2018 POTD Thread Archive

I installed new shocks on my Kenworth service truck, grabbed my 6” grinder and some cutoff wheels. Cut out the inner shafts of the old ones and cleaned up. The front shocks had some deeper scuffing, but the rear were very good shape. They are very round and very straight, within one tenth”. Another project is to build a squareness comparator, and these may work for the vertical shaft. Thought I’d share to help people imagine scrap stuff that has value. 13CE36A4-AE31-4EDB-AE71-F836242813EB.jpeg
 
Redmech
I've often thought about using old shock shafts for various things but have never gotten past the thinking stage. Any idea what they are made of? Are they plated mild steel or a high chromium content steel or something else?
 
I've used a few of the larger diameter rods from struts. Seam to be beter than mild steel. Some however are tube.

Greg
 
Groundhog said:
Redmech
I've often thought about using old shock shafts for various things but have never gotten past the thinking stage. Any idea what they are made of? Are they plated mild steel or a high chromium content steel or something else?
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I’m pretty sure they are chrome plated, the two off the front had worn through the outer chrome and the shocks had leaked out. Not sure of inner material. When I get back to the shop I’ll try and do a spark test on my belt grinder. I’d like to think they are something more than mild steel, the amount of work a shock does, I’d think it would be something fairly tough.
 
Groundhog said:
Redmech
I've often thought about using old shock shafts for various things but have never gotten past the thinking stage. Any idea what they are made of? Are they plated mild steel or a high chromium content steel or something else?
Click to expand...
The ones I got from Tenneco were high Chromium content and then
chrome plated. Very hard to cut on the lathe!
 
francist said:
I brought this home from work last week. It's a butt hinge, or simply "butt" to use the old vernacular, from the front door. Fairly old, 1889 to be exact, and it sees a huge volume of people every year. So much so that the wear between the bronze leaves has removed close to an eighth of an inch. That in itself isn't the reason I'm working on it though, it's because the pin sheared off inside one of the barrels rendering the pair useless. The joint is also quite deformed, not just evenly eroded, so before putting in a new pin I wanted to bring the joint back into line with a bit of cleanup milling.

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Pretty simple setup on the Atlas MF using an angle block and a couple of clamps. What I didn't expect was a steel sleeve inside the cast bronze leaf. I've worked on many of our door hinges and that detail is not typical. Could have something to do with being part of an entry set (exterior), I'm not sure. This was the top of the line hardware in its day though -- very, very nicely made.

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Anyway, back to the job. Both leaves cleaned up fine and the gap was now measurable. I turned an acetal shim washer, plus two extras of slightly different thicknesses, which keep the leaves at proper alignment and also provide good wear qualities. That left the pin to come up with, but instead of a straight 1/4" piece of rod the thing turned out to need 17/64". Dang! So, I turned 17/64" from my closest size drill rod which was 3/8". Worked well though, my little 618 is ideally sized for this type of thing.

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So back into service it will go next week, maybe for another hundred years, who knows. And as usual, thanks for looking.

-frank
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Nice repair !!
Interesting how they placed the screw holes at the back edge. Do they protrude from the jam and door to allow the door to swing farther open?

Greg
 
Finished making the plunger assembly for the DIY indexer I am trying to make. Harold Hall described making a plunger in his one of his books on making shop equipment as if it were a minor job. My plunger was not a minor job and I sure it took a lot longer for me to make than it did for Mr. Hall to write about his. Not complaining about Mr. Hall's books, I am to old and slow anymore. He has put out some good stuff.
Have a good day
Ray
 
f350ca said:
Nice repair !!
Interesting how they placed the screw holes at the back edge. Do they protrude from the jam and door to allow the door to swing farther open?

Greg
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Thanks Greg, I always like working on this hardware.

As for the hole placement, that could be although these are 5x5 butts and the same size as our other 5x5's that have a more staggered hole pattern. It could be as simple as this particular pattern being of an earlier design year -- 1885 for instance rather than the later 1890ish . It's P&F Corbin hardware.

I do know what you mean though about clearing obstructions and opening further, wainscot corner blocks being one common reason. They used to sell very broad versions known as "parliament hinges" that could clear fairly large capital blocks on the surround.

You've made me think now, I'll have to see if I can maybe fgure it further.

-frank
 
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