I had spelling problems for a while. I was a decent speller, I tried competition spelling as a kid. It was an odd thing unable to spell some words. Eventually the issue went away so I fully recovered.
-
Welcome back Guest! Did you know you can mentor other members here at H-M? If not, please check out our Relaunch of Hobby Machinist Mentoring Program!
POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?
- Thread starter wachuko
- Start date
I had spelling problems for a while. I was a decent speller, I tried competition spelling as a kid. It was an odd thing unable to spell some words. Eventually the issue went away so I fully recovered.
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2023
- Messages
- 1,238
Finished the prototype cross-slide feed screw nut by fitment of the required SHCS bolts. M4 to retain it the Cross slide, M3 on the end where the slot is.
All I need now is to find some suitable square bronze bar stock to make it from, brass is too soft.
I intend to modify this design when I make the proper nut by making the hinged end plate a separate. piece. That separated end plate will be held in place with four M3 SHCS. As it goes, this prototype experiment proved a point I wanted to confirm and has been a useful exercise in order of operations.
Final phot is the nut on the feedscrew. I have left the handwheel end unfinished on this new feedscrew pending decision on the handwheel I will be using and the retention method. Other than choosing handwheel and retention method and what machining that requires, the feedscrew is done and ready to be installed during the final build process.
Yes, the SHCS to retain the nut to the cross slide are slightly off set. That was intentional to test a theory ad it worked out as expected.
As an aside for those who may be curious, I used a Dremel (Dremel 4000) mounted on the toolpost with a triple stack of fibre cutting/slitting discs to cut the slot after I had pre-cross drilled the top of said slot. I just wanted to prove it would work in a pinch or if I did not want to mount the milling slide & vice and swap a chuck for the collet faceplate. As noted above, some aspects of this were experiments to prove theories.
As a "time saver" it does not work. As a "not removing the compound to mount the milling slide and swapping a chuck for the ER collet faceplate" option, it proved it could be done. It also meant I could use the dremel to pilot all of the bolt holes and the through hole for the feedscrew thread.
All I need now is to find some suitable square bronze bar stock to make it from, brass is too soft.
I intend to modify this design when I make the proper nut by making the hinged end plate a separate. piece. That separated end plate will be held in place with four M3 SHCS. As it goes, this prototype experiment proved a point I wanted to confirm and has been a useful exercise in order of operations.
Final phot is the nut on the feedscrew. I have left the handwheel end unfinished on this new feedscrew pending decision on the handwheel I will be using and the retention method. Other than choosing handwheel and retention method and what machining that requires, the feedscrew is done and ready to be installed during the final build process.
Yes, the SHCS to retain the nut to the cross slide are slightly off set. That was intentional to test a theory ad it worked out as expected.
As an aside for those who may be curious, I used a Dremel (Dremel 4000) mounted on the toolpost with a triple stack of fibre cutting/slitting discs to cut the slot after I had pre-cross drilled the top of said slot. I just wanted to prove it would work in a pinch or if I did not want to mount the milling slide & vice and swap a chuck for the collet faceplate. As noted above, some aspects of this were experiments to prove theories.
As a "time saver" it does not work. As a "not removing the compound to mount the milling slide and swapping a chuck for the ER collet faceplate" option, it proved it could be done. It also meant I could use the dremel to pilot all of the bolt holes and the through hole for the feedscrew thread.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2014
- Messages
- 27
Over a few days really, but here goes. A buddy has a 120 year old clock in a wooden housing. The top of the case is surrounded by a molding but as you can see in the pic, the 7 inch piece from the front to the back is missing on one side:
He has had the clock since the early 1970's, and this piece was missing when he got it. He lives in an apartment, and has no access to tools. So when I saw this, I decided to see if I could make a replacement part.
I have a table saw and miter saw, but no other major woodworking tools (or woodworking skills to be honest). So I decided to figure out how to make the part on my metal lathe and milling machine. The smaller round feature has a diameter of .5 in, and I have a 1/2 in ball end mill so I know I could cut that feature on the mill. I determined that the larger "cove" has a diameter of 1 3/8 - radius .6875. I had no way to cut that. After thinking about it, I came up with this:
That is a length of 1 inch aluminum bar with a 1/2 inch hole bored to fit a small fly cutter from the milling machine, with a set screw to hold the fly cutter in place. I ground and sharpened a HSS bit that I thought would cut wood, and carefully set it to .6875 radius from the center line of the lathe. In the pic I am trying it on a piece of scrap mounted in a tool holder. To my surprise, it cut a nice 1 3/8 diameter cove in the wood.
My first attempt didn't fit the clock due to working only off of a contour tool and making a couple of invalid assumptions. So I went to my buddy's home with a digital caliper, and made some careful measurements. Using these, I was able to machine a part that fit! The pic shows my first attempt and the contour tool, along with a cutoff from the finished part.
Machining wood was fun. Imagine cutting metal with a tool hung almost 9 inches from the chuck - not a chance. If nothing else it was a good exercise in thinking outside the box....
He has had the clock since the early 1970's, and this piece was missing when he got it. He lives in an apartment, and has no access to tools. So when I saw this, I decided to see if I could make a replacement part.
I have a table saw and miter saw, but no other major woodworking tools (or woodworking skills to be honest). So I decided to figure out how to make the part on my metal lathe and milling machine. The smaller round feature has a diameter of .5 in, and I have a 1/2 in ball end mill so I know I could cut that feature on the mill. I determined that the larger "cove" has a diameter of 1 3/8 - radius .6875. I had no way to cut that. After thinking about it, I came up with this:
That is a length of 1 inch aluminum bar with a 1/2 inch hole bored to fit a small fly cutter from the milling machine, with a set screw to hold the fly cutter in place. I ground and sharpened a HSS bit that I thought would cut wood, and carefully set it to .6875 radius from the center line of the lathe. In the pic I am trying it on a piece of scrap mounted in a tool holder. To my surprise, it cut a nice 1 3/8 diameter cove in the wood.
My first attempt didn't fit the clock due to working only off of a contour tool and making a couple of invalid assumptions. So I went to my buddy's home with a digital caliper, and made some careful measurements. Using these, I was able to machine a part that fit! The pic shows my first attempt and the contour tool, along with a cutoff from the finished part.
Machining wood was fun. Imagine cutting metal with a tool hung almost 9 inches from the chuck - not a chance. If nothing else it was a good exercise in thinking outside the box....
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,395
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2023
- Messages
- 1,238
That looks like it was a workout, but why no extension on the top allen key?
As for wrist supports? I know about those due to having broken one wrist twice, the other once, though I have also snapped both the Ulna and Radius bone clean in half at the same time in the same incident. Wrist/fore-arm supports are a necessary evil for me at times.
Thankfully never broken anything else other than a knuckle.
- Joined
- May 14, 2019
- Messages
- 660
In the future if you ever need to repeat this type of repair. Your table saw works very well for cutting the large cove. You can do smaller ones as well. Not to small though.
Or you can use your old setup.
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2014
- Messages
- 27
Interesting. I did some research, and I assume you are talking about a molding head. Only issue with that is it means investing in a tool for a one time job making one 7 inch part. I'll certainly keep it in mind if I need to do more of this in the future though, thanks!
Come to think of it though, you are talking about a good excuse to buy tools. A temptation that overtakes me all too often....
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2018
- Messages
- 2,165
No molding head needed. And I recommend you don't get one. They are a hazard.
Coves can be run on a table saw by clamping a guide board to the table at an angle.
Make multiple passes, raising the blade a small amount each time.
For other shapes you can rough them out on the table saw then grind a scraper made from steel and fixed into a wooden clamp (or metal for guys with that capability) with an edge guide. Put a bur on the edge of the scraper just like you do for a cabinet scraper.
To add to table saw cove trick. I’ll often use a 7 1/4” blade instead of the 10” and/or tilt the blade over. So many options for different coves!
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2014
- Messages
- 27
Fascinating. Trying to wrap my head around obtaining a cove with a defined 7/8" radius, precise location on the stock and a specific depth, cut by a 10" diameter saw blade. And finish scraping it by hand with my total lack of woodworking skills doesn't sound like a recipe for success. I'll sure keep this in mind if the need should ever arise again though!
And thanks for the advice on the molding head. The spinning saw blade is bad enough for this amateur.....