T head engine by Brian

[mickeyf]

the people who sell this welder in Canada are a bunch of morons. They sell the welders in Canada but don't have any kind of technical help.

Which welder did you end up getting? I'm planning to get a TIG welder in the not too distant future. I have tried doing aluminum with my MIG, and I am improving, but it certainly is a whole different thing from steel.

[nickel-city-fab]

I've been welding for about a hundred years now with oxy acetylene, stick, and Mig. The TIG is quite new to me, but I do have a LOT of previous welding experience. I built and raced hot-rods for most of my life. If you want to learn to weld nearly everything, just build a hot-rod.

I tell people that the TIG is just a hotter version of oxy-acetylene, it doesn't spread the heat out so much. If I had to limit myself to just one process for everything (and yes, building cars) it would be TIG. Hoping to start building my classic Jeep someday. (radical drivetrain and suspension mods)

[brian Rupnow]

I bought a Solidweld Tig 185A ac/dc from Messers in Canada. It was economical and seems to work very well.

[brian Rupnow]

Today I machined a fan, and done something dumb. The fan and pulley are silver soldered together, and the hub has a recess for two ball bearings and a spacer. They are in a blind hole, and all of my reamers have a chamfer on the end. To get around having a chamfer in there, I cut the counterbore with a 3/8" endmill. Dumb move. A 3/8" endmill cuts a hole about 0.010" oversize, enough to make the hub go all "wobblycock" on the bearings. My fix is to mount the fan and hub in the 3 jaw chuck, and mount the fan shaft and bearings in the tailstock chuck. Liberally coat o.d. of bearings and spacer with J.B. Weld, then advance the tailstock ram until everything is where it should be linearly. If I've lived a good clean life (Ha-Ha), everything should be aligned when get up tomorrow.

[The Artful Bodger]

Knowing how to fix a cock up is a mark of the professional!

[brian Rupnow]

This morning I brought all the drawings up to date and saved them as .pdf files. There are 43 drawings, and some have multiple sheets, so there are about 50 drawings in all. Each component has a detail sheet, and the main overall assembly has parts lists and identifying part numbers and bills of material. I have a bit of finish work to complete on the fan components, but the drawings are complete and included in the package. I sell a complete set of these drawings for $25 Canadian funds, paid to Paypal to [email protected] ---Brian

[mochinist]

Today I machined a fan, and done something dumb. The fan and pulley are silver soldered together, and the hub has a recess for two ball bearings and a spacer. They are in a blind hole, and all of my reamers have a chamfer on the end. To get around having a chamfer in there, I cut the counterbore with a 3/8" endmill. Dumb move. A 3/8" endmill cuts a hole about 0.010" oversize, enough to make the hub go all "wobblycock" on the bearings. My fix is to mount the fan and hub in the 3 jaw chuck, and mount the fan shaft and bearings in the tailstock chuck. Liberally coat o.d. of bearings and spacer with J.B. Weld, then advance the tailstock ram until everything is where it should be linearly. If I've lived a good clean life (Ha-Ha), everything should be aligned when get up tomorrow]

This stuff is a better alternative to JB weld even though the jb weld will work just fine. Good stuff to have around the shop for “repair” jobs. https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/us/...ctite_660.html

[brian Rupnow]

Today was painting day. I picked up a can of orange Tremclad paint, because that was the only color that I hadn't used already. The fan can be flat back, it's not that important. The aluminum gear covers didn't really need to be painted, but there were enough dings and low spots in them that I filled all the low spots with J.B.Weld yesterday, sanded it smooth this morning and gave them a double coat of aluminum paint. I wish there was a filler that matched the raw aluminum color exactly, but if there is I don't know about it. Now, it seems like I've worked myself out of a job for the time being, so the rest of the day will be spent doing not much---Ahhhh

[chipmaker4130]

. . .A 3/8" endmill cuts a hole about 0.010" oversize. . .

Not unless you use a long, hss endmill. Kept short, or solid carbide the hole will be on-size or sometimes a tenth or two undersize. Its also good to drill the center out first and sometimes begin the cut at relatively slow RPM if plunging. .010 oversize indicates a bad endmill, collet or machine/technique. If you held the endmill in a drill chuck that alone could account for the oversize hole.

[brian Rupnow]

It was a carbide endmill in a tailstock chuck with the lathe doing 150 rpm in a pre-drilled hole.

[chipmaker4130]

That explains it. Tailstock & chuck, by which I'd guess you mean drill chuck. You'll get a very precise hole if you set it up in your mill with a collet. All small lathes have too much flex in the tailstock ram, not to mention the drill chuck, to get good results with an endmill.

[brian Rupnow]

That would probably be a great idea if I had collets.

[chipmaker4130]

How about end-mill holders? If you have neither, you'd be truly amazed at the stability, accuracy and increased tool life they provide. Chatter and wandering caused by using a drill chuck to hold endmills is a primary cause of edge-chipping, etc.

[brian Rupnow]

I do have collets for my R8 spindle on my mill. However, this was really a lathe job. Both parts were done on the lathe. I do agree that the tailstock on a lathe is a wobbly answer to some of my machining issues.

[chipmaker4130]

Gotcha. Though it takes more time, boring that on the lathe might have saved the hassle. Do you have small-hole measuring tools?