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

[pontiac428]

I had a mini project today that turned into a learning experience about metal forming. I was trying to avoid having any learning experience at all, I wanted easy and quick. I got the result I was after, but it went a little sideways on me... literally.

Exhibit A: A plasma table drain that will not drain- not if its rim is higher than the tray's floor- or so I've been told.



This is what I came up with to form a dimple for the drain. It was meant as a single-use tool, so I chucked up a drop of 6061 and was really stingy with the material. No CAD was used, no clearances checked, I barely used calipers. The parts fit and were beveled and gapped until they "seemed right" to me. Even my phone pic was blurry. Whatevs, git 'er done.



And git 'er done I did. This is where learning happened, even though it wasn't what I set out to do. I left a very short tenon on the top die that fit the drain hole nicely, but only the thickness of the sheet because I reckoned good enuff, I was saving a penny worth of material with just an indexing nub. Well, **** fire and save matches, that feature of the die should be the pilot, and just about key to the whole darn thing. I should have made it a half inch longer instead (wasting so much more material), and made sure it met the inner bore of the bottom die before forming begins. Further, I didn't want to have any sensitivity at all while tightening the dies, it was a bit of a reef by hand so I just threw a power tool on it like a jackass. It took a lot of torque but it made a very nice, even, completely formed dimple with an offset hole. Now the lightbulb comes on, where was it a half hour ago?



Pat myself on the back for a lesson learned, from now on I know what to do. Not to big of a deal, the fit-up is perfect thanks to the heavy drain gasket. Dies go in the scrap bin to become something else later. The dimple was perfect and the offset only cosmetic, so that's done. On to the next task.

 

[ChazzC]

I had a mini project today that turned into a learning experience about metal forming. I was trying to avoid having any learning experience at all, I wanted easy and quick. I got the result I was after, but it went a little sideways on me... literally.

Exhibit A: A plasma table drain that will not drain- not if its rim is higher than the tray's floor- or so I've been told.

View attachment 453078

This is what I came up with to form a dimple for the drain. It was meant as a single-use tool, so I chucked up a drop of 6061 and was really stingy with the material. No CAD was used, no clearances checked, I barely used calipers. The parts fit and were beveled and gapped until they "seemed right" to me. Even my phone pic was blurry. Whatevs, git 'er done.

View attachment 453081

And git 'er done I did. This is where learning happened, even though it wasn't what I set out to do. I left a very short tenon on the top die that fit the drain hole nicely, but only the thickness of the sheet because I reckoned good enuff, I was saving a penny worth of material with just an indexing nub. Well, **** fire and save matches, that feature of the die should be the pilot, and just about key to the whole darn thing. I should have made it a half inch longer instead (wasting so much more material), and made sure it met the inner bore of the bottom die before forming begins. Further, I didn't want to have any sensitivity at all while tightening the dies, it was a bit of a reef by hand so I just threw a power tool on it like a jackass. It took a lot of torque but it made a very nice, even, completely formed dimple with an offset hole. Now the lightbulb comes on, where was it a half hour ago?

View attachment 453080

Pat myself on the back for a lesson learned, from now on I know what to do. Not to big of a deal, the fit-up is perfect thanks to the heavy drain gasket. Dies go in the scrap bin to become something else later. The dimple was perfect and the offset only cosmetic, so that's done. On to the next task.

View attachment 453079

Funny, all of the plumbers on jobs I was involved with where the drains were set higher than the surrounding floor told me this was a feature, not a problem: it kept the drains from getting clogged.

 

[Eyerelief]

I had a mini project today that turned into a learning experience about metal forming. I was trying to avoid having any learning experience at all, I wanted easy and quick. I got the result I was after, but it went a little sideways on me... literally.

Exhibit A: A plasma table drain that will not drain- not if its rim is higher than the tray's floor- or so I've been told.



This is what I came up with to form a dimple for the drain. It was meant as a single-use tool, so I chucked up a drop of 6061 and was really stingy with the material. No CAD was used, no clearances checked, I barely used calipers. The parts fit and were beveled and gapped until they "seemed right" to me. Even my phone pic was blurry. Whatevs, git 'er done.



And git 'er done I did. This is where learning happened, even though it wasn't what I set out to do. I left a very short tenon on the top die that fit the drain hole nicely, but only the thickness of the sheet because I reckoned good enuff, I was saving a penny worth of material with just an indexing nub. Well, **** fire and save matches, that feature of the die should be the pilot, and just about key to the whole darn thing. I should have made it a half inch longer instead (wasting so much more material), and made sure it met the inner bore of the bottom die before forming begins. Further, I didn't want to have any sensitivity at all while tightening the dies, it was a bit of a reef by hand so I just threw a power tool on it like a jackass. It took a lot of torque but it made a very nice, even, completely formed dimple with an offset hole. Now the lightbulb comes on, where was it a half hour ago?



Pat myself on the back for a lesson learned, from now on I know what to do. Not to big of a deal, the fit-up is perfect thanks to the heavy drain gasket. Dies go in the scrap bin to become something else later. The dimple was perfect and the offset only cosmetic, so that's done. On to the next task.

Does the nut get welded on the bottom? I could see a ball valve riding down below with a hose attached making draining child's play. But what I know about plasma tables would get lost inside ants behind....................

 

[Gaffer]

I had a mini project today that turned into a learning experience about metal forming. I was trying to avoid having any learning experience at all, I wanted easy and quick. I got the result I was after, but it went a little sideways on me... literally.

Exhibit A: A plasma table drain that will not drain- not if its rim is higher than the tray's floor- or so I've been told.

View attachment 453078

This is what I came up with to form a dimple for the drain. It was meant as a single-use tool, so I chucked up a drop of 6061 and was really stingy with the material. No CAD was used, no clearances checked, I barely used calipers. The parts fit and were beveled and gapped until they "seemed right" to me. Even my phone pic was blurry. Whatevs, git 'er done.

View attachment 453081

And git 'er done I did. This is where learning happened, even though it wasn't what I set out to do. I left a very short tenon on the top die that fit the drain hole nicely, but only the thickness of the sheet because I reckoned good enuff, I was saving a penny worth of material with just an indexing nub. Well, **** fire and save matches, that feature of the die should be the pilot, and just about key to the whole darn thing. I should have made it a half inch longer instead (wasting so much more material), and made sure it met the inner bore of the bottom die before forming begins. Further, I didn't want to have any sensitivity at all while tightening the dies, it was a bit of a reef by hand so I just threw a power tool on it like a jackass. It took a lot of torque but it made a very nice, even, completely formed dimple with an offset hole. Now the lightbulb comes on, where was it a half hour ago?

View attachment 453080

Pat myself on the back for a lesson learned, from now on I know what to do. Not to big of a deal, the fit-up is perfect thanks to the heavy drain gasket. Dies go in the scrap bin to become something else later. The dimple was perfect and the offset only cosmetic, so that's done. On to the next task.

View attachment 453079

Nicely done. I cheated doing mine. Langmuir has a forum and one of the members made a nice dimple die and it gets passed around. I welded up and bolted an expanded metal shelf above the casters for a recovery tank to sit. I haven’t decided if I want to use compressed air or an electric pump to refill the table. Have you decided on this feature and if so, what are your thoughts? I’m leaning towards compressed air.

 

[wachuko]

Nicely done. I cheated doing mine. Langmuir has a forum and one of the members made a nice dimple die and it gets passed around. I welded up and bolted an expanded metal shelf above the casters for a recovery tank to sit. I haven’t decided if I want to use compressed air or an electric pump to refill the table. Have you decided on this feature and if so, what are your thoughts? I’m leaning towards compressed air.

I will start sending them email now so when I get to order mine they will have that done at the factory

Side comment, I think I saw somewhere that they sold Langmuir to another company??

 

[pontiac428]

Does the nut get welded on the bottom? I could see a ball valve riding down below with a hose attached making draining child's play. But what I know about plasma tables would get lost inside ants behind....................

No, it's a cinch nut. Just like a sink drain. A ball valve is most definitely in the plans!

Nicely done. I cheated doing mine. Langmuir has a forum and one of the members made a nice dimple die and it gets passed around. I welded up and bolted an expanded metal shelf above the casters for a recovery tank to sit. I haven’t decided if I want to use compressed air or an electric pump to refill the table. Have you decided on this feature and if so, what are your thoughts? I’m leaning towards compressed air.

I was planning on the KISS principle involving: Fill bucket with fresh water, transfer to table, use for a day, drain, dump in the gravel. The tray is going to get full of dross and be pretty messy from what I gather, but I have no reason to keep nasty water any longer than I need it. What with the hose nearby and all. I've got a tip on adding borax to the water, but I'm gonna wait and see. Then there's the investment in a bottle concoctions to add to water to make it less like water or something. I reviewed the SDSs on a nitrite base and a propylene glycol plus mystery patented caca in a bottle that looks like antifreeze. Both of these products require monitoring and adjusting pH up to twice a week. At least, when used as directed.

I will start sending them email now so when I get to order mine they will have that done at the factory

Side comment, I think I saw somewhere that they sold Langmuir to another company??

I've been paying attention to them for a number of years, checking in now and again as they grew. I think they diversified and merged or some combination of fancy business things like that a good while back, but they seem to still have kept the company on its presumed track. I'm still pleased with the project. I should go into all projects with low expectations, that way there's nowhere to go but up. I thought I'd get a "cheap" toy, but it's a really solid product. Winning!

 

[extropic]

I'm refreshing a couple of Albrecht keyless chucks (bought used).
One is a 5/8" capacity with a MT3 shank (JT 6 on the chuck end) attached
The other is a 1/2" capacity with a 1/2" straight shank (JT 33 on the chuck end) attached.
I wanted to remove both shanks with the intent of changing them.
When you completely disassemble that type of chuck, you have easy access to the small end of the Jacobs Taper thru the chuck body.
The shanks have a center drilled in the small end so it seemed like It would be a simple job to use a center punch to knock the arbors out.
No luck.
I had each chuck well supported on a solid base but could not budge either arbor using a medium sized ball peen hammer applied to that center punch.
I had a 10 ton hydraulic press at hand so here we go.
The bigger JT 6 taper (MT 3 shank) surrendered at about 1000 PSI (~1 ton) on the gage. Very well.
The smaller JT 33 taper (1/2" straight shank) didn't pop until about 5000 PSI (~5 tons) on the gage. WTH!

The ~5 ton load had a detrimental effect on the chosen center punch (marked "402 MAYHEW USA 1/2").
I think it didn't get a proper heat treat process during manufacture.
When I get back to my home shop, I'll beat it back into shape, make it pretty again on the lathe, followed by a proper hardening/tempering.

 

[Provincial]

When you press a male center punch into a female center hole, it expands the end of the shaft with the center hole. The amount may be slight, but the harder you push, the more the small end of the taper expands. The smaller Jacobs taper probably had much less meat on the end to resist expansion, hence the higher pressure required.

If there was a big enough hole through the chuck to allow access, a flat-nosed tool in theory should not expand the taper, and the arbor should pop out easier.

I've removed 6JT arbors by pressing, and it wasn't that bad a job. I had to drill a hole in the Jacobs chuck housing for access. One downside is that from then on, small enough drill bits will bottom on the arbor, rather than the chuck body.

 

[woodchucker]

When you press a male center punch into a female center hole, it expands the end of the shaft with the center hole. The amount may be slight, but the harder you push, the more the small end of the taper expands. The smaller Jacobs taper probably had much less meat on the end to resist expansion, hence the higher pressure required.

If there was a big enough hole through the chuck to allow access, a flat-nosed tool in theory should not expand the taper, and the arbor should pop out easier.

I've removed 6JT arbors by pressing, and it wasn't that bad a job. I had to drill a hole in the Jacobs chuck housing for access. One downside is that from then on, small enough drill bits will bottom on the arbor, rather than the chuck body.

learned that when I was a kid, a friend and I were trying to remove a pin from the pedal crank. We didn't have a drift, so we used a center punch... we could not get it out since we mushroomed it.. Lesson learned.

 

[BGHansen]

POTD was replacing the panels in our dog door. Our house has a 8' x 13' covered breezeway between the house and garage which serves as a dog house. The breezeway has a door leading out to the fenced backyard; the door has a dog door. We like the double-flap door which does a pretty good job keeping flies, moths, etc. out of the breezeway. It also does a decent job sealing up A/C and heat as we leave the house to breezeway door open during the warmer months. That lets our dog go freely in and out of the house.

Problem was the make door we put in 15+ years ago has either gone under, or changed names. We searched for replacement flaps as the original ones were torn and starting to let in flies, etc. Long story longer, we couldn't find any 10" x 18" panels, so went with a bulk roll off Amazon.


Old dog door flaps were torn at the top. Bulk stock to the right.


I cut the presumably PVC flap stock to size on the Tennsmith shear. Punched 3/8" holes for the top mount with the Roper Whitney 218 press. The flaps have stainless steel (though magnetic; 400-series?) hems at the bottom which "stick" to magnets in the door frame. I reused these flaps by sanding off the rivets.





I attached the flaps to the frame, slipped the flap through the stainless hem and set the hem on the magnets. Marked rivet holes with a Sharpie and punched the rivet holes (about 1/8" above the Sharpie marks anticipating a little stretch in the vinyl) with a Roper Whitey No. 5 hand punch. Riveted the stainless hem in place with hollow-core stainless rivets.


"Dry fit" the stainless hem in place and marked the rivet holes with a Sharpie.







Toby is a happy dog again!





Thanks for looking, Bruce