2013 POTD Thread Archive

[eightball]

I was wondering that too

 

[itsme_Bernie]

Today's project is machining a 5C backplate for this nice little 4 inch Bison 3-jaw chuck I stole from my old Atlas 618 (just sold).

I LOVE using 5C fixtures and collets whenever possible.
I have a very nice 6 inch Cushman chuck, but it is frickin heavy to spin on there for small, quick parts, and it is just safer to use a smaller chuck when possible.

By the way, here is an experiment with "simple downsize" app on the iPad- I hadn't realized I was posting such large pics. It seems a little soft, so let me know if I should just post the normal bigger size from now on:





Bernie

 

[Ray C]

The fixed jaw stays put. The sliding jaw will raise a couple thou but, you can put a flat bar over it and hold it down with a toe clamp. On my vise, the sliding part is held firmly and I got away without the toe clamp.



Ray

what am I missing here ? how do you keep them from rising apart when you tighten the ? or do I need more coffee ?

 

[John]

I am rebuilding a supermaxx mill and this is one of the items that I have made for the mill. The original handle was broken and the ball handle and lock pin was missing.

 

[gbritnell]

I have an upcoming project for the winter. It will require helical gears in a size that's not commercially available. A fellow on another forum came up with a fixture for cutting your own. I really enjoy the learning process as much as the making process so I built the fixture. It basically a block with .500 close fitting hole for a piece of drill rod. The shaft has a holder on one end and an indexing plate on the other. Along with the indexing plate is another plate to hold a pre-formed helical template cut to the proper angle to produce the required helix on the gear. If the desired gear has a common DP then stock involute cutters can be used. My gears are 72 DP so that necessitated making up my own cutter. When making or using a cutter the appropriate shape (involute) is not used for the actual tooth count of the gear but rather a number that will produce the proper width and shape to the tooth. In my case I need 14 teeth but the cutter was made for a 30 tooth count gear. The cutter was made from drill rod, hardened and tempered. Normally I don't temper but with the small profile of the cutter I didn't want it to break. The pictures show the setup along with the fixture. The last picture shows the finished helical gear with the 30 tooth spur gear that I had cut to prove out the cutter shape.
gbritnell

 

[Kevin45]

My Grandson has been here for over a week and we have been working on a go-kart, My kids had no interest in the shop but he sure does!

I think that is is great that your grandson shows interest in the shop. Hopefully he will want to spend more and more time with grandpa in the shop and really learn the machines and what they do. I know so many people that went to college, never had any machine time at all under their belt, but yet try to tell someone how to machine something. Hopefully your grandson will grasp all as to what it takes. Then by the time he is out of college (if he goes) he will have a real wealth of information to mentor others in the machining world. Small ones, when they reach a certain age, really need to learn something like machining instead of sitting on the couch rotting their brains away on some video game, or hanging out on a street corner doing drugs.

Good for you for being his mentor in his early stage of life. :thumbsup:

 

[Kevin45]

I got finished up with a job I was working on, needed to clean the lathe up and ended up using some 409 and some Meguiars wax to really put a shine to it. I wax it once in a while as it makes it a little easier to wipe down between the heavy cleanings. I absolutely HATE caked on oil and grit on machines.

 

[eightball]

Thats the cleanest lathe ive ever seen, i would be afraid to use it.

 

[bloomingtonmike]

Added a 110V 1hp Hitachi HJ200 VFD to my Atlas 618 lathe. Motor is a Rockwell made by Baldor. I show it running after the walkaround of the 12" Craftsman Commercial.

[video=youtube;yDQMh_yk9Eo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDQMh_yk9Eo&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[george wilson]

I am continuing making the pump drill. Whatever piece of mystery steel I picked out has been a pain to machine. It HAS to be tool steel of some kind,but was about 5' long. Drill rod does come in 6' lengths in special order. Well,it'l make a sturdy pump drill !!