2014 POTD Thread Archive

[f350ca]

Actually a couple of days work. Made a tool height gauge for the lathe. Its in segments, the bottom two give the height off the carriage, or the top goes over the tool, one joint down is the height off the compound.
Plus four more 3/8 tool holders for my home made QCTP. Like most of my projects they were made of mystery metal, expect something like 4140, sure not mild steel.



Greg

 

[schor]

Sweet!!!!!

Actually a couple of days work. Made a tool height gauge for the lathe. Its in segments, the bottom two give the height off the carriage, or the top goes over the tool, one joint down is the height off the compound.
Plus four more 3/8 tool holders for my home made QCTP. Like most of my projects they were made of mystery metal, expect something like 4140, sure not mild steel.

View attachment 73158

Greg

 

[Muzzer]

The continuing saga of the Z-axis conversion gearbox.

It fits !!!! :allgood: Looks like the gears mesh correctly and will disengage when the cam is rotated. Next is making sure everything does fit up correctly, and a little deburing on the case. I should be able to test run it on the bench in the next day or so. I have a little bit more work to do on the machine before I can go live, like getting the travel limits installed!!

I think the Engage/Disengage cam shaft sticks out a bit too far, looks like I can shorten it up by about 1/2 inch or so.

Now it's time to clean house a bit, there is about 5 gallons of aluminum chips all over the place.

Jim, that's a great job you're doing there, using your 2D CNC mill to make the 3rd axis drive. Shouldn't be long now before you are up and running - looking good!

I'm trying to figure out whether to use a direct connection to the quill or drive the quill like you are doing through the existing rack and pinion. Do you need to control the backlash with this setup or will it be ok for what you want to do? I've never measured it on mine so I don't know how bad it is. I know both methods have been used successfully so they must both work.

Murray


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JimDawson]

Jim, that's a great job you're doing there, using your 2D CNC mill to make the 3rd axis drive. Shouldn't be long now before you are up and running - looking good!

I'm trying to figure out whether to use a direct connection to the quill or drive the quill like you are doing through the existing rack and pinion. Do you need to control the backlash with this setup or will it be ok for what you want to do? I've never measured it on mine so I don't know how bad it is. I know both methods have been used successfully so they must both work.

Murray


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you.

The reason I decided to use the rack & pinion is to minimize the hardware on the front of the head, and to maintain the use of the existing quill stop. Also this method allows for an easy way to disengage the drive for manual operation by moving a lever.

The existing quill spring would take up the backlash in the gear train, but will do nothing for the backlash in the rack & pinion. Part of the hardware is already installed to connect the air cylinder counter balance to take out the rack & pinion backlash. I plan on using about 50 lbs of counter balance force to start, and then adjust from there.

 

[Muzzer]

Yes, that's a neat solution. I thought you might have planned on using a spring so I was half right - and an air spring is a lot more controllable than a metal one at that spring rate. Certainly a lot easier to assemble!
Whatever you do it's a challenge to keep the dimensions down. Your solution is pretty compact and allows the motor to be tucked out of the way behind the head.
Murray


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[xman_charl]

Could not have done this, but thanks to Tubalcain's video.

round rod 2 1/2 1018
metric threads 8mm and 6mm
magnet from LMS $8.00, think 175 pds pull
smaller is 75 pds pull
big magnet has 8mm threads on top base
noga from Enco $70....small magnet

sort of a clutz, so maybe I won't knock this on the floor

Charl

 

[kizmit99]

I decided to make an adjustable stop for my G0602 lathe. I got the basic plans from the ProjectsInMetal site and used a micrometer head that I picked up at a hamfest last summer...

 

[gsrworks]

Finally got around to making the popular 20 ton HF press mod to the jack. I knurled the 1/4" handle so that it would press fit into the main part. There are two 10-32 set screws that meet where the original jack pin was located.

Also shown in this view is the hefty replacement press plates I got from Swagoffroad, a lot safer than the porous cast ones provided with the press (that tend to crack and/or explode). The plates cost practically the same as the press but totally worth the confidence I won't get hurt when operating the press.

 

[ricbor]

Well, I got a message saying I wasn't participating in the forum, but I do enjoy reading it quite a bit, so I figured it was time to pony up a little. This has been an ongoing project for several months now - rebuilding my 1992 F150 E4OD transmission so I can let my son start driving it some. So, the picture shows him finishing up the pan bolts on the stand we cut and welded up specifically for this purpose. It is 3" square tubing with a couple of "t" fittings on top to allow it to rotate and position the transmission. Just yesterday, I turned down a steel .640" od x .50" id adapter on my Atlas 618 lathe so we could splice back the thermactor tube that feeds into the catalytic converter. Found it was easier to hacksaw it than to fight the bolt in the really tight spot that holds it together. Hopefully I can show you some more pictures of stuff in the future. This is my first post with picture, so I was just learning the process. Just to show you an example of how it goes around here, in the time we have been working on this truck, I had to fix the 18' garage overhead door that come off the tracks and bent the side track, tear down my B&S 18hp riding mower engine that blew a head gasket and broke the connecting rod, fix non-working turn signals on my daily driver (was the turn signal switch itself), work on stone steps for front porch, and who remembers what else. All this during the coldest winter we have seen here in 20 years which may not seem a challenge to you guys that are used to it, but here in Texoma, it slows me and my back down quite a bit. We finally got some 80 degree days going on here, so it is nice to work outside and in the garage. Working on welding the exhaust line back together on the truck and should have it running by this next weekend after replacing the battery cables. After that, I hope to get back to machine stuff, rather than "ottermotive" projects. Thanks for listening, and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to post here.

 

[coolidge]

Actually a couple of days work. Made a tool height gauge for the lathe. Its in segments, the bottom two give the height off the carriage, or the top goes over the tool, one joint down is the height off the compound.
Plus four more 3/8 tool holders for my home made QCTP. Like most of my projects they were made of mystery metal, expect something like 4140, sure not mild steel.

View attachment 73158

Greg

I love the idea of a height gauge for setting tools, that's been a hassle since getting my G4003G I'm going to make one out of some brass later today thanks!