Shop Made Tools

[CrashedAgain]

I can't remember what magazine this was out of

June/July 2010 issue of Machinist's Workshop and the follow-up Worm Drive Module in October/November issue. I'm the author.

DTI showed 0.0004" of runout.

That's better than I expected. Did you use ground stock or just standard shafting material for the spindle?

Excellent job, especially the locking levers. I considered making locking levers instead of just bolts but I on a few occasions levers would have got in the way so I've just left it with bolts & a wrench.

[photomankc]

June/July 2010 issue of Machinist's Workshop and the follow-up Worm Drive Module in October/November issue. I'm the author.



That's better than I expected. Did you use ground stock or just standard shafting material for the spindle?

Excellent job, especially the locking levers. I considered making locking levers instead of just bolts but I on a few occasions levers would have got in the way so I've just left it with bolts & a wrench.

Thanks! That's exactly the issue it came from. I still need to make more arbors.

I used 1" 1144 for the shaft and setup the tailstock and the whole nine yards to turn down just enough to true it up. After that I used the 4 Jaw to finish off the two sides. The little shoulder I left between the two sides was my reference for dialing the 4 jaw in. I too was quite amazed it actually came out that well. Bad news was the bore was not square to the body so there is a tilt to the rotation axis that will have to be addressed or shimmed out.

The locking levers are a compromise. I didn't want to have to keep YAW (yet another wrench) at the mill to use it so I made those which will be suitable in most cases. They need to be a little bigger though, kinda tough to get unlocked if you really crank 'em. Easy enough to throw in 5/16 bolts if I need to.

I really like the design though, simple, straight forward and should get the job done just fine. My original purpose was going to be to be able to make gears but then a need to drill indexed positions around a 2" part came up and so I decided to make the first arbor a 3/4-16 adapter to the Taig chucks. Still waiting to get the chuck though.

[CrashedAgain]

You could true up the body by facing the ends with the body held on an arbor thru the bore then using those faces to square up the other sides.

[wierdscience]

Oooh.... love to make something like this for my bandsaw. Any chance of some more pics?

Sure,added them to the original post,enjoy!

[gbottolfsen]

And The Original Post Number Is??

Sure,added them to the original post,enjoy!

Please quote the original post number, can not find it in 1000
posts
Thanks
Gene

[Davo J]

It's in post 950.

Dave

[lazlo]

Sure,added them to the original post,enjoy!

Thanks Darin!

Where does the opposed conical clamping mechanism go?

The diameter arm has a key slot and a gib piece, the pivot is hexagonal with a set screw.

That leaves the height elevation piece, but that looks like it clamps a piece of ~ 3/8" round?

[CrashedAgain]

Shop Made Stuff:
Modifications to SB9:

Tailstock Lever Clamp
Leadscrew Handwheel & Index Dial
Tee slotted cross slide
Turret toolpost (now gone...replaced with QCTP)
Carriage Travel Stop/Dial Indicator Holder
QC Gearbox from 10" Atlas (rest of the Atlas was lost in a fire)
Belt drive change gear reduction
Spindle index latch
Deep Tray mounting stand
1/2 HP two speed motor for a total of 12 speeds

The cross slide & rear parting tool:



The feed gear reduction: Notice the wear on the spindle gear, was extremely noisy but difficult to repair since the gear is integral with the spindle so I bypassed it. The belt drive goes to a reduction gearbox made from a crank operated grindstone drive. The reduction box has a gear which meshes with the change gear train (hidden behind & under the largest gear in the gear train) when the change gear quadrant is swung down in the postion shown. This gives an overall reduction of about 20:1 to the QC gearbox which results in fine feeds and quiet operation since the high speed reduction is by belt & enclosed reduction box.
Swinging the quadrant up engages the spindle gear in the normal way for cutting screws.

Idea came from Model Engineer article about 1956. Works really well for plain change lathes since it eliminated having to set up a compound reduction gear train for fine feeds.




The spindle index:

[wierdscience]

Thanks Darin!

Where does the opposed conical clamping mechanism go?

The diameter arm has a key slot and a gib piece, the pivot is hexagonal with a set screw.

That leaves the height elevation piece, but that looks like it clamps a piece of ~ 3/8" round?

The pivot is actually 1/4" round with a screw flat filed on the full length.

If you look closely at the right hand end of the block you can just see the glint of the bore the barrel clamp goes in.It intersects the arm pivot bore which is 1/2".The barrel clamp is also 1/2" od with a 1/4-20 thread.

[CrashedAgain]

Shop Storage idea:

The storage bins are pieces of square plastic eavetrough drain pipe strapped together with duct tape. (Red Green would be pleased LOL)

[photomankc]

An actual tool rest for the HF grinder

Since the Harbor Freight grinder comes with exactly what one would expect to get as a tool rest for the price paid I set off to make something a bit more useful. I wanted it to mount using the existing holes in the cover even though that is not the steadiest mount. I move the grinder around when not using it so I didn't want to mount to the bench.

Table is replaceable so I can make tables that handle a particular task or replace one that gets too ratty. I should have made the bottom mount link threaded for the bolt that sets the height... way too much fiddling needed to set the height and angle with the lock nut. The table works well though. Just set the tension to where you can move it with sizable effort and it will hold while grinding.

Now I just need to make a little protractor to fit the slot so I can set the side to side angle as well.







Here's mine vs. what they give you


Having X/Y CNC made this a much easier project to complete. Now I just need to make the parts for the other side.

[rolland]

This idea I picked up on another web site it was posted by Mr Glass, he was reluctant to post here so I picked up on the idea and thought I would share it. The idea is to take out the endplay that is common with these spin Jigs, as it is maintained by a ring with set screws that come loose. I also put a set screw in the outer ring to help lock it in place It makes these jigs much nicer to use.
A bushing was installed in the end to give it a better alinement.


A bushing with two lock rings installed over the barrel and held in place with roll pins. I used 20 tpi as the brass was a little stringy. I believe the original used a 32 tpi. I don't think that the size really matters as long as you can index on the face of the body.

[ATV]

Here's a grinding fixture I made to grind precise angles on cutting tools, using a surface grinder.

Next to it is a 3" sine table that can be installed in place of the tool grinding head in a few seconds.



As shown in the photo below, I used vernier graduations for angles. The vernier reads to 1/2 degree, and it's pretty easy to estimate to 1/4 degree (such as 23-3/4 degrees for a British Association thread tool). I think the vernier is much easier to read than too-close-together marks at each degree would have been on a circle this small.



There are no graduations to set the table angle, but that's just the clearance angle and high precision usually isn't too important. I just use a protractor to set this angle.

Here's one more photo ...



Dave

Please pardon me if this is a dumb question, I'm brand new to machining and trying to learn all I can.

How did you create the numbers and hash marks on the vernier? It doesn't look like a label. Did you buy that or did you make it?

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

This is a simple solution I whipped out today. I often work at my desk on small parts and I needed a way to hold my Starrett vise.



It works on my small bench block.



And on my large bench block.



This is nowhere as amazing as much of the work on here, but it will make my life easier, and it was quick to make.

[HAP]

Harvey, that is one sweet little vise! Are they still available somewhere? Would like to pick one up.
Nice idea.
HAP