Beaver milling machine

[CrewCab]

Quite a simple fix if you can get a grasp of what I'm trying to explain? 

.............. I'm working on it, give me 5 ............. or 10 

CC

[John Stevenson]

Make a rubber washer out of a bit of old conveyor belt.

John S.

[Darren]

Thanks John, that just might do it.....

Now to find a factory for a bit of conveyor belt......umm, OK, maybe not, not around here anyway.

An old tyre then......

[Darren]

Forgetting the spindle for the moment I decided to have a look at something far more important for my safety.

The wiring and fittings.
Some of you may have noticed one or two of the metal protective wiring sheaths hanging a little loose having escaped their holders. A sort of flexible conduit a bit like a shower hose.



I forgot to take a picture but what was even more of a concern is that the ends of these sheaths were sharp and ragged. This had caused them to start cutting through the wiring insulation.
Time to rip them out me thinks....while I still can..........

I used this stuff, a four core double insulated and metal braided sheathed cable. Dunno if it meets regs but it's a whole lot safer than what was on the machine so it should do.



While I was at it this was the perfect time to fit the reversing switch that John Stephenson was kind enough to donate. First it was fitted to the lid of a suitable box and then mounted here.



This has really improved the usability of this machine by having a switch from the working position......how anyone manage before I have no idea....

Previously the only main/spindle switch was way down out of reach unless you went around the back of the table.



Now having moved it up I can reach it quite comfortably from the working position. Plus I now have the reversing switch to hand. This has "reverse-off-forward" positions.



Well that's what I did while the server was changing over............

[Stilldrillin]

Very neat & tidy Darren! 

David D

[bogstandard]

Very nice indeed Darren.

I don't think you need to worry about the safety aspect of the armoured cable, mine is up to regulations, and that has only got plastic flexible conduit with loose wires thru it.

You are really extending the life of that mill by putting right all the little things that have lapsed into neglect over the years. I don't think for one minute you will be disappointed at the end of it all.


John

[John Stevenson]

What a crap switch 

John S.

[Darren]

Here's a question for you on safety....

Using a RPC do you need a 3ph trip or will the single ph one on the RCP supply suffice........

I believe the single ph one will be ok as any surge on any 3 phase leg will ultimately have to come from the single ph supply that should be able to detect a fault on the 3ph.
In one breath if you please.....


But I thought I'd throw it out for comments......

[CrewCab]

But I thought I'd throw it out for comments...... 

Where's the "Whoosh ................ over mi' head" smiley when you need him

I'm sure you'll be fine Darren, just run an earth wire to your left wellie 


Sorry chaps if this is ............. I'll go .......... 


CC

[kvom]

I just have a switch on the single phase line.  Works.

[Darren]

A switch or a trip?

[kvom]

If by "trip" you mean a breaker, then that circuit is controlled by a breaker in the panel.  The switch is wall mounted right by the lathe and starts/stops the RPC motor. 

[Darren]

Thanks,

No that's not what I meant, the RPC has a breaker in it but not an MCB or other such. The single phase mains board (consumer unit) has those.

I was just pondering if the single phase MCB would cover the 3phase from the RPC if any one of the 3ph legs went down?

I think it would, but thought it best to air the issue....

[Darren]

There is an easy way to find out of course.....

If you don't hear from me again you'll know it didn't work......

[kvom]

I don't know your terminolgy (MCB?).  However a 3-ph motor will run, but not start, on 2 legs.  So loss of one leg of RPC current would not shut down the mill.  Now my lathe has a motor starter, where the circuits are held closed by an electromagnet running on one leg.  I am supposed to wire that to the generated leg, but since I don't have a clamp ammeter I'm not sure which leg that is. 

[Darren]

I think we are getting crossed wires here...prob due to different countries requirements, though I really wouldn't know about that.

To answer your question the generated leg should be L2


On my question I'm referring to safety devices designed to protect you and your house wiring if a fault should develop.
The old fashioned device was a fuse, then RCD's and now MCB's and some other new stuff I really don't have a clue about. But could read it up I suppose.

[kvom]

I think you are referring to Ground Fault Interrupters, which are installed on household outlets located anywhere near water (kitchen, bathrooms).  Since US house current is 110V, we don't have those on 220V circuits, which generally have one dedicated outlet per circuit.  FWIW, I have GFI on all 110V circuits in my shop.

[Bluechip]

In UK

MCB   Miniature Circuit Breaker ... usually <100A
MCCB   Moulded Case Circuit Breaker .. seen 'em to 600A .. don't know where they finish .. lethal anyway
ELCB   Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker ... AKA ...
RCD  Residual Current Device.
Latter two probably equate to your GFI

Edit

RCBO Residual Current Breaker with Overload  ie with both functions .. thought I'd add that one.

Dave

[Darren]

Right....with you now....we have quite a different system here in the UK....all circuits are protected by individual safety devices. These detect live to neutral and well as earth faults.
Live =240V
Neutral (Even though it is a phase) = 0V as it's tied to earth somewhere, usually the power station but can be in the home too.

We as you prob know have 240V mains and things called ring circuits for socket outlets (wall outlet). There are generally up to ten on each circuit but that's not a strict rule. Separate circuits for each floor and kitchen, shed, garage etc.

I believe you in the US have two 55V phases and earth? So require different protection devices than we do.

So the crux of it all is I bet you would be as unfamiliar with components to suit our needs as as we are to yours....?

Except that to really confuse things we have to have the same 110V supply on any ongoing building site as you use in your homes. But factories are often 440V 3ph.

There are just too many systems and regulations....as usual....

[Darren]

Hi Guys,

I want to machine a 10" long gib about 2" wide and 1/2" thick from a mild steel bar.

My vice has 4" jaws and I'm guessing having 3" hanging out each end of the vice would not be too clever?

How would you go about holding and minimising deflection?

[John Stevenson]

Clamp to a longer bar bolted to the bed. Move clamps as you move up the work.

This way you can do tapered gibs by the same method.

John S.

[Stilldrillin]

Darren,
All I can suggest is to put equal height blocks/ screwjacks under each end of a heavy duty, under 2" wide x 10" parallel, for support......

Then tap the workpiece, nipped in the vice, down onto that.

Good luck!

David D

[Darren]

Thanks for the quick reply guys,

I like Johns idea....Smart arse......thanks....

[Darren]

Taking Johns suggestion on board I made the missing Gib today for the mill, thanks John  , so simple but yet again I was thinking too hard.....

Better show you what I'm on about, or not as it's missing.......I seem to be finding a few bits missing...but nearly there now...
The Gib, 10" long 1.5" wide and 1/2" thick....or it should be.......

I apologise in advance for the quality of the pictures, I must stop letting the camera decide where to focus...



Still not sure what I mean? Here's a closer view.



I decided to make a new one from some mild steel bar donated by Ralph, it just happened to be the perfect size, bar cutting to length...ta Ralph...

As I didn't have to machine the whole surface to the same thickness I could afford to clamp the bar flat to the machine bed like so



I used a pair of upside down T-Nuts as stops to square the bar and then checked with a dial. Amazingly the bar needed no adjustment...

Not sure how clear this will be but hopefully you can see what I mean by not machining the to the same thickness. There is a step here.



This is one half machined, this bit bolts to the bit that slides on the knee, what-ever-it's-called. I added two more clamps but it hardly made much difference to the finish over two clamps.



A closer view.....



now I don't know much about anything but considering this was being machined with not one but two Gibs missing and the bed only being held on by pure gravity I was pretty chuffed with the finish. If you were to turn the mill upside down to rescue the pennies the bed would quite literally fall off....!!

The clamps were moved over "one by one" so as not to disturb the positioning of the bar and the other half was milled to size roughly 0.070" higher than the finished side.

Then it was flipped over, centre drilled, drilled and counter bored for the fixing bolts.



A diamond stone was tickled all over to make sure there were no high spots or sharp edges and then it was trial fitted.



Lovely.......
I've left enough meat to need a couple of thou or so shims under the clamped edge to allow for some initial bedding in and longer term wear.

Overall this looks like a permanent fix/repair......
Just waiting for some new bolts to be delivered as I only have 3 of 11 needed....more missing bits.....

[Bernd]

Darren,

Your lucky with those gibs. All straight sides. On the Bridgy they are cast iron and milled with a taper, plus an angle or two. Would have never been able to do what you did.

Bernd