Gallery, Projects and General > Project Logs
Putting right my tailstock DRO.
Darren:
Nice going there John ... :clap:
I know you have had a similar design before the change, how well did it cope with the rotational forces before. Does it eliminate it?
bogstandard:
Darren,
It worked perfectly, hence this one is getting exactly the same sort of design, but a little more hard wearing. Why change it if it does the job?
There isn't a lot of radial movement in the ram, but movement all the same, and on something as side to side rigid as the slides I have made, things could have been really damaged if the slip joint wasn't there.
Simple and effective.
John
bogstandard:
Lots of piccies this time for you to root thru and see if you can pick any tips out of this lot.
I ended last time where I had just got the hole bored thru the nose clamp.
I have removed all the gubbins off the rail, blued up the back of the plate then got it vertical to the lathe bed, then it was marked up where the rail was in position against it.
These lines were transfered to the front of the plate.
I quickly got rid of all excess material, and ended up with still one machined face, the one under my thumb.
This face will be very helpful when I get it onto the RT.
Just checking to make sure I haven't taken too much material off.
First the RT was zeroed to the quill and the table was set to zero degrees.
A washer on each jaw face is to give me clearance for the cutter tip, otherwise I might be milling the chuck jaws.
The part was set down onto the washers and the jaws lightly nipped up.
Then by turning the part, I tracked and adjusted the machined face until it ran parallel to the table.
The chuck was then tightened up and the washers removed.
Because I had set the RT to zero degs meant that by turning the table I could get right angles and parallel cuts to the original straight face. It really made shaping this part up a piece of cake.
Done in no time.
A little bit of vice work soon had everything in the right position and almost ready to fit.
On the previous plate, I just had a straight hole. This time I will be attempting to reduce any wear. I made up a brass bush with a smooth faced flange on it and a smooth faced brass washer to go under the spring.
I fly cut the face which was to have the flange sitting against it.
The brass bush was locked in the hole with fast setting hi strength Loctite.
Ten minutes later, I flycut the second side and the bush down to the same level.
The clamp plate was fitted and locked up, then using a transfer punch, the hole centre was popped onto the end of the steel slide.
I hate four jaw work with a passion, but it had to be done. So using the old method of two centres and a DTI, the pop mark was centred up.
I soon had the hole drilled and threaded.
Very quickly, it was all bolted up and ready for trials. The hole thru the plate is 6mm and the screw going thru it is 4mm. So there is plenty of free space to allow the ram to rotate. The slip joint worked just as well as the first time I did it.
After giving it a good try out, the DRO works faultlessly.
By having the head in this position does make it more vunerable to damage, so I have devised a way to protect it and also make the cover into something useful.
I am using some of my black 10mm thick perspex.
I love working with this stuff, if care is taken, it is very easy to machine and the results can be great.
This is having some 10mm flutes machined into the face.
The table is getting a bit crowded, with an RT and two vices. This is just a temporary one that I am using to put a 5 degree angle down one long edge.
Two parts done, two to go.
Thank goodness this post is near the end.
Maybe tomorrow, maybe not.
Bogs
NickG:
Nice 1 John,
I like the method of centering in the 4-jaw chuck. Incidentally, in your previous post you put the digi vernier on top of the tailstock. Funnily enough my dad just came back from aldi with a set of those cheap verniers. Am now thinking I should do that. My cheap digi ones were £40 when I bought them years ago, these £8 ones look better though, wondering if I should get a couple more, 1 for the tailstock, 1 for top slide and 1 to use. Maybe I should use the old one that is becoming a bit knackered to prove the theory. It seems to run through batteries quickly and only has an auto off. Also the readout is a bit smaller. Also, there are discrepencies between external and internal measurements!
So yes, have picked up a lot of tips thanks, esp when it comes to mounting the thing.
Nick
bogstandard:
The main thing Nick is to stop the rotation of the tailstock ram getting to whatever you fit.
I usually recommend going to a model shop and buy swivelling rod ends, that does the job perfectly for the digiverns. Just got to drill 2mm in hardened stainless.
Bogs
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