Shop Made Tools

[wbc]

Not tools per se, but meet the shop-made moniker...

Some mods applicable to Clausing 5900 lathes:

1) The adjustable clutch kickout/stop casting provides a good boss for adding a
left-side clutch/brake lever. Stock right-side lever now seldom gets used.

2) Stock micrometer stop has threaded hole for adding a no-drilling-involved bracket
for a digital caliper slide capture in cases where a longer measured carriage travel
(in this case <6") is temporarily desired.

3) Adding a quick-release wrench to the cumbersome access for micrometer stop
positioning/nut tightening.

4) Floating spinner knobs on wheels beats stock pressed-in knobs.

[wbc]

Yet Another Cut-Knurler Hack

With apologies to Mcgyver, GadgetBuilder, MattiJ, Hardinge, et. al., but
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness,"
so said Oscar W.

Having just a bump knurl and consistently mediocre, unskilled results, I made a simple
single-wheel cut knurler from a scrap of hex stock -- Exhibit 1, first knurl try.
Each hex orientation creates a spiral knurl (a portion of one which is still intact in the picture).

Flipping the knurl 60 degrees to convert two crossing spirals into a 30 degree diamond
was easy enough, but the ease of this one attempt at cut knurling had me thinking
(Danger! Will Robinson) it would be nice to progress to a one-pass, 2-wheel cut
knurler made from more scrap.

So, started with the idea of making a simple Hardinge-L20A-style QCTP knockoff,
but the unplanned "tweaks" grew way out of control. I stopped at a gear-adjustable,
spindle-lockable knurler. Basta!

The standard config is to mount it axially (front of QCTP, parallel to work), but it
can also be turned upside down and run radially (side of QCTP, perpendicular to work)
--Exhibits 2,3.


Used 1:1 gearing, so it does not have the gear reduction feature of Mcgyver's
masterwork. This also constrains the adjusting gear diameter to the spindle spacing,
which influences the knurling diameter/clearance capacity in the axial config.
But not having to fiddle-diddle two spindles to equal, opposing angles "seemed" nice.

Used 3/4" wheels and 3/4" spindle spacing, making the axial config seem better suited for
<= 1" diameter stock unless you begin to angle the tool post or keep the wheel angles
reduced, contacting the knurls more on-edge than the apparent "ideal." Explains why
commercial cut knurlers come in increasing wheel sizes and spindle spacings.

Flipping upside down to radial config eliminates the clearance issue and/or
lets you angle the wheels to reduce the "cutting" action and increase the
traditional "forming" action of the knurl. Adjusting the wheel angles to
contact the work to be knurled about 90 degrees apart (tangents to center line of work)
seems to be the "usual" target in the high cotton, commercial cut knurlers.
Still, was able to clear and knurl 2" stock in the axial config by reducing the
wheel angles, and it worked well enough for a home hacker.

Ended up with 30, 45, and 60 degree spindles, since spindles are no expense
compared to sourcing multiple angle-tilt knurls. The 60 deg spindle in axial mode
gave me some fits with a propensity to smear out a "taller" 60 deg diamond pattern,
but it is applicable in radial mode to make nicer lower angle-of-cut 30 deg diamonds.

45 degree spindles would probably be the default choice if you had to pick one set,
but with my limited knurling abilities, a "more laid-down" 30 degree diamond pattern
seemed easier to pull off successfully. Sharp-edge wheels are essential...surface
grind some beveled or dull ones. As is an air blast or flood coolant to sweep away chips. Don't dwell.

Didn't try to machine test blanks to an integer-pitch diameter...I set cut depth to 50%
of the tooth-to-tooth pitch and 0.005-0.008"/rev travel. The cutting is easy -- you
can put the motor drive in neutral and do knurls by hand.

Lessons on a do-over? Could dispense with the spindle stop brass bushings and just machine a
step in the spindles. And simple index marks for spindle angle setting could dispense
with the gear scheme, and allow the spindles to move much closer to the face of the
base block, for better axial clearance and diameter capacity range. (Wait! Do a worm gear.)
And, with my limited knurling abilities, the simple 1-wheel-on-a-piece-of-hex knurler would
be a lot less fiddly when wanting a knurl on a blue moon. So, knowing that,
I would have skipped the 2-wheeler and moved on. D'oh!

At least I made the base block and spindle lock first, as this simplifies
workholding for the spindle machining , and ensures wheel alignment easy peasy.
And in keeping with tradition, the 1-wheeler made the knurls for the 2-wheeler.

Next viral project? Maybe a straddle crush knurler. Never used one. I suspect it may produce
better and easier first knurls for the occasional want-a-knurl hack like moi.


,

[thaiguzzi]

WBC
Junior member
11 posts.
What can i say except that is one impressive post and work above.
Superb.
Congrats, TG.

[DennisCA]

I made an arbor for holding slitting saws in the vertical spindle. It's something I have had a need of before and until now I only could mount them in the horizontal arbor.







Also finally got this parting tool working. 2mm width chinese crapola (I believe the 3mm versions are what most people buy). The inserts just flop loosely in the holder and it was non functional.

I've been super stupid and bought more than one blade to verify it wasn't just a bad one-off but no they are ALL the same. I modified the blade and ground out the bottom of the insert seat so it could seat deeper and actually wedge the insert at all. Then I also removed material from the front of the blade, because the insert sat so deep the blade protruded further than the insert after I removed enough to get it to hold securely. Then it actually worked. And just now I found a way to make it like 10x better, I honed the front of the insert on on my flat diamond disc grinder (3k grit) and it made it super sharp and it just chewed through this piece of 33mm stainless all the way down. Never had such a good working parting tool. But even so I can't recommend it. But honing the front of the insert, what a difference....

[plunger]

It must be nice to have a mill with the horizontal option as well as vertical. Could you please tell us more about the diamond flat grinder you are talking about.?

[DennisCA]

Homemade grinder from a surplus tile cutting saw and Chinese 150 mm diamond blades from eBay. Very ugly and temporary, made from plywood. Want to turn it into a real grinder with tilting table eventually.

EDIT back at my PC so here is a photo, not much to look at:

[BCRider]

Is that a tile cutting style of blade? I tried touching up a brazed carbide too with a chip on my tile saw. But the diamond matrix is too coarse or the wear the tiles caused made for "clumps" that hammered the edge and left a long line of fine chips in the edge.

[Cenedd]

I tried touching up a brazed carbide too with a chip on my tile saw. But the diamond matrix is too coarse or the wear the tiles caused made for "clumps" that hammered the edge and left a long line of fine chips in the edge.

I tried honing one by hand on a diamond plate.....and now I have a smooth patch on the plate Did the trick and let me get the OD boring done on the mill....but did open my eyes to just how bad the brazed carbide boring bars (I have) are and why.

[MattiJ]

Is that a tile cutting style of blade? I tried touching up a brazed carbide too with a chip on my tile saw. But the diamond matrix is too coarse or the wear the tiles caused made for "clumps" that hammered the edge and left a long line of fine chips in the edge.

No, that is 6” lapidary grinding disk from ebay. Available in 100 to 3000 grit.

[Mcgyver]

wbc - well done!

[BCRider]

Thanks Matti, I'm going to look that up and consider it as an option to a diamond side wheel for my tool grinder.

[Tungsten dipper]

Thanks Matti, I'm going to look that up and consider it as an option to a diamond side wheel for my tool grinder.

Here's my diamond side wheel put next to a a diamond wheel used to sharpen tungsten.

[davidwdyer]

You will get a lot more life out of it if you run it a little wet.

[bborr01]

Here's my diamond side wheel put next to a a diamond wheel used to sharpen tungsten.

Do you mean tungsten carbide?

[challenger]

Do you mean tungsten carbide?

No. The diamond wheel. I understand they can be easily ruined by grinding something other than carbide????