2018 POTD Thread Archive

[JimDawson]

My son did a little aluminum cutting today. The saw is an EvolutionSaw230 metal cutting saw that I pickup off of Craigslist for $50, the blade washer needed some love because an operator error. Didn't quite get the ''D'' lined up with the shaft and then used an impact wrench to tighten it down. Good for me though, I got it cheap and it took about 10 minutes to fix it. With a new blade, it went through the aluminum like butter.

The aluminum is a 4ft x 8ft plate, 1'' thick. Soon to become tooling plates for the Haas.

 

[boostin53]

While not as nice as most, if not all of y'alls projects, I'm proud of this. Made my first little engine, an air powered wobbler. Still need to make a barbed hose fitting for the intake, a flywheel nut and do something about the loose crankshaft.

I overshot the dimensions for the crankshaft hole thru the upright. Has a slight wobble. Proud to say that it does run though!!! Decided not to polish it to near mirror finish. I liked the rough look at 400 grit.

 

[francist]

Aren't wobblers supposed to have a wobble ?
Looks great from here!

-frank

 

[boostin53]

Aren't wobblers supposed to have a wobble ?
Looks great from here!

-frank

Haha I guess that's true. This one has two wobbles!

 

[Hukshawn]

Client had an old solid brass pool table light, the screws that held the canopy on the electrical box were no good anymore. I said I'd make new ones.
Pumped these out.

 

[Hawkeye]

Great, 2volts. Added to the project list. Thanks.

 

[dave_r_1]

Continuing with this (https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...you-make-in-your-shop-today.67833/post-575302),

Finished the output adapter:



Started making a 6" to 7" adapter (the input to the blower is 6", and I've got several other items with 6" outlets, so I'm reducing the 7" outlet of the Little Wonder pickup to 6" to use the same hose off the blower for everything:


Should have gone over my previous posts on making that output adapter, as I had posted some things I should have done a little differently to do a better job, like using wider strips (I used 1" strips, which took longer to make/weld and looks worse than if I had used wider strips [say, 2" wide]). Even the output ring, I could have done a single 3" wide ring, instead of making 2 1.5" rings and welding them together (with 14 gauge sheet metal, the 1" ring roller I have does a fine job with a 3" wide strip).

 

[2volts]

2volts nice job. Something else for the To Do list. Have to get something where I can make Metric threads first. Have 3 lathes but nothing to do Metric. Question on the quill lock, What happens if it wears a little and you have to turn it. Just a little to tighten it. The handle would be at an angle then. What I am thinking is a long piece with a round head on one end and threaded on the other, Then make the bottom part of the knuckle where the it will go through it and held in place with a set screw. THen if you have to tighten it you can move it, Release the set screw and the handle would be back where it just drops straight down again.

When the quill lock wears I can shim it behind the washer that it clamps against.

Both the quill lock and spindle lock threads are 1/2 x 12 on my machine, which was made in 1992. I did have to cut M10 for the knobs.

 

[dave_r_1]

Continuing on with this (https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...you-make-in-your-shop-today.67833/post-576038):

I made the 2 rings yesterday, cut out a donut from the sheet of 14 gauge steel with a jigsaw, and then welded both rings to the donut, and then cleaned up the mig welding splatter:



Initial installation on the vacuum nozzle:


After then installing it on the main unit, I decided the angle of the nozzle was a little too low (outlet was too low relative to the front), so I adjusted it's mount so it was tilted up a bit more, and also that the outlet was a little too close to the blower input, so I cut off about 2.5" from from the nozzle outlet and remounted the adapter I made. The final result:

The hose you see in the background will be connecting the vacuum nozzle to the blower, along with a quick-attach connector (not pictured).

Now, on to making the handlebar.

 

[dave_r_1]

Evidently I am the only one doing something in the shop today.

Worked on making the handlebar for my vacuum. I've got a tubing bender:

but I don't have the skill not the space around the vise (where I clamp it) to make it bending a single piece of tubing.

So, I attacked it in parts. I cut 4 pieces of 1" tubing 20" long, bent 2 of them just under 90 degrees (for the bottom, so the handlebar angles slightly bar from the frame of the vacuum), and bent 2 of them just over 90 degrees (for the top, so the handlebar horizontal bar is slightly wider than the frame of the vacuum). I used short pieces of slightly smaller tubing to hold the various pieces of tubing in place. I almost had to chuck the smaller tubing in the lathe to turn it down, but it turned out that I only had to grind the weld line on the inside of the larger tube to make it fit.

Here's the bent pieces:

with inserts in the ends that connect to other pieces. I needed to cut 3 more pieces of tubing, 1 for each side to set the proper height of the handlebar, and 1 to connect each side (the center piece of the horizontal bar)


All the pieces, laid out on the floor, waiting for assembly:


I don't have a picture of it, but I've welded the pieces together. It turned out to be pretty straightforward to get all the pieces to line up right doing it this way. Tomorrow I'll finish making the mounts for bolting it to the frame and then see how well works for pushing the whole assembly around (primarily to see if it flexes at all). If it does, I'll add a brace or two to minimize it.