Thread: Your latest project

I'd be stretching the restoration process out on that one a little... What a beauty!

Joe,

Congratulations on a fantastic build. The hand wheel is what really tops it off. It is pretty special when you get a chance to use all your skills and favourite tools to build something for a loved one.

Once the DSG is powered up, you are more than welcome to use it if you need a bigger lathe.

Cheers

Piers

P.S Pam's work is also very impressive.

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Nice find, all you need now, is to find a spot in the shed to wire it into. That way if there's a power failure, at least you can still make fantastic stuff.
Kryn

It will go into a little shed to be made next to the service pole... Our power supply seems to be getting less and less reliable as time goes by... I have had enough of getting eaten by mosquitos and cold showers in summer... This generator will be big enough to run pumps and fans and lights and so on... Unlike some more modern generators it will output the full 15kva in two wires...

Originally Posted by .RC.

It will go into a little shed to be made next to the service pole... Our power supply seems to be getting less and less reliable as time goes by... I have had enough of getting eaten by mosquitos and cold showers in summer... This generator will be big enough to run pumps and fans and lights and so on... Unlike some more modern generators it will output the full 15kva in two wires...

Make sure that you put in an automatic isolator, so that it doesn't feed power back into the system, but cuts off your power when the mains comes back on. Apparently our SA power maintenance company, uses some device that shorts out any generators that are hooked up to the lines. Hate to see that happen to yours.
Kryn

Originally Posted by .RC.

It will go into a little shed to be made next to the service pole... Our power supply seems to be getting less and less reliable as time goes by... I have had enough of getting eaten by mosquitos and cold showers in summer... This generator will be big enough to run pumps and fans and lights and so on... Unlike some more modern generators it will output the full 15kva in two wires...

Pity you're so far away as I have a nice condition Lister 30 HP air cooled engine with electric start taking up valuable space in my shed. I'm after a generator myself but about half that size, 7.5 kVa would do me nicely.

PDW

Originally Posted by jhovel

My darling Pam attended a workshop two weeks ago on printing natural objects - with her particular interest in printing leaves and feathers etc onto woven fabrics and her own felted farbics.
The key tool was a roller press. $1000s
She told me last Sunday (April 20th): "For my birthday present I'd really like a press ...." (Birthday: April 26th)
So I spent half the night researching what was involved and if it was possible for me to make one for her.....
Anyway, Monday I looked around my shed to see what materials I had on hand and what I would have to purchase if I took up the challenge.
I seemed to have all the steel required - just in a different shape to what was needed.... I went for a drive to the local bearing service and purchased some suitable bearings and flange and sliding mounts and the nuts and bolts I thought I would need. The local junk yard (Bendigo Trailers and Hardware) yielded a find of a huge cast iron valve handwheel and a suitable piece of laminated MDF.
By 1am that morning a few bits started taking shape on the lathe. The photos show some of the materials used: sections of a weight lifting bar, some 4" and 2-1/2" water pipe, some round 1/2" thick disk offcuts, a short offcut of 3" diameter solid, a decent piece of 1/2" flat plate I had to cut in half, some 2"x1/2" flat bar and some 5/8" round bar pieces I had.
I used a couple of M16 rod joiners (extra long hex nuts) and some M16 allthread left over from another project for the height adjustment.
The table giude wheels were cut with a circle cutter out of a piece of 12mm thick Pheolic sheet I was given some years ago. The plugs were then drilled to suit the 5/8" spindles and turned to the size required.
Tuesday I cut the waterpipe pieces for the rollers and welded the ends and the spindles in. I cut all the steel to size and layed out the holes and welds to be done.
I then discovered that the size selected for the rollers was right on the end of the capacity of my lathe - tailstock only half on the bed. A quick attempt showed that the chatter was uncontrollable - bugger. So I visited my friend Peter and his Sheraton. Around midnight one of the rollers was finished beautifully! Wednesday night the other one. I also managed to weld the sideplates and yokes and drill all the holes that day. By Thursday, Pam says "well, have you given my printing press any more thought?" I replied casually "yeah, I though about it. Should be an interesting project..."
That day I turned and threaded the tie bars and gave all the frame parts a coat of primer. Friday I checked all my measurements and tried a few parts carefully for fit as the primer dried off. I also gave the sideplates and yokes a first coat of gloss. Saturday I painted all the parts, cut out the table and sealed the edges and laser printed some labels for the machine.
Late Saturday night, with the paint still soft but dry, I moved all the parts into her studio and started to assemble the machine. I got most of it together, but a couple of bearing fits were too tight (it turned out the locating grub screws were just sticking into the bore by a smidgeon but I was too buggered to notice. And I started scratching the paint in a few places working by myself. So I left the whole thing looking almost complete at first glance. I even put the lables on 'Pam's Printing Press' and 'Printing press - 2015'
Sunday morning Pam went into her studio and nearly had a heart attack. She woke me up and thanked me profusely and asked how I managed to find one exactly the size she wanted??? When I told her I made it she said I was BS-ing, she said she saw the manufacturer's label on it. I suggested she go and READ the label
Well, that made her even more excited. She was over the moon.
I explained what happened the night before and that I would assemle it properly shortly.
We talked about corrosion control at some point and I passed on Peter's suggestion of having the rollers nickel plated. She thought that would be a good idea, given the wet environment in the studio some of the time.
So during this week I had the rollers plated - great job by the way - and made a mobile stand for it as well as sorting out the fits.
Today it got reassembled and tested. Working like a charm! A couple of minor bits yet to be fitted to allow lifting the top roller (little collars to be turned and fitted to the adjusting screws) and fixing the machine to the trolley.....
Here are the pics:

The rest of us are going to be in real trouble now....by the way, great job Joe

Hi Joe,

That roller is a piece of work! Waht makes it even more of an achievement is the time frame in which you finished it. I just can't make stuff that quickly, you make me look real bad when it comes to shed productivity!
The plated rollers came up a real treat and that valve handwheel looks like it was made for it!

Cheers,

Simon

Originally Posted by pipeclay

Do you have a 4 jaw chuck?

.

Yes Pipeclay I do and thankyou for the tip.

In the same time that Joe Hovel built a great bigg complicated machine I've managed to cut an internal thread and fit a barbell weight onto my lathe nose.

But am probably just as chuffed.

Got a bit lost wondering how to do it with a 3 jaw chuck then remembered your tip. First time I've ever used it in anger. I won't deliberately avoid it any more. Its great how it sits the workpiece up on a platform and one doesnt have to worry about crashing into the body of the chuck behind the workpiece.

Is it possible to make some awesome eccentric spinning tops with a 4 jaw chuck ?

Will do one more to prove that I know what I'm doing and write down a logical work sequence for future reference,then have a go at the faceplates.


Bill

I am going to start to make a rotary broach as one of my next projects... I found some plans on the internetz http://www.homemodelenginemachinist....ad.php?t=14076 (attached below)... Today I purchased the bearings and circlip I require...

Pardon my ignorance RC, but what is a rotary broach and what does it do/used for?
Kryn

It is just a broaching process for broaching round holes to a different shape like square or hex, without the need for expensive tooling...

Can be used on the likes of a lathe or a mill..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8EhGxH7z_w

Thank you very much for enlightening me on the process, can't work out why it needs to rotate and not be still, or is it that it requires less effort?? I thought that heating the end red hot, and belting the shaped punch into it was the way to go.
Kryn

In actual fact neither the cutter does not have to rotate, it is just that when used on a lathe is it easier to make it all rotate...

Here is a really cheap way to build one for a mill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3Ul-s9_MA0

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Thank you very much for enlightening me on the process, can't work out why it needs to rotate and not be still, or is it that it requires less effort?? I thought that heating the end red hot, and belting the shaped punch into it was the way to go.
Kryn

I see Richard has already answered your question, but I would have thought it was for much the same reason that you move the knife blade back and forth when you slice of a piece of cake. Here is another youtube video which explains it more and much better than I could.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRAqTXmMbNU
(Except when the narrator says five tenths of an inch, instead of 5/10 of a thou.)