten my 4jaw lathe chuck, but the mounting holes were a bit to wide for the 6" wide faceplate I got from LMS! I thought I was going to have to order that larger threaded backing plate from SharsTool for over $50.00, but then I realized and remembered that I had some leftover 1/2" aluminum plate material! So... I thought I'd try to make my own!

I traced out a circular pattern just beyond the edge of the lathe chuck, then used my bandsaw to cut out a rough shaped piece. I then centerpunched a center, then drew a straight line thru it. Then I measured the distance across the chuck from 1 mounting hole to the other, and marked off this on the plate, and then center punched them. Then used the calipers to measure the distance between 2 holes around the edge, and used the caliper like a math compass to score a pair of intersecting lines marking the location of the other opposing mounting holes, and centerpunched them. Drilled them to 5/16" for the 8mm bolts.

Then I positioned the 4" diameter threaded backing plate using the calipers to measure exact equal distance from all four holes to center it, and then centerpunched the 3 mounting holes for it into the plate, and also drilled them to 5/16". I bolted the plate to the backing plate, had to grind the heads of the bolts a bit to allow the lathe chuck to sit flush. Then mounted the lathe chuck, was only 0.015"=15/1000ths off of true center! But I also noticed that it seemed like it was slightly wobbling as well, and realized that the plate might not be perfectly flat!

So...I got my tool holder, and HSS bits(Thanks XSWilly), and did a test run on the surface. Here's what a test S.O.F.A. looked like trying this on my OLD WORN OUT LATHE!

Then here's the backing plate after running the bits on it!

Amazing how nice it works when it spins at the proper speed, and is held in a secure crosslide/toolholder!

As I had also mentioned, my Vice was too wide for the slide table, so I drilled the lower baseplate, and put a pair of 3/8ths bolts in it to secure it. You can also see the new lathe chuck mounted to the new backplate! After slightly reaming the mounting holes a little, was able to center the chuck to within 0.002 of TRUE!

Well, I was pleasantly surprised as well as impressed with myself! I can't wait for my proper milling parts to arrive, and then I think I will actually be able to make these things! Thanks for watching, and the info/help you all have given!!
T.C.

[LoserShoes]

Way to go man!! Mazing what you can do when you have the right tools!

Steve

[xswilly]

looking good tc

i'm getting reading to drill my brake rotors at work
already came up with a nice pattern
in process of making a fixture to hold the rotors now

but i can see your going to be cranking out xs parts now

good luck with it
if you need any info just yell

xswilly

[TopCatGr58]

Yet, another delay!

Hey folks,
I was out in the garage playing with the machine trying to see if I could get one made! The milling vice I got is TOO BIG, and it won't allow me to turn the piece much more than 60 degrees of a 360 degree circle, took forever to mill out the various recesses at the various depths, and then tried to smooth it out with the LATHE! I had gotten the vice without the rotary base, but it wouldn't have made any different, it's just too long and too tall! I made a makeshift rotation base, and where I need to position the workpiece under the mill head, the vice hits the lathe spindle, and the mill/headstock!

Came to the realization that I need yet another fancy machining tool, a rotary table onto which I will mount the piece and be able to rotate it under the mill bit in a 360 arc to be able to more smoothly and easily mill out the required recesses. So...I get to invest another couple hundred bucks, and more time waiting for that part to come in.

So....all I can say is that I am working towards getting these things into production, but since I don't have a CNC mill, I am trying to find ways to make these things as easily and quickly as I can within a modest budget, and without having to spend ALL of my free weekend time out in the garage!! Hope you understand, and will be patient with me during my endeavor!?

[mainlylinux]

I don't need viagra, just keep a picture of that setup in my wallet!!!

Originally posted by lsippell
T.C.

I built a CNC controlled router mainly for cutting wood, but have cut alum on it without any problem. Just slightly slower than wood.

I have a Smithy lathe/milling machine but didn't convert it, just built one from scratch. Steppers off eBay and a 'chopper' controller from Hobby CNC (http://www.hobbycnc.com/).

Mach3 is the operating software of choice. If I'd just take the time to adjust the backlash using Mach3, I could get the accuracy down to a thousand or so.

http://www.machsupport.com/artsoft/index/index.htm

There are a lot of designs for machines out there. I used what I had available.

Louis

[mainlylinux]

Sounds great TC. You're doing exactly what I'd like to do - make the parts yourself.

Where do you get your bar stock from and what does it cost?

I've been looking at building an interia dyno recently but the main drum seems like it would be very expensive (and heavy).

The price of metals is insane! I wanted to get some diamond plate aluminum for a ramp I'm building out of an old aluminum ladder and they want like $16-20 for a 12"x24" piece!!!

What the heck is this country coming to?

Do I need to start my own foundry to change scrap into raw materials? I don't have a clue how bar and flatstock are made. I used to work in a foundry nearby but they closed (of course). To bad I don't have the money or wisdom to buy the old place.

Well, pattern making is an art unto itself anyway. I need more lifetimes to try and learn all this stuff.

Actually, if each one of us were to use a skill for something, we could all get together and make our parts. one of us would cast, some would machine, others would engineer/design, etc.

Probably a pipe dream.

Dan

[TopCatGr58]

Material source.

Where do you get your bar stock from and what does it cost?

Hey there Dan,

There is a place online that I order my stock from, was told about it by my "ex" machinist, called, Yarde Metals. Being just an individual and not a corporation, I have to order thru the "DROP ZONE", and you have to order at least $75.00 worth or you'll encounter an $18.00 handling fee on top of the shipping fee. Also, they ship UPS, and it's best to have a business "Ship to" address, cheaper than to a home residence!

The prices are very good, but I don't want to give away ALL of my insider info! I've been able to get the unit price for my SOFA's down to ~$10.00 ea, that's for about a 1" thick by 5.25" round piece of T-6061 aluminum. They have "Tread Plate"=diamond plate, I think in both aluminum and steel, but not sure of the prices since I've never really shopped for it Xcept at LOWE's when I was thinking about making my Diamond Plate saddlebags from flat stock...OUCH... sticker shock. That's when I found and opted for the toolboxes!!!

UPDATE: I just won (snipped ) my ebay auction for a nice little used 8" horizontal rotary table but probably won't see it till sometime next week, and I'll be off to W. Va. the Memorial Day Weekend, so I probably won't get to try to make these things till after then!! Gotta play and ride a little sometime!
T.C.

[Ken Talbot]

Hey, TC, check out these guys They talk about "small quantities - fast", and their price on 1" thick 6061 plate is about $12 for a 12" by 12" piece.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Ken,

I think you need to clean your glasses!

The price you quoted was for the 0.1" thick 12" x 12" plate, not the 1.0" thick plate, that is about $158.00, plus shipping!!

Thanks for trying! I had found them a while back during my searches for threaded rod and such! Yarde Metals so far is the best place and prices I've found!
T.C.

[Ken Talbot]

Oops, I do need to clean my glasses! I could try to blame this one on getting confused by going back to imperial measure after all these years on metric, but that would only bring Prom out of his slumber...

[mainlylinux]

wow. $158 bucks for what a 3 lb piece of aluminum????


That seems crazy! Why so expensive??

Dan

[mainlylinux]

ok, $158 for 14 lbs.

Still seems expensive! That's $11 a pound!

I looked at some aluminum angle at tractor supply the other day and couldn't believe how expensive it was.

Dan

[mainlylinux]

wow, a 1"x12" round stock piece of titanium is $211!!!

Dan