What did you do today?

[plunger]

I made some biltong. Its a S African favourite food. Its very easy to make .Unlike Jerky its just meat like an antelope or beef and is salted with spices and hung up to dry for several days..I use a machine with a fan and lamp for humidity but traditionally its just hung up in any suitable place.

[plunger]

It takes about three days .Very nice with cold beer.

[plastikosmd]

“Maybe less Caffeine.“

Is this English? Can’t compute. LOL

[wierdscience]

Did the finishing touches on the lathe cross slide nut.Here it is all done with mounting holes,adjusting threads and split and the lubrication hole in the middle.



The channel in the saddle casting that the nut rides in was cast too shallow from the factory.The original nut they just milled the top off until it cleared the casting which had the threads showing and ultimately caused the original nut to fail.So I added 3/16" of material to the Z dimension of the nut to correct that issue,but what to do about the depth of the channel?It needed to be milled deeper to clear the nut,but it's a big casting and not an easy part to remove and replace.
The channel bottom had 1/16" clearance at the far end and was 3/16 too shallow in the near end.So I dug out my old woodworking router,a Bosch 1604,took the plastic subase off and chucked a 1/4" four flute carbide endmill in it.I started at the shallow end and took 1/16" deep passes working my way towards the far end.It took me about 45 minutes and three cutter changes,but I finally got there.



Not suprisingly all of the cutter damage occured due to sand embedded in the rough cast surface.With each cutter change I would start the new pass in a previously cleaned area to limit cutter wear.Now hat this hurdle is cleared I can hopefully go back together with it.

[DICKEYBIRD]

Man, that right there is git'n 'er done Wierd; good job! More'n one way to skin a cat!

[MattiJ]

Did the finishing touches on the lathe cross slide nut.Here it is all done with mounting holes,adjusting threads and split and the lubrication hole in the middle.

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=4669&d=1550422611

The channel in the saddle casting that the nut rides in was cast too shallow from the factory.The original nut they just milled the top off until it cleared the casting which had the threads showing and ultimately caused the original nut to fail.So I added 3/16" of material to the Z dimension of the nut to correct that issue,but what to do about the depth of the channel?It needed to be milled deeper to clear the nut,but it's a big casting and not an easy part to remove and replace.
The channel bottom had 1/16" clearance at the far end and was 3/16 too shallow in the near end.So I dug out my old woodworking router,a Bosch 1604,took the plastic subase off and chucked a 1/4" four flute carbide endmill in it.I started at the shallow end and took 1/16" deep passes working my way towards the far end.It took me about 45 minutes and three cutter changes,but I finally got there.

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=4665&d=1550422611

Not suprisingly all of the cutter damage occured due to sand embedded in the rough cast surface.With each cutter change I would start the new pass in a previously cleaned area to limit cutter wear.Now hat this hurdle is cleared I can hopefully go back together with it.
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/att...7&d=1550422611

Well done and that answered my own pondering about if handheld router would be actually able to cut metal.

[RMinMN]

Most routers would be able to cut metal but most run too fast so your cutter speeds are too high and wear out quickly. Putting a speed control on the router might work better.

[754]

Weird science m on a lot of machines the nut is split vertically. Then it allows a bit of backlash to get taken out later on, without excessive drag.

[754]

Most routers would be able to cut metal but most run too fast so your cutter speeds are too high and wear out quickly. Putting a speed control on the router might work better.

I would think that would make a huge difference, however you are fighting the tough skin and sand and dirt in the casting.

[plunger]

Weird science m on a lot of machines the nut is split vertically. Then it allows a bit of backlash to get taken out later on, without excessive drag.

I would think the way it was cut would take no backlash out but would just cause drag.If it would have been slit the other way it would compensate for nut wear because you can pinch the nut to make up for wear.? Or am i missing something.?

[Tungsten dipper]

Finished my mobile base for my 48” box brake stand.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wierdscience]

Weird science m on a lot of machines the nut is split vertically. Then it allows a bit of backlash to get taken out later on, without excessive drag.

Yep,but the builders had this one split horizonally.There is an M6 X 60mm socket capscrew that passes through the top of the cross slide for adjustment,this one adjusts from the top.

The way this lathe was assembled was horrific.The centerline of the nut was supposed to be 31mm from the mounting face to the center exactly.The nut they had in there was 32mm,the only reason it ever worked is because the leadscrew assembly is made up of four parts all pinned together.It's about 30" overall length,so the screw assembly was having to flex for the thing to work at all.Surpirsing for an Italian built machine.

[wierdscience]

Most routers would be able to cut metal but most run too fast so your cutter speeds are too high and wear out quickly. Putting a speed control on the router might work better.

Originaly I was going to run the router off a Variac for speed control,but given the cutter was carbide and the diameter was only 1/4" I decided to try it as is.It handled the cast iron fine,but the sand not so much.

[wierdscience]

I would think the way it was cut would take no backlash out but would just cause drag.If it would have been slit the other way it would compensate for nut wear because you can pinch the nut to make up for wear.? Or am i missing something.?

The thread in the nut is cut a bit deeper than normal so as to provide clearance for the thread crests.The flanks were cut to the normal dimensions,so as the nut wears and creates backlash the nut can be closed up to eliminated backlash.

The leadscrew has some wear,so this won't be a perfect fix,just one that's a lot better than what it was before.

[Baz]

Sounds old fashioned but a cold chisel would have been suitable for this sort of non precision job and got below the sand at least to start it off.
On an Acme (sloping side) thread a longitudinal slit works using the whole nut length whereas the vertical slit means only half the nut length is in action for each direction.