2018 POTD Thread Archive

[Hukshawn]

I solved my pneumatic problem I mentioned before.
My boss gave me a sizable bonus from the oak room job (in my "projects" thread), so I found a 5hp 3 cylinder 18cfm compressor on a 60 gal tank.
I promptly swapped out my 2 hp 2 cylinder. Put the new pump/motor on my old Brunner tank in the garage, and piped in the new-to-me tank outside.
So, I went from roughly 10cfm 60 gal to 18 cfm 120 gal! Lol. Prettttty sure I'm not gonna have any issues with running sanders or spray guns anymore.




The second half of the setup is a controller.
I like leaving my compressor powered and charged. When I want air, I want it now. I don't like waiting for it. Especially if I'm downstairs in the woodshop. Just grab the air line and know I have a full charge of air. I always had the airline to the basement on a shut off outside in the garage because it's an additional 50' of hose, and now with the pony tank, that's a lot more piping, many more places to fail.

So I added a timer controller. It will cut the power if the compressor runs more than the allotted time. So if a pipe blows it won’t run all day and burn my house down...
Peace of mind.



I also did a leak test yesterday/over night. Pony tank lost zero, compressor lost 10psi. Found some leaks in the pressure switch. Changed the setup and re did the pipe fittings to proper instead of hobcobbled. We will see how it looks tomorrow.

The 120 gallons fills from dry to cut off at 135psi in 10 mins 20 seconds. AND i slowed the pump down to its lower speed. 1050 rpm (18cfm) from the 1200 it was running. That's an incredibly fast fill for me! From cut in to cut off its like 50 seconds. Hahaha.

I piped all the inlets to outside to reduce the noise in the garage. Works great. Between the houses you can hear the "shuk-ka-shuk-ka-shuk-ka from the mouth of the pipe. Lol. And I bolted rubber pads under the pump and under the feet of the tank to reduce how much it shakes the house.



Here's the outside tank.... And yes, we're having a god forsaken ice storm currently....


Currently I have the pony tank piped with PEX. Its good to 160 psi at 74*f. Eventually I'll pipe it in 1/2" black iron and put the tank on a cement pad, bolted down.

All buttoned up. I put an indicator light on the front so I can see at a glance if it faulted.

 

[ACHiPo]

Got a few odds and ends done this weekend. Got the gearbox put back together and installed on my Logan after crashing it and repairing it.

Modified the Aloris QCTP mount to fit my Logan 816. I was going to fab a new piece, but decided to machine an adapter and MIG it on. Worked pretty well, and gave me some much needed practice milling steel (spoiler alert--Niagra end mills are worth the price!)

The tool post is much more solid now.

Machined a brass cylinder down to the size needed to mount a luggage rack on my Cobra. Again, mostly just messing around getting a feel for the tool, angles, etc. Mostly made glitter.


Finally got around to putting up a rack to hang safety equipment and my aprons.

 

[hman]

I've recently moved two shops into one (larger) space, but as yet it's wall-to-wall boxes. See post #37 in https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/whats-the-best-shop-idea.57258/page-2 Working on getting it organized, I'm starting to build storage organizers. The first one is a rolling small parts orgainzer, just completed today.

I must give credit to samthedog for this idea. He built a rotating 4-sided organizer for his 20 foot shipping container metal shop ... https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...container-metal-shop.34187/page-2#post-301287 See post #36 for a photo of his unit. Thanks, samthedog!

Here are photos of my "interpretation" of his idea:


The pipe is there to keep things lined up. Don't yet know if I'll cut off the excess ... or maybe use it a a flagpole The bottom layer is four "Helmer" units from Ikea ... https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10251045/ I added pegboard to the exposed sides, for additional storage of larger items. The multi-drawer units in the middle and top are Stack-on bins from Lowes. I found the red drawers at a local Habitat for Humanity store (charity store, for forum members in the UK, etc.) for $.75 each. Counting the 4 sides, there's a total of 264 drawers (of 4 different sizes), plus 4 upper bins I can use to stash papers, etc. Luckily for me, the Helmer units come in various colors (used to be 4, now only 3, so I painted the drawer fronts of the second white unit). I'm sure I'll be needing the colors as a key to remembering where stuff has been stashed!

... Now for the fun of loading it up!

 

[woodchucker]

I solved my pneumatic problem I mentioned before.
My boss gave me a sizable bonus from the oak room job (in my "projects" thread), so I found a 5hp 3 cylinder 18cfm compressor on a 60 gal tank.
I promptly swapped out my 2 hp 2 cylinder. Put the new pump/motor on my old Brunner tank in the garage, and piped in the new-to-me tank outside.
So, I went from roughly 10cfm 60 gal to 18 cfm 120 gal! Lol. Prettttty sure I'm not gonna have any issues with running sanders or spray guns anymore.

Nice Shawn, a piece of advice, move the shelf above the pump higher, the head gets pretty hot, you don't want to trap hot air near it. It needs to breathe. Especially since you now have 2 tanks to fill it will run longer to fill.

 

[Boswell]

Now for the fun of loading it up!

Nice looking organizer. There are lots of good ideas from Samthedog's shipping container shop. Your one step closer to reclaiming some of the space in your new shop.

 

[extropic]

So I added a timer controller. It will cut the power if the compressor runs more than the allotted time. So if a pipe blows it won’t run all day and burn my house down... Peace of mind.

View attachment 265089

I could really use a timer like that, for my compressor also. Please post more info (Manufacturer?, Model #?, etc.) so I know what to look for.

That exterior receiver is going to be an excellent heat exchanger in the cold weather. The moisture in the warm compressed air should condense on the cold receiver wall(s). You might have to implement a heater system to melt the ice in the receiver (and drain the water) if the temperature stays low enough long enough that the ice builds up and becomes a problem. Maybe just insulating the receiver would prevent ice build up.

Nice project. Thanks for posting.

 

[dave_r_1]

Continuing with this project (https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...you-make-in-your-shop-today.67833/post-576595)

Here's a pic of the completed handlebar, mounted on the frame:


I also bolted the vacuum and bagger mounts to frame in their final positions.

Now it's on to finishing up little odds and ends...

Added the safety tab to the outlet nozzle (if it's not present, the engine won't start as part of the the safety mechanism):


The plastic cover of the bagger, which I relocated the inlet from the side to the end, also needs a couple more spots covered over. It has a ridge running down the middle, both to stiffen the cover a bit, as well as being the primary vent for air to exit the bagger. There's a mesh on the inside along the ridge to act as a filter to keep grass/leaves inside, I had to cut away that mesh to move the inlet, so I'm blocking off the "outlet" on that side. I considered putting the mesh over it, but the air intake for the engine is right there, and a LOT of dirt would blow there, pulling up the air filter pretty quickly.

This is the area to fill:

Made a pattern for it with a piece of cardboard:

Plate made from 14 gauge sheet metal, using the pattern, pop-riveted in place:


In that last picture, you can see where the mesh has been cut. I need to make a second plate to fill up that spot as well.

The vaccum is mostly done now, just odds and ends to complete it:
-make/install that second block-off plate mentioned above
-install the bagger cover on it's frame
-cut the hoses for the vacuum nozzle to blower and blower to bagger
-make some wear plates for the nozzle (the manufacturer, Little Wonder, makes some for it, but they want about $50 for them, I should be able to make better ones using that 14 gauge sheet metal for next to nothing)
-make a handle or two for the vacuum/motor assembly, as I've bent the exhaust a bit lifting it on and off, and i won't be able to lift it using that as it'll be too hot to touch anyway
-make some brackets to put on the bagger cover, to hold a long tube/nozzle for vacuuming in harder to reach spots, like flower beds

And then try it out. Just in time, as while we are going to get 2-4" of snow over the next day or so, but the snow on the ground is mostly melted here, mainly snow that doesn't get a lot of direct sunlight is left...

 

[Joez71]

First post Yay

I made myself a small parts holding jig for my horizontal bandsaw.

One side is cut at 90 degrees and the other side is at 45 degrees to allow me to hold the material at pretty much any angle.

The base is made from 12mm steel plate, with holes every 50mm tapped for a small clamping kit (M8) I bought locally.


.

 

[Z2V]

Joe, great first post. I might consider something similar for my 4x6.
Oh, and welcome to H-M
Cheers

 

[rdean]

I made a reverse stop for my lathe.
Have you ever just slapped the forward/ reverse lever to off and had it miss the detent slot and go into reverse? Well I have done that a couple of times and being that the motor is single phase, the motor does not stop or reverse rotation but just keeps on running, I wanted a positive stop location.
I saw a post from Dave Paine how he made one for his lathe and that gave me the inspiration to make this.

Started with a piece of 1.5 X 1.5 X 3 aluminum and drilled two holes. Next I cut it in half on the band saw.


I beveled the back part for clearance and cut off some of the front part. Then added a thumbscrew and polished it up.


Here it is installed on the lathe.


It takes just a half turn on the thumbscrew to unlock the stop and allow for reverse rotation.

Thanks for looking
Ray