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That is one heck of a cotter pin!!Bill
WOW. Lovely job on the tracks Chris.Vince
How about a power feed for the Sherline? My idea is to drill and tap the center of the handwheel for an allen cap screw with a 1/4" hex hole. Locktite that into the handwheel, then use a battery powered screwdriver with a hex driver. Just pickup the screwdriver, place it into the allen screw and drive the wheel either way.I bought a very neat screwdriver to keep on my bench with a countersink in it to debur holes. I found one (Dewalt I think, its yellow and black) that has a gyroscope in it- you place it in the screw and just slightly twist your wrist in the direction you want it to turn- there is no for/rev button to press, just twist your wrist. It works in any direction, pointed straight up, or down or however you need to hold it. It has proven to be very useful.A power feed is not just easier, it gives a more constant speed and nicer surface finish.How are you going to finish all those track pieces? I think a short ride in a tumbler would give them a perfect texture and knock off all the sharp corners. They would look a lot like the original castings.
ChrisThose tracks look great. I held my breath while you were drilling those pin holes and due to that, they came out straight and true. The roller grooves also look good. Your angled approach to the traction bar was an eye opener. It let you raise a bar where you had no material. Good outside the box thinking. By the way, in current terminology, that thing is called a grouser bar or just grouser. It is pronounced as if the "S" were a "Z". I don't know when that became common terminology.I think that you will be fine leaving the drive lug off of the inside face. Modern crawler tracks are driven by contact with the bushing only with no secondary drive lug. It will also make calculating the sprocket pitch easier
Looking damn good Chris and the tracks are looking on track bud...... Don