2015 POTD Thread Archive

[d4xycrq]

Pictures worth a thousand words...

Working by myself today, so needed a little vintage help.







BP under refresh is a 1963 US Navy J-Head, Uncle Sam kindly left out in the rain for a year or three before they let me buy it.

Ray

 

[calstar]

Love the Ford! Looks like you've spent more than a few hours derusting/cleaning/painting, nice job. Do you know if BP built to higher spec for the government?Thanks, Brian

 

[d4xycrq]

Brian,

Budget refurb, quite honestly. $$ is going in to the spindle, bearings, backgear, etc. Motor is already rebuilt and waiting. We'll see how it machines. Have yet to buy a 3-axis DRO, and I need to cut down the shaft as it was equipped with one of those huge Bridgeport power feeds. Will put a Bijur clone on it. Bending and fitting the copper tube will try my patience.

As for higher spec? Nah, I doubt it.

Thanks Brian!

Ray

Love the Ford! Looks like you've spent more than a few hours derusting/cleaning/painting, nice job. Do you know if BP built to higher spec for the government?

Thanks, Brian

 

[RWL]

Do you know if BP built to higher spec for the government?

Thanks, Brian

When I took Richard King's scraping class he implied that the war time machines were produced quickly to fill an immediate need, and that the manufacturer's indicated that they weren't up to their usual standards by putting on the plaque that they were war production. Where they cut corners or how much he didn't say. I had a WW II era Hardinge UM horizontal mill with a navy tag, and it was a tight machine.

 

[Round in circles]

Dave,
Should that be the tailstock and not the saddle you are referring to?

Cheers Phil

I'm glad you pointed that dyslexic substitution word out , I read the post through five or six times.

I have to do that with nearly all my posts as I'm as dyslexic as a box of frogs& just as crazy .:roflmao .

I adjusted things & mistooks where I could, but just saw saddle ..... what I'd typed for tail stock as correct. :thumbzup3:

Thanks

Dave

 

[Reeltor]

When I took Richard King's scraping class he implied that the war time machines were produced quickly to fill an immediate need, and that the manufacturer's indicated that they weren't up to their usual standards by putting on the plaque that they were war production. Where they cut corners or how much he didn't say. I had a WW II era Hardinge UM horizontal mill with a navy tag, and it was a tight machine.

I always thought the war production machines with the War Finish tags were just that, referring to the paint finish. The cast iron casting didn't have the primer coats etc. to give the showroom finish that many of these machines would have had otherwise. My war baby Monarch seems to have been built to Monarch's standards. If it wasn't; someone would have scraped it long before I got it.:thinking:

 

[Round in circles]

Great job! And if you want frosting on your cake, you might be able to whittle up something like what I used on my tailstock to keep the wrench from lifting off the nut. Note the magnet. Holds the wedge in place, but easily removed ...

View attachment 94476View attachment 94477





Durn! I hope it's distortion from your camera lens ... but that leadscrew looks very badly bent!:thinking:

Distortion :talktogod: Distortion , distortion via the lens ......... I'll have you know , " It's as straight as a dogs hind leg" . :lmao:

I like your magwood retainer device , thankfuly my bar's weight does not have any noticeable effect , my socket is a real " Brahmer " of a snug fit .. the nut appears to be a hardened & temper carbon steel home made one , as it is nearly 13/16 tall

 

[Round in circles]

Another way is to fuse the wrench and nut. Then it is a cam lock tailstock.

Make the nut first. Then tighten until tight. THEN mark where to drill and tap the handle so it tightens at the right spot. I used a 6 inch stainless steel bolt for the handle cutting off and threading one end for the ball.

For me that fixed set up would be a right PIA , for I still occasionally want to take the tailstock off the bed if it gets a gritty slide .
My tailstock clamp clamps up to lips on the inboard underside of the flat bed rails .
The lower clamp plate my lathe would not drop down far enough for me to easily place it back on , as it now is it is just free enough to slide like a dream when loosened .

 

[Round in circles]

When I took Richard King's scraping class he implied that the war time machines were produced quickly to fill an immediate need, and that the manufacturer's indicated that they weren't up to their usual standards by putting on the plaque that they were war production. Where they cut corners or how much he didn't say. I had a WW II era Hardinge UM horizontal mill with a navy tag, and it was a tight machine.

Over the years from what I've seen of military engineering of the WW2 era for the allied forces .
The government specifications for the military stuff was usually a lot higher than the average run of the mill civil stuff , the reason being it had to be that much more robust & reliable in a mobile non factory environment .

What did happen in many areas as in the fabrication of things such as the famous British 25 pounder field artillery piece was that instead of it being heavy cast & drop forged as it was initially made it was rationalised and made up of many separate parts made in many different locations on lathes & mils and then welded up /assembled in a specialist build up unit .

One of my long dead friends ( Ted Hunt ) was head of the design team for the 25 pounder rationalisation project. It saw the weight dropped by a couple of hundred pounds & production speeded up to a few hours instead of taking a week or more for the original one .

The same happened with the USA's " Liberty " ships .. corners were cut/ altered from the traditional hammering in of hot steel rivets for a year or more at a time to prefabricated welded sections that gave a ship every month or so.

 

[darkzero]

Durn! I hope it's distortion from your camera lens ... but that leadscrew looks very badly bent!:thinking:

Oh man, I think mine is bent too! Damn, I think I might also have a very slight bed twist issue as well! :lmao: