Old man needs ideas or direction?

[GK1918]

I try not to be long winded. first we are NOT a production shop. Stupid me does not refuse whatever work. A customer that has price shopped around finding to be outrageously
out of his budget. The job high tech expensive cribbage boards inlaid all brass'ed up owners name lasered name plates etc. For a start, the job is 2,000 cribbage pins in being
1/4 inch yellow brass, white brass, alum. and copper. The operations are using a parting tool to mark the lenght part three rings .022 deep and a 5 degree taper to the last ring.
(I machined a test gauge for the length rings and taper, then draw file the point round, then part off. Rechuck the pin and draw file the top (break the edge round), then to the
buffer, using a rubber hose to hold it. I punched the time clock, I cant get better than around 9 minutes each, and to be competitive i said maybe around a dollar each, and doing
the math by 60min in an hour that aint going to work. What I did; 3 or 4 jaw chuck out of question, machined a so called collet holder zeroed in a 4jaw with 4 set screws for the rod.
The smallest lathe we have is a long bed 9A SB. Now, I exactly know how to spit these out, but I'm not about to buy a $5000 B&S screw machine or a $500 Box tool.
I am not running lead screw or gear box either. Ok problem is this lathe is now dedicated, most used (other ones are too big) I dont want to change the set up.
Next problem Is after doing about six I gotta sit down my back can't take it. So I'm out of ideas, even made a form tool to cut the 3 rings that don't work (too soft) and I cant
taper turn no more that .002 - also there's no way with the copper just touch it and it goes spaghetti. Last problem is customer works with my son state union carpenter so its
more like a favor. Lots of brilliant people here that may have ideas to save time?? And I have machined about 200 pieces exact to the prints.

thanks sam

I imagine a 5 degree taper female cutter in the tail stock then life would be easy. New PC so sorry no pic it wont except my camara dont know why?

 

[xalky]

I think that first off, you need to charge more$. $1 a minute is what I like to get here in CT. On the buffing end of things , maybe a cheap rock tumbler from HF with different grits of media for deburring, then a finer grit for polishing. You should be able to get at least 100 parts into the small tumbler. You'll have to do a little research for proper grits and cycle time for the tumbler. Here's a hint. Bullet reloaders use these tumblers to deburr their brass shell casings.

 

[Cadillac STS]

Here is a quick way to hold them in a collet. I made it from a MT2 taper set I had and a hardened sleeve parallel on the outside and MT2 on the inside.





This way you cut your pieces and quickly and precisely collet them up. Not leaving marks.

 

[Cadillac STS]

Otherwise you can buy CNC lathe time and they could pump those out perfectly for you. Maybe call around locally. Might be nice to at least price it out, farmed out work is ok sometimes. Maybe use this job to shop around not for this but so you have the source to farm out part of another job you might run across. They can make an unlimited supply of the exact same part.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-Custom-...490?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19b1ca600a

In the modern day you really are looking at a CNC job.

 

[Bill C.]

I try not to be long winded. first we are NOT a production shop. Stupid me does not refuse whatever work. A customer that has price shopped around finding to be outrageously
out of his budget. The job high tech expensive cribbage boards inlaid all brass'ed up owners name lasered name plates etc. For a start, the job is 2,000 cribbage pins in being
1/4 inch yellow brass, white brass, alum. and copper. The operations are using a parting tool to mark the lenght part three rings .022 deep and a 5 degree taper to the last ring.
(I machined a test gauge for the length rings and taper, then draw file the point round, then part off. Rechuck the pin and draw file the top (break the edge round), then to the
buffer, using a rubber hose to hold it. I punched the time clock, I cant get better than around 9 minutes each, and to be competitive i said maybe around a dollar each, and doing
the math by 60min in an hour that aint going to work. What I did; 3 or 4 jaw chuck out of question, machined a so called collet holder zeroed in a 4jaw with 4 set screws for the rod.
The smallest lathe we have is a long bed 9A SB. Now, I exactly know how to spit these out, but I'm not about to buy a $5000 B&S screw machine or a $500 Box tool.
I am not running lead screw or gear box either. Ok problem is this lathe is now dedicated, most used (other ones are too big) I dont want to change the set up.
Next problem Is after doing about six I gotta sit down my back can't take it. So I'm out of ideas, even made a form tool to cut the 3 rings that don't work (too soft) and I cant
taper turn no more that .002 - also there's no way with the copper just touch it and it goes spaghetti. Last problem is customer works with my son state union carpenter so its
more like a favor. Lots of brilliant people here that may have ideas to save time?? And I have machined about 200 pieces exact to the prints.

thanks sam

I imagine a 5 degree taper female cutter in the tail stock then life would be easy. New PC so sorry no pic it wont except my camara dont know why?

I like the shop made stockholder. I would grind a angle on the parting tool so that the part breaks off before finishing. Also use the thinnest blade possible. Are you using a quick change tool holder? I must have missed the overall length of the part. Searching Google images it looks like they are about inch long.

I understand the sore back. A small turret lathe could knock them out using a machine operator. Do you know a shop that can do those for you in exchange of services. I worked in a small shop who would trade work out.

 

[Cadillac STS]

One idea for the sore back is to get one of those cushion pads to stand on while working. Makes it much better.

Also maybe some Advil when you start to work.

 

[JimDawson]

From your description, does the pin look something like this picture I found on the net?

 

[GK1918]

From your description, does the pin look something like this picture I found on the net?

Yes Jim, except the taper goes straight to the ring, no shoulder.
Next I thank all for good replys

I'll answer some; yes the customer shopped around either big bucks or were not interested

yes I stand on that foam stuff like 3' wide 30' long with cardboard on top (nice on the feet)

no, I can't farm this out, area shops are Nasa minded dont want to be bothered

for Caddilac, I really can't use a collet- stock is 3 foot 1/4 inch as far as 'tail whip' I simply drilled a hole in cork and stuffed it in the headstock works well

why? just another favor mess I got myself into

buffing? no problem 5 seconds i dont mind that

Time is cranking the compound for the taper for 1 or 2 thou thats lots of cranking (any more I can see the work bending)

Perfect machine for this a #2 Brown & Sharp auto screw machine ebay $350 where? 3500 miles from here. BUT i'll probably never do this again!
Again problem is I don't dare to re set up the lathe for usual work (my other SBend is all apart for rebuild) and the 1918GK is way too big & no QC tool post (thats a grand that big for a good one)

thanks all sam

 

[SG51Buss]

An interesting challenge. How 'bout:

Run your stock thru a collet to a fixed stop position.

Have a custom made tapered tenon cutter (like a pencil sharpener) mounted in the tailstock.
Kinda like this. From: http://www.fine-tools.com/zapfenschneider.htm


This tapered tenon cutter would be advanced onto the stock, cutting the taper, and its inherent design (inner taper) would stabilize the shaft during the cut. The very front, non-cutting short section of the cutter's entry hole would have an ID slightly larger than your stock rod. Once the taper cut is made, the tool is left in this position so that the non-cutting entry hole will act as a steady rest on the end of your workpiece, stopping just shy of the first groove.

Then cut the grooves with the formtool. If stock is consistantly fed to a fixed stop position, the carriage can be locked down, for consistent/repeatable groove/formtool cuts.

Of course, use plenty of bacon grease during all this.


Mmmmmmmm, bacon...

 

[GK1918]

Right on! exactly what I had in mind. As far as the form tool , I tried that for the three rings (nope) the stock is too flimsy..
thanks I'll save your pic so I dont have to draw one up.

sam