oh no another ball turner

[j45on]

I have been trying to mock up a ball turner for my chester commet/sieg c4 before I order the rest of the metal to build it and wanted to make sure I have not made any cock ups/design flaws

One of the things I realy want to make is a gear knob for my car so it needs to be able to turn a 50mm (aluminium)ball
which probably makes it a bit shorter than most ?

The first one I drew with inkscape


and the second with sketchup sorry the dimensions are all over the place


I already have the piece of 4" square steel for the base but nothing else at the moment
Does anybody foresee any problems with it ?

[Lew_Merrick_PE]

J45,

The only thing that leaps out and bites me is the use of a screw as the hold-down.  You need some way to lock it else it will want to tighten or loosen on you as you pivot your ball cutter.  A short piece of shaft (screwed and locked into the pivot) with a snap ring (I am a big fan of the Smalley type rings) and a Belleville washer might be a better way to go.  ???  --  Lew

[John Hill]

Looks nice  Jason(?),  my comment is to put a skirt on the green bit to increase the area that is resting on the red bit.  Provided the tool tip is always within the area of the red bit the screw will be quite adequate, IMHO.

John

[j45on]

Thanks for the feed back guys 
Guess I'm going to have to order some metal now 
Oooh and some carbide inserts as I don't have any insert tooling yet

[75Plus]

Jason, A few months ago I made a ball turner for use on a 7 X 12 mini lathe. I am able to turn up to 45mm balls on that lathe. I also made another plate to fit the C4 lathe and am able, with a taller tool holder, to turn 55mm balls. The two halves cannot loosen as the tool is turned back and forth. You can find it here:

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=2938.0

I have sketches using Sketchup 6 that I could send you also.

Joe

[Divided he ad]

The only thing that leaps out and bites me is the use of a screw as the hold-down.  You need some way to lock it else it will want to tighten or loosen on you as you pivot your ball cutter.

Not necessarily Lew...  Mine is held together with just a screw. No loctite, no locking devices of any type at all.

I simply made the screw too long to fit the job (very important not to drill right through the turret) then file/emery it down a little at a time till it bottomed out and the (lubricated) turret would still turn freely but remain firm. It's held well now for over 3 years and there are plenty of projects pictured and filmed to show the lack of chatter and the abuse I throw at it (most of my work is in stainless)


http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=282.15
A thread I put some pic's and ramblings in, just my experiences....  please note the bottom pic, I think it's quite important to get the parts lapped together.


Just my notes  





Ralph.

[Brass_Machine]

When I get about finishing mine, I am going to go with Ralphs' idea with filing the threads on the bolt. I think Steve Bedair also said to crimp the threads or something like that.

Nice job designing it.

Did you already tell us what the shift knob would be use?

Eric

[Gerhard Olivier]

Hi Jason

A simple piece of brass insert made to a close fit would make it so that you could lock the screw and then the force would not be on the screw any more.  Should make it turn easier as well.

COC Forgive the diagram


Gerhard

[j45on]

Thanks again guys 
I'm convinced the screw shall be easiest for me so I'm going for that

Brass_Machine The 50mm ball will just be a gear knob for my car and then balls for everything else like my lift at work,and other machines with cheep plastic knobs
I also have a daft idea in my head to make a flip top gear knob that either has a secret compartment inside or a switch

Divided he you say "I think it's quite important to get the parts lapped together"
Do you think automotive valve grinding paste will be any good for this ?
Or will I need something finer.

Jason

[Divided he ad]

Hi Jason,

Valve grinding paste was my choice for the job, (the fine side).

There are a few pics in the thread on the mini version I made a while back... http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=319.msg803#msg803  Bout 8 pictures up from the bottom will explain all I did.


Flip top gear knob eh??  Has all sorts of uses.... Switch for the nitro I'm thinking!! 

What motor you got?


You know we're expecting a few pics of the build don't you?      

 




Ralph.

[j45on]

Valve grinding paste was my choice for the job, (the fine side)

Thats good I have some of that :-) and thanks for the link

My car is a ford mondeo st220 no nitrous I'm afraid
sorry for the poor camera phone pic


I don't except this project to fly along I have been in my shed nearly all day and all I did was put up some shelfs and tidy up a bit
I then spent far to long building this paper towel holder 


Jason

[Divided he ad]

Ahh, Close to the modern equivalent of my car (still no external pic's available) Sapphire Cossy     

Nitrous could be fitted         (although it's a lot of cost and will probably destroy your engine in a few months  ) Not putting it on mine... Already blew it up once 

I then spent far to long building this paper towel holder

And sturdy it looks too...     How big is that roll!!!???


We're not in a rush on here, safe slow work is better than fast and injured     (well that's my excuse  )


Pic's at your leisure 





Ralph.



Mmmm... I wonder if I can get any more smileys into this thread   

[j45on]

Divided he ad
I was only chatting at work the other day about ford sierras and how we had not seen one on the road for ages 
This was bought on by the fact we seem to have loads of capris appearing lately
The paper towel is only a 8" roll but as I had taken the piss out of my fathers towel holder ( old broom handle and some string ) I had to make something better.

I finally have some steel to start building this thing now



You may notice the tiny insert in the bag well I plan to buy some carbide insert tooling soon and the ones I'm looking at come with ccmt inserts
so I thought I would buy one for the ball turner as all my future tools would share the same inserts.
This insert is also supposed to give a better finish in aluminium (bugger I forgot to order the screw to go with it)
I did not realise how small it would be. 
Do you think I should get a bigger one ?

[Divided he ad]

Hi Jason,

I've heard of oneupmanship.... But from a piece of string to that!!!! 

Good stuff with the steel. Judjing from the size of your lathe and the steel you have there I'd say you want a carbide tip like mine?  That one looks like it could be fun to mount too!!

Mine are the larger one of these, the smaller ones were used in the mini ball turner.



For size reference....




Hope that helps?  (I just used a normal countersunk screw to hold mine down....trimmed the sides a little. M3 I think for the big one and M2/2.5 for the mini one... Was a while ago now... )


That insert you have there looks like one of the specials sharpened and polished for aluminium only??  Will be good to see what it does when you use it, I was eyeing those up a while ago...



The cars.... There will be ample opportunity to see hundreds of them on the 26th of September at a place called Stanford hall (apparently) just outside of rugby....  The roads will be heaving with RS's from MkI escort RS2000's upto todays new Focus RS's and I'll be one of them too Should be fun 


Capri's .... It's hardly surprising when you see things like this....

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq1c3726leI



Ok, slightly  But funny IMHO 




Hope you're having fun making the turner 







Ralph.

[ksor]

Oh, yes - I'm making one too !

but I have NOT yet decided what kind of bit to use.

I wonder why most of you use this "arrowhead"-like bit - why not a round one - normaly a round bit gives a better finish.

Correct me (so I can choose the right one for my ball turner) !

[No1_sonuk]

Oh, yes - I'm making one too !

but I have NOT yet decided what kind of bit to use.

I wonder why most of you use this "arrowhead"-like bit - why not a round one - normaly a round bit gives a better finish.

Correct me (so I can choose the right one for my ball turner) !

The pointed one will get further into the "corner" by the shaft, making a smaller fillet between the ball and the shaft.

There's nothing stopping you using both.  If you need the tight fillet, use a point, but if you don't, use a round one.  You just need to make an extra tool holder.

[j45on]

Slowly getting there  
Lapped together with valve grinding paste
A little drop of oil and it is a pain to get apart  again:D


keychain torch + magnet = boring light  

[Rob.Wilson]

Nice project Jason    

Hows coming along ?

Rob

[j45on]

Hi Rob
I have the material for the tool post now so hopefully I can make some progress this weekend   
I still have not decided which type or size of insert I'm going to use yet 

[j45on]

I'm nearly done just need to shorten the cap screws and make a handle.



Right off to ebay to search for inserts 

[Rob.Wilson]

Looks like you had a good shift in the shop Jason 

You decided what insert you will be using ?

I must have a go at making a ball turning attachment 


Rob

[j45on]

"You decided what insert you will be using ?"
No not yet 
A TCMT looks the easiest to fit
but I also like the double ended VBMT that Ralph used but I cant figure out if I have room I may have made the tool post a bit small it is 1/2" square

[No1_sonuk]

Mine's no more than 1/2" square at the top, and I use these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380251788233&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[j45on]

Mine's no more than 1/2" square at the top, and I use these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380251788233&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

just ordered some thanks

[Divided he ad]

Hi Jason,

Looking good there 

The VBMT16 inserts I used are fitted into a 1/2" (well actually 12mm) upright. No bother though, the 11's are the ones I fitted in the mini turner and they cut very well too.

Nice of that site to give you all the info on the tips, I had to measure everything and work it all out for myself 


I can't remember accurately but I think I showed photo's of the process I used to fit the tips in giving the best support against sideways forces I could, I'm sure I posted a link somewhere on here    It's been a while since I was here 



Not long now and we should see your .... Erm, well, spheres        




Ralph.