| Gallery, Projects and General > Project Logs |
| Another new project... a QCTP (Quick Change Toolpost) |
| << < (15/18) > >> |
| krv3000:
HI thats brill :) |
| ksor:
-->AdeV Ohhh that's a very nice peace of work you have done here ! :clap: :clap: :clap: Especialy I like the black finishing of the main block - I have found a description of how to do it on the net and I will try use it on my small vice: BUT I don't want to do all the filing work to remove the "circle-pattern" on the surface - there must be another method to prepare the surface before doing the ecthing ! The surface on my vice is very smooth and very soft and you can NOT feel the "circles", you can only see them - if I start filing or sanding .... :bang: ohh, I think the surface will be rough and not so smooth and soft as it is now ! On the other side, I think the circles will been visible "under" the black finishing. How should I prepare the surface then ? |
| AdeV:
Thanks guys, all praise gratefully received, all hints greedily taken... Ned - you're right, and as soon as I felt how it worked I was cursing like a good 'un. I'd hoped that using the 6mm ball mill (closest I have to 1/4" - the ball size - and very slightly smaller) would be OK, but as you state, it needs a slightly smaller cut on the tool block so it rests on the rim. Duly noted for next time. Ralph - my previous toolholder had a one-way mechanism in it (although it could occasionally be defeated, allowing a 90 degree backward turn), an extraordinarily complicated affair full of little springs, pawls, ratchets, levers.... if it had a bit more brass in it it'd almost be a steampunk mechanism... Of course, I only found out about the fancy stuff when I took it apart (trying to figure out how it came off the cross-slide), and the springenwerk went everywhere. Fortunately, I found it all, and - by absolute blind luck - managed to put it all back together again with no bits left over. A miracle! Bob - thanks fella :) Ksor - Don't worry about filing the surface. Yes, it looks horrible as you just get started, but as soon as the machine marks start to disappear, the surface takes on a really silky texture. The key things - in my brief experience - are: - Use a fine toothed file (not a klunky coarse one) - Keep the pressure as even as possible across the file - Slow & easy does it - Clean the file up every few strokes; I found just wiping it on my "shop coat" did the trick most of the time, but a soft wire brush was occasionally needed to clear a stubborn chip out. Remember - whenever you've got chips stuck in the blade, they drag & make lines in the surface which, inevitably, require another 30 mins of filing to remove... Once you've done filing, you'll be amazed at how much better the finish is, even than the one you have now. And yes, I've had finishes like yours (which I usually decide is good enough) which you simply can't feel the marks. Incidentally... I've always stopped after the filing stage (or after 1 stage of wet&dry paper (120 grit); there's nothing to stop you doing exactly the same draw technique using ever higher grits, until about 800 or 1000; then move onto polish, and you'll eventually have a true mirror finish - Ralph (Divided he ad) will point you towards polishing techniques, I'm sure). The blacking BTW will work just fine with the finish you have there, but you will still be able to see the machining marks. I can still see every little scratch & ding on the toolpost, whether it occurred before or after the blacking... Ah - to answer your actual question, yes there is one other way to remove the maching marks; a very very very light surface grind on a proper surface grinder, with a fine grit wheel, would leave you again with a silky smooth finish; if you then wanted to go further & get a mirror polish, you're into the polishing mops, brasso, etc. |
| AdeV:
Right, now on with the show, such as it is... Apologies for the delay - Sunday morning was spent standing in a muddy field somewhere near Stoke-on-Trent, collecting a rusty water pump which wants some machining work, and also riding a genuine coal-fired steam powered narrow gauge railway - it was their grand official opening. Naturally, it rained continuously. Good old British weather. The afternoon was mostly spent bothering Bogs, breaking his grit wheels and generally getting under his feet. I think I'm right in saying a good time was had by all :) Well, once the palpitations caused by the broken grit wheel & flying lathe chuck jaw had subsided The evening was spent "finishing" the toolholder, trying out the newly ground square chuck jaws, and pottering.... And most of tonight was spent fitting a new quill spring to the Bridgeport (the 1st replacement having broken when I got frustrated with a recalcitrant woodruff key & smacked it with a hammer. It didn't like that...) Of course, the Olde Screw Shoppe didn't have any #10-24 screws in stock, but they did have a die, so I made my own. So.. the toolholder... Well, you saw the lump of steel. I soon had it squared off in the mill, and the dovetail slot roughed out: After cutting the dovetails, a quick test fit: Next up, mill out the toolslot: Final operations (no pix of these, sorry): Mill a slot off the top so the bolts I had would reach (only had 25mm bolts...) Drill 4 holes to hold the tool in place, and another hole to work the height adjust. I didn't leave quite enough material to contain the whole thread, so I drilled/tapped it deep & used some stud to hold a home-made "washer" (also drilled & tapped). The result of all this bodgery is as follows: And here it is on the lathe (had to skim nearly 0.010" off the piston before the tool would drop over it): And - taken yesterday when it had the boring bar mounted in it - taking it's first ever cut!: Subsequent toolholders will be a bit "fatter" (2" rather than 1.5"), and I'll hopefully find a shorter piece of metal, so I don't have to cut an inch off it every time... |
| Bogstandard:
Ade, I meant to show you the adjusting bits I made for my tool holders when you called yesterday. Instead of making a washer to go under the nut, just get a length of bar the same diameter as your 'washer', knurl the outside for a few inches (50 to 75mm), then drill and tap the same thread as you are using. Part them off to about 3mm thick whenever you want a new length adjuster. Once it is screwed onto the thread for exact height, your nut is then used to lock it into position. Like shown in the last few pics of this post. http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=2323.msg24924#msg24924 John |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |
| Previous page |