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| Tapering & reducing the diameter of rod - Help Please |
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| 75Plus:
If the rod is actually .375" (3/8") you could mount a couple of R-6 bearings on a board to keep it aligned and use sandpaper to taper the end. The rod can be driven with an electric drill. The sandpaper can be glued to a flat piece of material. The R-6 bearings are very inexpensive as can be seen here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-R6-2RS-Premium-EMQ-seal-bearing-3-8-x-7-8-x-9-32-/130559614441?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e65f59de9#ht_967wt_902 Joe |
| jcs0001:
I live in the same Province and may be able to help. Please see PM I sent you. John. |
| BiggerHammer:
Excuse my first run with Google Sketchup. Drill a 3/8 hole through some thick plywood. Take a piece of scrap steel (does not need to be thick) and grind a cutting edge on it. Mount the cutter to the back of the board. Make sure the cutting edge is aligned with the center point of the hole. You can chuck the rod into a drill and feed it into the hole. You can make a backstop to stop the cutting at the desired depth. I would only try this if you plan on a production run, a bit useless for a one off. To be honest I am not sure how well this would work. I have limited machining skills. Hopefully some of the more experienced members will be able to chime in on how feasible an idea this is. |
| sparky961:
--- Quote from: BiggerHammer on February 25, 2012, 10:46:34 AM ---To be honest I am not sure how well this would work. I have limited machining skills. Hopefully some of the more experienced members will be able to chime in on how feasible an idea this is. --- End quote --- You may have limited machining skills, but what you've just described is a simplified version of a swiss-type lathe. Very creative solution! 0:20 to 0:40 illustrates the idea. If this were combined with the earlier suggestion of using a bearing (wouldn't need to be a ball bearing even) then the results could be quite accurate. The obvious answer would be a lathe, but I'm picturing almost 30" of extra rod sticking through the backside of the chuck and whipping around like crazy. Also, turning 2" length from 3/8" plastic rod might prove difficult on a traditional lathe because of the total lack of rigidity. |
| JigGuy:
Wow, you are all so helpful & giving with your ideas & thoughts. Thank you so much, I will share some of these concepts with my father & see what we can come up with. He was an aircraft engineer/mechanic in the past so he will understand some of the concepts & how to achieve this better than I (he is now 80 years old). I will post back on our success or failures on this project. If we are unable to do make the jig ourselves we will look to work with a local shop (I will check my PM's) to get something going. Half of the fun is trying to see if you can do/make it together (even with others great help, designs & suggestions... thank you ;-). Thank you all again for your time, suggestions & support. You assistance with this project is greatly appreciated & it so awesome to see a group of people openly & freely share information & ideas. Can I ask a one more question please, what could we expect to pay (hourly) on average if we needed help with a jig of some kind & please share your recommendations on how to find the right one for your job (or any links to some good info on this subject). Thank you all again. With gratitude ~ JG |
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