What tools to buy?

[Richard King]

Well I am just starting out so a glendo is way over my budget. So it has a carbide tip, I will buy a few more tips so I can spend more time scraping than sharpening. So 60mm is about a 2.5" in American?

I think its 2.36" but have to get one of the math majors figure it out exactly....but its about 6" diameter circle or 3" r is good for a beginner. Look at the thread history and Bill, Tad and Mel show you how to make a super cheap diamond lapping machine.

The reason you grind a rounder blade is so you don't get a flat blades corner scratch. A small eye to hand coordination error and you twist the scraper handle and instead of scraping in the center of the blade you catch the corner of the blade and you get a gouge or as some guys say it's an shallow oil groove :rofl: or an extra deep oil pocket. When you buy a Anderson scraper the blade is flat and a great extra deep oil pocket maker :rofl:. Take a look at the last post and as I said grind the blade that round. The one (Biax model # 20-150 or 3/4" wide x 6" long) on the left is about a 60 R and the one on the right ( 25-150 or 1 1/4" x 6") is a 40 r. Rich

PS: Also note the black mark in the center so you can aim the center of the blade when your scraping, in the classes I call it your sight as in a gun, so you can scoot your bolt action gun when hand scraping. We also mark the BIAX Power scraper blade when your machine gunning the high spots off.

 

[Bill Gruby]

60mm equals 2.3594 inches. 60 X .039370

"Billy G"

 

[astjp2]

60mm equals 2.3594 inches. 60 X .039370

"Billy G"

Like I said, 2.5 inches! LOL

 

[Bill Gruby]

Doing the math on my calculator actually comes closer to the answer Rich gave or 2.3622. The answer I gave first came from one of those on line converters. :lmao: Sorry for any confusion.

"Billy G"

 

[Richard King]

I cheated and found a metric / inch conversion chart on Google for the radius....LOL. As my trip to Taiwan draws nearer to attend my 30th year class reunion with all my students I have taught over the years I clicked on my pictures. If you see I have students from not only Taiwan, but there are pictures of my GA class we had last spring. Tommy Brooks is the handsome devil with the mustache, Jim Johnson or Gearco is the standing next to him. The group of guys are from Bushe Precision in Milwaukee. I can remember so many people who stood out. But these hobbyist classes seem to be more rewarding as of late. Thank You to my friends who I have helped.

As I come nearer to my retirement I have so many fond memories of these classes. It was a real adventure, heck must have been in 1980 or so when I taught my first class at GM / Detroit Diesel Allison in Indianapolis when I was 30 years old and teaching Journeymen Machine Rebuilders in their 60's. One memory that stands out is when I taught a class at Galmeyer and Livingston in Grand Rapid, MI where they built surface grinders. The Grandson of the original owner, Charlie Galmeyer had me come in with the cooperation with DAPRA who sells the Power Scrapers..and teach 3 apprentices and 3 of their oldest Journeymen how to use the BIAX Scraper. The first day the old farts were in there little world of "Those BIAX scrapers are for roughing" attitude and the young guys were scraping 20 points.

That was 8 more points then the old farts (my age now) lol...had been hand scraping for years...yes 12 points. I say you can get 20 points by accident using the checkerboard techinique I was taught and now teach. On day 2 Charlie came out and looked things over and said the the lead Journeyman, whats happening ? It was obvious the young guy who didn't have the attitude and an open mind were making monkeys out of the obstinate older guys who didn't want to at least give it a chance. After lunch that day, those 3 older guys came over and said "Rich show us again"....that broke the ice....as I had pretty much stopped teaching them as they had a smart remark every time I tried to show them something so I ignored them prior to that.

It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but it can be done. After we finished the practice bars we broke up into 2 man teams and they scraped the machine with my tricks of the trade tips. I also learned from them. I have been always open to new ideas over the years and find new and faster methods so our company could make more money. Thats why My dad bought the first BIAX, why I now use Turcite / Rulon / Moglice. The last day at G&L as I was loading up my tools I heard a Yell "Rich" and I turned around and there stood the old lead Journeyman with his Anderson hand scraper...he was standing next to the trash barrel and he tossed his hand scraper in it. Rich
Link to the pic's. http://www.hobby-machinist.com/album.php?albumid=216

 

[astjp2]

Having an open mind is very important when learning something new. Eliminating bias and having critical thinking when it comes to understanding what is required when partaking in a new craft is essential to learn from what others have experienced. If you can learn from someone else's mistakes, the learning curve is greatly reduced. Tim

 

[Tony Wells]

You maybe right for most cases, but not always Tony, I bought a CMM that had a inspection certificate as lapped AAA grade. I bought it 10 yrs or so at a 3M silent auction they have up here ever few months. It also came with a self leveling 3 point stand. The wires looked like a cob web so no one wanted it if the controls were shot. I bought it for the minimum bid of $75.00. Cost me more to have it moved then I paid for it. I know a couple of guys who have made surface plates from them too. If I saw another one at an auction and I needed a plate I would buy it if the price was right. It had the inserts and they were real handy checking some parts.

Which is why I phrased my reply as I did. And I would go so far as to say that a granite plate taken from a CMM would make an excellent surface plate. They are usually thicker than found on an equivalent plane size plates, and hence more stable. Plus you are more likely to get a pink plate with a quality CMM than a lesser black granite.

And I do like the fact that there usually are hold down threaded inserts in the CMM plates. Just don't over tighten the clamps, they can pull a chunk of granite out.

 

[astjp2]

Ok, I have been working on making the way alignment took, one of the items I am trying to build uses a ground and hardened pin that I can use to check the inside of the dovetail. I tried to drill it with a cobalt #30 drill and it just bounced off of it. What should I do to drill a hole in this pin? I am going to tap the side with a 1/4x20 so I can put a riser on it and slide it along the inside of the dovetail to check the parallelism. Any ideas out there on the best way to drill and tap a hardened dowel pin? Tim

 

[Richard King]

Aneal it. I use to use ball bearings for the round end of the bar. A easy way is to make a charcoal fire in your BBQ and lay the ball or rod in it and let it heat up and let it gradually cool off. That should do the trick or use a torch...

 

[astjp2]

So, will this work as a sharpener?
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G2790

or what about this?

http://www.grizzly.com/products/T10097