- Joined
- Jul 19, 2013
- Messages
- 590
Thanks again fellas.
The axle shaft had been my first lathe project. The lathe also saved the following day for a friend who was repairing his old BMW 2002TI's parking brake. For years the car had been operated with the pivot pin halfway in, resulting in a badly worn pin and elongated holes (plus a broken bracket). It was challenging just to determine what size the original pin had to have been, which turned out that a 0.560" diameter was just right. The original was a plain shaft with two thin circlips (one of which was missing--the original failure) to hold it in place. To make an identical replacement was out of the question, as I had no means to create the precise groove required, and had only one circlip.
In one of the coffee cans in which I collect old nuts and bolts (mostly used for weighting down wood/epoxy glue-ups) there was an ancient 5/8"x5" grade 5 bolt, which whose threaded end was chucked in the 3-jaw. Though I was careful approaching the hex head, for facing, I soon chipped the (3/8" square) brazed carbide tool. So instead I began to approach the head at a 45* angle, allowing the entire width of the tool to create a large chamfer where the hex met the head face. In this manner the hex head was soon transformed into a proper clevis head. Turning the body down to 0.560" was uneventful. My real difficulty began when it came time to part-off, as I have no parting tool.
So, using the side of the AXA tool holder, as a guide and support, a hacksaw got a fairly good groove started. In one of the tool holders I placed a hacksaw blade, angled up, as much as the tool holder would allow, clamping it to the holder. In this way the cross feed could be used to apply pressure, continually adjusting the blade's extension. It was pretty scarey, at times, with the blade grabbing. But the blade did not collapse, because the groove progressively supported it along its sides...took awhile...and then the new clevis easily parted from its parent bolt. Upon breaking down my makeshift setup, it became obvious why it took so long...the blade was in backwards!
Duh!
Lastly I drilled a hole through the pin for a cotter pin. And bored a stainless flat washer to fit.
Oh! And I ordered a parting tool holder.
The axle shaft had been my first lathe project. The lathe also saved the following day for a friend who was repairing his old BMW 2002TI's parking brake. For years the car had been operated with the pivot pin halfway in, resulting in a badly worn pin and elongated holes (plus a broken bracket). It was challenging just to determine what size the original pin had to have been, which turned out that a 0.560" diameter was just right. The original was a plain shaft with two thin circlips (one of which was missing--the original failure) to hold it in place. To make an identical replacement was out of the question, as I had no means to create the precise groove required, and had only one circlip.
In one of the coffee cans in which I collect old nuts and bolts (mostly used for weighting down wood/epoxy glue-ups) there was an ancient 5/8"x5" grade 5 bolt, which whose threaded end was chucked in the 3-jaw. Though I was careful approaching the hex head, for facing, I soon chipped the (3/8" square) brazed carbide tool. So instead I began to approach the head at a 45* angle, allowing the entire width of the tool to create a large chamfer where the hex met the head face. In this manner the hex head was soon transformed into a proper clevis head. Turning the body down to 0.560" was uneventful. My real difficulty began when it came time to part-off, as I have no parting tool.
So, using the side of the AXA tool holder, as a guide and support, a hacksaw got a fairly good groove started. In one of the tool holders I placed a hacksaw blade, angled up, as much as the tool holder would allow, clamping it to the holder. In this way the cross feed could be used to apply pressure, continually adjusting the blade's extension. It was pretty scarey, at times, with the blade grabbing. But the blade did not collapse, because the groove progressively supported it along its sides...took awhile...and then the new clevis easily parted from its parent bolt. Upon breaking down my makeshift setup, it became obvious why it took so long...the blade was in backwards!
Duh!Lastly I drilled a hole through the pin for a cotter pin. And bored a stainless flat washer to fit.
Oh! And I ordered a parting tool holder.
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Every task is an opportunity to learn something new. Ain't it a great life!! Mike