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

I managed to get one of my childhood favourite games running on my MacBook Pro. The game in question is Hypervisual Blockworks and man this stuff takes me deep down the memory lane. The game is basically a virtual construction set and since I've ran out of imagination about ten years ago, I just tried to recreate some Facom tool carts in the game. Ta-da :grin:

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On the home stretch of crane progress now. I had to do life or death battle with my old nemesis - Paint! Some rusty metal primer, and white Rustoleum was enough for the bridge drive support. Once it was painted, the eight guide rollers could be installed again, and finally the gear box.
OldNemesis-Paint.jpg

Then the drive gets hung on the bottom of the bridge rail, and the chain and sprocket and drive shaft drive get installed. Took a little fiddling to get the gear box set to the correct height, which adjusts the roller chain drive. Once that done the handwheel was the last step.
Any bare metal parts were drenched in LPS 3. Hopefully that will keep the rust mites away.

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And, it's working. I can see that the chain for the hand wheel isn't an exactly perfect fit. Might pull the wheel down, and touch it with a die grinder to smooth it out. It wants to jump up on a tooth once in a while, but still works as is.

View attachment BridgeDrive.mp4

This whole mechanism is overly complicated. But it allows the hand wheel that moves the bridge to move up and down the bridge. It can be rolled out of the way, or rolled up to where the lift is taking place for easy access. It's not really needed when the bridge is empty, as the whole thing can easily be pulled with the chainfall/carriage. Putting some load in the crane, and things get harder to move. I sure hope all that extra design and fabrication will be worth it!

The final step will be to get the drive chains installed on the rails. Still need to make the hardware to hold the end of the drive chains in place. But it looks complete!
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dkemppai said:
I sure hope all that extra design and fabrication will be worth it!
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I think it will. Sometimes the biggest satisfaction is not from the amount of use one gets from a given thing but that we’ve built it in such a way it can accommodate anything we want to do with it. I like that idea of being able to move the bridge handwheel to different location independent of the load — very slick. I think when you finally get it finished and can stand back for a bit you’ll say “dang, I like this!”. That’s worth it.
 
dkemppai said:
I sure hope all that extra design and fabrication will be worth it!
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Looking great!.
Is the gear box your own custom piece or were you able to buy one that fit your needs? It has a custom made look to me. :)
 
Spent some time yesterday and today making some lathe spiders and associated hardware. I been using some 1045 round stock, that I turn down to size and profile, then core out the center with an annular cutter from both sides. Been using carbide tipped annular cutters and cut 2" deep with almost perfect rough diameters from both ends. Then turn the interior dimensions with a 1" carbide boring bar. Then over to the rotary table for drilling and tapping the holes. I add brass tips to the spider screws and make the locking rings, and the spindle locking allen screws, I reprofile the tips.

These days on these larger diameter projects I have been using my 10" Bison chuck due to the larger bore and better holding power for the larger diameter sock, been a real pleasure to use, other than lifting and mounting the 100 lb chuck to the lathe.

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mksj said:
Spent some time yesterday and today making some lathe spiders and associated hardware. I been using some 1045 round stock, that I turn down to size and profile, then core out the center with an annular cutter from both sides. Been using carbide tipped annular cutters and cut 2" deep with almost perfect rough diameters from both ends. Then turn the interior dimensions with a 1" carbide boring bar. Then over to the rotary table for drilling and tapping the holes. I add brass tips to the spider screws and make the locking rings, and the spindle locking allen screws, I reprofile the tips.

These days on these larger diameter projects I have been using my 10" Bison chuck due to the larger bore and better holding power for the larger diameter sock, been a real pleasure to use, other than lifting and mounting the 100 lb chuck to the lathe.

View attachment 503345
Click to expand...
Very nicely crafted. Say on those knurled parts, any recommendation for knurling tools?
 
I love this knurler, easy to make and works brilliantly.
www.hobby-machinist.com

Camjack Knurler

Okay, guys. A couple of months ago, I mentioned a Project-in-Waiting that I called a Camjack Knurler. When you invent something, you're allowed to make up words, too. It came about because I had checked out several sites on clamp knurlers. Most seem to use a 6 mm threaded shaft to apply...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
 
I use Eagle Rock Knurlers, the scissor type work well for me, mine has a 3/4" shank so use with an oversized BXA holder. I run the RPM at around 160 RPM, a little slower if large diameter. I start the knurling at one end and tighten the nut 3/4 of a turn and knurl in a single pass. I have tried multiple passes, sometimes it works, other times it will mistracts, depends on the diameter. Important to use plenty of lube, and clean the knurling wheels. I made a larger T handle to adjust the knurling depth, I use it quite a bit. Thought of making a cam style, but with the T handle I can quickly dial in a 3/4 turn depth and am done in one pass.

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Knurled micrometer stop wheels.
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