YET another tool and cutter grinder

[AGCB97]

...I‘d be looking for a solid table like small mill or surface grinder to base it off of...

Tony
This lathe bed is solid and heavy so should be a good base.

I guess I was using wrong terminology. What I called a cross slide is ,I think, the saddle. There is no other parts of the carriage with it though. No feed parts or top. There is a rack under the front edge of the bed. I will probably build a quick traverse mechanism to engage that rack and also an electric powered feed screw for future OD grinding

I have a small rotary table with X and Y movements that will go on top of the saddle as one piece of the tooling system.

Thanks
Aaron

 

[C-Bag]

I’m not good with terminology either Aaron. I agree the lathe frame could be a great base but I’m more thinking about something to cover the ways as there is nothing more destructive to them than abrasive dust. Most of the designs I’ve seen if they use ways have them completely covered by either the cast iron table or covers.

The Deckel bypasses that whole thing with the head being mounted to a shaft. I like the idea of an electronic lead screw. And the idea of the XY RT. I have one just like it. It will be interesting to see what you come up with as coming from the Deckel I’m always thinking small and compact as doing all the angles it takes to do these cutters and trying to remain flexible to get to everything is really a challenge.

 

[AGCB97]

Yes, I was planning on making fabric covers for all. Thanks Tony
Aaron

 

[C-Bag]

I’ve run into some cheap rubber flat bellows that have been doing it for me as far as trying to keep out grit.

One of the best things about what you’re doing for me Aaron is trying to utilize all the cool pieces that might have gotten tossed or forgotten in a barn somewhere. I hate to see useful stuff tossed because somebody couldn’t see its possibilities. It was hard to understand when I saw you already have a surface grinder. Then I pictured myself with the Dumore and all the other stuff and that’s when the bulb went on. That’s what all those pieces would say to me too.

 

[AGCB97]

Glad you got inspired! That's the main reason I am on this forum, to be inspired and challenged by others with their ideas and ways of doing things.

I took a machine shop class in high school but all they had were about 1/2 dozen lathes then never touched a machine for the next 46 years. Everything I have has been acquired in the last 4 years and all my training has come from YouTube and this forum.

Aaron

 

[C-Bag]

Amazing how similar our stories are. Took metal shop 50yrs ago and we didn’t have projects for the lathe so I just messed with it a little. Mostly learned how to arc and OA weld. About 8yrs ago I realized I needEd to learn to machine for my little home biz and got my stuff mostly off CL. YouTube and forums have taught me all I know. I’ve always been a junkyard dog and love to mod and repurpose and now with my on the cheap machine shop there ain’t nuthin I can’t mess up!

 

[AGCB97]

Today I got it back on the legs with the chip pan gone. It's now on some nice wheels so I can easily work on the back where the grinder will be mounted. Also put on the brackets that will support the grinder column. It is placed in front of where it will live. I already moved a cabinet that the bench grinder was on and put that grinder along with a HF belt sander and the HF portaband vertical saw all on a single pedestal. Tomorrow the drill press will be moved and the area cleaned out. Had an idea as to where to put the drill press that should work well (you know small shops take a lot of ingenuity!).
Thanks for looking
Aaron

 

[AGCB97]

Well, finally getting back to this project. We had such a nice warm fall with no snow that I kept working on outdoor projects till now. Things I would not have done this year and some possibly never.

I had a large homemade Bilco door that served as the outlet for the 3 airplanes I built in the basement. It was no longer needed and was getting harder and harder to keep the ants and mice out. The door/roof was raised and walls closed in. I dug out the inside dirt ramp and poured a cement floor. With drywall, carpet and good lighting, now have a nice 9 x 10' storage room.


My brother and I pulled a lot of firewood out of our swamp to where it can be cut up and split next spring.

Also built 4 or 5 one to four day projects for my brother, cousin or myself.

So today I attached the bearing tube for the grinder head to the base and now need to begin engineering the rest and look at those videos like the one in post 1

Thanks for looking
Aaron

 

[AGCB97]

Got started building the power head today. I looked through my box of assorted bearings to see if there were any big enough to support a shaft big enough for a ER-40 collet chuck. Found 2) new 385-A tapered roller bearings (2” ID )without cups. Quick look online and 2 cups will be here tomorrow. Also found a piece of 2” x 1” DOM tubing.



So today I carefully indexed a 7” length of that tube in the 4 jaw chuck and then bumped the outboard end into concentric before supporting it with a center support. I spent about a hour to get that within 1-2 thou, first roughly and then indicated the taper off my other ER-40 chuck. Set up the compound to cut the 8 degree inside taper.

I used a 3/4” boring bar to cut the taper with the compound spinner handle rotated with a super slow cordless drill motor (actually 2 old drill motors in tandem sort of cobbled together but working great). It makes a far more even cut than turning by hand.




When the right major diameter was reached I took one more 5 thou cut on the slowest feed speed of the
drill device. I was expecting it would need to be ground to get a nice finish but was surprised at how good it looked. It wouldn't get much better if any with grinding. So then I put Dykem in 3 places around the taper and used a collet on a shaft to check the fit and contact area. To my delight it was near perfect.

DONE with that!!!



Next job, make a collet nut.

Thanks for your interest.
Aaron

 

[AGCB97]

After doing the external thread on the shaft and turning down the other end for the pulley and for bearing adjustment I began to make a nut to fit. My 1st attempt became scrap for the pile, so on the 2nd day I started out with a better plan, better stock and a better attitude! That one turned out real good. Nice thread fit and the taper in the back of the nut to fit against the collet was right on.

Quickly ground 2 profiles on a HSS blank. One to cut the thread relief in the back of the nut.



And the other to turn the 45 degree angle for the back (front) end of the collet.



Here's the result so far.



Thanks for looking
Aaron