2016 POTD Thread Archive

[chevydyl]

I used to burn up Chinese hss on the mill, when I use carbide they last alot longer, my bad boy aluminum end mills are still factory like sharp, even had one weld itself with chips, my fault I turned my back for half a second after starting the program, I heard the noise change and I was like Wtf yikes stop stop stop, lol, it was literally melting it's way through the alum, but I broke the goober outta the flutes and it cut like a dream. Not sure what, happened, but it only happened that one time. Maybe it grabbed some chips in a corner that didn't fling out.

 

[TOOLMASTER]

since i don't really need an all out ball turner I came up with this...since I already have my top axis removed and plate for the quick disconnect . (i don't do much tapers) And it is plenty sturdy I added another hole for a 1/2 pin with a allen on the side to lock it in...as soon as i get the parts made for another project on my mill i will drill 4 holes in the blocks for clamping the bit in place..
I can get almost a 2" piece in there but will be used for 1" and below mostly.

 

[hman]

Not really the project of the day, more like the project of the last 4 days. I needed to get my CNC software compatible with Win7 - 10 so I started from scratch on Friday and did a complete rewrite in .net, while simultaneously learning a new programming language. Nothing like a project to learn something new. Four days of marathon programming and about 10,000 lines of code later it's ready to put on a machine and see what doesn't work. It works on the desktop, but I expect a few days of debug on the machine. I'm going to test it on Alloy's Shizouka AN6 that is sitting in my shop and has Win8 installed.

Good grief almighty! That's an amazingly complex project to hear about (my own forays into programming never got beyond Fortran or, more recently, ladder logic). I laud and applaud your success.

 

[Reeltor]

that looks like a pretty hefty gear blank, what are the specs on diameter and width? (im not a gear guy)

I am not a gear guy either this is going to be the second gear that I've made, the last one was in 1975 lol
5-1/2" in diameter, 2" gear width, 1/2" collar, I posted info in post #6756

 

[Reeltor]

I didn't think I'd be in the garage this afternoon, setup the mill and centered the cutter using Mr. Pete 222's method of centering. I modified it by using 2 pieces of HSS blanks instead of 1, my very last piece of Top paper, and the centering function on the DRO
Tubal Cain Mr. Pete222 demo in YouTube Shop Tips # 198

The cutter is 3" in diameter 4DP a #6 (of set of 8) to cut 17-20 teeth. The width of the cutter is just over 3/4"

Seems to be centered to the arbor

 

[chevydyl]

ive done one gear myself, I milled it on my cnc mill, cutting the gear face up on the end of a piece of bar, basically profile milled it just to see if I could do it. its limited and larger gears are possible, its the smaller ones that are difficult to make out of harder materials.

 

[DoogieB]

I bought an older Jacobs 14N Super Chuck off of Ebay a few years ago. The chuck was in great shape with virtually no wear, but wow was it hard to turn: very gritty. I finally decided to pull it apart and clean it.

This forum thread was very helpful:

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/jacobs-14n-super-chuck-repair.22027/

I made some custom arbor spacers on the lathe so the actual chuck disassembly was quite easy. My press, Big Orange, had no trouble separating the chuck parts.



I forgot to take a picture with the jaws & balls removed, but here you can still see that the factory grease had turned into the consistency of dried-out ear wax. Yum! It's a wonder it would open and close it at all.



And here we are after a few hours in the parts cleaning can, some wire brushing and all the parts ready to go back together. The forum thread I mentioned above provides all the information you need to get the jaws back in the right place.



Now the chuck's all cleaned-up and back together, just like a new one and ready for some heavy drilling in the mill. It works so much easier now it's a pleasure to use.

 

[Dan_S]

I finished making some chuck storage boxes!

 

[rock_breaker]

Unloaded a huge drill press the SIL brought home from work. The company surplused the press and was going to send it to the scrap yard. Even though it has a bad motor the SIL intervened. The hydraulics on my tractor are set at somewhat low pressure and I could barely lift the machine after removing the motor, coolant pump and 3/4" 20" X 20" work plate on the table.
Didn't see a brand name on the drill press but it has a 2hp 3 phase motor, a screw jack supported table, about a 2.5" quill and a power down feed arrangement. Machinist at the shop told SIL "it will drill a hole in anything you want, but slowly". Project for when summer gets here.
Have a good day!
Ray

 

[jmarkwolf]

Unloaded a huge drill press the SIL brought home from work. The company surplused the press and was going to send it to the scrap yard. Even though it has a bad motor the SIL intervened. The hydraulics on my tractor are set at somewhat low pressure and I could barely lift the machine after removing the motor, coolant pump and 3/4" 20" X 20" work plate on the table.
Didn't see a brand name on the drill press but it has a 2hp 3 phase motor, a screw jack supported table, about a 2.5" quill and a power down feed arrangement. Machinist at the shop told SIL "it will drill a hole in anything you want, but slowly". Project for when summer gets here.
Have a good day!
Ray

Pictures, or it didn't happen!