PM935-TV Arrives

[catoctin]

I have had my mill now for close to two months and have been making changes to my machining area as I go. The first thing I needed to work on is lighting. The two car garage stall where my "toys" reside has 6 four bulb fixtures in the ceiling. The problem is my ceiling is 12' tall and the actual light intensity on the mill is ok but not great for close work. I didn't order the halogen light with the machine because my area just gets too hot. in the summer. My preference was LED lighting so I prototyped a couple of floor standing LED lights.



I picked up two PAR38 LED spot light bulbs from Costco for around $15 dollars each and cobbled this together with some outdoor fixtures, EMT tubing, and outdoor receptacle boxes. The stands are 14" x 14" double stacked pieces of scrap plywood with galanized plumbing flanges bolted on. The only change I have done so far is cut the height on the rear light by roughly 9 inches. Each of the bulbs puts out 950 lumens of cool light. The color temperature seems to be right where halogen is. I eventually rebuild the setup out of aluminum but it's good enough for now. The nice thing is I can use the fixture elsewhere in the garage if required.

I started out cleaning up around the mill with an old Lowes mini shop vac. The filter was always clogging up with chips and oil. Several folks have used Oneida Dust Deputies and have been very happy with them so I decided to try one. Most folks think the home cyclone vacuums are a new thing but they have been used for years in industry. So I decided to build my "chiperator" for cleaning up in the shop area.


I built a plywood platform with casters to hold the setup. The 10 gallon metal dust deputy sits on the 3/4" plywood base and is held in place by a second layer of plywood with a hole cut in it. I purchased a Rigid 1450 shop vac as a vacuum source. The shop vac is mounted on a plywood box to reduce the number of bends on the vacuum hose to the Dust Deputy. The box also functions as a storage area for the vacuum hose. I mounted the shop vac to the box using the screw holes for mounting the feet to the vac. This thing works great. Almost all of the oil and chip debris ends up in the can. The only things that seem to make it back to the vacuum are sheets of paper and an occasional shop towel.

-Joe

 

[zmotorsports]

Lookin' good Joe.

 

[GA Gyro]

I like the way the mill sits in your stand... gives it a wider stance... probably more stable.

I also like that vacuum... probably will have to make something like that in due time.

THX for posting, appreciate it!

John

 

[catoctin]

Well I finally got around to finishing my power drawbar for my PM-935. I spent several months reviewing the various designs that are out there and eventually ran across a Joe Vicar's version from 2006. It is a pretty simple design. The plans are available for $15 and are a good starting point. Here's what the final top assembly looks like:


The top assembly contains only three machined pieces and contains no external springs. I deviated from the plan by creating a full round bottom plate. The bottom plate started as a square 3/4" piece of 6160 aluminum. All holes were drilled prior to the rounding operation on a rotary table.

I cut down the front side of the plate to 1/4" in case I ever need to access the drawbar with a wrench.


Another place I deviated from the original design was adding bronze bushings on the impact wrench plate. These were pressed in and bored out to .51 " The original design used a hole in the aluminum bored out to .53". The plate was also increased from 1/4" to 1/2".

I spent a significant amount measuring and remeasuring changes to the HF impact wrench since the 2006 design was created. Since my design does not allow for adjustment, I needed to also get the center of the wrench dimensioned.

My activation button started out as a 1" square aluminum bar.


to be continued........

 

[catoctin]

For simplicity, I milled in an "I" for on and an "O" for off on the activator lever.


The completed lever on the mounting plate is shown in the photo below:


I spent a lot of time thinking about where to mount the control assembly. I wanted to get it close to the brake lever in order to work the lever and brake with the same hand. Two of the four vent panel M5 mount screws seemed like the best mount points.


My mounting bracket started out as a 3/4" thick piece of aluminum. A clearance slot 1/4" deep was cut on the bottom of the bracket to clear the contour of the head.

The two 1/2" contact feet were blued to eyeball skim a 2 degree profile. It's hard to tell from the photo but the bracket is tilted 2 degrees in the vice. The final bracket with the profile is depicted below:


The final fitment on the mill head looks like the following:


continued.....

 

[catoctin]

Just a few more photos and comments. Here's a few more shots on top of the mill including the air piston that contains the recovery spring:

And a few shots of my helper:


Gotta love those father-daughter projects.

I was really surprised that the gas piston spring had enough umph to pull the impact wrench up but it does. My setup still needs a little more cleanup. My shop has 1/2" copper pipe running on the perimeter for compressed air. There is a tap for the mill but it isn't in use yet. I plan to add a regulator and oiler on the side of the mill for the drawbar, compressed air gun, and a synthetic oil mister.

The biggest pain in completing this project was finding a decent HF butterfly impact wrench. I bought two at a HF store in Tracy, CA and returned them for bad air leaks on the swivel. Another sample was taken at a HF in Fremont, CA. It leaked too. I finally bought two at the store in Hayward, CA and they didn't leak. We have a winner! Many of the other Asian importers also have the sample problem from what I have seen on the web.

 

[zmotorsports]

Look awesome Joe. Great job and great to see you have a helper out there in the shop. Treasure those times.

As far as the HF butterfly, I too had to go through a couple before getting one that was worth the crap. Just another reason I hate HF.

Mike.

 

[Chip]

She needs a hair net or something.

 

[catoctin]

She needs a hair net or something.

I busted her a few times for that along with her Formula-SAE racing team professor at college. There is a story of a college girl at the University of Michigan that got her neck broke by a drill press. Guys with long hair need to watch that too.

 

[GA Gyro]

What she is doing in the picture is not 'that' dangerous... however...

We know sooner or later she will lean into the work... and that beautiful hair may cause a painful accident.

Better if she understands and develops the habit sooner than later.