POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

[wachuko]

When I need something precise I order tight tolerance stock. Costs more but avoids what you're having to do.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

John

I see what you mean... a lot more expensive... thank you!

 

[Boswell]

`I generally by material that is larger in every dimension that what I need for what I am making to allow for me to square it up or turn it down to what is needed. In other words, I have made my peace with the fact that I will need to remove material in order to clean up the stock for use.

 

[extropic]

@wachuko

Buy standard size material and design your parts small enough to allow for cleanup (if cleanup is required).

You bought A36 (hot rolled) material. Hot rolled material has the worst mill finish, including slag, so you wanted to clean it up.
If you had chosen 1018 or 12L14 (cold finished) you might have just accepted the mill finish.

 

[Badabinski]

My Father-in-law bought a remanufactured razor from the 1940s and decided to pick up a stand for it and a brush at the same time. The stand ended up being pretty wobbly and easy to knock over, so I offered to make a metal base for it. I used a Shrum Solutions Tri-Fly face mill with some super sharp positive rake inserts for aluminum on 316 stainless steel, then gave the edges a heavy chamfer. I didn't do any polishing, everything you see is the finish I got off of the mill. I didn't want to deal with drilling 316, so I just superglued the base onto the stand. I think it turned out pretty well!

 

[Just for fun]

Hah! Ok we like feta cheese and we buy it in these little tubs. I probably have 25 or so.

Thanks... Good idea!

 

[wachuko]

My Father-in-law bought a remanufactured razor from the 1940s and decided to pick up a stand for it and a brush at the same time. The stand ended up being pretty wobbly and easy to knock over, so I offered to make a metal base for it. I used a Shrum Solutions Tri-Fly face mill with some super sharp positive rake inserts for aluminum on 316 stainless steel, then gave the edges a heavy chamfer. I didn't do any polishing, everything you see is the finish I got off of the mill. I didn't want to deal with drilling 316, so I just superglued the base onto the stand. I think it turned out pretty well!
View attachment 409302
View attachment 409298

View attachment 409299
View attachment 409300

That came out looking great!

I seldom use mine because how cumbersome the base is.... never occurred to me to just make my own... Add another project to the list!

 

[wachuko]

Lock everything, lock everything... goodness gracious...

So I am measuring and using the DRO to get me to where I need to drill the hole for cutting one part of the mount for the vise... and kept wondering why the measurements where different... X is lock... Y is lock... what is going on!!?? Well... part on the vise was not tighten... Good thing I was just measuring and double checking my work...

Hole made and since the bandsaw is at the other house, taking with me to cut over there...

 

[Larry42]

SDM table

Yes, very handy BUT I have to write down all the settings and reference them to the drawing. My DRO has 199 SDM locations available. Don't think I've ever used more about 20 of them for one project.

 

[wachuko]

The guy that invented DRO and mounting them on milling machines... is right up there with the one that invented the A/C... I love playing with the DRO... and mine is old and does not have a single function... I can't wait to upgrade a modern unit.

Oh, and have I told you that I just like tools a lot!

Anyway... the process is that I mark the part... but then I use the DRO to check if my marks are spot on... so I get to play with the edge finder then lock the Y axis... zero X... move 0.3125" and spot on my mark.... rinse and repeat...

This is just so much fun... and I don't care what I am making folks... it is the process that I enjoy... So much to learn!!!!

Anyway, apologies, this is all very exiting for me...

Plate drilled... I forgot the 3/8"-16 tap and the countersink drill bit... so taking it all back to Orlando for that...

 

[Winegrower]

I like my old Kalamazoo 9"x16" horizontal saw. It cuts anything I've ever tried in it, and it was an old blade when I got it 15 years ago. Yesterday I was kind of stumped for what to do, so I thought about things that were sub-optimal or annoying in the shop. Near the top is the movable jaw on the saw...mostly I cut short pieces, and I need to add a stop on the far side of the vise so it will tighten without tilting. It normally takes a bit to locate some scrap about the right length.

There was a thread awhile ago with some solutions to a quick adjustable stop, but none seemed like the right and/or easy thing to do. I did not want to drill holes in the vise jaws, or elsewhere on the saw, just because it was awkward to get at. An unusual feature is that the fixed jaw is significantly higher than the movable jaw, so I built a stop to just sit over the back jaw and hold a piece of 1/2-13 all thread (because I have lots of that for mill hold-downs). I drilled and tapped for the all thread, then sawed it down the middle, so the top was removable. I added a 1/4-20 stud, and a nut to keep the top in place during high force applications, though it seems to stay on pretty well without the nut.

It's pretty quick to adjust, lift the top, move the all thread, top back on. Nut is really optional.

And it's easy to make.