Gallery, Projects and General > The Design Shop

Poor Man's Keyway Slotter

<< < (2/9) > >>

andyf:

--- Quote from: Jasonb on February 08, 2010, 08:21:22 AM ---...... One way to lessen the effort and also help guide the tool is to make a plug for your gear out of a scrap bit of similar material and the drill down the joint between the two. This removes a lot of the metal and also gives helps keep the cutter in line.
--- End quote ---

For keys which aren't subject to much torque - like where a setscrew would be enough, but there's nowhere on the wheel or whatever to put it - I've sometimes been lazy and just drilled down the join between wheel and shaft and used a bit of round bar to act as a key. Only works at the end of the shaft, of course; no good for half-way along it.

Andy

crankshafter:

--- Quote from: fluxcored on February 08, 2010, 05:46:05 AM ---Hi All,

I need to cut some change gears in the near future and am investigating ways of cutting the slots. I've found Stew's excellent write up http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=1859.0 on how to quickly make a keyway slotter which is more than adequate for my purposes.

However it got me thinking, and I want to throw the idea out there. How about using an old drill press as a quick and easy slotter? I've got a bench top drill press that's just sitting idle. I'm busy making pigtails for mops I bought the other day to turn it into a buffing station and on my project list is an adaptor to turn wooden handles on it also. It'll be great if it also can function as a simple slotter even if only to time me over until I have some quiet time to build a dedicated hand operated slotter.

Oh and I plan to make the gears out of either aluminum, brass or bronze. Soft material so that if I get the gears wrong, it does'nt damage the existing gear train of the lathe.

Regards.

--- End quote ---
Hi fluxcore
Here are som great plans. have a look. http://homepage3.nifty.com/amigos/index-e.html   :beer:

Krankshafter

Darren:
Has anyone here tried cutting a keyway with their shaper ?

I'm trying to decide if to make a tool for the shaper or the lathe. Shaper would be easier/simple and less arm ache in use. But would it have the same finesse? I guess it should do, but anyone tried it?

ieezitin:
Darren

The shaper is ideal for this task. As shaping is a method of removing metal by a planing action.

The tool bit is ground like a tooth of a milling cutter. As so to act like a  commercial broach system.

I have done it years ago, just one full slot with the opening at the end of the shaft. I never have reached in over the bar stock  and made a slot like an end mill would make in the middle of the shaft. But I am sure its possible if we put our thinking cap on.

All the best.    Anthony

sbwhart:
Hi

The reason i built the slotter was that I strained my lathe cutting a slot winding the slide back and two, I knew i'd done something to it at the time back lash increased by a magnitude of four, limped along with it at that level, but I've just finished putting my lathe back together after sorting out the problem I'd cracked a casting, luckily it was able to machine a replacement up myelf, so be warned, make shure youre lathe is robust enough to do that sort of trick.

As for using a drill thats a great idea but you have to think of a way to lock the spindle.

Cheers

Stew

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page