Bill Volna's Retirement Sandbox

[demerrill]

Ran across this gem referenced by Lazlo on a current PM thread: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...nnelly-264025/

Check out this build-log of the components of an astronomical telescope:
http://www.volnaengineering.com/tardis2-3.php
http://www.volnaengineering.com/tardis2-4.php

I think that the range of techniques and ingenuity displayed here rivals that of the 'Shop Made Tools' sticky thread above. I'm seeing examples of a number of subjects that I've seen addressed on this and similar forums:
- Using HD's pre-warped wood
- Woodworking on metalworking machines
- Using huge flycutters
- Making patterns for metal casting
- Devising clever workholding setups
- Using right-angle heads for vertical mills

David Merrill

[Tony Ennis]

Yep, that's impressive.

I'm not sure about using wood so warped that it can't be sold. The stress doesn't go away just because it's glued together. The stress pulls on the glue possibly causing movement or creep. Maybe this won't happen before he's done making castings. Maybe once you mill away a bunch of wood, the stresses are effectively gone. Dunno. He put a ton of time and money into this. Seems like a silly way to save $20. The results sure look good.

[Black_Moons]

Doesnt look like it matters for his work.
After pressing the wood and gluing it, hes only using it to make molds that will probley be 1/8" oversized or somesuch and need to be milled down to size anyway.

[bborr01]

Pretty impressive work there. As to home depot not being able to sell warped wood, I had a neighbor in Arizona that built a winding stairway from his house down to the driveway. He had a real nice curved railing along side of it. I asked him how he bent the curves into the railing and he told me that he bought them at home depot for half price because they were warped. As they say, one mans trash is another mans treasure.

Brian

[Sun God]

Always feel like my work is shameful when I look at what guys like this can achieve! Truly amazing patterns and resulting castings.