The Machine Work Thread

[Duker]

I tried to join PM post deployment. In fact I did join, but I was still in my "Army brain" and didnt last longer than a day or two. They run it like the Stone Masons or something, which is not a bad thing they are a depositry of immense knowledge and expertise.

But I just wasnt going to have it after fighting the taliban going to have a group of old men in aprons exerting control over every little thing. Plus I saw how intolerant they were over things I had no idea of why it was a controversy.

Im paying for it in the end becuase without any kind of help Im never going to know how to make things I'd love to make but what's done is done.

Definately going to check out hobby machinist though

It's not just you. Being in the biz, I was an avid poster on PM many years ago. It's devolved. I check in a few times a year and see the same group of posters holding it up.

Have you checked out Hobby Machinists

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/

There are some talented folks over there including guys from here like Mike aka Zmotorsports, Paco etc




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[davewo]

I have. I am a member of HB and recommend it. Unfortunately I am a lurker and very bad about joining in.

 

[kazlx]

 

[ez-duzit]

k--what is it?

 

[kazlx]

It's a holder for a tig torch. Magnet goes on the top threaded hole and the two front through holes get detents in them to help retain the torch.

 

[zmotorsports]

It's a holder for a tig torch. Magnet goes on the top threaded hole and the two front through holes get detents in them to help retain the torch.

Nice. There's a user on Instagram that I follow called hourglass ingenuity that makes and sells those TIG torch holders. He has them in various colors and they are pretty cool looking.

Yours is turning out awesome.

 

[kazlx]

Nice. There's a user on Instagram that I follow called hourglass ingenuity that makes and sells those TIG torch holders. He has them in various colors and they are pretty cool looking.

Yours is turning out awesome.

I'm making the CNC aluminum ones for Brad..Don't want there to be any confusion about ripping off his design

 

[E.Marquez]

OK All, I need some advice and the people on this thread (been a long time member and lurking here for about a year now) seem like they might be able to help.
I've been looking for a lathe (or mill) to get started playing with machining as a hobby which is why I'm flexible about which one to get. For the couple of things I want to do now, the lathe is probably my preference. Here's where the advice comes in;
I found this Smithy Midas 1220 XL combo lathe/mill/drill press on CL. It's a little crusty because it's been sitting in storage but IMHO, not something that can't be cleaned up. Is it more trouble than it's worth? The guy's asking $800. At what price if any would it be worth getting?

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Not worth $800, not sure its worth $80 unless you have one already and want spares for it.

I have a Smithy 1220 LTD , had it about 6 years now, paid $1000 and it came with 3 and 4 jaw chuck, live and dead center, drill chuck, full set of the proper gears and some tooling.

The one you looked at is a older version of the 1220, really can do better.

 

[zmotorsports]

I'm making the CNC aluminum ones for Brad..Don't want there to be any confusion about ripping off his design

Gotcha.

No accusations, I just think they are cool and saw similar on Instagram.

 

[Muggzy]

Thanks E.M. , that was really helpful.[emoji106]

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[stioc]

Time to bring this thread back up.

My first CNC project after converting my RF30 to CNC (the build thread is in this section).

My fancy plywood sub-plate

That mark to the left is from a broken bit during the previous attempt

I'm using an old drill-bit as the stop since I didn't have a 3/8" rod handy.

 

[matt_i]

Very nice Stioc, if you play your cards right you can put in a straight plunger dial indicator..they are made in 1", 2" and 3" strokes (with corresponding "plunger caps" that have to be accounted for too. But give you a nice reading on length when you need it.

 

[stioc]

Matt, that's a great idea since I already have one of those in 1" but rarely use it (I generally grab the test indicators), thanks! I also have those cheap DROs sitting in boxes to go on the lathe...one of these days.

 

[stioc]

Well not technically machine work but work on the machine itself Speaking of those cheap DROs...I finally installed them. I can get them to register .0005" of movement even though the rated accuracy on it is .001" - which may actually be true but I didn't expect that they would increment in .0005". Not too bad for $60.

 

[stioc]

May be we should rename this thread to Stioc's projects since I'm the only one posting here lately. OK, I mounted the DRO screens properly. They have magnets on the back so just had to cut, bend and bolt on a backing plate on the splash shield. Then decided to build a tool height gauge. Wow the DRO made it so easy, I got it close with the saw, then for the final dimensions I just measured both the gauge and the correct tool height using caliper's dept gauge, subtracted the two to arrive at the delta, in my case .015". Then touched off, zero'd out the DRO, backed up, dialed in .015" on the DRO and took the cut. Done! No back and forth measuring, no eye balling, and no backlash issues. I had no idea how effective this simple and inexpensive mod could be to help my lathe work. I also ended up using my saddle-stop for turning that I recently made on my CNC mill. Truth be told, I never cared much for these little tools, widgets and jigs before but they definitely make a difference in speed, convenience and even accuracy. I'll be on the look out for more handy things others have made whether for the grinder, bandsaw, mill or the lathe.

 

[Razorhunter]

Made this tonight at work for my shop press sick of using the provided handle to cheaply made


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Man I've needed one of these for quite some time!

 

[Griff93]

Machined some clamps to hold a guys roof top tent to the roll cage this week.

2018-03-18_10-57-30 by Griffin93, on Flickr

 

[zmotorsports]

Machined some clamps to hold a guys roof top tent to the roll cage this week.

2018-03-18_10-57-30 by Griffin93, on Flickr

Nice work.

 

[stioc]

Nice work Griff93! What kind of machining setup do you have? it's just as interesting to me as the part made i.e. how it was made and on what type of machine(s)

 

[Griff93]

I'm using a Bridgeport VMC1000 3 axis cnc mill to make these parts. I also have a manual bridgeport knee mill and an 18" swing reed prentice lathe. I didn't take any pictures of the above parts being made in my mill. Here's some stainless 304 I was roughing yesterday in our lathe. For reference, I was running 500rpm(max for this lathe), 0.100" depth of cut, and 0.005" IPR for the feed. We're going to try setting up a 4th axis on our cnc mill to turn out some round parts with it. If that works out, I'll be diving into thread milling. I'll make sure to take some pictures.

2018-03-21_07-29-43 by Griffin93, on Flickr

 

[KMScott]

I tried my hand at thread milling for a GJ member. He had a 6" Reed vise with a split nut that was lost. Reed Vise casted the split ring with shallow areas to break after machining the threads.
I first found a old scrap vise to create the two half's then built a fixture to hold the two half's for machining. The fixture took longer the making the two half's. I use Mastercam ver 9 from my old business in the 90's and it had a thread milling link and it actually was pretty easy. I used a carbide thread mill cutter that was long enough to work. I used thread wires on the sample part from another vise and cut the threads to the same dimension. Parts worked just fine.
I will thread mill more often now since it was so easy, back in the early 90's I had to thread mill some electrodes for a plastic injection mold I was building and I had to program by hand. This method is much easier. I can not imangine what the newer software does today.

 

[stioc]

@Griff93 - neat setup! thanks for the info. The 4th axis cnc is on my to-do list too, but I need to get comfortable with the 3-axis first.

@KMScott, that's pretty cool. It's amazing how long CNC has been around (late 50s? using punch cards) and some of us are just getting into it...I guess the CNC technology was never really affordable enough for the occasional hobby machinists as it is today.

 

[Doug Arthurs]

I recently made some pocket scribers for a couple friends and some family members.

 

[ilovevocs]

Nice piece.

 

[matt_i]

I will thread mill more often now since it was so easy, back in the early 90's I had to thread mill some electrodes for a plastic injection mold I was building and I had to program by hand. This method is much easier. I can not imagine what the newer software does today.

Good job on the repair!

This is why I love Fadal, its clunky and old but has "all the options turned on".

To thread mill you'd just program a G02 circle but add Z for the pitch,

example G02 J-.25 Z-.05 and it interpolates a helical path. A few more iterations, drive to center and out and all good. I havent done it much but have the simplicity of it locked in.

 

[Griff93]

Turned another roughed out blank for the stainless part I was working on in the last post. I did this one out of aluminum as a test piece for our 4th axis. Aluminum is more forgiving plus I have a bunch of it and not much stainless. For reference I'm taking a 0.200" depth of cut, 0.005" IPR, and 500 rpm. I went from 1.5" in diameter to 0.650" in three passes. I wish this lathe turned more rpm. It's great for larger diameter work but small stuff wants more than 500 rpm.

2018-03-21_07-19-08 by Griffin93, on Flickr

I've had this 4th axis for a while but we've never set it up. Our VMC1000 was pre wired but didn't have a drive or anything. The prewiring wasn't into a connector except for one. I had to put all the terminals into their respective spots in the connectors. We installed the drive and got all the wiring done but were getting a fault in the drive. The fault was we were missing 24V at a specific pin. We thankfully have all the factory wiring diagrams for this machine. After some studying on it and scratching our heads we figured out our machine was missing a relay (CR5). After that, it works great!

2018-03-21_07-18-05 by Griffin93, on Flickr


Here's a picture of our machine.

2018-03-21_07-17-43 by Griffin93, on Flickr

 

[stioc]

@Griff93, that's awesome! That's a sweet machine too. I really enjoy looking at the machines (old and new, cnc or not) and the machine work they turn out. So for the 4th axis, I'd imagine that you just use 3D tool paths when doing CAM in say Fusion 360?

 

[sanddan]

I machined the flywheel on my SXS to lighten it for quicker rev's. I removed about 3" from the dia and added a series of 1/4" holes for a screwdriver to hold the flywheel when tightening or loosening the bolts. As with many projects some blood was donated to the cause.

 

[zmotorsports]

I machined the flywheel on my SXS to lighten it for quicker rev's. I removed about 3" from the dia and added a series of 1/4" holes for a screwdriver to hold the flywheel when tightening or loosening the bolts. As with many projects some blood was donated to the cause.

Looks great Dan. Don't get any of that red coloring on that nice shiny part though.

 

[sanddan]

Thanks Mike. I wiped the dirt off the pointer on the RT and it had a burr I didn't see. Damn thing kept leaking until I but a bandaid on it.

I started on the rebuild of my Sterling, turns out I have a new design that doesn't look at all like the one in your video. Roadmaster happens to be near me so it was easy to get the right parts from them. The inner rod is the main difference.
The only inner bushing is a split one that's captured in the tube.

 

[sanddan]

Sorry for the pic rotation, cell phone.

 

[Griff93]

@stoic,
I'm complete with you on the checking out machines and the work they turn out. It's something I've been fascinated with since I was a kid watching my dad make stuff on his metal lathe.

We do use fusion 360 in our shop. It works great for most things. 4th axis tool paths, not to much. It won't wrap all the way around the parts. There's some work arounds apparently but I haven't take the time to try them out. We programmed it completely by hand yesterday.

 

[Griff93]

@sanddan,
How much of a difference did that make? Any balance issues after removal of material?

I thought about doing that to the XR650L I used to have as the flywheel weighed around 10 lbs. I figured that's why the bike had no snap when you opened the throttle.

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks Mike. I wiped the dirt off the pointer on the RT and it had a burr I didn't see. Damn thing kept leaking until I but a bandaid on it.

I started on the rebuild of my Sterling, turns out I have a new design that doesn't look at all like the one in your video. Roadmaster happens to be near me so it was easy to get the right parts from them. The inner rod is the main difference.
The only inner bushing is a split one that's captured in the tube.

Yep Dan, that is definitely the later version. The earlier versions like the one I had were only rated for 6k pound capacity whereas the later ones were bumped to 8k pound capacity. This was the biggest reason I opted to sell my Sterling as my Jeep has gotten right to that 6k pound mark and I wanted a little safety margin, otherwise I would still have my Sterling. That's how I sold the wife on the need to buy a new towbar so rather than get the 8k pound Sterling, I opted to get their new Night Hawk which is almost identical to the sterling except black powder coated and LED lit down the arms, it is also an 8k pound capacity towbar. All in all the rebuild is apretty simple rebuild but well worth it. Mine felt and performed just like a brand new towbar when I was done. I used it for a couple of years and about 10k miles before recently selling it.

 

[stioc]

CNC'd this address plate out of 1/4" alum 6061 - thinking of scrotch-brite'ng it to get the brushed-alum look?

Here's a quick 20sec video of it in action:
https://streamable.com/bbab2


Cleanup in isle 2 please!

 

[kazlx]

Just get a body sanding block and start with 150 grit wet paper. Use WD-40 to lube. Or if you have something flat like a crappy granite plate or a piece of glass, you can lay it grit side up and wet it down with same.

 

[stioc]

Will do, thanks man!

 

[zmotorsports]

Stioc, that number plate turned out great. Nice job.

 

[stioc]

Thanks Mike!

 

[kkroger]

This is with a Speedway RF type Round Column Mill/drill with a Flashcut CNC conversion.
I posted this in Stioc's thread on his Mill/Drill CNC conversion.

I was asked by my metal supplier if I could make him a custom hitch plug for his truck with his son's baseball team logo and Jersey number. I had originally done a design for this for CNC Plasma, for a metal wall sign.

Milled from a Half inch Aluminum Plate,
A 3/16 "Spoilboard" Plate was Clamped to the table as a "Fixture" then the Work was glued to it with CA (Superglue) allowed to cure overnight, Then a surfacing pass to flatten the front of the plate, then engraving the image, and a tool change to hack it out of the plate... unclamp the assembly then just heat the back side of the fixture plate until you hear it "Pop" and tap it with a hammer and the piece comes free, then you just wash the glue off with Acetone. Then of course it had a piece of Square tube welded to the back side for a hitch plug, polished up with the Burnisher, clear powder coated... Sorry no weld shots...

The Custom Wall Sign also CNC "Machined"

The Original