Poor Man's Keyway Slotter

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Ralph

You are correct  , i use the bull wheel on the lathe to do basic indexing


I am planning on making an indexer that fits the bull wheel , witch uses index plates so i have a better range of divisions

The problem with using the slotter and R/T  mounted to the mill ,is there is no way of putting a cut on , when mounted on the lathe cross slide ,you use the cross slide feed to put a cut on . and using the dials to get to the correct depth

What lathe do you have ?

You could make up a mandrel to fit the rear of the spindle , and use change wheels to do the indexing .

Cheers Rob

[Divided he ad]

Ahh.... Forgot about the advancing 


I've got a 9x20 chinese job, I get what your saying about the mandrel. Shouldn't be too hard now that you say it... I had much more complex things in mind!

No bull wheel to play with, well not like yours. I'll get it figured now, with your suggestion.... See, we all help each other see the wood (hope that translates ok!  )


That handle must me 18" long!! I can see another back burner project 




Cheers,


Ralph.

[CrewCab]

That's one nice shiney bit of kit there Rob   

If memory serves correctly Rob posted a full build thread of this slotter on HMEM and it was a dam fine project  ........... very nicely done Rob 

CC

[Rob.Wilson]

That's one nice shiney bit of kit there Rob   

If memory serves correctly Rob posted a full build thread of this slotter on HMEM and it was a dam fine project  ........... very nicely done Rob 

CC

Many Thanks CC  , you are spot on mate  , i did , but due to my legendrary  computer skills i stuffed up and  lost the photos  ,,,,,,,,,,,its a good thing i have a good friend backing my stuff up now and hosting my photos 

Regards Rob

[Rob.Wilson]

HI Ralph

translates ok!    sent PM 


Regards Rob

[fluxcored]

I'm modelling mine after Tel's



With a lot of inspiration from sbwhart - http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=1859.0

I really should take some pictures but am rather too ashamed.The going is very slow as well.

Thus far I have done ram guide and the ram. The ram guide I drilled to 13mm and then used my own boring tool to bore it out to 18.2mm. Why 18.2mm? Well I aimed for 18 but that's me, always over shooting the mark.

The finish in the bore was quite poor - and I just knew the bore diameter was'nt uniform when I was done. Reason because I bored from the one side, then turned it around and bored from the other side.  I just had a bad feeling that all's not well.

The ram, I did'nt turn between centres - wish I saw Stew's post earlier. Turned 80% of one section, turned it around and turned the remainder.I could see with the naked eye where I stopped and started off again.

I had to laugh when I fitted it all together because of course the fit was going to be poor and the ram got stuck not even halfway into the bore.

So, the decision was either do it all over or try and salvage the situation.

Optimist that I am I blued the ram to see where the high points in the bore is and slowly grind that down with my trusty Dremel. This helped a lot but I did'nt want to mess up the bore too much so I left it for a couple of days weighing my options.

I decided lapping or polishing the bore or the ram might do the trick but did'nt had any money for lapping paste or emery cloth. So another week went by.

This weekend I did a lot of grindingwith my bench grinder outside.. When done, while cleaning up I saw the grinding dust all over the bench I thought of mixing the dust with grease and use that as lapping paste.

Well, that idea turned out great I must say. The ram and the guide has got a good sliding fit, not a lot of play as well.

Next I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to get the whole contraption exactly on centre. That's a problem I'll tackle when I get there.

Thanx all for the help. I'll post some photos when it start to look like a tool.

Cheers.

[fluxcored]

Well, here's some pics of my version. It's taken from my cell coz I broke the previous camera and my wife do'nt let me touch the new one.

Constructive criticism is more than welcome - I am struggling a bit.

I could have done better finishing the ram - I believe going over it with emery cloth would have improved the surface finish somewhat.

My welding is'nt up to scratch anymore. My eyesight is'nt what it used to be and I'm having trouble maintaining a steady hand.

In my defense the other beads do look better after I dialled in the welder a bit.

I also just tacked the ram guide because I was afraid that it would warp if I fully weld it.



Showing the spigot - hope I'm using the correct term - giving an idea of how it'll be fitted to the cross slide. Underside is also very rough.

I actually turned the spigot last year already for some other project which I can't remember. Was one of my first attempts at turning.

Also visible is the 2 grub screws in the ram for bolting down the tool holders. I had to cut and file the screws down considerably.

Oh and the tape is there to protect the spigot when I clamped it in the vice to file some of the welding spatter off.



I've gained confidence boring and making my own boring tools and learned a lot through the mistakes that I made. I'm not very happy with my measuring skills and plan to invest in a digital caliper as soon as funds will allow. But I'm getting there slowly but surely.

Have'nt tried it yet. Will in the next week or two cut a keyway in a pulley - hope it works!!!

The slotter is sitting on the 20mm plate that I plan to use as a milling plate - it looks larger then it really is. I'll take some better pics of that to include in my other post. The edge towards the ArCO2 bottle is the one that I filed and sanded by hand - I hope to do better using an end mill cutter as suggested by some of the board members.

[winklmj]

Looks OK to me but I'm a function over form guy. Make it work 1st, make it pretty 2nd.

What are you measuring with now? A vernier or dial caliper are just fine--a digital is easier to use. But if you want accuracy--especially for close fits--get a micrometer.

[Bernd]

Looks good to me. Should work just fine. 

Waiting for more pics. 

Bernd

[fatal-exception]

I'm glad I found this thread as I was considering buying a set of broaches for around $400CAN. But then I would need a press which I don't currently have. Then I would have to learn to use them and be careful not to break them, and not to mention that the first thing i would have to do is create the correct size bushing for the keyways I need to make...what a nightmare, but I'm not paying a machine shop $50/keyway when I know damn well that they can bang those out in 10 minutes AND have the correct bushing and broach.

So anyways, I like the designs I've seen here. I decided to do up a set of plans before starting on mine.

Anyone care to have a look and give some suggestions?

I've designed it to clamp in the QCTP. I don't plan on making huge cuts, so I think it will be OK. What do you all think?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9768641/KeywayCutter.pdf

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread...

Paul

[andyf]

In another topic, I've already linked to this chap's website once today, but he does show the absolute bare minimum slotcutter if keyways are needed in a number of bores all of the same small size:
http://mikesworkshop.weebly.com/small-hole-slotting-tool.html 

Andy

[fluxcored]

No problem, Paul.

Gents, you are too kind for words.

I use a vernier to measure. I think my problem is confidence - all the boring I've done so far showed me that I should start with heavy cuts and finer ones when I'm close to the diameter that I want. Normally I do a million fine cuts and measurements, get impatient and screw up. Reason I want a digital vernier is that it'll at least speed up measuring - I check 3 or 4 times my results which also adds up. Cannot afford one right now though.

What I'm happy about about is that I'm slowly improving and that's mainly due to being able to recognise my flaws and at least know how to deal with them. The help and archived info here helps tremendously for a guy like me, I must say.

I'm never going to be real good or be able to call myself a machinist but hey, where would the world be if people do'nt aspire for greater glory.

Regards

[Bernd]

Paul,

Almost looks like the one written up in the August/Sept. issue of Machinist Workshop.

Fluxcored,

Your further ahead then some people that don't even know what a lathe or mill is. So, I think your just a newbie machinist because you know how to use both tools to make something you need. Just keep practicing.

I've been doing this ever I can remember and am still practicing. 

Bernd

[madjackghengis]

Not to derogate anyone's fine slotting technique, but lots of keyways have been cut with a hacksaw to do the roughing, and files to finish it out to fit the key.  I just had to cut a keyway in a piece which didn't lend its self to holding easily, except it did fit well in a bench vise, so rather than make a bar and cutter for my shaper, I just cut the slot, and filed it to a good fit, and took less time than making the tool, and doing the job.  I've used a wedge to lock the clapper on my shaper when cutting slots, but should do something a bit more solid and repeatable, like setting up  a set screw on the upper end of the slotting tool bar, so the clapper is solidly locked.  The keyway I just cut was in one of the gears in my quick change gearbox, and had a small bore, and narrow slot so would have meant a new bar and fitting a sliver of a cutter.  The hacksaw and file only took about fifteen minutes overall.  mad jack

[Bernd]

Nothing wrong with your method of slot macking Madjack. As long as the out come is what you need. Matter of fact I've used a file many a times to clean up buggered up slots.

Bernd

[No1_sonuk]

It's also not an obvious solution.
I'd never thought of using a saw and file... 

[Bernd]

It's also not an obvious solution.
I'd never thought of using a saw and file... 

Ya, it's a quick solution. I'd have to do that since I don't have a slotter. But for production or proffesional look a slotter would be better.

Bernd