Gallery, Projects and General > Gallery

Making Lemonade (from lemons)

(1/3) > >>

sparky961:
This is a pretty simple one, though it took a turn from what I had originally planned.

I was trying to clean and square up some material I had, but it was about 6" long and the only accurate vice I own has about 2" wide jaws.  A 4" or 5" vice is on my wish list, and I don't think a 6" would fit well on my machine.

I came up with this interesting setup.  I think it was spurred on by a lot of the recent pictures I've seen of parts set up on shapers.





Granted, the 1-2-3 blocks look a bit precarious there.... but I couldn't think of a better way to get the stock to sit level with the table so I went with it.

Fly cutting progressed nicely top and bottom, but I wasn't happy with how parallel the machined stock ended up.  I had about 0.010 difference in thickness between front and back (looking as in top picture) and about 0.005" from end to end.  I would have been quite pleased with 0.001 to 0.002 difference either way for the original use.  Although it still would have worked, I can do better.

After thinking a bit, I decided to machine a third side and use that as a reference after turning 90 degrees.  This yielded much better results but still not a perfectly square piece.

While I was handling the piece and considering that it might just go back into my bin 'o stock for the next project, I noticed that it was pretty close to the size stock I'd need to make some T-NUTS.  Geez, I've had my machine for HOW many years, and countless times have needed a few more, and STILL hadn't made them.... it was WAY past due!

So using this same setup, I cranked up the spindle speed to 3k RPM and put my trusty 1/2" carbide end mill in there.  A bit of figuring and some final squaring later and I set it off to power feed through the cut.  It took about a minute or two at full depth of about 0.250" down and 0.125" in from the edge.  What comes off when I do this looks more like coarse sand than large nasty chips but if I feed any faster, the nasty shaking starts up.



Flipped it over and did the same on the other side.... then over to the bandsaw to cut it into shorter pieces.  I drilled and tapped each one separately 3/8-NC, followed by a slight countersink and staking of the bottom to keep the stud from screwing through and destroying my table.



While I was trying to take some half-decent close-ups with my phone camera, , I found a big lens that came out of a bench magnifier lamp.  I decided to try taking the pictures through this and the results were pretty nice.



There you go.  Nothing fancy, but I'm sure they will serve me for years to come.

-Sparky

DaveH:
Sparky,

Well I have to say that was well thought out :clap:

Was there a reason not to clamp the work piece directly onto the table?

The "T" nuts look very good - well done.

 :beer:
DaveH

WillieL:

--- Quote from: DaveH on January 23, 2012, 11:41:14 PM ---
The "T" nuts look very good - well done.

 :beer:
DaveH

--- End quote ---
I agree with Dave, Sparky - they look good.
One thing you might consider is getting another 2" vice and putting them side by side on your table, if that would be more affordable for you. Clamp your part at the ends between the two vices, and shim under the center of the part for support. Just a thought. I think you will have better luck if you get the part as close to the table as possible, and it will be safer as well.

I've done a few wild work holding set-ups myself. Sometimes a man has to do - what a man has to do, to get the job done. But I always ask myself one question before turning the machine on. "How bad is this going to hurt if it comes loose and hits me?"   :scratch:

 :D

Xldevil:
Hello.
Nice set up.Will try it some day.
Thank You for showing.
Ralph

Stilldrillin:
That's an interesting set up!  :bugeye:

The sort of thing my night shift oppo used to leave behind, for me to sort out........  :scratch:

But.... As this one did the job, for you. Well done!  :clap: :thumbup:

David D

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page