2020 POTD Thread Archive

[mattthemuppet2]

not much of a project, but a funny story. About 8 or 9 years ago I somehow lost one of the jaws of my large tap handle, probably under my bench. Spent hours looking for that thing, even when we moved and cleared out the garage, without luck. Finally got off my ar$e and made a replacement out of a little bit of 1/2" plate. Good practice filing something square too, which is harder than it appears!



also "fixed" a bad vibration in my house HVAC blower motor. Was worried that it was the motor or motor bearings going out, but in fact it was a piece of adhesive foam strip from somewhere in the cabinet that had gotten sucked into the squirrel cage.

Looked all over the inside of the cabinet and couldn't find anywhere it could have come from. Any ideas? When I get in there this Fall for a coil cleaning I'll have another poke around.

 

[francist]

but once it was lined up, it made sense to me.

Wow, that’s a really spooky way to photograph parts — makes them look like they’re floating on air or something. Very cool.

-frank

 

[silverhawk]

I had an impromptu project this morning. I picked up a sewing machine from my (well, my dad's) aunt. She married my dad's uncle late in life. She gave me my great grandmothers treadle sewing machine. My uncle (he's ours, not just dads) died a number of years ago. While there, she choked up a little, but brightened up remembering his giggles (usually if he was up to something or remembering being involved in mischief). That made my day, being reminded of him preparing to go use dynamite to remove tree trunks (but being stopped because the neighbors would complain). He took great care of things. I could fire this sewing machine up, actually, that's the kind of care he took of things.

Anyway, there was a chunk of wood that had come off. It looks like it had come off decades ago, possibly my the maker, as there was lacquer on one end of where the wood came off. This morning, I scraped the lacquer off, and glued it back on with good glue. There's still a crack, but it looks much better.

For something that old, it is in phenomenal shape. I'm just in awe of these kinds of things.

 

[Tim9]

Here’s a very, very cool grinding wheel balancer. By putting set screws in the flange washer it’s a breeze to get it right. A little bit of a hassle to drill and tap the holes around the flange washer but in reality I’m guessing you only need to drill a few and rotate the washer to the appropriate spot.
It’s a simple and neat balancer too. Grinding wheel balancer...Metals Tips/Tricks

 

[DLF]

Not really machining related, but for sure will help boost productivity and morale in the shop

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mattthemuppet2]

swapped the shocks on the car. Went from 100k original shocks to lovely new Bilstein B6 shocks (heavy duty monotube). First one took about 4 hours, half of that figuring out how to get the spring compressors on to compress the spring enough (answer, smack it round the coil with a mallet) and the remaining half taking it apart twice, the last one after finding the all important strut mount cone washer in one of my cycling shoes. Strut mount rotated nicely after that went in

put the LCA bushing back in the right way round too

and the rears

new front sway bar links as well (one was leaking) and I've just ordered two new rear links as one of those was leaking too. Haven't had an alignment yet, but holy cow bells what a difference. It's back to being the family rally car I loved (maybe not the family though!) and cherished Only took 9 1/2h (inc. frustration breaks) in a 95F garage. I'm a lot lighter now!

Job today - do nothing.

 

[Muzzer]

I was spraying WD-40 on the 1/4" end mill near the beginning of the slot cutting, but decided to stop after about 40-50% was complete. When I only had a few slots left, I noticed the cutter was having issues. See photo. Live and learn. It was running for quite a while and I guess was getting hot. I finished with a HSS 1/4" end mill without issue. I guess I should have kept spraying WD-40? Let the end mill cool after 30-40 minutes?



View attachment 329020

That was a close one! I've only broken one cutter in the last year or so and it was a similar issue - recutting chips until they weld onto the cutter, then PING. Don't know how close you got to breaking it there!! You need to clear the chips from the slot using coolant or air. More WD40 might have helped a bit. Also, you need to use uncoated cutters for aluminum. The yellow coating doesn't repel aluminum, it can actually help chips to weld to the cutter.

 

[DavidR8]

swapped the shocks on the car. Went from 100k original shocks to lovely new Bilstein B6 shocks (heavy duty monotube). First one took about 4 hours, half of that figuring out how to get the spring compressors on to compress the spring enough (answer, smack it round the coil with a mallet) and the remaining half taking it apart twice, the last one after finding the all important strut mount cone washer in one of my cycling shoes. Strut mount rotated nicely after that went in
View attachment 330198
View attachment 330199

put the LCA bushing back in the right way round too
View attachment 330200
and the rears
View attachment 330201
View attachment 330202

new front sway bar links as well (one was leaking) and I've just ordered two new rear links as one of those was leaking too. Haven't had an alignment yet, but holy cow bells what a difference. It's back to being the family rally car I loved (maybe not the family though!) and cherished Only took 9 1/2h (inc. frustration breaks) in a 95F garage. I'm a lot lighter now!

Job today - do nothing.

Nice work! What kind of car?
Edit: from a few posts back I see that it's a Subaru. Nice cars, I used to own a Legacy. Loved that car despite its multitude of problems. In the snow it was a dream, even just on all-seasons. With set of snows, it was unstoppable. First snow of the season I'd find a big parking lot and do four-wheel drifts just to get my winter driving chops back. Good times!

 

[mattthemuppet2]

Nice work! What kind of car?
Edit: from a few posts back I see that it's a Subaru. Nice cars, I used to own a Legacy. Loved that car despite its multitude of problems. In the snow it was a dream, even just on all-seasons. With set of snows, it was unstoppable. First snow of the season I'd find a big parking lot and do four-wheel drifts just to get my winter driving chops back. Good times!

that's right, it's a Subaru, a '12 Outback. Love it to bits - I've taken it up fireroads with 18" snow and down rocky trails that made my butt clench. Mostly it gets used to ferry the kids to school and pick up groceries

 

[silverhawk]

I built a gib for my taper attachment. One of the hacks I'd done was a 13" gib screw being cut down to work on this heavy 10. It meant I had a gib from a 13" lathe sitting around. So, I opted to use that. I started with the small end for my test cuts, because the thicker end would give me more opportunities to redo if I hosed it up. It didn't have the same taper, and it was two and a half times as long as I needed - that should give me a few trial runs. First was to get the taper. I would shove it in to place (it wouldn't go all the way through, which was fine). I'd figure out which end was loose, and use a feeler gauge until that one tightened up. That gave me the adjustments I needed to make until I got the taper down.

With the taper down, I could then mill it to the right width to get it all the way through.

I think I got lucky, because I didn't have to move to the other end and re-do it again. I did the basic math, but it only got me close. The feeler gauge approach got me the rest of the way. With the taper the right dimensions, I could use the angle vise to mill the slot for the gib screw (it was a 1/4" end mill). Again, taking my time because I didn't want to hose it up now. Then, off to the bandsaw, and then a little sanding to take out the tool marks and round over some edges,

I had to test it out - I mean, it can't just look good. I'd struggle because I do not yet have this lathe under power.

Installed, the taper attachment is now fully operational. Yes, there is a little stick out - I left enough to adapt for wear and tear. This material is fairly soft. Next to finish my new countershaft.