Author Topic: Boring News  (Read 4808 times)

Offline vtsteam

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Boring News
« on: February 23, 2022, 05:55:26 PM »
Today I welded up a base for a clamping fixture for the new lathe out of some rusty steel cutoffs that happened to be lying near the bandsaw in the far shed.

It will bolt down to the carriage boring table and is sized to accommodate the cylinders and pistons I've been casting. Looks like it will actually handle round stock up to 5" dia. I have yet to make the top clamping bar(s) which will bolt into the threaded holes.

I think it will be useful around the drill press and mill, as well.
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2022, 06:37:18 PM »
Next thing I need is s sturdy boring bar. I found a piece of hot rolled 1-1/4" rod and cut off a 13" length. This boring bar  will be run between centers and needs a cutter right in the middle. Often shop made bars feature a round tool slot, so it can be simply drilled. But this limits the tool to only round cutters -- often drill rod hardened and ground.

Instead I'm going to use a 1/4" lathe tool -- that way I can use either HSS, brazed carbide or even a 1/4" insert holder. But this requires a square hole. I don't have broaches, so I have to square the hole by hand.

I did consider slotting the bar with a 1/4" end mill, then brazing a piece back in to form a square slot. But it is just too cold today to go out to the shop and work with the mill. We've had about a foot of new snow, and after plowing today, I just wanted to sit indoors and do this via hand work.

I drilled a 1/4" hole in the bar, 1/8" off-center by first filing a narrow flat, setting the bar in the vice, and using just a steel rule scratching a mark 3/4" in from one of the vise jaws. The hole is off center so that the lathe tool will have its cutting face on center. Since this bar has the tool in the middle and since the lathe tool can be inserted in the bar from either direction, this boring bar is not "handed". That makes it simpler to lay out.
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2022, 06:40:16 PM »
Then it was just a matter of slowly hand working the round hole into a square. I usually try to get the corners going first with a triangular file:
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2022, 06:42:31 PM »
Gettin' there..... I use an HSS lathe tool as a gauge.
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2022, 06:47:20 PM »
Lookin pretty square. At this point I gently tap the lathe tool into the unfinished hole. The sharp factory edges of the tool raise a burr in the hole, which helps mark where material needs to be removed. At this stage I also usually switch to a very small chisel. I do some cleanup with the file. too. It's mostly just a lot of try-and-fit.
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2022, 06:50:09 PM »
Finally the tool fits. Not the fastest way to make a square through hole, but it works well enough, and doesn't require a machine shop full of tools, just patience.
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline awemawson

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2022, 02:16:57 AM »
Good job done Steve.

The more I see jobs like this the more I appreciate my EDM die sinker.

“Square hole Sir? Certainly, how big and where?” 

(And the ‘tooling’ is just a similar shaped bit of copper or graphite)
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2022, 10:15:01 AM »
Thanks Andrew. You need a water jet.  :poke:
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline awemawson

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2022, 03:39:31 PM »
. . . . . water jet . . . . now there's an idea . . . .  :lol:
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline krv3000

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2022, 08:39:15 PM »
 I can give you a water pistol lol

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2022, 03:28:20 PM »
Bob I hope there are some problems with it, so he can troubleshoot them!   :dremel:

More boring progress here:

Cutter set screw added to the bar.
Hold-down bars for fixture made.
And leveling/height adjustment jack screws added to the bottom.
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline awemawson

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2022, 04:06:20 PM »
Oi Steve I've enough on my plate without Bob's water pistol thank you  :lol:

Mammoth effort this morning moving 12 x 10 timber lambing shed back onto its concrete base having been blown off by storm Eunice tight against a hedge. Soft ground nothing to lever against. Preceded by burying the remains of a deceased sheep - supposed to be taken to the knackers yard but the Badgers and Foxes hadn't left an intact carcass - never did find the 4th leg  :bugeye:

(but a water jet does sound like fun )
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #12 on: February 28, 2022, 05:37:49 PM »
Here is the boring bar and boring fixture set in place on the new lathe's boring table.
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline krv3000

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2022, 07:49:55 PM »
brill

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #14 on: March 08, 2022, 06:01:02 PM »
Thanks Bob!  :beer:
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline PekkaNF

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2022, 01:45:22 AM »
Today I welded up a base for a clamping fixture for the new lathe out of some rusty steel cutoffs that happened to be lying near the bandsaw in the far shed.

It will bolt down to the carriage boring table and is sized to accommodate the cylinders and pistons I've been casting. Looks like it will actually handle round stock up to 5" dia. I have yet to make the top clamping bar(s) which will bolt into the threaded holes.

I think it will be useful around the drill press and mill, as well.

I like that approach. Often these are milled from solid or casting, I prefer fabrication. Lot faster and less waste. I have even made some out of wood, specially when thin walled funny shape object needs and hole or slot at unusual angle. Using two vices to get angles right would be awkward and vice would easily crush pipe/profile. Wood clamps pieces well when the pressure portion is shaped well to conform the piece. Wood is easy to cut.

That would also work for cross drilling. I doubt any pips or holes on the middle would be any of consequence. Looks like you made a jig that has future use. And painting it will make stand out. Maybe I should copy that habit of painting reusable tools and jigs!

Good job!

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2022, 08:37:10 AM »
Thanks Pekka! :beer:

I agree about the usefulness of wood in metal working, once common, now largely forgotten. One use I put it to on my Gingery lathe was under the pillow blocks for the motor reduction jackshaft. Hardwood, once it gets a fair amount of oil on it, lasts well, is reasonable stable in varying humidity and even has been used for bearings, -- in boats, Lignum Vitae has in the past has been used for propellor shaft bearings. I've heard of hand turning type lathe's bearings made of wood, too.

But in my case it was used under pillow blocks to allow a small amount of adjustment for aligning the sleeve bearings. Wood can be compressed a little by the fastening bolts, and also acts like a spring washer to retain the bolt and nut. It's worked well on that lathe for 20 years.

Another use in the past by hobbyists was in making large bore drills for boring model cylinders on a lathe. Steel sheet metal, pointed and sharpened at the cutting end, did the actual cutting, but sandwiched around it was wood shaped like a cylinder, making up the body of the drill, and keeping the bore straight. Even today it would be hard to find a drill 2" in diameter to drill a cylinder from a cast rough bore, and extremely costly if you did. But one of those wood drills could be made up pretty easily. I'd like to try that some day.

Another use for wood in the metal shop is in cutting thin wall material like tubing on the bandsaw. Putting a block of wood in the vise next to piece to be cut reduces the descent rate of the saw, and supports the blade as it cuts, reducing the likelihood of tearing out teeth.

My boring table fixture needs one more operation -- I need to put a vee-notch in the bottom of the cross bars where they contact the cylinder, to give it a better grip. Well I also want to put a center drill hole down into the middle of the base Vee. This will allow aligning the jig with a center drill in the chuck of the drill press. If I clamp the jig down to the table while the bit is in the hole, the Vee will be centered, and any stock I put in the jig can then be drilled on-center, without center-finding.

I think I will get a lot of use out of this fixture.

Oh yes, I've decided to paint things other than on bearing surfaces. Thatt's the best rust preventative possible in my shop. Cleanly milled parts look great, but the reality in my shop (there's water on the floor at present because of the spring thaw) is that it will quickly rust, and I'm just tired of trying to battle it.

Blue was just a color I happened to have handy -- but probably black would have been better to match the lathe. Plus I shouldn't steal Bob's thunder -- I know he likes blue!
« Last Edit: March 09, 2022, 09:07:39 AM by vtsteam »
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline awemawson

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #17 on: March 09, 2022, 10:00:18 AM »
PAR timber (Planed All Round) is remarkably uniform in terms of parallel sides. Even more so MDF, Plywood, and OSB.

The floor under my Bridgeport splash try always has off cuts lying about as unless something is super critical I use it as 'parallels' and it can be quickly cut to a width less than the part to enable the jaws of the vice to grip. Especially useful when drilling or milling all the way through, as the wood is sacrificial.

Not suggesting you use it for ultra precision work but that's rarely needed in my experience and if it is I'll surface grind the finish size anyway.
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Boring News
« Reply #18 on: April 15, 2022, 09:27:58 AM »
I had removed the faceplate in order to machine a backing plate for a new 6" 4-jaw chuck. Now to convert back to boring a cylinder with the new boring table setup, I needed to turn the boring bar between centers for cleaning up a cylinder. Between centers is the most accurate way, and also it allows the longest travel for the work table -- important when doing larger work on a relatively short lathe, like a benchtop model.

That means removing the chuck and backing plate and re-mounting the faceplate to accommodate a Morse taper center and driving dog. Well I don't particularly like the faceplate I have, the slots are too short for convenience, it's hard to bolt through the hub flange since it is so large, etc.

So I thought, why not just remove the 6" 4-jaw chuck and use the backing plate to drive the lathe dog. It's much easier to remove or mount the chuck because the bolts are regular hex head, and near the edge of the backing plate. All I needed to drive a lathe dog was a slot in the plate. So, off to the mill, mount a 3/8" slot drill, and simply done.

I like this new driver capability a lot. In fact I'm also considering putting a second register on the same backing plate to allow mounting the 5" 3-jaw chuck. Then I'll have a true multipurpose backing plate, and it will be a lot easier mounting chucks than turning bolts in the restricted area of the spindle flange in front of the headstock. This is a common problem with most of the small Sieg-tyle mini lathes.

I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg