# Lathe/Mill tooling cart



## Firestopper (Oct 8, 2017)

This has been on my want list for some time, in fact it keeps me up some nights with different ideas.
As I get older it seems more often these days the tooling, chucks, face plates, vices etc. get harder for me to pick up and move around. Well I don't plan on slowing down any time soon so I have been thinking a robust rolling cart that will fit my needs. I won't bore you all with overall dimensions but the finished height will be suited for my stature and will also accommodate the mill table for those vise swaps, and future 8" rotary table. I got the idea from the iron worker support cart I built last year. That set up has worked fantastic and I don't find myself putting off tool swaps any longer.

The main frame and uprights are 1/8" x 2.5" x 2.5" square. The caster plates are 1/4"x 4" flat strap sheared to 4.5" and punched. I decided to make four extra plates since I had the iron worker set up.


The punch station made short work of the 7/16" holes. The stop indexes the corners of said plates to the correct hole location. After punching, you flip the plate for second hole, rotate the plate and repeat x 2.
The same machine sheared the 4" flat bar to 4.5".


The main frame components ready for layout. The caster plates also laid out.


The casters are 5" and should roll the loaded cart with minimal effort.

I decided to use the new Miller 252 for this entire project. Its a little different as I have grown accustomed to the push mig.
Got the main frame tacked and 1/4" x 1.5" angle iron was used for the lower shelf. This shelf will be used for the chucks, steady rear, follow rest and other heavy tooling that is seldom used.


Welded up and squared (diagonal) to exact tolerances. Controlled welding technique was used to pull legs to desired measurements. In the end, the frame is perfectly squared.


The lower shelf requires bracing to support the 14 gauge perforated sheet. I didn't want to use expanded metal since I wanted to have the ability to slide heavy tooling. The perf was leftover from years ago and has some surface rust that should clean up easily.




The plasma cutter made quick work cutting it down to size. The corner notches where made with a simple 5" grinder and cutoff wheel.
Since I had the plasma set up, I decided to cut the 1/4" top sheet. Those measurement are 30" x 48" and will have a 2" overhang on four sides of the frame.
I'm a big fan of radius edges and rounded corners so the same 5" grinder was used with a 60 grit flap disc.


Back to the lower shelf bracing. The same angle iron was used for this and was notched on the iron worker to allow a flush fit.


A second notch the same thickness (1/4") was made to allow the leg to continue past the inside frame dimension.


A 45• notch was made to soften the corner leg on both ends.


And finally the finished soft corners.


This shows the fitment of the cross bracing from the underside of the shelf. It's clear the second notch (1/4") is required for the top of the shelf to end up flush.


The top where the perf will be welded. I still need three braces down the center using the same notching technique to prevent the 14 gauge perf from oil canning.


The perf fit nicely the first time. I used a 9" grinder with a corse cupped wire wheel to clean up the surface rust.



A corner weld joint shot. Notice the weld seams on the tubing all face the same direction. This practice always pays off in the end once painted. All projects that have seams are never ignored.
Overall the new machine runs well.


I'm planning on a 5C collet drawer and a top rack for 3MT tooling, QCTH and other stuff. Any ideas would be appreciated......More to come later.
Thanks for looking and as always, any feed back is welcomed.

Turn and Burn!

Paco


----------



## Glenn Brooks (Oct 9, 2017)

Sweet!


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 10, 2017)

Had the day off today and only got about one hour of shop time in. The four kids had a groomers appointment and they look/smell great! It always takes longer than expected but it beats doing it ourselves. We also stocked up with  six weeks worth of food for said kiddos. I better do more side work hehehe.

I was able to finish up the bottom shelf angle bracing to support the perforated sheet. More notching work on the iron worker.

1/4"x 1.5" angle tacked in. This view is from the bottom. The center piece required a notch at both ends to keep it flush topside.



Detailed shot of the left side.




The center piece was triple notched at both ends. The last little notch(45•) accommodates the slight radius found on the inside corner of most angle iron.




A view from the inside (topside) where the perf will be tacked in.




The cart is now upright. The added bracing should work well supporting the weight of the heavier tooling.



I'm trying to design a full length drawer that will slide out and kneel/tilt to store all of the 5C collets, indexing cutters (inserts) and other smaller knick knacks. I will be breaking 1/8" aluminum for the drawer with 3.5" deep sides and back and the drawer face TBD. I have a decent selection of precision bearings for the glide/slide but don't want to over think it. Any input would be appreciated. I know theres plenty of engineers and alike here on HM way smarter than me.
Thanks in advance for any shelf design input and as always, general feedback is ALWAYS appreciated.
Gonna hang out with the kids now (on the couch)  all 400 pounds of them.


----------



## mksj (Oct 10, 2017)

Hey Paco, top notch work as usual. Your usual attention to detail.
Brad (BSS1) made his own lathe base and collet draws, they look great. May want to look at some of his build/drawer pictures for ideas. The collets can take up a lot of space if in one draw, might consider stacking them in 2 or 3 pullout draws vertical on one side of the cart and grouping them in sizes per draw. Will need some heavy duty full extension ball bearing sliders so you can utilize the full draw space. Maybe incorporate a small tool cabinet on the other side.  I like the HF 18" 7 draw 68785 for a lot of the smalls. Not sure for the chucks, ideally a heavy pullout shelf/draw would be nice.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/another-pm1340gt-build.52267/
https://www.harborfreight.com/tool-...y-red-end-cabinet-for-roller-tool-chest-.html


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 10, 2017)

Hi Mark,
Thanks for passing along BSS1 post. I had not seen his build before, man it's nice. Unfortunately I can't fit a HF end cabinet into this build as the inside dimensions won't support it.
The overall dimensions for the project where dictated by the location the cart will be stored and by where it will be utilized. It's rather compact and should work well directly behind the lathe operator when in use. The hight of the top is a good working hight bench and to slide heavy tooling onto the mill tables.  A secondary rack system (design in my head ) will span the back half of the work surface (elevated) and will hold QCTH, 3MT tooling and some R-8 tooling as well. The drawer in question would span the entire inside of the frame (side to side and front to back) and would easily accommodate the entire 5C collets as well as miscellaneous inserts and HSS cutters using dividers. The collets would also have a rack of their own. The drawer slide I'm envisioning would slide straight out then kneel 20-30•. Thats where I'm stumped a bit. The entire lower shelf would hold the heavy chucks, face plate, steady /follow rest etc.

 The cart will live between the larger mill and lathe keeping the floor open. When it's rolled out for lathe work it will be parallel to the lathe with a operator work space of 30"-40" between the cart and lathe with access to tooling and as mentioned a large table for mic's, calipers, calculator, oil and what ever else come to mind. A quick 180 degree turn and your back on the lathe.

Thanks for the input, its always appreciated.

Paco


----------



## mksj (Oct 11, 2017)

A few tilting draw mechanisms to consider. Most of them are rated to 120+ pounds.
Accuride
https://www.accuride.com/en-us/news/new-al4190-tilt-track-system
GSF
https://www.gsf-promounts.com/slide-tilt-drawer-system-60-90kg-pr-non-corrosive/
Chambrelan
http://www.chambrelan.com/US/product/E53GP/GP/linear/rail/steel/


----------



## Ulma Doctor (Oct 11, 2017)

sweet set up Paco!
very nice


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 11, 2017)

mksj said:


> A few tilting draw mechanisms to consider. Most of them are rated to 120+ pounds.
> Accuride
> https://www.accuride.com/en-us/news/new-al4190-tilt-track-system
> GSF
> ...



Thanks Mark,
 I had seen this before and we also have a few rigs with this set up that work well. Probably follow the design without the bigger lower bracket. 





Ulma Doctor said:


> sweet set up Paco!
> very nice



Thanks Mike, Its been long over due.


----------



## Bamban (Oct 11, 2017)

Paco,

Impressive work as always. 


nez


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 11, 2017)

Thanks nez, looking forward to placing it in service.


----------



## Silverbullet (Oct 12, 2017)

I enjoy making tables and cabinets. The drag part for me is the grinding and cleanup. Nice when everything comes together all cuts and welds , legs and wheels are flat and square. Looking good nice job.


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 14, 2017)

Picked up some aluminum sheet (4'x 8' .100 thick) and some aluminum channel. Still working out the angles for the "kneeling" drawer.  I did get some lathe time in and turned the rear rollers for the drawer this morning after shift. I have a decent selection of bearings with a 3/8" bore and thought this would have ample support  to carry the tooling the drawer will hold.




Turned down the 1.5" delrin and drilled/reamed to 3/8", then bored for a press fit.





The proximity carriage stop really is helpful when counterboring to a shoulder.


This is the channel track side of the roller. The bearing will set in further (step bored) to allow clearance for the bolt head once assembled.


Got to use the Kennametal parting tool for the first time. Always enjoy machining delrin, nice finish and a breeze to clean up.


I still use a 6" scale to center up tooling for the first time. I learned this back in 1978 H.S. machine shop class.


The bearing was pressed in on the lathe to keep the delrin roller solid for re-chucking after parting for second boring operation.


The second side (drawer side) did not require a flush bearing so only a single bore was needed.


Track side of roller was stepped board


Test fit to channel track. Here you can see the need for a sub-flush fit for the 3/8" bolt head.
The larger diameter will keep the drawer centered and snug when rolling in/out. Once I build the drawer, and mount the track, I will need to measure for spacers that will go between the roller and side of drawer. I will probably drill a large access hole at the rear of the track for a socket to assemble the competed unit. The aluminum track will be  drilled and counter sinked for some machine screws. Working on designing the steel brackets that will be welded to the frame as well. (so much for not over thinking the kneeling drawer)


With the drawer in, the rollers ride on the lower flange of the track and as the drawer is pulled out the rollers will transition to ride along the top flange. I turned the rollers .040" smaller then the inside measuerment of the track to prevent the rollers from skidding when rolling. The larger diameter  (right side)  of the roller is .003" smaller than the inside of track, enough to keep the roller from contacting both top and bottom track edge. The diameter difference is .155 to keep things centered.


More to come later.
Thanks for looking.
I also wanted to mention that I really like the new upgrades on the site.Nice job to the staff!
Turn and Burn!

Paco


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 21, 2017)

Got more lathe work in on the larger delrin rollers and custom hubs that will attach rollers to frame.
I also got the aluminum track mounted to main frame. Took some figuring to get the correct angle.

Cut four 1/4"x 1.5" x 1.5" angle iron and drilled/tapped 10-32.



Drilled aluminum track and countersinked and mounted.


I then came up with a hub design that will secure the larger Delrin rollers to the two front legs. I found a piece of 1.5" x 15" round bar wrapped in a sleeve. At the time I was under the impression it was CR bar....Until I took my first cut. It produced a shiny finish and I realized it wasn't CR.
It was hard as hell and switched up cutters taking .040" passes until I got down to my target dimension of .700" x .375". Drilling went a bit slow but tapping the 12mm x 1.75 x 1.25 deep went extra slow and clearing chips made me nervous. The tap was four flute (all I have) and realized a two flute would have worked better. I have a complete metric tap/die set that goes to 24mm but thats it for metric. Standard tap/dies, I have all sorts from spiral, two, four flutes etc.  The bearings used on the large rollers required a 12mm bolt.



After the second pass, I changed up the tooling for a round nose more robust cutter.


Finally after 19 -.040" passes and two .020" passes I was able to sneak up on .700".
I was too involved tapping to get a photo but here is the first piece ready for the band saw. Yea, no way in a million years was I going to part this material.




Cut on band saw (took forever) and really was worried about the final operation on the hubs that included drilling/tapping 10-32. I have plenty of 10-32 taps in various configurations but still this mystery metal (at the time) had me concerned. Rinse and repeat for second hub with no mishaps.

Here is the two finished hubs (almost) and two larger delrin rollers that will support the bottom front and sides of the drawer.


This shows the hubs threaded on to the rollers. The hubs will actually be located on the inside of each leg and held in place by three 10-32 countersunk flat Allen machine screws. The holes will be as close to .700" to allow a nice fit exposing only a portion of the hub. If my calculations are right they will not require spacers.



Now to drill/tap three 10-32 (120º apart) without a rotary table or alike. I decided to use my collet blocks in the vertical position.
First to find center and zero out the DRO's.
I love this Blake, It makes short work of finding centers ID's or OD's.


Once centered I moved the table out and reset zero, set my depth to keep collet from harm and drilled my first hole using a #21 (slightly larger than 5/32") to prevent tap breakage. Swapped in aquality two flute 10-32 tap and power tapped enough to get started and moved table away enough for a small tap wrench. Went back to zero and rotated the collet block two spaces, rinse and repeat six times (two parts).



Worked out really well with no drama .




Thats all for now, stay tuned and thanks for looking.
Turn and Burn!

Paco


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 22, 2017)

I found this inside the sleeve of the mystery 1.5" round bar that I used to machine the hubs.



INVAR 36, I have never had the opportunity to work with this material before and by chance I had this piece of 15" stock. Like I mentioned, I assumed it was 1.5"x15" CR when I was going thought the machining stock bin. A few years ago I purchased a Lagun 2 axis cnc mill from a local company that was doing work for the department of defense. The shop in Tucson closed doors and I purchased the mill, they threw in several hundred pounds of stock from aluminum round stock to large solid square stock and several other round bars as well as some plastics. They needed to clear out of the building and my timing was right. This particular piece was wrapped with only one end exposed that looked like CR round bar. 
I reached out to the supplier out of curiosity (after machining the hubs) and was surprised to learn this rod cost $200 for 15". Thats $13.33/inch.
Honestly, I will not machine this material again unless I have the appropriate application and who knows if and when that might be. It was cool to be able to machine this material with the tools I have. The unique properties of INVAR 36 is its Coefficent of Thermal Expansion as seen in the right photo. What tooling would you guys make with this material? I have 12" remaining.

 Applied Energetics was the company where I purchased the mill, the Tucson shop was working on directed-energy weapons (DEP) for detonating IED's. Some cool reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_Energetics 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directed-energy_weapon


----------



## hman (Oct 22, 2017)

Nor only beautifully built, but now also super-high-tech.  Paco, you rock!


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 22, 2017)

Haha, only by accident . I think I might have come up with a cool way to drill the holes in the main frame for the hub mounts. Stay tuned human. Working today but I’ll be back on it tomorrow.


----------



## British Steel (Oct 22, 2017)

Invar... I got a load (a hundred pounds or so) when one of our labs cleared a store cupboard, if it didn't have the supplier's certificate with it they couldn't use it, so... Intercepted it on the way to the skip 
It's good for anything you need to be a constant size, length rods. DIY "gauge" blocks or wear blocks for 'em (I have a gauge tray on my lathe's carriage plus micrometer stop), tool height gauge to sit on the cross-slide or ways, plug gauges, V-blocks, angle blocks - the only disadvantage is that it doesn't expand and contract at the same rate as the work, so the work you're gauging needs to be a bit temperature-controlled! A hot part will have expanded and the Invar won't, and the e.g. measured bore will cool undersize (been there, done that, bought the undersize t-shirt)

Dave H. (the other one)


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 22, 2017)

I must have got lucky as the final dimensions remained good x2. That 12mm tap worked hard or I should say I had to earn it lol.
I make sure I keep the suppliers certificate handy just in case I'm required to make something for NASA hahah. There was two certs in the sleeve that I pulled the rod from. Thanks for some ideas though.


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 23, 2017)

Got a little shop time today. I got the lower roller hubs installed.

Used the Mag drill to drill the hub holes. This produced a clean perpendicular hole ensuring the two rollers lined up and rolled with zero wobble.

I used a C clamp for added security. The minimum recommended base metal for the magnet to hold is 1/4". I flipped the frame on end to work flat. 


I then set the hub in upside down to transfer punched the three 10-32 mounting holes.




countersunk the three holes and then needed to rid the burrs from the inside of the tubing for the hud to mount flat.
I came up with a solution. I took about 8 inches of emery cloth and stapled it to a piece of wood 3/4" x3/4"X 24" long.
I worked it from the opened end of the leg then ran a vacuum hose to clean out the debris.





The hub fit nicely and the hub spacing worked out great aligning the larger front rollers to the smaller track rollers.


Flip frame and repeat procedure. The rollers shoulder will keep the drawer centered and snug.
The smaller track rollers do the same but on the track section. I hope this works (it does in my head) with the amount of time invested.


I installed the castors and placed the top plate on and rolled it over to the area it will live and also checked the overall height with the the mill 
table.
Looking like a cart now.


This location is where the cart will be stowed when not in use.


The cart will be rolled out parallel to the lathe when preforming lathe work. The distance between the cart and lathe is 31.5". I might move the cold saw forward 6" to feel less crowded but really has plenty of room.


A piece of plywood was used to "mock up" the angle of the drawer. The rollers where also installed to test the action.
The overall angle fully deployed came to 25º. Originally I was shooting for 20-30º fully kneeled. The nested drawer sits level.


The Mill table height also worked out well to transfer heavier tooling like vices,roteory tables and such. I have close to seventeen inches of transfer surface.


Now with the rollers installed, I'm able to layout the aluminum sheet for the start of the drawer fabrication. 
I don't have any drawings, I build as I go and come up with new ideas other than whats in my minds eye.  I'v always enjoyed this method when building my own projects because its challenging and therapeutic. 

More to come on Wednesday, thanks for looking.

Turn and Burn!

Paco


----------



## Firestopper (Oct 26, 2017)

The drawer fit pretty good and kneels well. I plan on welding up the corners and doubling the inside rear corners to prevent flexing when the drawer is pulled out all the way. The rear rollers support most of the weight  when opened.

The drawer is 37-13/16" W x 26" deep. Sides are 4" and face 5.5" for a face plate to secure to. The 5052 aluminum sheet (.100") bends nice with a tight radius. The corners where notched then bent. 


I also drilled  access holes on the track for assembly. A 5/8" deep socket fit well.


The stowed drawer sits level.
Side view, the front is to the right. 


Front view.
The front drawer will get a slightly larger face to conceal the side and top gaps and maybe the lower rollers. I will use 1/8" aluminum for this. 
The rear rollers contact the rear frame legs when closed (drawer front/back flush to frame) and contact the front frame legs in the fully opened kneeling position (25º). 


Drawer fully open.


Detail of the rollers in the opened position. Sorry for the blurred photo, Hard to see but the rear roller inside the track
is resting on the inside part of the  front leg/s when fully opened.


I was not 100% happy with the rollers. The math worked out but they don't roll like I would like. I'm reworking them by adding internal spacers.  This will allow me torque the hardware down without binding or side loading the bearings. A minor setback.
Overall the drawer operates pretty nicely. Next up will be designing a 5C collet rack for part of the drawer. I reached out to a coupe of forum members regarding the hole size and spacing. Thanks go out to bss1 and mksj.
Stay tuned and thanks for looking.
Turn and Burn!
Paco


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 1, 2017)

More progress on the drawer rollers. The large rollers got drilled out with larger holes and internal spacers where turned and pressed in. This keeps the side load off the inner/outer bearings when torqued contacting only the inner races of bearings. The rollers now roll smoothly. The rear smaller rollers got hub/spacers added and internal spacers as well, same smooth action. I loaded the drawer with  weight (80 #) and noticed slight flexing to the rear sides when fully opened. I decided to break a scab sheet to double the wall thickness of the rear and and 5-1//2" past the rear corners. This will also stiffen the rear roller mounts as well.



Laid out inside drawer dimension and subtracted thickness x 2 (.200") and broke the scab sheet.
It fit nice inside the drawer.


Welded up the drawer corners and welded in the scab sheet and drilled the roller mount holes.



Edge (.200") was skipped welded and really stiffened up the rear section. The TIG was set to 150 amps, 1/16" E-3 tungsten electrode used, filler rod was 1/16" 4043 and Argon CFH set at 15.


Here you can see the one piece scab sheet doubling up the rear and corners. The front will get a 1/8" aluminum face once completed.


The small hubs will be drilled,tapped and countersunk screws will secure them to the sides. These hubs/spacers will keep the rear rollers aligned and snug to the track.


Hub spacers are 1" CR x .250 drilled/reamed to 3/8",turned down to .450"x.325" and will mount from inside and secured from the outside portion of the drawer.


View from the outside with .125" spacing to contact the inner bearing race. The three countersunk screws will thread into the hub spacer
from this side. I plan on using the same method to drill/tapping the hub as I did for the front rollers.


Thats all folks. Thanks for looking.
PS, I would have been further along, but had to replace the TIG torch and coolant after hunting down replacement parts.

Turn and burn!


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 3, 2017)

I got the rollers working smoothly. This phase has taken some effort but in the end works pretty well.
The little rear hubs give a ton of support and fit snuggly to the double walled aluminum drawer.
Had to use 8-32 screws to secure the hubs for clearance but no shear load is on these screws as the bore they fit into carries the load. The screws simply secure the hubs to the drawer.



The rollers mount from this side (outside of drawer) so a flush mount was required.


This Zephyer tool was used to control the depth of the countersink. They are used in the aircraft industry intended to be used on hand held drills. I've had this one for many years and the tip can be replaced for different diameter/angles.

The depth can be adjusted by loosening the rear knuraled jamb nut pulling back on the large collar (spring loaded) and turning in/out the smaller caged collar. The small graduations are in .001" for in/out adjustment.



This shows the tip retracted (relaxed).


This photo shows the tool being pushed (thumb) exposing the amount set for countersinking.
The caged end helps square up the tool as well as access to change out the tips.


I wanted to share another tool, It's a Israeli made de-durring tool used on sheet material. I recently purchase it for under 30 bucks and it works fantastic. The trick is not apply too much pressure as it will bite on the softer aluminum. Excellent for sheared material that leaves a razor burr waiting to get you, asked me how I know haha. Works on ferrous and non-ferrous materials.

The cutting discs can be rotated and flipped to maintain quality de-burring.
A few light passes yields a super safe edge. Notice the finger guard to protect the user.


No shop time today (Friday), gonna run a tractor and move dirt and spread gravel on our shared driveway with my neighbor. Its technically his property, but I use it 99% on the time. He's like a brother to me.
That all folks, I hope someone can use some of the information on tools featured.

Thanks for looking and as always, Turn and burn.

Paco


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 5, 2017)

Got off shift today and tried my hand at turning a 1.250" dimple/die tool. It took me way too long and again with no drawings. It started out as a 3" solid shaft I scored with a big gear a couple if years ago. I had used this material before and really liked the way it machined and polish out.
I used an old stash of crocus cloth I've had for many moons.
My initial intention was to use this tool to dimple the 5C collet rack for the tool cart, unfortunately I abandoned the idea as the hole spacing would be way to great eating up most of the drawer space. I went back to 1.750" hole spacing for the rack with no dimpling. It worked very well on the .100" 5053 aluminum. Not sure how well the die will hold up, but it will go in the tool box and used for 1/8 minus mild steel.
A lite coat of oil and the male/female wring together like gauge blocks.




Now the disappointing part. The test piece of .100" dimpled great but again the spacing was greater than I could live with.
2.5" OC would require a biga$$ rack, I probably could squeeze it by another 1/8" but still not enough.
The scribe marks are from laying out not from the dimpling process. I  plan on making an adaptor for the dies to fit on the iron worker for quick and easy dimpling. The limit switches will come in handy for this. 


The fit.



Now to the 5C collet rack. The custom rack will have 80 holes on a sheet (1.75" O.C.) 20.5" x 15.750" after it bent on two sides. It will have eight 3"stand offs supporting the floating section and once installed the two broken sides will finish the left and rear of the rack to the bottom of the drawer. The open sides (front and right) will butt up to the front and right side of the drawer for a clean functional look (I hope).
I calculated all the DRO inputs and have come up with a method to secure the sheet on the mill. Jim Dawson has been inspirational to me with his clever securing methods using MDF while milling. I will use 3/4" plywood since I have some leftover from the shop build. I will be using a 1.250" Annular cutter with a 3/4" R-8 collet. The plywood will be secured to a large aluminum bolster plate that fits on the Kurt allowing large flat material to be set up. 
Here are the calculations. The first operation is for the smaller .191" holes that will secure the standoffs. Once they are drilled the clamps securing the sheet to the plywood will  be removed after running screws through the smaller screw holes. The go back to "home" zero X/Y and begin the second operation of drilling the larger collet holes. I only have a 65 piece collet set but with eighty holes it leave room for adding specialty collets such as square and octagon shapes.

The small sketch at the top of the sheet shows the shape of the sheet, The DRO will be zeroed out at the bottom left hand corner of the sheet. All calculations are referenced from said corner for both operations. The dotted lines represent the bend lines on the sketch. Eight lines with 10 1.250" holes at 1.750" O.C. 


Heres the actual piece of aluminum that will be swiss cheesed.


Thats all for now but I will get a photo of the mill setup once I have more shop time. 
Thanks for looking.
Turn and Burn!
Paco


----------



## Ulma Doctor (Nov 5, 2017)

beautiful work Paco!!!


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 5, 2017)

Thanks Doc. It’s been a challenge but fun.


----------



## Bob Korves (Nov 6, 2017)

firestopper said:


> I only have a 65 piece collet set


Easy for you to say, Paco!


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 6, 2017)

Bob Korves said:


> Easy for you to say, Paco!



Awe come on now bob, they where only $200 from CDCO and very accurate. A great buy for anyone with a 5C scroll chuck.
http://www.cdcotools.com


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 16, 2017)

Waiting on bushings for the box&pan brake so back on the Lathe/Mill cart build. Cut  .100" aluminum sheet for the collet rack using a jig saw and double checked the DRO calculations prior to drilling. Went ahead and set up the bolster on the mill and trammed in. The bolster is handy for set up of large bulky items that won't fit in the vise. It also come in handy for cutting profiles on flat sheets using CNC.  When the surface gets chingerd a clean up pass with a face mill brings it back to standard. Drilling and tapping is also common for set ups. If your vice is trammed, and you mill the perimeter, you'll always be square every time you mount the bolster.

X axis was .0005" off in 28". A slight adjustment and she was dialed in. Verified the Y axis.


Clamped the sheet registering the two sheared edges to the bolster edges. Set up a 3/8" end mill to clean up the jigsaw cuts x2. The cuts where close but still free hand and I want the rack to sit flat on both broken sides so a clean up pass was in order. I also wanted to see how the sheet was going to fit on the setup.



Straight and square.




I realized the sheet would need to be bent prior to first drilling operation as I was out of table travel and the sheet was too large on Y axis.


I must be living right, check out how close the rear of the sheet is to the mill after zeroing the DRO X/Y to the lower left corner of the sheet.
Even a blind squirrel finds an a-corn once in a while .


Once the DRO was zeroed, the first drill operation was ready. The first eight holes are #11 (.191") and will be used for the standoffs to support the rack to the drawer. The two bent sides will do the same and block  smaller items from getting under the rack.

I had about .250" of clearance between the mill column and sheet for the first line of holes.


The layout was for reference only. I used pre-calulated DRO numbers to accurately drill all holes.
The larger (1.250") collet holes where drilled starting from the lower left hand side of sheet.
I decided not to use wood between the sheet and bolster. Te annular cutter leaves a small slug that will rotate on breakthrough (when baked up) and I was concerned it would bite into the wood resulting binding or worse breaking the cutter. Row # 7 was 1/2 on bolster and that was also a concern, but in the end went without drama. Listening and feeling while cutting one knows when breakthrough is imminent.


The arrow in the corner is where zero was set on both axis. The operation was left to right, mover Y up, the second row was right to left, mover up and left to right, rinse and repeat until all eight rows where drilled. No wasted movement, worked pretty well. 1.250" ø 1.750" O.C for a total of 80 holes.


This de-burring tool worked really nice making short work of it. I quickly learned not to apply too much pressure as it will dig in.


A test fit into the drawer. I'm happy with it. You see the smaller #11ø for the stand off's along the left side of the drawer and middle. The bent sides are top and right side.


Right side view.


Close up of the collet fit. Some where tight, but a second pass with the de-burring tool did the trick.


I see some .100" aluminum spacers/shims in my future.


That all for todays progress.
Thanks for looking and please any feedback is always welcomed. If theres a better use/setup for a bolster, shed some light.

Turn and Burn!
Paco


----------



## zmotorsports (Nov 17, 2017)

Absolutely TOP shelf work all the way Paco.  That is really impressive.

One question though, do you think it's heavy duty enough????  Those corner posts seem a bit questionable to me....

Mike


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 17, 2017)

Thanks Mike,

I hope those legs will hold up haha. Originally was going to use 1/4"x 3"x3" structural steel I had in the rack but decided the 1/8"x 2.5 would suffice. Thats the reason for the roller hubs. 1/8" wall just won't thread too good. I like the look and feel of beefy rolling carts/tables. I bet this thing will have over 800# of tooling. Adds up quick when you start loading chucks etc. 

The iron worker support cart rolls extremely well with over 1200# of goodies onboard. This thing has saved my tired back and a pleasure to use during tooling changeover.

The break press that shares the punch station weighs a sh%t ton whith no place to grab. Now it slides in/out without busting a nut. 


These sexy legs are 3"square and look  more like MY chicken legs next to the Iron worker.
Note: if you look closely down between the castors you can see the indexing feature that locks the table to the Iron worker preventing the table from moving side to side. The swivel/lock castors on the other end lock the cart front to back. This was another project built without drawings other than doodling with a sharpie.


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 17, 2017)

Only had a couple of hours of shop time but was able to turn the eight standoffs for the collet rack. Used .500" T-6 round bar with a 5C collet system. Faced,drilled, power tapped then parted. Repeated for a total of eight. Then I used a collet stop to face, drill and power tap the second end. I was pleased with the accuracy and ease of the stop. The collet stop threaded smoothly into the  CDCO collet. These collets keep impressing me when you consider the total cost of the set.
Heres a link for the collet stop for those interested (eBay)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/5C-Collet-...hash=item2333b023ae:m:mCt7XnleZjCvyktSKQpIozA I wanna say I gave around 38 bucks for the same one.


All eight are are exactly the same and without the 5C set up it would have taken much longer.


These will support/mount the rack to the drawer.


Turn and burn
Paco


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 18, 2017)

Had a few hours this morning to mount the rack in the drawer.

I used the rack to transfer the mounting holes to the drawer. Used a couple of scrap pieces of the same material the drawer is made from (.100") and clamped them to the side of the drawers two sides. It was difficult to accurately measure from the outside of the drawer due to the bend radius.
The second scrap piece was used as a spacer to locate the rack and transfer the hole. This was done with the drawer upside down.
The small spacer allows for the thickness of the material and locating the rack for a snug fit once inside the drawer.


A quick double check on the front side and ready to transfer  the eight holes.


The rack was designed to snug up against the rear scab sheet that was added to prevent flexing when the drawer is fully opened.
The small tig weld at the bottom interfered slightly. A burring toot took care of the small relief cut to the rack.


Snug fit.


The bottom holes for the stand off's where counter sunk for a flush finish as four of them are inline with the left bottom roller. I did all eight like this to keep the bottom clean.



Close up of the 8-32 countersunk Allen screw where the roller contacts the bottom of the drawer.


The eight stand off's ready for the rack. The top holes take a 10-24 button head Allen screw.



The rack fit nicely with a snug joint on both floating sides.


Installed the drawer and test fit the 65 collets. This also provided me the opportunity to think about other spacers/dividers for the drawer.
I would like to free up some tool box space of cutter inserts, and other such items that could be stored with the cart.


I have 15 spare collet holes for future specialty collets and a shelf to perhaps drill and store the collet stop set. With 21" of drawer width left, I have plenty of space for dividers etc. 

The kneeling feature allows full viewing and access to all collet holes. 
A nice shot of the rack fitment to the left side and front of drawer




Left side view.


The rollers got smoother with the added weight. 
Back on shift tomorrow so no updates until Monday evening. Thanks for looking and please any feed back/ideas are always welcomed.

Turn and Burn!

Paco


----------



## zmotorsports (Nov 20, 2017)

That turned out awesome Paco.

That will be nice for you to have easy access to the collets.

Mike


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 20, 2017)

Thank you Mike,
I’m happy with it so far, still have a long way to completion.


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 29, 2017)

Made more progress on the cart today. Finished up the drawer face from leftover 1/8" alum.  Some drawer handles where made from 5/8" CR.

Cut out the 1/8" alum with a jig saw and laid out to ensure no conflicts with the rack inside the drawer. I plan on utilizing the countersunk screws that secure the face to also secure drawer dividers.


5/8" CR x 8.500"
Faced drilled and taped 1/4"-20 (both ends)
I used a spiral tap to power tap 1" deep without reversing (one shot) worked nicely. The chips resembled drill chips.


Laid out for a fine knurl.


Overhead shot of the knurling process. Used my older live center since the end was tapped. I advanced the cross feed to .030" using fine knurls at 400 rpm. 


Has a nice feel on the fingers. 


Setup the brake on the iron worker and bent the two inch returns.




Pretty good match.


Finished up the face and pulled the protective film.


I really like the 5/8" handles. Used button head Allen to secure them for a clean finish inside.
Thanks for looking. 

Back on the Dreis & Krump box & pan brake tomorrow. The 3/4" x 12"CR flat bar I ordered came in today so I'll be picking up in the morning and set up the saw station to start the finger extensions, then start milling. 

Turn and burn!
Paco


----------



## zmotorsports (Nov 30, 2017)

firestopper said:


> Made more progress on the cart today. Finished up the drawer face from leftover 1/8" alum.  Some drawer handles where made from 5/8" CR.
> 
> Cut out the 1/8" alum with a jig saw and laid out to ensure no conflicts with the rack inside the drawer. I plan on utilizing the countersunk screws that secure the face to also secure drawer dividers.
> View attachment 248385
> ...



Beautiful work as always Paco.  You set the bar pretty high my friend.

Mike


----------



## Firestopper (Nov 30, 2017)

Thank you Mike,
Just trying to keep up with the likes of guys like yourself my friend. 
Peace


----------

