Travelling Buffer/Grinder System

[OGYT]

I set up my little Vicmarc for Buffing/Grinding when I travel, so I don't have to carry two more heavy motors along.

I used a piece of oak cutoff to make an arbor that would be held by my SN2 Chuck. I drilled a 1/2" thru-hole using my tailstock drill chuck. I used a spade bit to make a larger hole on the backside, to recess a 1/2" bolt head, and glued the bolt in the arbor.

I carefully turned down the face of the oak so the arbor would be the right length for my buffing wheels, the backing washer, the front washers and nut. I superglued a leather washer to the front washer to make the nut easier to come off by hand. It turns out that the leather wasn’t necessary.


Since this Arbor will double as a Grinding Arbor, I used my 1/16" parting tool and parted off a 3/8" thick washer from the front of the oak... this has to be removed when the grinding wheel is installed, to allow for the greater thickness of the wheel with it's own dedicated washers.
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Pic 1 - This first pic shows the Arbor, with the wooden washer, the buffing wheel backing washer, the front washer and nut. I marked the No. 1 Jaw so I can install it the same every time.
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Pic 2 - Shows the White Diamond wheel mounted and spinning. The flash pretty much stopped the action.
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Pic 3 - The Grinding Wheel mounted. You can see where I marked the Arbor, the back washer, and the wheel label, so I can index it exactly the same every time, for balance. It works. You can also see the wooden washer, removed, laying on the lathe bed table, to the right of the wheel.
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Pic 4 - This shows the piece of white plexiglass, resting in position, that I use to measure the distance the v-arm is adjusted from the wheel. The arm is mounted, on the same board the lathe is mounted on, below the bed of the lathe. This proves that the distance the arm is located vertically from the wheel is not that important. I simply put the gouge in the varigrind, stuck the point in the v-arm support, and slid the arm in, until the tip of the gouge was flat against the wheel. Then I made the plexiglass to fit that spot. Perfect grind, every time.
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Pic 5 - I made a little wooden tool rest using a 3/4" dowel to fit in the tool rest base and a flat piece of plywood. I use this to sharpen my Oland cutters. No tilting necessary. Just raise it 'til the cutter tip is flat against the wheel.
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[DJ’s Timber]

Very neat :2tsup:

[Cliff Rogers]

Yeap, top idea for traveling light. :2tsup:

[TTIT]

Good little setup Al :2tsup: Have you thought about working it so your arbor attaches to an M30 nut that screws straight on to your headstock spindle? That way if you need a touch up half way through turning a piece, you wouldn't have to remove it from the chuck to rig your grinder up......hmmmmm........ but then maybe your woods up over are kind enough to tool edges to let you finish a piece with one sharpen :shrug:

[scooter]

Cool idea :2tsup:

The rest mounted on the toolpost is a good setup. :)

[Caveman]

Hey Al - real neat - nice one - thanks for sharing.:2tsup:

[OGYT]

Have you thought about working it so your arbor attaches to an M30 nut that screws straight on to your headstock spindle? That way if you need a touch up half way through turning a piece, you wouldn't have to remove it from the chuck to rig your grinder up......hmmmmm........ but then maybe your woods up over are kind enough to tool edges to let you finish a piece with one sharpen

The US model VL100 has a 1"x8tpi spindle. Good idea, Vern, about the nut... maybe epoxy a nut into a recess, with a 1" washer as a shoulder? Then turn it, drill it... nope, gotta mount the bolt inside first, then the nut... Hmmm... gotta think on this... You got something though. Thanks.

And thanks for the comments, everyone! Just thought it might help out someone somewhere. Modifications could be made that might work a little different for somebody else.

[hughie]

Al,

Nice one! I am a firm believer in necessity being a great motivator, and looks like you've got this one licked. :2tsup:

[joe greiner]

The US model VL100 has a 1"x8tpi spindle. Good idea, Vern, about the nut... maybe epoxy a nut into a recess, with a 1" washer as a shoulder? Then turn it, drill it... nope, gotta mount the bolt inside first, then the nut... Hmmm... gotta think on this... You got something though. Thanks.

How about a 1-8 coupler nut to engage the spindle and a piece of 1-8 all-thread about 2 or 3 inches long? (Might be simpler/cheaper to buy a 1-8 bolt and cut off all but the threads.) Square the coupler end of the all-thread to minimize runout when it bears against the spindle. Loc-tite to hold together. Drill & tap the all-thread (5/8-11?, 1/2-13?) to match the arbor bolt; do this on the lathe to also reduce runout (tap without power, of course). Perhaps add a timber block to mimic conditions shown in your pic 1. Remainder as already shown.

Sharpening both ends of the Oland cutter reduces the number of trips to the grinder; just flip and re-insert in the holder (grub screw better than brazed for this). And/or get some more cutters (ditto).

[* Set the tap in the tap wrench a wee bit loose. Use the live centre to engage the divot in the tap wrench to maintain concentric. Loose fit of the tap allows it to advance/retract while tapping. Adjust the tailstock quill fore and aft as needed.]

Joe

[OGYT]

How about a 1-8 coupler nut to engage the spindle and a piece of 1-8 all-thread about 2 or 3 inches long?
The only size coupler nut that I've ever bought is 1/2", and none of them have been true, and had a lot of runout when I mounted them on a motor arbor. How do you true a coupler nut? Hmmm... could have been my rethreading of the motor arbor to fit the coupler.... :doh:


Set the tap in the tap wrench a wee bit loose. Use the live centre to engage the divot in the tap wrench to maintain concentric. Loose fit of the tap allows it to advance/retract while tapping. Adjust the tailstock quill fore and aft as needed.

Lost me on this one thing: What's the divot in a tap wrench?:?
Also, if you set the tap a little loose, what keeps it running true?

You're right about using both ends of the cutters... got a lot of them like that.

[joe greiner]

Outside of the coupler nut doesn't need to be true. Only using the inside. In any event, if drilled and tapped on the lathe, with the coupler mounted on the spindle, the tapped hole should have little eccentricity.

"Divot" is the little hole at the aft end of the wrench body.

"Loose" is just enough to allow movement in and out of the tap wrench, without having to coordinate quill travel to maintain purchase.

How much runout is too much? I've gotten 0.010" (eccentricity = 0.005") this way. Is the bolt in the wood block in the chuck better? And repeatable?

Joe

[OGYT]

Ok. I see now. You got a different wrench than I do. The little cheapie that came with my set, is two handles that tighten on the tap, and the end of the tap shows through.
I don't know about how much runout is too much. For the buffs, I don't thing a lot would matter. For the grinder, a little might be okay, cause it can be trued with the wheel dresser.
I have since made all the buffs their own arbor so I can change wheels faster, and the original arbor is permanently mounted in the Grind wheel. I put it on there yesterday a couple of times, and it was running smoothly both times, so I guess as long as I keep aligning the mark with the #1 jaw it'll be alright.
I have a 1"x8tpi tap that I used to make some Oak faceplates for Old Griz. Would you think that threading the arbors would be just as good or better than using them in the chuck?

[Cliff Rogers]

.... Would you think that threading the arbors would be just as good or better than using them in the chuck?
Worth a try for sure.

[joe greiner]

Would you think that threading the arbors would be just as good or better than using them in the chuck?

Could be better, because there's one less element in the power train. A 1/2-inch hex head is 7/8" across the corners; if that's the size hole you drilled in the arbor for the bolt head, you're just about spot on for the pilot hole for tapping. Definitely worth a try, and wouldn't destroy the present setup if it's less than successful.

Joe

[OGYT]

A 1/2-inch hex head is 7/8" across the corners; if that's the size hole you drilled in the arbor for the bolt head, you're just about spot on for the pilot hole for tapping. Joe

Ok. I'll give it a try. Do I just make the arbor wood a spindle length deeper? Bore the 7/8" hole deep enough for the Spindle and the bolt head?
Or... maybe I shoulduse a little larger dia piece and do the Spindle mount first, flatten it all, and screw the spindle mount to the existing arbor? How to center it.... hmmm.

[joe greiner]

Ok. I'll give it a try. Do I just make the arbor wood a spindle length deeper? Bore the 7/8" hole deep enough for the Spindle and the bolt head?
Or... maybe I shoulduse a little larger dia piece and do the Spindle mount first, flatten it all, and screw the spindle mount to the existing arbor? How to center it.... hmmm.

For a first experiment, you can probably just tap the existing hole and see how it behaves. Remove the bolt, and tap as deep as you can. The threads from a taper tap probably won't be long enough to fully engage the spindle; need a bottoming tap to thread full depth, and still might not be deep enough.

If you're considering making a new arbor, make the 7/8" hole deep enough to allow the headstock end of the arbor to bear against the shoulder on the spindle, with extra allowance for the tapered part of the tap. That will help to reduce runout. For example (just picking numbers out of the air): Suppose the tap has full-depth threads beginning about 1/2" from the tip. And suppose the spindle is 2" from its end to the shoulder. Then make the hole at least 2 1/2" deep to get full engagement. A washer between the arbor and the spindle shoulder will reduce wear on the arbor when mounting, and its thickness could reduce the hole depth requirement slightly. The extra hole depth should accommodate the bolt head (std. 1/2" hex head is 5/16" high). To enhance accurate centering, drill the bolt hole on the lathe, with the arbor already mounted on the spindle, and make the bolt hole as long as practical; 1" - 1 1/2" should be sufficient.

Sorry for the non-metric, mates; but we're multi-lingual here, aren't we?

Joe