What did you do today?

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  • winchman
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2003
    • 4030

    And here's the larger frame, painted and ready for the whiteboard.

    Any products mentioned in my posts have been endorsed by their manufacturer.

    Comment

    • darryl
      Senior Member
      • Jan 2003
      • 14371

      Today- I did some scraping. On wood, not metal Made four mantlepieces in the last few days. Got the maple facing flush with the tops and bottoms by scraping it in. Some of the shavings were virtually see-through. I wonder how thin you'd have to get metal to be able to see through it?
      I seldom do anything within the scope of logical reason and calculated cost/benefit, etc- I'm following my passion-

      Comment

      • J Tiers
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2004
        • 44236

        Yesterday, actually...

        In between going to friend's B-day parties, etc, made a small adapter for a drill chuck. Wanted to be able to pull out an end mill and slap in a drill chuck on the mill, to avoid having to pull the collet and swap in a chuck arbor. So made this to mount a small chuck for spotting drills etc in a 3/8 collet. May make another for 1/2" collets, I have several small chucks around. Mill uses MT2 collets, which have a reasonable length of grip.

        Made of 1144, it threads and turns very nicely.



        Last edited by J Tiers; 02-01-2015, 11:01 AM.
        CNC machines only go through the motions.

        Ideas expressed may be mine, or from anyone else in the universe.
        Not responsible for clerical errors. Or those made by lay people either.
        Number formats and units may be chosen at random depending on what day it is.
        I reserve the right to use a number system with any integer base without prior notice.
        Generalizations are understood to be "often" true, but not true in every case.

        Comment

        • R.Bolte.Jr
          Senior Member
          • Jan 2015
          • 106

          No Biggie, replaced the square drive bolt that serves as the carriage lock on the Logan, no more wrench hunts.
          Sometimes the simple things can be great therapy.







          "Never bring a caliper to a mic fight"

          Comment

          • RichR
            Senior Member
            • Jan 2014
            • 2756

            Very nice. I think I'll make something similar for my Atlas when the weather warms up.
            Location: Long Island, N.Y.

            Comment

            • danlb
              Senior Member
              • Nov 2008
              • 7994

              Not machining, but there was cutting and grinding involved.

              The oven that is over our stove is an odd size, and I could not find a rack to fit it. I finally decided to make one.

              The rack was TIG welded from Lowes mild steel rod. 5/16 inch rod??? I think so. I used the TIG torch to heat the small bends red hot, then bent them using bolts as spacers to provide uniform radii. The large corners were heated with a propane torch and bent around 1 inch diameter forms. I cut wood spacers to keep the cross pieces uniform while I welded them.

              I was quite pleased that I did not have to grind out a single weld. I painted it with BBQ grill paint, good to 1200 degrees F.

              At the end of the project, there is a profound difference between spare parts and left over parts.

              Location: SF East Bay.

              Comment

              • mars-red
                Senior Member
                • Jan 2012
                • 1059

                I've been at the small stuff again... making a custom dial for a pocket watch to wrist watch conversion (a medium sized pocket watch movement fit into a large, modern stainless steel wristwatch case). The movement was from an open face pocket watch, meaning the winding stem and crown are at 12 o'clock in relation to the dial (face). A conversion dial was necessary to orient the display of the time so that the crown on the side of the watch is at the 3 o'clock position (thus relocating the subsidiary seconds dial from the 6 o'clock position to the 9 o'clock position).

                I've been experimenting with making dials for a while, and this was my second attempt using the method of engraving the numerals using my old pantograph engraver. The layout work for the center hole and seconds hole was done first, then both holes were drilled and reamed to the correct sizes. Those two holes were then used for locating the dial on the lathe faceplate, to perform the rest of the layout work and marking the graduations, as well as turning the recessed subsidiary seconds dial.









                The last shot shows the completed dial, ready to be deburred and then painted. I'll be painting the entire dial, and then filling in all of the markings with paint or ink in a contrasting color. The toughest part of all this was soldering the dial feet (small wire pegs on the back side) in the right locations - I had to make several attempts.

                EDIT: I forgot to mention that the little indexing table shown on the pantograph engraver is something I made for it, with this specific purpose in mind.
                Last edited by mars-red; 02-03-2015, 07:39 AM.
                Max
                http://joyofprecision.com/

                Comment

                • danlb
                  Senior Member
                  • Nov 2008
                  • 7994

                  That's beautiful Max!

                  Dan
                  At the end of the project, there is a profound difference between spare parts and left over parts.

                  Location: SF East Bay.

                  Comment

                  • hwingo
                    Senior Member
                    • Sep 2007
                    • 1442

                    Hi Guys,

                    I've completed fabrication of the worm-driven-gear fabrication fixture and I've commissioned it thus producing my first gear that I've ever fabricated. Many lathes have additional T-Slots located on the cross-feed base ..... as many as 2 or 3. My lathe does not have these accessory T-Slots. It would be a great advantage, I think, to have these additional slots BECAUSE I think that some fabrication fixtures would be far more stable and less subject to vibration. Not having these accessory T-Slots has required that I use the large T-Slot on the compound (having at least one advantage not present with accessory T-Slots).

                    The first order of business was to cut a piece of flat bar stock, 0.750" thick x 3.75" wide into varying lengths ranging from 3" to 6 ". In this case it required three varying lengths. The next order of business was to surface-cut all surfaces on the three plates to produce squareness. The next step was to TIG weld the plates to one another and perform a final surface cut to do away with raised welding beads; this leaves me with unfettered access to any smooth flat, square surface for indicating purposes.

                    Mounting holes were drilled into the fixture and adjusting slots were milled using a 5/8" endmill. A T-Nut was also fabricated to fit the large T-Slot on the compound. A 1/4" slot was milled along the midline on the "tongue" of the fixture for a distance of 1.5". This slot is used to connect a jig for holding the driven-worm-gear blank. At first I thought the fixture was sufficiently rigid thus no additional support was needed BUT, as it would have it, when beginning the first several cut, significant movement was observed so I drilled and tapped each corner of the tongue to accommodate 1/4" x 20 TPI all-thread dampening bolts ..... which did the trick. By running the drill rods down and allowing them to rest firmly against the base of the cross feed, this totally eliminated all observable up and down movement previously witnessed as the cutter swiped away at the blank.

                    My first ever driven-worm-gear was fabricated from aluminum having 33 teeth. The gear fits nothing; this was a dry run to check my math and to prove workability of a new fabrication fixture. Additional modifications may be necessary because setup is quite time consuming and most difficult to center the blank along its midline. Perhaps a special instrument for measuring height would prove most helpful.

                    Nevertheless, I am including images of the fixture, a blank gear being cut, and the final product.

                    Harold








                    For those having fought for it, Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
                    Freedom is only one generation away from extinction.

                    Comment

                    • mars-red
                      Senior Member
                      • Jan 2012
                      • 1059

                      Only thing I did in the shop today was make a little aluminum knob for the potentiometer that controls my lathe's VFD:

                      Max
                      http://joyofprecision.com/

                      Comment

                      • Stepside
                        Senior Member
                        • Mar 2002
                        • 1779

                        Yesterday and the last 12 Saturdays I spent 3 hours in the shop with a 15 year old that wanted some help making a part. We built the part in the first 6 hours. He has changed his focus to learning as much machining as I have time to help him with. Right now he is building a set of Guy Lautard's Finger Plates from plans in the first Bedside Reader. While he is building 2 sets, we are building fixtures as if we were making a production run. We discuss the days work and what skills are to be learned and then he goes to work. Working on the premise that "there are no dumb questions except for the one you didn't ask" has worked well for the two of us.
                        After he left yesterday I started on my "square hole broach".
                        I will post pictures of his finished finger plates.
                        Pete

                        Comment

                        • scmw
                          Senior Member
                          • May 2010
                          • 138

                          That is one lucky kid! I wish that I had someone like you as a teacher when I was that age Pete!
                          Terry

                          There's only one way to find out, might as well get started now!

                          Comment

                          • darryl
                            Senior Member
                            • Jan 2003
                            • 14371

                            Today- well I worked on my clamping device, as I'll call it, for the mill. I recently faced some 1/2 inch angle to be used as vise parts that clamp directly to the table. One part has a key attached which helps me to get it mounted exactly perpendicular to the long axis- the second part doesn't get the key. The clamp is a contraption made from flat bar that surrounds the vise parts and thus can press them towards each other. There's a fixed 'pressure plate' and a movable one, the movable one has a series of tapped holes across it, which is also across the width of the table. Running threaded rods through these holes gives a way of pushing the vise 'jaws' closer together. The jaw with the key is tightened in position, then this clamp is tightened to sandwich a workpiece between jaws, then the second jaw is tightened to the table as well. Makes for a very rigid mounting setup and keeps the workpiece as close to the table as practical. In normal use I've got a tad over 8 inches between jaws with the existing side bars- of course I can extend this by making longer bars.

                            As usual there was a need that prompted me to make this clamping system. I have been using C-clamps so far, and the bodies tend to get in the way of the cutter. Larger C-clamps would have helped, but then you have a pair of large clamps limiting the Y travel (and buzzing, which annoys me).

                            Making this new clamping system required drilling and tapping several holes, and getting them straight. Although I got these done, this prompted me to start getting my tapping machine updated, as my thread on tap holding can attest to. I'm pretty sure I'll have to make another tool to help with making that tool- so that's probably what I'll be doing next.
                            I seldom do anything within the scope of logical reason and calculated cost/benefit, etc- I'm following my passion-

                            Comment

                            • Sun God
                              Senior Member
                              • Sep 2012
                              • 398

                              Originally posted by Stepside View Post
                              Yesterday and the last 12 Saturdays I spent 3 hours in the shop with a 15 year old that wanted some help making a part. We built the part in the first 6 hours. He has changed his focus to learning as much machining as I have time to help him with. Right now he is building a set of Guy Lautard's Finger Plates from plans in the first Bedside Reader. While he is building 2 sets, we are building fixtures as if we were making a production run. We discuss the days work and what skills are to be learned and then he goes to work. Working on the premise that "there are no dumb questions except for the one you didn't ask" has worked well for the two of us.
                              After he left yesterday I started on my "square hole broach".
                              I will post pictures of his finished finger plates.
                              Pete
                              That's a mighty amenable thing for you to do, Stepside. You deserve congratulation.

                              Comment

                              • Arcane
                                Senior Member
                                • Oct 2002
                                • 4027

                                I made a replacement handle for the locking lever on a friends table-saw fence (the plastic handle on it had shattered) and I made a block off plate to seal the distributor hole in the 460 cid Ford engine a friend is going to put on display with a For Sale sign on it.
                                Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

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