2014 POTD Thread Archive

[middle.road]

I find myself using a dial indicator quite often to measure carriage travel on my CT1440G lathe. I saw a picture of a Hardinge lathe with the optional carriage travel dial indicator attachment installed and decided to try and make something similar for my machine.

With no convenient place to mount anything to the front of the gear box or switch box I decided to make use of the empty space inside the switch box. I used a length of 1/2" cold rolled for the shaft, a 3/4" by 3.5" bolt for the mount and an old diesel engine wrist pin for spacers. I faced off the bolt and drilled it lengthwise then reamed it to .502" for a nice sliding fit for the 1/2" rod. Then I bored the inside of the wrist pin to fit over the 3/4" bolt to use as spacers. Even though the outside of the wrist pin is very hard, the inside was easy to machine with a carbide boring bar insert. I drilled and tapped one flat of the bolt head for an 8mm set screw.

I drilled a 3/4" hole in the thick sheet metal of the switch box to fit the bolt, then mounted the assembly into the upper rear area of the switch box. After I was sure the alignment was good I used the pointed end of the 1/2" rod the mark the other end of the switch box and drilled a hole on that end so the rod can pass all the way through the give me the most amount of travel of the dial indicator possible.

I milled some flats onto the rod so I could mount a piece of 3/4" steel for the dial indicator mount. Then I milled a long flat for the set screw that controls the length of the shaft to seat on. I drilled and tapped the rectangular piece on both ends to hold the dial indicator and to mount it to the rod.

The rod is long enough to give maximum travel but not long enough to contact the gear train when fully retracted. If I need to move the carriage really close to the chuck it can be removed easily. The rod can be extended out to about 14" to measure travel anywhere along that length.

I hope you made a couple of extras , I've got an indicator at the ready. (If I ever get the lathe running again...)

_Dan

 

[Rapscallion]

Re: POTD Steady Rest for Monarch 14C Lathe

The Monarch needed a steady rest so I put one together with some iron and some ball bearings
salvaged from the scrap yard. It took several days to complete and weighs in at about 40 pounds.
The rollers are removable allowing the use of the brazed on tips if desired. It is easy to set up and
will accept large rod stock or pipe or will neck down to hold something as small as one-quarter
inch diameter. Here's a couple photographs of what it looks like. It involved a lot of machining,
set up and welding.

Looking good cathead, I like the addition of rollers that you have done on the fingers, I'm sure they will prove to be handy.

- - - Updated - - -

I find myself using a dial indicator quite often to measure carriage travel on my CT1440G lathe. I saw a picture of a Hardinge lathe with the optional carriage travel dial indicator attachment installed and decided to try and make something similar for my machine.

I like that johnnyc, I've been thinking about something similar for my own little lathe.

 

[Rapscallion]

I frequently get these blades to sharpen from a company that does plastic injection molding. They come from a granulator. It's a machine that chops up all their scrap so that they can use it again.


After these blades kept coming back, and being asked to make a couple of sets (30 in a set) I made a little fixture that can hold them at the right angle for sharpening on the surface grinder.


I need to get the whole set with a reasonably accurate range (0.05mm - 2 thou) or it results in uneven clearances when mounting in the machine and then it does not perform as good as it should.

I have 54 of these lil critters to sharpen so that's what I'll be doing tomorrow, and quite possibly the next day too. )

 

[jmhoying]

Re: POTD Steady Rest for Monarch 14C Lathe

That's a real nice looking center rest! I like how you notched the round pipe to make your way guide.
Your welds look very similar to what mine do. A bit of grinding and some auto body filler before painting makes all the difference cosmetically.

Jack

The Monarch needed a steady rest so I put one together with some iron and some ball bearings
salvaged from the scrap yard. It took several days to complete and weighs in at about 40 pounds.
The rollers are removable allowing the use of the brazed on tips if desired. It is easy to set up and
will accept large rod stock or pipe or will neck down to hold something as small as one-quarter
inch diameter. Here's a couple photographs of what it looks like. It involved a lot of machining,
set up and welding.

 

[jumps4]

yesterday and today I have been making the fittings for the plumbing on my model of the Yulee sugar mill.
I'm working on the big ones first..... I'm too shaky for this
thanks for viewing
steve

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php?t=6463&p=202548#post202548

 

[Rapscallion]

After grinding about 20 granulator blades, I took a break from them and drilled a couple of clearance holes through two brace clamps that were needed for a setup on a friends EDM wire cutter. The bars he provided me with were slightly different in width and one would rattle in the vice while one was held. I put a stop to that by clamping down on them while they were in the vice. And that was the extent of the happy machinist life for today. ) Tomorrow it's back to those granulator blades. I hate 50-offs, it drives me :nuts:.

 

[Rapscallion]

yesterday and today I have been making the fittings for the plumbing on my model of the Yulee sugar mill.
I'm working on the big ones first..... I'm too shaky for this
thanks for viewing
steve

Steve, that sugar mill sure has a lot of parts. You must have already spent lots of hours on it. Nice to see how it's coming along though. And it's looking good, keep it up.

 

[Mike94531]

Machined an adapter plate for a friends project car, this allows one to use a Volvo front wheel drive 5 cylinder or 6 cylinder engine and mate it to a Ford T5 transmission to be installed in a rear wheel drive car.

Thought it was going to be a one-off, now a few more Volvo fans want one...

 

[Rapscallion]

Thought it was going to be a one-off, now a few more Volvo fans want one...

I love it when that happens.

 

[Marco Bernardini]

Re: POTD - Chip Tray

Today I made a sort of chip tray for my drill press, because I was tired to dig into the bunch of chips I've on the floor to find the fallen small nuts:



The material is alveolar plastic sheet, like that used for the cheap advertising briefcases.
It works perfectly, but it has a drawback, at least with for my poor eyesight: having a very dark background my pupils don't become narrow, so (as everyone used to reflex photography knows) I lost a lot of "depth of field" and I need stronger goggles to see what I'm doing.
After the European elections I'll recycle the back of some electoral posters to have a white background
The pan is made with four pieces because it's easier to cut and bend that plastic sheet following the "canals".
The yellow clothespins allow me to remove the front part of the tray, which hosts the chips, without to move the back: I know, I'm lazy…