#FabSpace

[lilscorpion]

I feel you pain. I have the same problem and a similar solution. I have two bolts in the front and the rest is held in place with rare earth magnets. I also have a clear piece of door strip vinyl in the front to deflect the chips into the pan. I have additional side walls that I attach with magnets if I need. I've pretty much eliminated the bulk of it.



I recommend getting a rubber finger door mat. Got mine at Costco. I put mine at the entry from the garage to the house. It grabs the loose chips and dust off your shoes. Another thing I do is never go into the house with my shoes on.



I use my shop vac for chip cleanup. I use a cyclone collector to capture all the aluminum. It's really effective. I don't even worry about sucking up coolant.

Im making mine way too complicated. I like yours. Wish I'd seen it first for inspiration.

 

[LeonardY]

Im making mine way too complicated.

I did a few versions before I landed on this design. I still need to modify it a bit more. I'm going to add a adjustable clear vinyl curtain around the spindle. That should deflect the chips down even more. I will of course use magnets to attach it.
Just a word of caution. I put plastic covers over my ways. I found that the coolant would slip under and cause rust. That's why I took them off.
If I wasn't so lazy, I would post these in my thread...

 

[lilscorpion]

I'm going to add a adjustable clear vinyl curtain around the spindle. That should deflect the chips down even more. I will of course use magnets to attach it.

That's a neat idea. Been trying to figure out how to deal with the chips that fly up as I've noticed many do with the high helix aluminum end mills.

Just a word of caution. I put plastic covers over my ways. I found that the coolant would slip under and cause rust. That's why I took them off.

If I wasn't so lazy, I would post these in my thread...

Yeah, I've been doing some machining with the covers on the past few days and decided to pull them off to take some measurements. I was very surprised to see how many aluminum chips found their way below. Coolant will be much worse (obviously). I'm considering ways to attach now without covering the ways OR making a different style cover that's much easier to remove so I can clean them out after each session.

 

[LeonardY]

You got me thinking about keeping the chips out of the slots. What about a 3D printed channel with some finger grips. You could lift them out and dump the chips. Here's a quick concept.

 

[Cruzan80]

I just whipped something up in OnShape that is like this. Rounded the top edges, and made the finger loop flush with the top, so things could be laid on top of it. If someone wants the .stl, let me know. My BP isn't running right now, so no way to check.

We could probably get the spacing of the arms correct for them to meet, allowing for the entire table to sit flush, with these inside. Print a few end-caps to stop chips from getting inside, and good to go.

 

[wasfast]

Seems the inverse of the LeonardY's could also work. Essentially a plastic strip in the T shape, flush with the top surface. Length limited on a BP so multiple sections in series.

 

[lilscorpion]

You got me thinking about keeping the chips out of the slots. What about a 3D printed channel with some finger grips. You could lift them out and dump the chips. Here's a quick concept.

It’s a great idea. I have 3 different websites I’ve saved of that have something like this. There’s different types out there but the themes are the same - seal off the t-slots. From what I read, they work really well as long as you can seal the slots…but I’ve also read you need to make sure to clear the slots of fluid or you will get rust…and make sure to add rust inhibitor to your coolant.

I just whipped something up in OnShape that is like this. Rounded the top edges, and made the finger loop flush with the top, so things could be laid on top of it. If someone wants the .stl, let me know. My BP isn't running right now, so no way to check.

We could probably get the spacing of the arms correct for them to meet, allowing for the entire table to sit flush, with these inside. Print a few end-caps to stop chips from getting inside, and good to go.

My problem is that, on a knee mill with vises, I’m not sure I can seal the point where the vise gets bolted down to the slots. Coolant would most certainly get into the slots.

I think it’s impossible to keep coolant out. As a matter of fact, i think I might need to redesign my setup so I can clean it after running coolant every time.

 

[lilscorpion]

Here’s a blast from the past that bubbled up on a Facebook post. I’m the background is a press brake I made More than 15 years ago when I had my business. It’s really just a monster H press with a huge cylinder. Clearly it’s in service still today.

upper carriage is 3/4” hot rolled steel CNC cut at Den Col Denver. Legs are 4 x 3/4” cold rolled rectangular bar. Spacers between the legs are 1.5” cold rolled threaded to 1” x 12”. Fasteners that hood it all together are 1” (obviously). The upper ram is 1/2” cold rolled CNC cut on my plasma table. The table is actually an monstrous I-beam that was reinforced with the 3/4” rectangular drops from the uprights. Machining for all of it was done on the same knee mill that I still use today for all my projects in my garage.

Glad to see you good old buddy…

 

[LeonardY]

I think it’s impossible to keep coolant out.

I agree. I stopped trying.
My thought is to make it easier to clean up the chips. I already have done a pretty good job with keeping chips from being tracked into the house. (I don't get any more comments about it. So she's happy.)
Keeping the coolant out from under the vise is a tough one. When I remember, I'll spray WD40 around the bottom of the vise. It seems to provide a temporary seal.
I guess another other option is to design a quick way to re- register the vise. Then I'd be more likely to remove it and clean under it.

 

[lilscorpion]

I agree. I stopped trying.
My thought is to make it easier to clean up the chips. I already have done a pretty good job with keeping chips from being tracked into the house. (I don't get any more comments about it. So she's happy.)
Keeping the coolant out from under the vise is a tough one. When I remember, I'll spray WD40 around the bottom of the vise. It seems to provide a temporary seal.
I guess another other option is to design a quick way to re- register the vise. Then I'd be more likely to remove it and clean under it.

Re-registering the vise has been an activity I've never enjoyed. I did pick up a trick at a machine shop I used to outsource to. They would machine a long piece of (some material) rectangular bar that would span the vises and bolt to fixed jaw mount. That would get them spaced correctly (or dang close) and also get them in alignment. It makes sense but never tried it so I don't know if there's a down side.

I've used the mill now for a week with the covers on it. Have to admit, the added work space may be the best part of having them so I'll keep them regardless of needing to remove them once a month to lightly oil (or more frequently if need be. I've not yet started using the mister yet so there is no coolant concern.. I'll get to that but for now, it's' nice.

 

[bugnut]

When mounting up vises and tombstones that were set in position for a long time, especially multiples, to prevent rusting and chips we would load up the t-slots with grease this provided coverage and kept **** out from underneath. Not much fun to clean out when changing setups but it seemed to work. I suspect an aerosol cosmoline type product would do the same.

On my Bridgeport I have the old standby wood covers and just vacuum out the t-slots, coolant is seldom used.

 

[Bodj Built]

Here’s a blast from the past that bubbled up on a Facebook post. I’m the background is a press brake I made More than 15 years ago when I had my business. It’s really just a monster H press with a huge cylinder. Clearly it’s in service still today.

upper carriage is 3/4” hot rolled steel CNC cut at Den Col Denver. Legs are 4 x 3/4” cold rolled rectangular bar. Spacers between the legs are 1.5” cold rolled threaded to 1” x 12”. Fasteners that hood it all together are 1” (obviously). The upper ram is 1/2” cold rolled CNC cut on my plasma table. The table is actually an monstrous I-beam that was reinforced with the 3/4” rectangular drops from the uprights. Machining for all of it was done on the same knee mill that I still use today for all my projects in my garage.

Glad to see you good old buddy…

That thing is a beast! It looks funny to see that behemoth with the small bump forming die setup.

 

[csp]

That looks like Mary in the foreground. Haven't seen them for far too long.

 

[lilscorpion]

That looks like Mary in the foreground. Haven't seen them for far too long.

That’s Jason’s wife (Bob and Mary’s daughter-in-law)

 

[lilscorpion]

What the....??? Hoods up, musta started in on a project that's been pending for a while.



Tight place to do work. Probably should remove some stuff to make it easier. Know for sure I'm going to replace the oil cooler that leaded like it was a stuck pig.



What's this for? Might as well clean it up while it's out.



Hmm...that's better. Now I have a little room to work. Still though, way too much in there.



Upper intake off.



Some parts on the bench in bags. Injectors, spark plugs, map sensor...



Lower intake, brackets, and alternator removed...



Making sure nothing falls down in the engine while she's in surgery. Little painters tape should do the trick.



I know you're all gonna be irritated a bit but this is all the further I got with the exception of running to the store to get a new bag of kitty litter to clean up the oil cooler after I removed it. What a freakin' mess!! More to come soon. Bet @zmotorsports can guess what I'm into first try (other than the oil cooler). Anyone else? (not to hard #MapSensor).

 

[zmotorsports]

Damn Matt, my 6.2 liter LS almost fits better than that OEM V6.

Joking aside, I'm looking forward to seeing it come together though.

Quick question, does Colorado have or enforce laws pertaining to tires protruding out past the fenders? I noticed your 40's are nearly completely outside the fenders. I've gotten nabbed here in Utah for my little 37's sticking out and they only protrude by about 1.5" is all. I also got ticketed for not having mudflaps so I have to run those **** ugly transit flaps for daily driving.

 

[lilscorpion]

Damn Matt, my 6.2 liter LS almost fits better than that OEM V6.

Joking aside, I'm looking forward to seeing it come together though.

Quick question, does Colorado have or enforce laws pertaining to tires protruding out past the fenders? I noticed your 40's are nearly completely outside the fenders. I've gotten nabbed here in Utah for my little 37's sticking out and they only protrude by about 1.5" is all. I also got ticketed for not having mudflaps so I have to run those **** ugly transit flaps for daily driving.

No doubt. The freakin' V6 takes up more space than it needs to and the super charger won't help in that regard. I do have the Genesis Dual Battery setup in there as well. That made getting some of the support brackets off really fun. All things considered, I think I would have preferred the V8 route now that I've gotten into it. If I only had more shop space...

Colorado may not even have fender laws. Most Jeeps that roll around here don't have fenders covering the tires more than 50%. Andrew's LJ is the same - probably only 40%. I've gotten nailed in Utah leaving Moab just north of where I head east on I-70. For the most part, I think that law (in Utah) is more about revenue than it is about anything else. I would understand a mud flap law but a fender law is silly. That said, mud flaps are really ugly so I'm glad Colorado hasn't caught on.

 

[csp]

The City of Denver is the only place that has any type of fender flare laws or enforcement that I've ever been aware of.

I've caught the ire of the local gestapo a couple of times in Moab, but have never received a ticket. Probably because I don't drive like an idiot and show respect to the LEOs.

 

[lilscorpion]

The City of Denver is the only place that has any type of fender flare laws or enforcement that I've ever been aware of.

I've caught the ire of the local gestapo a couple of times in Moab, but have never received a ticket. Probably because I don't drive like an idiot and show respect to the LEOs.

Didn’t know Denver did. Interesting. We dont go up there much…

 

[WoodsTruck]

I'm originally from Idaho. When I did a ride-along with the local city PD for government class my senior year, I learned that the rear of the tire needed to be at least 1/2 covered as seen from the rear. I quizzed him on why vehicles were able to be sold without this protection? He didn't have an answer. My dad bought a '73 F250 High-Boy in '74. Drove it for decades and the last several years it made an annual voyage to the dump and the lumber yard, otherwise to the fuel pump since it was mostly used to plow snow. Sure enough he got pulled over one day and the guy gave him a fix-it ticket. He was appalled to hang flaps after so many years. And to think, it only sits on 235/85's.

 

[lilscorpion]

I'm originally from Idaho. When I did a ride-along with the local city PD for government class my senior year, I learned that the rear of the tire needed to be at least 1/2 covered as seen from the rear. I quizzed him on why vehicles were able to be sold without this protection? He didn't have an answer. My dad bought a '73 F250 High-Boy in '74. Drove it for decades and the last several years it made an annual voyage to the dump and the lumber yard, otherwise to the fuel pump since it was mostly used to plow snow. Sure enough he got pulled over one day and the guy gave him a fix-it ticket. He was appalled to hang flaps after so many years. And to think, it only sits on 235/85's.

Yeah, like WTF? It’s not the law its the lawman. There’s more laws than we need but enough that a police officer can pull you over if he wants. In my early 20’s I got a ticket for having “2 sets of headlights in the city of Denver”. My car was a 1987 Z28 with factory fog lights. I share with the officer that the second set of lights were not headlights per factory spec and he said “tell it to the judge”. Needless to say, it got dropped but I did end up getting ticket on my ‘72 Blazer while I was in court for not having a front license plate (which is also illegal only in the City of Denver).

Im not sure what lesson I was supposed to learn but I did end up learning that I don’t like being in the City of Denver and still avoid it to this day dozens of years later.

 

[gearhead1960]

In VA, a front plate is a requirement. Was stopped many times when I didn't want to run a plate on the front. I usually gave the excuse that the license plate frame/bracket assembly had gotten broken and I was waiting for a new one from the dealer. Oh, and it was on backorder.... Never got a ticket with that excuse.....

 

[lilscorpion]

In VA, a front plate is a requirement. Was stopped many times when I didn't want to run a plate on the front. I usually gave the excuse that the license plate frame/bracket assembly had gotten broken and I was waiting for a new one from the dealer. Oh, and it was on backorder.... Never got a ticket with that excuse.....

Usually a traffic stop for something like a missing front license plate is a fishing trip. They needed probable cause and guys like you and me are dumb enough to perpetually give them one.

 

[lilscorpion]

Made a little progress on the coolant/chip guard for the mill. Previously I had all of the table covers made and fit. Next I needed to machine to length and attach the front floor/bottom. I want it to be able to have some finite adjustability in it so I made all of the mounting holes slots.



Cut to length and all slots machined, it bolts nicely to the table covers and sits below both vises.



Also made the bottom for the rear which will work the same way but us much narrower. From this angle it's much easier to see how it's coming together.



The frame of the walls will have an extruded aluminum angle base. With the front floor bolting to the bottom of the table covers I need to make a spacer to establish a base for the angle all in the same plane.



These 2 pieces will only be necessary in the front on the right and the left.



Maybe only a little progress but progress non-the-less.

 

[Mike65]

Pressured washed the garage floor to get it good & clean to apply the concrete sealer next weekend.

 

[Cruzan80]

lilscorpion, did you just sell the two kurt vises? Found a great deal on a few, local.

 

[lilscorpion]

lilscorpion, did you just sell the two kurt vises? Found a great deal on a few, local.

No, I still have them. I do wish I had one more tho…How much were they?

 

[Cruzan80]

Two Kurts and a no-name for $260 total. Listed at $100 each.

 

[lilscorpion]

Got some time in on the Jeep this last weekend. Got the injectors and fuel rails installed on the new lower plentum.



With the lower plentum installed we were then able to install the air/water intercooler.



Then the supercharger itself.



And the cooler installed in front of the radiator.



Not really where I wanted to stop but felt good about how much we got done.

 

[rattle_snake]

Man that blower assembly would look great in *********** coat.

 

[zmotorsports]

She's coming along very nicely Matt.

Can't wait to see her on the road.

 

[lilscorpion]

Man that blower assembly would look great in *********** coat.

I KNOW!!!! I toyed with the idea but decided it might look dirty all the time and I want sure I wanted to take it all apart…more the latter to be honest. Think there will be enough white under the hood once I’m done. But it would have looked totally sick.

She's coming along very nicely Matt.

Can't wait to see her on the road.

Thanks Mike, I’m dang close.

 

[lilscorpion]

So close I can hear it run in my head. Got everything put together and on the last step I ran in to a blocker I couldn’t easily resolve. The supercharger is big. It fully blocks any access between it and the rear cowl. I had previously stuffed all the wires and looms behind there thinking all was good and now I’m realizing that with all those wires back there the way I have them, there’s no room for the coolant retune hose. Dooht! I started disconnecting wires thinking I could make room only to find (a mess) and that I just couldn’t make space.



So…the dual batteries and all of the wiring need to come out. I wanted to do it anyway but was hoping it would be after I got to drive (and some other day). And just like that, one step ahead, five behind. Did a quick assessment and placed an order for the necessary parts to make new wire looms to clean things up.

 

[zmotorsports]

Matt, I'm anxiously awaiting to hear your thoughts on the Magnuson supercharger. I installed several of those on the late 80's/early90's Ford Thurderbird Super Coupe's back in the day. They were a very well engineered and made component and I'm sure they still are.

As for your dual battery setup, I too had dual batteries for the first nearly 8 years of having my JKUR. In those years I had multiple battery failures and less than desirable results plus I felt like they messed with the smart charging that the Jeep JK's had. Several years ago, in preparation for my LS swap, I removed the dual battery setup, removed the smart charging isolator and sold everything associated with the dual battery setup. I put my OEM battery tray back in the Jeep's engine bay and started carrying around a small battery jump box instead. I'm not sure why I installed the dual battery setup in the first place other than having some redundancy gave me peace of mind. I don't have a ton of auxiliary lights, stereo equipment or other electrical loads and when I use my winch I run the engine anyways so I came to the conclusion that the dual batteries in my applications were more problematic than beneficial.

 

[rattle_snake]

Looking good! Maybe you already posted, but what boost level are you going to pulley for and what are the options? require 91/93 fuel?

I was once in the dual battery camp too, but not any more. More weight, cost, & cabling. I do have a semi portable isolated battery setup for my high powered camping audio system, so starting battery has only that job.

 

[lilscorpion]

Matt, I'm anxiously awaiting to hear your thoughts on the Magnuson supercharger. I installed several of those on the late 80's/early90's Ford Thurderbird Super Coupe's back in the day. They were a very well engineered and made component and I'm sure they still are.

Man I hope so. I do know many tend to be disappointed and end up going to a V8 as a result. I’m hoping this gives me enough to overcome the big tires…I do think the next upgrade will help tho. Just received it last night - an 8 Speed. Supposedly these new trans make a big difference with the 4.something:1 first gear and have much less parasitic loss than the Nag1. If this is true, I can stick with the 4.88 gears and I should get back a little HP in the process.

As for your dual battery setup, I too had dual batteries for the first nearly 8 years of having my JKUR. In those years I had multiple battery failures and less than desirable results plus I felt like they messed with the smart charging that the Jeep JK's had. Several years ago, in preparation for my LS swap, I removed the dual battery setup, removed the smart charging isolator and sold everything associated with the dual battery setup. I put my OEM battery tray back in the Jeep's engine bay and started carrying around a small battery jump box instead. I'm not sure why I installed the dual battery setup in the first place other than having some redundancy gave me peace of mind. I don't have a ton of auxiliary lights, stereo equipment or other electrical loads and when I use my winch I run the engine anyways so I came to the conclusion that the dual batteries in my applications were more problematic than beneficial.

Interesting you mention it, I am really considering ditching the dual battery setup. It has been a pain in the ***. It’s heavy and takes up so much room. As you’ve noted, it just doesn’t seem to work right. I haven’t really spent the time to work through it but all of the symptoms point to your conclusions but I would agree - it seems the Jeep don’t charge right. In many cases I end up with a dead battery if I don’t drive it in 3 - 4 days. Yes I can use the second batter to jump the Jeep (which is cool) but if it causes the condition then WTF.

I don’t think I have the stock battery tray anymore…bummer.

Looking good! Maybe you already posted, but what boost level are you going to pulley for and what are the options? require 91/93 fuel?

I think it’s about 7-8 psi with the provided pulley and I can get other pulleys to increase it should I want to. My understand tho is that the 3.6 isn’t necessarily a good motor for boost stock so increasing could be risky. There’s many documented cases of JK owners having issues with over boosting with a prodigy turbo. I’d like to avoid that. That said, the blower I received had stickers in it that said it was tested to 14psi. So if I upgraded the internals, I could go to 12psi safely I’d think.

I was once in the dual battery camp too, but not any more. More weight, cost, & cabling. I do have a semi portable isolated battery setup for my high powered camping audio system, so starting battery has only that job.

I do have a fairly energy demanding audio system and lights. Maybe I should get a bigger alternator and just run one battery. It’s not like the battery really supports those systems when the jeep isn’t running. ****…

 

[lilscorpion]

I don’t think I have the stock battery tray anymore…bummer.

Obviously I could build one…

 

[zmotorsports]

Matt, that 8-speed trans will be a game changer.

When I was waffling on upgrading Jeeps to the JLUR vs. installing a V8 into my old JKUR the 8-speed was the part that I liked the best of the entire package. That 4.71:1 first gear is a game changer alone. Compare that to the 2.84:1 of the boat anchor 42RLE or the 3.59:1 of the WA-580 and it is a HUGE improvement in take off torque. My 6L80's first gear is 4.02:1 which isn't as low as the 8-speed your looking at but still leaves the line like a go-cart because of the available torque right off idle.

The 4.88's may not be enough however, with you being in Colorado. I wouldn't be surprised if you end up with 5.13's eventually but if your Jeep is light enough you may be able to get away with the 4.88:1 ratio. I'll anxiously be awaiting your review.

 

[rattle_snake]

Matt, if you do have need for increased battery capacity when engine is off also consider a single battery of larger size. If you have to make a tray anyway, pick a battery case size that fits your size/capacity needs.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

What kind of supporting hardware is required to do the 8spd swap?