2016 POTD Thread Archive

[f350ca]

The neighbour offered me a 100+ foot roll of armoured cable. Looked like it might make a good feed for 50 amp service to the blacksmith shop. We dug it out today, literally, the ends were buried in the ground. To our amazement it wasn't cable in the armour but 8 small plastic tubes and two telephone sized wires.


Any ideas as to what it might have been used for ? Pneumatic control cable for something?

Greg

 

[extropic]

Sandia,
Nice looking carts there. I'm not familiar with those clamps you've used to retain the PVC pipe. Where can I buy some?

 

[savarin]

Hi Greg, the black pipes look like our irrigation pipes.
Maybe the wires were for solenoid valves

 

[f350ca]

Hi Greg, the black pipes look like our irrigation pipes.
Maybe the wires were for solenoid valves

Could be, the tubes are only about 1/4 ID, but why the armour?

Greg

 

[savarin]

so you dont do what I did and run a trencher through them
Actually I didnt think they were only a 1/4" they look like our 13mm. So prob not irrigation.

 

[blacksmithden]

This wasn't exactly a project of the "day"...it took quite a while to complete, but it finally got done.

50 caliber mini-cannon in stainless. The carriage is made out of birds eye maple that was reclaimed from an 80 year old school gym hardwood floor. I just resawed it, and it came out pretty good. The cap squares are just thick sheet, pressed into shape and hammered. The other hardware is store bought. Most of the tools and supplies were made by me including the fuse, cast 50 cal balls, the ram rod, and the box it's all in. These little things can be a lot of work.

 

[NCjeeper]

The first thing I did after looking at the photos was to look where he's located.

Hey I am only a couple hours away.

 

[Sandia]

Thanks extropic, the clamp arrangement at the top is just 2" PVC cut in 3" lengths and a section about 1" wide cut out length wise. They were then screwed to the the backing plate for the bracket which was 3" X 14" aluminum strip. The PVC tubes are 1 1/2" diameter. Nothing fancy. I got the idea of "Metal Tips and Tricks" Utube sight.

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[MozamPete]

Could be, the tubes are only about 1/4 ID, but why the armour?

Greg

Could be fibreoptic tube. They sometimes lay and join the outer sheath/tubes then blow the actual fibres through so that the fibe doesn't actually have any joint (while the outer sheath may need to come in mulitple drums due to size constraints)

 

[Firestopper]

A little upgrade for the carriage stop.
With the new proximity stop, I found myself using the cool feature quite a bit but the two 4mm cap screws that secure the stop where a PITA to adjust as they where located under the stop and with the lead screw in the way it made it tricky as the allen wrench would only engage at an angle with small turns, not to mention my knees and neck didn't care for this position.
Mark Jacobs suggested reworking the lock system so we took carful measurements and drilled a hole as close to the edge of the bed way and turn dial. I then took a piece of drill rod and turned a custom bolt with 10-24 threads. The two old cap screw holes where used for guide rods to ensure the locking plate would move evenly up/down. Mark was kind enough to turn these out of 1/4" drill rod. Two small grub screw holes where added to the bottom plate to ensure the clamping would be even once snug. The final process was done at Marks shop as he shared his collet block for this last step in drilling/threading the thimble for a threaded lever made from 1/4" drill rod which he also turned for me.

I counter bored the block just a hair over .030 for a flush look.

I didn't have a long nose live center, so I used a hardened ground pin (dead center) to support the stock while threading. I utilized Marks method for the threading with proximity stop and leaving the 1/2 nut engaged. This would be the last time I used the stupid cap screws to adjust/secure the carriage stop.

The material turned very nice considering I used a rounded triangular insert designed for aggressive cuts.

The test fit good. Th thimble portion was kept a bit long to ensure the lever would clear the edge of the carriage.

This shot shows the two guide rods threaded where the old cap screws once lived. Smooth even clamping.

Installed stop. The two s/s button head allen screws serve as grub screws for adjustment for even clamping (not 100% it needed this) with a 1/4 turn.

And finally a swarf guard with a ramp to clear chips into lower pan. Overall a great upgrade for quick and simple adjustments.
Have a great weekend fellas!
Turn and burn!
Paco