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

[rwdenney]

Okay, so this is what I’ve been making that benefited from improvements to the bandsaw, and also gave me some Bridgeport fun. These are struts that will be used to support decorative floor HVAC vents that just aren’t strong enough by themselves for foot traffic. This is a church project. I needed 24 struts.

I made the prototype out of Home Depot square tube to prove the concept, but then bought the steel at Winchester Metals for about a quarter of the price of plated tubing with holes.

After cutting and notching in the bandsaw, I deburred on the belt sander and then set up the mill for production drilling. Got to use my new Edge Trchnologies vise-mounted end stop, which made things easy: I positioned the table for the hole back of the centerline, drilled a hole, flipped the part end on, drilled a hole at the other end, and moved on to the next piece.

(The prototype is on the mill table to the right of the vise.)

I’m using my router table as a portable bench.

Then, I moved the table in Y for the hole front of the centerline and repeated the same process for all pieces.

And then I did it all again with a countersink, enjoying repeatable positioning. I just bought a set of Cleveland countersinks and they work really well, and the quill stop kept the countersinks consistent.

Then, I deburred the holes with my Noga, and cleaned up with compressed air over the chip bucket.

Here’s the final product. The prototype took an hour to make, and I have about six hours into making the production batch.

Slowly but surely I’m spending less time dealing with inadequate tooling and more time doing stuff. The mill was a Big Step, but the cheapie bandsaw was more the star of this show.

Rick “promised to install these this week—for once I’m not traveling” Denney

 

[matthewsx]

Badda Bling. View attachment 512671

Upper pulley mount is far enough over center the motor weight pulls it all tight.


View attachment 512672

Now that's a lathe....

John

 

[Mauzinette]

I don't often see a complete set of "pry bars" slotted screw drivers any more.

Forgot to include 00 in the picture

A complete set of slotted screwdrivers are a must, when working with vintage bicycles. You'd need them for dropout and derailleur adjustment screws, bottle cage screws, crankset dust covers etc.

Crankset dust covers, usually made out of plastic or soft metal, are the worst. A wrong size screwdriver is guaranteed to f*** up the part. Here is a great example:

Ofmega Vintage Crank Dust Caps / Covers

Made during the 1980s. Checked, cleaned & photographed in detail. L'Eroica compliant | Shipping worldwide since 2010 | Shop now >>

www.pedalpedlar.co.uk

 

[GrifterGuru]

Crankset dust covers, usually made out of plastic or soft metal, are the worst. A wrong size screwdriver is guaranteed to f*** up the part

I have only ever used a large coin on crank caps. They fit better, fill the slot length and width and do not cause damage.

Going to make a steel disk up and braze it to a cranked piece of steel (think allen key style). No more need for incorrect screwdriver with a taper in a stright sided slot.

Some crank caps do have a hex in them at the centre, but I still prefer using an old coin.

 

[Mauzinette]

I have only ever used a large coin on crank caps. They fit better, fill the slot length and width and do not cause damage.

Coins work too, but here in Finland they keep getting harder and harder to come by Thanks to Apple Pay, I don’t even know where my physical credit card is.

 

[WobblyHand]

Coins work too, but here in Finland they keep getting harder and harder to come by

Is Finland going cashless? All plastic?

 

[Mauzinette]

Is Finland going cashless? All plastic?

Pretty much so!

 

[woodchucker]

Okay, so this is what I’ve been making that benefited from improvements to the bandsaw, and also gave me some Bridgeport fun. These are struts that will be used to support decorative floor HVAC vents that just aren’t strong enough by themselves for foot traffic. This is a church project. I needed 24 struts.

I made the prototype out of Home Depot square tube to prove the concept, but then bought the steel at Winchester Metals for about a quarter of the price of plated tubing with holes.

After cutting and notching in the bandsaw, I deburred on the belt sander and then set up the mill for production drilling. Got to use my new Edge Trchnologies vise-mounted end stop, which made things easy: I positioned the table for the hole back of the centerline, drilled a hole, flipped the part end on, drilled a hole at the other end, and moved on to the next piece.

(The prototype is on the mill table to the right of the vise.)

I’m using my router table as a portable bench.

Then, I moved the table in Y for the hole front of the centerline and repeated the same process for all pieces.

And then I did it all again with a countersink, enjoying repeatable positioning. I just bought a set of Cleveland countersinks and they work really well, and the quill stop kept the countersinks consistent.

Then, I deburred the holes with my Noga, and cleaned up with compressed air over the chip bucket.

Here’s the final product. The prototype took an hour to make, and I have about six hours into making the production batch.

Slowly but surely I’m spending less time dealing with inadequate tooling and more time doing stuff. The mill was a Big Step, but the cheapie bandsaw was more the star of this show.

Rick “promised to install these this week—for once I’m not traveling” Denney

Rick, looks like you might have more room to have moved the holes further in. But Not knowing what they are going over I can't be sure.
Since these are weight supporting, you would want to move the holes in further next time, to give the material less chance of the screw sawing itself out. But you may have been forced to go to the edge... in more ways that one

 

[rwdenney]

Rick, looks like you might have more room to have moved the holes further in. But Not knowing what they are going over I can't be sure.
Since these are weight supporting, you would want to move the holes in further next time, to give the material less chance of the screw sawing itself out. But you may have been forced to go to the edge... in more ways that one

I needed the holes where they are because the screws are going into the edge of an opening in plywood subflooring. The edge strength of the plywood is much less than the steel. Believe me, I thought about it long and hard, still constrained by needing a solution that could be reasonably implemented. This has already consumed all the free time I had this week and then some, and even that is taking advantage of not having to travel this week.

If this doesn't work, and it may not, the next thing to try would be making a square steel frame that would sit down in the opening, to which these beams would be welded. But that's a lot of fabrication, and I'm trying to move the needle significantly as soon as possible.

And if that doesn't work, we'll need decorative metal grates custom fabricated, which will be exceedingly expensive.

Rick "now, if we can just get the ladies to not wear spike high heels" Denney

 

[rwm]

If they work, take care in devising a paint strategy. When the AC is running they may see condensate. Powder coating is probably satisfactory but may break the budget.