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

[woodchucker]

so I spent half the day searching for a tool I made a year ago. I needed it to fix another tool today.
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...ou-make-in-your-shop-today.67833/post-1055846 wish I could find it. I have a bunch of rounded turning tools, but the material was difficult so I wanted the tool. Looked everywhere but where it was, or maybe I just didn't see it. .

I was making the changes that @tonyfoale made to his HF vibrator.. I used too thick a piece and now need to remove a lot of material. I may need to make some new spacers and get some 4mm 30-35mm long screws, as even after I relieve the boss on the plastic platten, and shorten the shaft, there is no room ... I wonder if they changed the plastic mold or changed who built the vibrator .


edit: Also spun a MT2 taper drill bit in the lathe center today. , not once but 2 or 3 times. When I went to pop it out, it was not coming out smoothly. Well, it galled, Now I have to buy an MT2 taper reamer to clean it up.

 

[twhite]

I have been pecking away at getting my lathe QCGB fixed. I finally finished up the shaft earlier this week.

There are 3 bearing surfaces do deal with. I was able to get the replacement end to run true to .0002. No pictures of the finished splines. I also doweled the 2 pieces together. I went with the welded repair on the gears for now. Might replace the 2 so so ones down the road.

I was able to put it all together and wire it up. I now have a working lathe. Next step is to test and adjust it to turn true.


Cutting oil is my blood.

 

[srfallsallot]

I am newbie. I have looked at plans for pens as a good project to try learning. I made some CAD drawing/models and machined my parts form cold rolled steel and brass. The finishes on the steel were awful so I practiced knurling. The brass was much easier, but I still had to cheat on the finishes. The covers were the hardest to get a smooth fit. I never did get them smooth. I used knurling to get the pen diameters large enough to return to a better fit. Still not proud. It is a very good thing I am not making a living doing this hobby.

 

[WobblyHand]

I am newbie. I have looked at plans for pens as a good project to try learning. I made some CAD drawing/models and machined my parts form cold rolled steel and brass. The finishes on the steel were awful so I practiced knurling. The brass was much easier, but I still had to cheat on the finishes. The covers were the hardest to get a smooth fit. I never did get them smooth. I used knurling to get the pen diameters large enough to return to a better fit. Still not proud. It is a very good thing I am not making a living doing this hobby.

Use 12L14, 1215 or 1144 to get nicer finishes in steel. 1018 doesn't machine as well. It's hard to get going in the beginning. Issues could be tool material, tool height, tool grind, or even tool sharpness and tool angle. Once you figure it out, things will look a lot nicer. You can post pictures of your set up and I am sure people can help you figure it out. We all started out from the beginning. HM exists to help out new people, so just ask questions, and we will help.

 

[SouthernChap]

I am newbie. I have looked at plans for pens as a good project to try learning. I made some CAD drawing/models and machined my parts form cold rolled steel and brass. The finishes on the steel were awful so I practiced knurling. The brass was much easier, but I still had to cheat on the finishes. The covers were the hardest to get a smooth fit. I never did get them smooth. I used knurling to get the pen diameters large enough to return to a better fit. Still not proud. It is a very good thing I am not making a living doing this hobby.

Some of the getting a good surface finish stuff comes from experience and developing the feel, a teensy part of it possibly comes from innate ability (especially on the harder to machine materials),

However, I reckon most of it comes from learning the right combination of material, feeds and speeds, depth of cut and tooling. Oh and a well set up lathe appropriate to the task too (nobody's going get a good surface finish trying to take 0.250" off 1" 316 stainless in one pass, on a 7x Chinese mini lathe, for example ).

So, forget pride. Ask the questions you need to on here with as much detail as you can provide and people will get you on the right path.

 

[GrifterGuru]

@SouthernChap 316 and a 7x?? Never had a problem with a decent finish even though that stuff is real honery to machine!

Put another way, every material has a "feel" to it that gives the operator of the machine feedback on what is the best method. I got the feel of 316 on the first cut, others may be different.

@srfallsallot It may take time, but you will learn feeds/speeds/Depth of cut et-al for each material. A lot of it is down to experience, so you will find, with time, that you develop a "feel" for each material.

 

[woodchucker]

Use 12L14, 1215 or 1144 to get nicer finishes in steel. 1018 doesn't machine as well. It's hard to get going in the beginning. Issues could be tool material, tool height, tool grind, or even tool sharpness and tool angle. Once you figure it out, things will look a lot nicer. You can post pictures of your set up and I am sure people can help you figure it out. We all started out from the beginning. HM exists to help out new people, so just ask questions, and we will help.

do not use 12L14.. You don't want a pen with lead . if your put it in your mouth, or just from sweating in your hand, would not be a good thing.

 

[WobblyHand]

do not use 12L14.. You don't want a pen with lead . if your put it in your mouth, or just from sweating in your hand, would not be a good thing.

Fair point, wasn't thinking about that, only machinability.

Not sure I'd use non-stainless steel for a pen either. Sweaty or salty hands would rust it in no time.

 

[GoceKU]

Last few weeks i've been hard at work clearing out this spare room, i had a big shelf full of car parts to move, then a bunch old house windows also to move. After i move them and a bunch more junk i found my sport bike. I know it was somewhere but i've forgotten where, behind it there is also my moped. The one on which i've broken my jaw back in 2005, I have few more days of clearing so i can push them out, i may try to get them started. Those two bikes have been in there for 14 years, unexpected surprise but i'm determined to clean that room.

 

[mmcmdl]

Sat the tractor out back yesterday only to have some high A hole completely tear the cowling up . So now it's back in the garage . Moved the small Vidmar from work back to it's original position next to the big boys . Chainsaws .......................found 6 in the garage and gathered them up along with about 100 blades . Gonna try to fire up the Stihl MS310 . If it doesn't , it's headed to wood heaven . Power washed a couple of things out of the garage before the rain started . The large aluminum 3' x 8' table is coming out to make room for 3 more roll around boxes .