Model Engine Maker
Supporting => Tooling & Machines => Topic started by: samc88 on October 04, 2022, 09:37:46 PM
-
A nice tooling project on the bench now, been looking into one for ages and got some jobs coming up in the future where I would benefit from one. The George Thomas design looks like it should fit my needs perfectly, especially with the micro attachment as well which allows practically any division. Not sure when Ill actually start this as want to sort other things out first but anyway heres some pics of what comes in the box. My first job was to sort through everything and label up the material in the kit and compare to the material list. I find it much easier to find the correct material when sifting through the box this way. The kit also has excellent drawings, Im also going to be working from the book "workshop techniques by G Thomas" which has good build notes in there.
-
That looks like a fun (and potentially useful) project! :popcorn: :popcorn:
Kim
-
Great project and very useful tool. You will enjoy building it. I built this tool 9 years ago. There are riser plates that you can get from Hemingway and a swivel base. My built is here.. https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,2031.msg31584.html#msg31584
There is also a micro attachment calculation sheet also used for the dividing head. https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,4965.msg94796.html#msg94796
Regards Don
-
Very much agree with Don that the VDH is a great project and a most useful addition to tooling. Have taken a look through Don's excellent build log, wh. I had not seen. My own VDH was built before Don's, and am a bit ashamed to say it never got painted, I started to use it prematurely..! Also made the riser blocks and tailstock for mill use. Though making the plates using the Micro attachment is an interesting exercise in itself, I must say that I have almost never needed anything but the head in its most basic configuration, the 24 holes on the main gear get one round the usual mundane requirements. But if you enjoy toolmaking anyway, it makes for satisfying work. Unless there is a bit of clockmaking on the future projects list, which would exploit the more elaborate dividing very nicely .... Dave
-
Hi, I agree its a very worthwhile addition to the workshop.
I built mine a few years ago including the riser plates. I also followed the "masters" instructions in his book "Dividing and Graduating" which is out of print but I understand is now incorporated into his book "workshop Techniques".
I made it exactly to his description including the parallel bore and split collets. It seems to work fine, I have seen others who have made the main spindle an internal MT2 instead. I cannot be bothered to make another main spindle with an MT2 !
Good luck with the project!
Regards
Derek
-
They are very nice. I have made two: One lives in the main workshop and Sexy :embarassed: has his own https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,2775.msg76875.html#msg76875
The old Myford MT2 collets are really nice fitted to the nose but you might want to consider making yourself an extra spindle with a 20mm bore so that you can fit a standard ER collet chuck if you don't have the full set of Myford collets ;) .
Jo
-
What machine is “Sexy” ?
I don’t understand the lingo.
Andy
-
My Sixis 101 milling machine is named “Sexy” if you had ever used one you would know why :embarassed:
Jo
-
Thanks all for the comments, Im glad to hear its a useful tool when done. First parts have been made this evening, namely the brass spindle clamp along with its steel spacer and the two steel cotters for clamping the overarm for the tailstock support. All simple turning jobs really, I need to get another die for the second cotter as the one I used for the first one left the threads not particularly pretty (although the nut does go on nicely with little slop, I think its just a bit dull). I'll hopefully get some more done this week with some machining pics (I forgot earlier). I have also been making a part to repair my friends chimney sweeping brush which has taken up some time this evening as well
-
I built the device a few years ago.
I converted the drawings to the metric scale.
In total I made three spindles for it.
1. the spindle provided according to the drawing.
2. a spindle with ER 25 collet chuck.
3. a spindle with a mounting for a small jaw chuck.
-
Interested to see your example of the dividing head, Bruno, and your other versatile components. The accessory that I very frequently use, probably more so than the split collets made to GHT's schedule, is the insert mandrel that has a threaded spindle nose identical to the chuck mounting on my Myford lathe. Very usually I will transfer the chuck, four jaw included, straight over to the dividing head, with no need to disturb the component being machined. Dave
-
The Chuck adapter you have is a plus for this dividing head Bruno. Using the threaded spindle the Chuck wants to unscrew doing certain procedures. With three securing screws and flats on the shaft on Bruno’s Chuck adapter and the Chuck back plate the Chuck is secure. I also have the threaded adapter for the Myford collet Chuck.… :ThumbsUp:
Don
-
Finally making some progress on my Versatile Dividing Head. The clamping cotters are now done, next up is the tailstock I think, Im just working through the book. The Hemingway drawings are imperial but metric fasteners. Im using the threads given in the book (mainly as I have all the imperial taps needed, so the brass clamp pins are 2BA rather than M5).
I did square off one side of the tailstock to let me have a datum for marking out. Pretty pleased with the finish considering I used the full depth of the end mill for the 1" tall block. Was a little chattery but a couple of spring passes took care of that., came out better than I thought (this gets a rad put on it later anyway, I just took it as practice)
-
Yes, that was a good idea, also to adjust the threads. If you have the necessary tools anyway and take over the other dimensions 1:1.
For me, it was the other way round. I used the metric threads and converted the other dimensions to the metric scale. I have no way of measuring imperial dimensions properly.
However, I did not use the metric dimensions 1:1, but rounded the dimensions up or down. But always keep an eye on the dimensions of the castings.
I am at home on the European mainland and can't do much with the Imperial system of measurement.
-
More progress! The 3/8" holes for the tailstock clamps were drilled and reamed on the miller before boring the 5/8" hole to size. The brass clamps have to be in place for this as they intersect the bores so boring then scallops them. I did start to use my boring head on this as there was a lot of material to take out and I had never used it before. Im not convinced my machine is rigid enough for relatively deep bores but I could do with more practice with the boring head. Anyway I wasnt too convinced I would get the bore accurate enough with my limited experience so I moved it to the mini lathe to finish off the bore which worked nicely and is a nice fit for the ground bar included. The other hole gets machined with the main body so will be left for now. Once the 5/8 bore was finished, the brass clamp was parted in two and a little faced off each side. Result is a really nice fit and nice clamping action, very pleased. The bar for the tailstock just needed facing and a light chamfer either end
Im still undecided on the approach for doing the main body on the 7x14 mini lathe. Whilst the lathe has the same centre height as the myfords the VDH is designed for, the mini lathe doesnt have a boring table to clamp it to. Ive a couple of ideas but in the mean time I thought Id tackle some of the simpler jobs.
Started off with the spindles for the tailstock clamps which were simply turned to length and threaded 2BA. Once those were done I turned my attention to the spindle locking bolt. This was going really well until it came to threading the end 1/4" UNC. The die I had was blunt as the proverbial blunt thing so that was no good. Aha I thought, I have change gears so Ill simply screw cut the thread. So off I went to little machine shop and the threading gear converter and turns out I need a 57tooth gear which I dont have (if only I had a dividing head!). So die on order and on to something else. Decided to work on the tailstock centre which is 1/2" silver steel (drill rod). This was just a simple job of turning a 60⁰ taper, pleased with finish I achieved here. I did it in the 3 jaw as measured the run out and it was only a thou, not bad for a Chinesium chuck. I did get fed up of tripping over myself so had some time yesterday for a tidy up, result being I want to spend more time in there, its good to make some progress at last
-
that is coming along nicely! Having an appropriately sized dividing head that can share tooling from the lathe is a good thing!
Dave
-
Any progress is good progress, I say. I like your compact and tidy shop!
-
I like the look of the neat and pleasant workshop also. It looks as if the lathe cross slide does have a machined top surface although not with T-slots for versatile use. Maybe it is something that you are thinking of anyway, but I wonder if drilling and tapping a certain number of holes on a matrix that would accommodate the footprint of the VDH main body would be a big help, for the through body boring and for subsequent use. For drilling off PCD holes in chucked components , mounting the VDH facing the lathe spindle is a great convenience. Dave
-
I like the look of the neat and pleasant workshop also. It looks as if the lathe cross slide does have a machined top surface although not with T-slots for versatile use. Maybe it is something that you are thinking of anyway, but I wonder if drilling and tapping a certain number of holes on a matrix that would accommodate the footprint of the VDH main body would be a big help, for the through body boring and for subsequent use. For drilling off PCD holes in chucked components , mounting the VDH facing the lathe spindle is a great convenience. Dave
That was one of my ideas, the other was to drill and tap the crosslide surface itself on my spare crossslide which I picked up to allow me to clamp it at the right height.
The alternative is the vertical slide but Id rather have it bolted direct to the lathe for rigidity
-
Got the centre finished off this evening. Fun little part to make even thougg it wont be needed for a long while yet
-
Ended up making a start on dimensioning the base of the main casting, the bore will have to be done later as I need to get some material in to make some between centres boring bars.
Relatively straight forward as the casting is quite square when placed on its back so I just took off the high spots with a file and clamped direct to the bed using a piece of steel with 2x 8mm holes drilled into it. After some measuring of the casting I determined about an 1/8th had to come off either side to hit the dimension. So far the iron from hemingway is machining really nicely.
Also attached an image of one of my ideas to mounting on the mini lathe. I have a spare cross slide and Im thinking of drilling and tapping it for studs to use for clamps. A boring table attachment is another option but would have to be really thin to allow the base of the VDH to keep any decent thickness, mounting to the cross slide means the dimension to the bore centre from the underside is pretty much the same as the drawing intends
-
More proogress! Ive not been well so havent been in the shed for a while. First task was to make a piece to make a piece. I had the idea of making a bush with a 10mm hole in the end to help securely clamp the body to the angle plate. This is a tight fit inside the cored hole. I turned the OD down to 1.400" which makes it simple to work out the dimension from the base to the centre of the bore using a depth gauge. My plan is to press in a section in the centre with a centre drill drilled into it to help lining it up when it comes to the lathe operation.
Once that was done, the body was bolted to the angle plate which I had dialled in square and an indicator was run along the reference surface I had previously machined to get it as square as possible. I thought I would deploy my jacks to help with support too and then cleaned up the bottom. The finish is a lot smoother than the photo, you cant feel the lines with your finger. I have to take 0.078" off to get to the drawing dimension.
-
That casting is a bit of a challenge to hold on to isn't it Sam but you seem to have over some it very nicely :)
Jo
-
That casting is a bit of a challenge to hold on to isn't it Sam but you seem to have over some it very nicely :)
Jo
Thanks Jo! Ive been following a build on youtube of one of these and hes been a great help for working out how to clamp it for the mini mill
-
Bit more progress tonight! Got the base down to the correct height and width before drilling the holes 6mm using the DRO for the hole positions. I was originally going to drill these to match the T slots in the mill table but theyre a bit narrower so would have been too close to the body for comfort. I have a piece of 12mm aluminium which I will use to make an adapter for the mill.
With the machining of the base to dimension done I took it off the angle plate and rounded the corners using files and a R9.5mm radius gauge, Im really pleased how they came out. Next up will be the upper surfaces
-
Beautiful job on the base there, Sam! :popcorn:
Kim
-
Thanks Kim!
Got a little more done tonight, machined the top surface and drilled and reamed the main holes 3/8", my homemade DRO came in handy for this. A ball nose end mill was used after the main work was done with a standard end mill just to give a nicer transition between the machined and cast surface. I had a niggling doubt in my mind that the cotters id previously machined wouldn't fit right and it was proven so, theyre just too tight. I have plenty of material left so Im tempted to make new ones machined to a measured bore size this time, especially as one has a thread Im not 100% happy with too.
Other than that Im happy with progress, only got the boss for the main spindle clamp to machine flat and drill and the milling side is done. Since I had the files out I decided to make a start on beautifying the casting a little.
-
It’s good to see different approaches to building to wonderful tool. Nice work Sam!
Don
-
Milling on this piece is finally done with the boss for the spindle clamp being machined to the correct height from the bore centre, the plug I had previously machined has been used as a datum.
With that done it was then drilled and reamed to 1/2", an interesting little challenge as it needs to be 1 7/8" deep and the quill only has 1.5" travel meaning I had to go for the old school depth stop. The brass clamping piece is a lovely sliding fit inside which was exactly what I was looking for
-
Great job so far! : :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :popcorn:
Depth stop is soo familiar!
-
Some more little progress and remade the clamping cotters, this time using my small bore gauge to machine them to be a good fit for the reamed holes, should have done it this way round to begin with. Anyway, I did the thread to 1/4" unf as per original drawing as I had a good die and found some nuts and Im much happier with these, they fit nicely too.
-
Got the centre finished off this evening. Fun little part to make even thougg it wont be needed for a long while yet
Very beautiful work.
I turned and milled my mating tip from tool steel. Subsequently, I have hardened and tempered the tip. Due to the one-sided milling of the tip, the counter tip has warped slightly. After hardening, I ground the tip cone in a collet.
I have made some gears for my lathe with the part. The micro adjustment helped me a lot.
In detail, it was the following gears.
24 teeth,
29 teeth,
31 teeth,
73 teeth,
88 teeth.
I also made the gears for my reversing gear on the dividing head.
The remaining gears were part of my lathe.
-
Nice work Bruno! Funnily enough making change wheels is going to be the first job for this one too, I want to make a set to allow me to cut imperial threads on my mini lathe (I could buy the right gears from the US but where is the fun in that)
-
Little more done today. Decided to start on the banjo arm. My plan is to mount the body om a mandrel in the lathe at work to turn the boss for the arm to sit on and im happier making that fit the hole in the arm rather than the other way around.
The arm was first marked out roughly to give me a basic idea of what im working with. Annoyingly the blank is slightly too wide for my vice so I clamped it on some parallels and clocked it in. A wiggler was then used to find the marked centre and just as a sanity check I checked my other marked centre was 2" from the first.
With that done I drilled and reamed the holes 3/8". The plunger hole is now finished and I thought a reamed hole would be a better surface to pick up with a dti in the next op.
Decided to use the faceplate on the lathe for boring as I have larger drills I can use in the lathe than the mill which will make it faster for boring out. Was my first time using a faceplate so was fun to figure out, just got to finish dialling it in before doing the bore
-
Sam,
That upper clamp in your sixth picture looks a little iffy. Are you sure that's OK? Maybe a packer under the outside edge, just to be safe?
Regards, Steve
-
Sam,
That upper clamp in your sixth picture looks a little iffy. Are you sure that's OK? Maybe a packer under the outside edge, just to be safe?
Regards, Steve
Thanks Steve, it seems secure enough but I think Im going to have to use a strap like the lower part as I need to move the whole thing up slightly and its bottomed out on the bolt, i think the strap gping across the whole thing should be better, fortunately its just the bore that needs doing which shouldn't put too much load on it. Thats tomorrows dose of looking at, was getting a bit late to be in the shed (the joys of being in a terraced house)
-
Changed my clamp to a strap across the part as the part was bottoming out on the bolt I was using, this let me dial it in the final amount. I then drilled up to 20mm (my biggest drill) and now Im at the boring stage to open it out. So far its going okay
-
A boring success! Pretty happy with how the bore came out, even though its not critical Im still pleased I got it bang on dimension wise. Lots of cutting and shaping in store for this part next
-
:Love:
:drinking-41:
Don
-
Well done! It always feels good to hit your mark! ;D :ThumbsUp: :popcorn:
Kim
-
Congratulations - I can see why your are chuffed :ThumbsUp: :cheers:
Per
-
A boring success! Pretty happy with how the bore came out, even though its not critical Im still pleased I got it bang on dimension wise. Lots of cutting and shaping in store for this part next
I love it when a plan comes together! Way to go Sam! I love it when you hit the dimension spot on!
Dave
-
Some sawing and filing this evening means Im nearly finished with the arm. Pretty happy with how its coming on so far
-
:ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:
Regards, Steve
-
Looking very sharp! :popcorn:
Kim
-
Got the arm finished off and then drilled and tapped for 2BA. Just got the slot to do but Ill do that once the boss has been machined on the body
-
One more part in the box! Been doing that as well lately......looking good!
Dave
-
Another part made today! This time its the drill jig for drilling the 1/16" hole in the banjo arm and attachment bolts which will have a location dowel in them.
The part was faced both sides to length then drilled and reamed 3/8" before using my new boring bar to machine the 1/8" deep recess.
Once that was done it was moved to the mill and centred using a piece of dowel which was a good fit in the reamed hole and then the 1/16" hole was drilled in the right location
-
It's funny how those apparent simple parts end up taking a lot more time to make than anticipated :embarassed:
- but nice to have one more ticked of the list :ThumbsUp:
Per
-
Started making the attachment bolts tonight which involved my first ever attempt at screwcutting even though Ive been using full size lathes for years, it just never comes up in work. Quite a simple turning op really, I turned the spindle to be a nice fit in the 3/8" bore of the banjo arm.
Pretty happy with it so far for my first go, the nut fits and everything. I did it by pulling the lathe over by hand before I get confident with it enough to do it under power. The reason Im making the tool this way round rather than boring the body and making the spindle first is it should give me confidence with the practice when it comes to screwcutting on the important jobs such as the spindle
-
Keep at it Sam! That is going to be a really valuable tool! I put together my "version" of that recently, and it has proven to be a very good addition to the shop!
Dave
-
Looking good, Sam. :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:
Regards, Steve
-
Nicely done! :popcorn:
Thread cutting on the lathe is quite fun and very rewarding!
Kim
-
Thanks guys! Had an early start this morning and finished off the first bolt, very pleased with how its turned out
-
Turned the second bolt down to dimension ready for threading. Going to turn the third longer one as well and thread them both together when the lathe is set up. Thats my shed time for today finished, might get a bit more done tomorrow evening
-
Very nice looking bolt! :popcorn:
I assume the lock pin went in as a separate piece?
Kim
-
Yes its a piece of 1/16" stainless steel held in with loctite, the hole was drilled using the jig I turned the other night, the bolt head is turned to be a snug fit in the cap and the drill just passed through
-
Not much to report other than Ive now turned the final attachment to dimension ready for threading. I did need to add some tail support for this one due to the stick out. I should hopefully get the two bolts threaded on Wednesday
-
All bolts now threaded, just got to finish off the other two
-
Nice job on those bolts! :ThumbsUp:
-
Don't worry, this will be a good and successful project. You are on the right track.
-
Been demolishing my Dads kitchen lately so not had much shed time but found some time this morning to finish the bolts off
-
What can I say - I haven't been observant enough in your previous pictures of some of those Bolts :slap:
But the latest ones brought the message home (the small pin that prevents them from turning) - so thank you for posting + they should do the job nicely for your build :ThumbsUp:
Per :cheers:
-
Thanks Per! Im happy with how they turned out and they fit nicely in the arm
Another part made tonight, the arm the plunger fits into for direct indexing with the holes in the gear. Bit more involved with it than I first thought as its actually tapered. I did this by lifting up one end with feeler gauges, I figured its more a visual thing so didnt feel the need to clock things in. The threaded hole is 1/2" x 32 rather than x 24tpi simply because I have a good tap and die set of this size. The bolt I made works nicely!
-
Finally some more progress tonight and Ive made up a satisfying little assembly in the plunger parts. Quite simple turning jobs but very satisfying to make, Ive assembled it temporarily to keep everything together and Im happy with the spring action of the plunger, all moves smoothly. Ill finish the end of the plunger once the gear is drilled so I can get a decent fit.
Ive changed the design slightly in that Ive not machined flats on the plunger sleeve and Ive not put a grub screw in the knob (ill use loctite instead) for no particular reason other than I think it looks better.
-
More progress at last, had loads on lately.
Made up the spindle nuts, was my first time internal screwcutting which was interesting, we shall see how succesful this was when I make the spindle!
Next up was finally setting up for boring the body of the dividing head on the mini lathe. I have a spare cross slide so decided to modify it to let me bolt the body to it with a couple of holes extra for clamps if needed. Using the boring head just because I have one rather than making up a boring bar. Boring head is a bit handier for letting me get in and measure the bore. Working really well so far, Ive just skimmed the bore to be round so far, I still need to clamp the brass spindle lock in place before opening it out too much
-
Coming along nicely. :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :popcorn: :popcorn:
Regards, Steve
-
I'd agree that the boring head does make taking measurements a lot simpler, but the head and bar does have a lot of overhang for a longish bore like this one. If the two ends are measuring up consistently as the metal comes off, then that would be fine, but if the bore starts to show discrepancies, then it could be worth making up a simple , fairly large diameter boring bar for doing the final cuts. As the spindle is yet to be made, though the nuts are done now, you have a few thou of tolerance on the final bore size when making the last run through of the bar. Dave
-
Thats kind of my plan, going to take the majority out with what I have and Ill make up a boring bar with the 1" material I bought which I will do during my break in work next week to get it to the final size. That was the other reason for using the boring head to start with, I havent got anything small enough thats the right length to go through the core hole. So far the bore is pretty consistent along its length which is surprisingly good
-
For inspiration, perhaps a few pictures of my device. I have applied new paint.
-
Had a busy few weeks involving job interviews but i have made some progress! I did take the advice and made a boring bar which worked very well and got the main bore to 1 thou under the drawing dimension which I will take as a success!
Once that was done I moved the body to the right place for the tailstock bore using the Dial Indicator to clock the movement. I messed up a little as the book has you do the tailstock bore first and then the main bore so you can bore the tailstock itself at the right centre location. I think using the indicator to get the dimension needed and the DRO on the mill should fix that oversight though. Once I get this done Ill look at machining the outside to take the banjo arm. Im undecided on using the rotary table or taking it into work and making a mandrel to go on the larger lathe there
-
For inspiration, perhaps a few pictures of my device. I have applied new paint.
Thats a really nice looking tool, I hope mine comes out looking half as good as yours
-
Had great success finishing off the boring operations and the clamps work nicely on the 5/8" bar.
To do the tailstock I used my coax indicator to centre the body side to side and then a centre in the headstock to align the tailstock vertically. Happily it was bang on my original centre punch mark. This was then drilled and reamed to 1/2" for the half centre.
Next up is to do the turned boss at the end. I think Ill make a mandrel and do it on the lathe in work as I feel like Ill get a better fit and finish than on my rotary table. All in all Im quite happy with how this is turning out so far albeit a little slower than Id like
-
Fun with faceplates! To turn the end of the VDH body (after I discovered my lathe would swing it), I made a mandrel that was a tight fit in the bore which was then bolted up to the faceplate with some stud bar. Went for the faceplate as I could balance some of the weight out. Once the interrupted cut was over I did double check the mandrel with the indicator to be sure nothing had moved (it hadnt, the mandrel was very secure).
Very happy with how this turned out, got a very nice fit on the banjo arm (which still needs slitting for the clamp) and when I double checked with the tube micrometer the turned section was dead concentric with the bore. Other than a couple of cosmetic jobs Im happy to call this done and I can finally move on to getting other things machined
-
Very nicely done! :popcorn: :ThumbsUp:
Kim
-
Nice work, Sam. Still following along. :popcorn:
Regards, Steve
-
The VDH coming on well now, your photos take me back to similar work on it that I did yonks ago.... Looked back at the start of your blog, if you plan to do the whole works with the plates and micro attachment, then there is plenty of quite intricate but interesting machining to come. But with GHT's very well thought out notes on procedure as a guide, it all worked out very well, and was satisfying to work through. It's always quite nice to get the big casting lump done to satisfaction and out of the way, the smaller bits are on the whole more fun... Dave
-
Very nicely done… :Love:
:cheers:
Don
-
Thanks all for the kind comments!
Little more progress tonight in that Ive managed to finish off some previous components, namely the clamping cotters and also used the slitting saw on the banjo arm. I will swap the slotted screw for a hex or allen bolt on final assembly for better ease of use
-
You can see what it will eventually become.
Really great . :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:
-
Some time ago I bought the casting kit for a rotating vice from Hemingway-Kits and made the part. I found that the VDH also fits on this turntable. After a modification of the base plate of the VDH and a central fitting hole for the pivot I was able to mount the VDH on the turntable of the vice.
-
Its been a while! Started a new job so progress has been slow for a while but got a lot done lately. Ill start with finishing the banjo arm, this was slit with a slitting saw and then polished up with scotchbrite
-
Next up is the spindle. First I put it in the 4 jaw getting it to run concentricaply as possible before roughing it down leaving the diameter oversize and boring then reaming the hole ř0.75".
Once at that stage I then made a mandrel which held the spindle for final turning to diameter to be a nice fit in the bore of the body and then threaded the two sections which came out quite nicely
-
Finishing the spindle.
I put the nuts on the spindle and then back on the mandrel to clean up the OD. Then it was on to the mill to drill and tap 3 M5 grub screws in the spindle and one grub screw and 2 spanner holes in the nuts. This would be easy with a dividing head/ spindexer. To mark them out for drilling I used the 3 jaw chuck. Brought a jaw down on to a bit of wood between in and the bed, scribed a line with a lathe tool, rotated it by one jaw and repeat etc. It worked well.
The next task was the keyway and key. The keyway was done with a 1/8" slot drill and opened out to 4mm to be a good fit for the supplied keysteel. The key was simply cut and filed to be a good fit. I went away from the drawings for this. They have you file the ends of the key down to give a step to fit in the nut recess but I preferred the look of a full key. This however did mean I had to modify the nuts and open the recess out a bit.
With the keyway done it meant I could assemble the story so far. I did clean up the gear face with scotchbrite and chamfered the edges which looks better I think. Everything is a really nice close fit which I am really happy with. Looks a lot like progress now!
The ball handles I shall do later, I have a plan to do them differently to the book but I have to wait for some material to arrive (some unhardened iron balls from ebay) and the plunger will get finished off once the gear has been drilled so I can turn it to be a good fit in the holes
-
The next stage to tackle is the dividing attachment starting with the cast iron block. This was first cleaned up with files which didnt take long as the casting was very good. I then went to the mill and milled some reference surfaces. This then let me mark it out starting out with the hole locations so I could get everything visually centred. Next I marked the centre on the bottom and checked that the casting was sufficiently large enough to get the proper dimensions (it is). Next stage is to put this in the 4 jaw and machine the bottom (probably tomorrow or this week sometime). But now you are all caught up finally with my progress!
-
Congratulations with the new Job :cheers:
Nice progress and parts :ThumbsUp:
Per
-
Thanks Per!
Bit more done today, faced and turned the body after setting up in the 4 jaw. I drilled and reamed the 5/8" bore, I wasnt very happy with the finish so i bored it slightly oversize, it doesnt matter as I will turn the shaft to fit the bore. The next job to do is to mill the sides to final width
-
Beautifully documented.
Congratulations from my side.
-
I have made some progress! Been off and on the last few months but kept forgetting to do updates.
First off I finished off the block by doing the holes.
Next I made a start on the gear assembly. Quite a simple part you just have to be careful of the fit between the gear and the boss. Thus was done first and the hole bored out before making mandrel to let me finish turning the other side. There are 4 holes to do on this but I will do that at the same time as the plates when the DRO is set up
-
The next thing to do was the worm shaft bearing sleeve which was a fun thing to machine. I did also do the worm shaft but I completely forgot to take any pictures.
With that done I next turned to the indexing plunger sleeve which was quite a simple part to make up turning wise. Ill deal with the milled features in the next update
-
The plans only have the plunger sleeve as having 2 flats but I wanted to do a hex as I feel it looks better so it was time to take out the collet block. Thus worked really well and am pleased with how it worked out, Ive never used the hex block until now. The trickier feature was the slot as it called for one to be 18⁰ from the first slot. I set up the part in the V groove in the vice with a square against one of the flats. Omce the first flat was done I used my protractor to set the required angle.
-
I like it! Coming along nicely! I have a similar sized and featured AMES dividing head that is super handy and it doesn't weigh a ton. Watching along!
Dave
-
A nice quick part next was the acorn nut, the shape was done just by eye with a file and then was tapped 1/4 UNF. Thats the project so far, I might do some more this afternoon
-
I like it! Coming along nicely! I have a similar sized and featured AMES dividing head that is super handy and it doesn't weigh a ton. Watching along!
Dave
Thanks Dave! I am really enjoying seeing it slowly building up. Very fun project so far
-
I like it! Coming along nicely! I have a similar sized and featured AMES dividing head that is super handy and it doesn't weigh a ton. Watching along!
Dave
Thanks Dave! I am really enjoying seeing it slowly building up. Very fun project so far
And useful/handy. I can drop mine into my mill vise and I'm ready to cut a gear as soon as I have the right division plate on. No mucking around with taking the vise off the table...
Dave