Author Topic: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter  (Read 56472 times)

Offline fluxcored

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Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« on: February 08, 2010, 05:46:05 AM »
Hi All,

I need to cut some change gears in the near future and am investigating ways of cutting the slots. I've found Stew's excellent write up http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=1859.0 on how to quickly make a keyway slotter which is more than adequate for my purposes.

However it got me thinking, and I want to throw the idea out there. How about using an old drill press as a quick and easy slotter? I've got a bench top drill press that's just sitting idle. I'm busy making pigtails for mops I bought the other day to turn it into a buffing station and on my project list is an adaptor to turn wooden handles on it also. It'll be great if it also can function as a simple slotter even if only to time me over until I have some quiet time to build a dedicated hand operated slotter.

Oh and I plan to make the gears out of either aluminum, brass or bronze. Soft material so that if I get the gears wrong, it does'nt damage the existing gear train of the lathe.

Regards.
"Living is a dangerous occupation. Just look at all the dead people out there." - Thomas Lipton

Offline Jasonb

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2010, 06:34:30 AM »
You can just use a boringh bar holder in the lathe with a square tool that has a vertical cutting edge and plane the slot in with teh carrage a few thou at a time.

The materials you are looking at will be easy, I've done quite a few in steel upto 3/16" wide keys and 1" long like the four in this gear centre

Jason

Offline fluxcored

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2010, 06:46:29 AM »
Hi Jason,

I planned on doing that but then read that it's a strain on the lathe. But I guess you right, especially with the softer material I'll be using.

Seems I worry and over think things too much.

Thanx.
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Offline NickG

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2010, 08:06:48 AM »
I used the same method Jason suggested to do the aluminium pulley for my lathe.
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Offline Jasonb

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2010, 08:21:22 AM »
Its more the strian it puts on the user than the machine!! I wouldn't want to use it much over the 3/16 keyway width as it does take quite a bit of effort.

One way to lessen the effort and also help guide the tool is to make a plug for your gear out of a scrap bit of similar material and the drill down the joint between the two. This removes a lot of the metal and also gives helps keep the cutter in line.

Jason

Offline andyf

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2010, 08:59:10 AM »
...... One way to lessen the effort and also help guide the tool is to make a plug for your gear out of a scrap bit of similar material and the drill down the joint between the two. This removes a lot of the metal and also gives helps keep the cutter in line.

For keys which aren't subject to much torque - like where a setscrew would be enough, but there's nowhere on the wheel or whatever to put it - I've sometimes been lazy and just drilled down the join between wheel and shaft and used a bit of round bar to act as a key. Only works at the end of the shaft, of course; no good for half-way along it.

Andy
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I've cut the end off it twice, but it's still too short

Offline crankshafter

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2010, 09:02:33 AM »
Hi All,

I need to cut some change gears in the near future and am investigating ways of cutting the slots. I've found Stew's excellent write up http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=1859.0 on how to quickly make a keyway slotter which is more than adequate for my purposes.

However it got me thinking, and I want to throw the idea out there. How about using an old drill press as a quick and easy slotter? I've got a bench top drill press that's just sitting idle. I'm busy making pigtails for mops I bought the other day to turn it into a buffing station and on my project list is an adaptor to turn wooden handles on it also. It'll be great if it also can function as a simple slotter even if only to time me over until I have some quiet time to build a dedicated hand operated slotter.

Oh and I plan to make the gears out of either aluminum, brass or bronze. Soft material so that if I get the gears wrong, it does'nt damage the existing gear train of the lathe.

Regards.
Hi fluxcore
Here are som great plans. have a look. http://homepage3.nifty.com/amigos/index-e.html   :beer:

Krankshafter

Offline Darren

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2010, 09:08:39 AM »
Has anyone here tried cutting a keyway with their shaper ?

I'm trying to decide if to make a tool for the shaper or the lathe. Shaper would be easier/simple and less arm ache in use. But would it have the same finesse? I guess it should do, but anyone tried it?
« Last Edit: February 08, 2010, 11:05:39 AM by Darren »
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Offline ieezitin

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2010, 10:25:59 AM »
Darren

The shaper is ideal for this task. As shaping is a method of removing metal by a planing action.

The tool bit is ground like a tooth of a milling cutter. As so to act like a  commercial broach system.

I have done it years ago, just one full slot with the opening at the end of the shaft. I never have reached in over the bar stock  and made a slot like an end mill would make in the middle of the shaft. But I am sure its possible if we put our thinking cap on.

All the best.    Anthony
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Offline sbwhart

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2010, 11:44:58 AM »
Hi

The reason i built the slotter was that I strained my lathe cutting a slot winding the slide back and two, I knew i'd done something to it at the time back lash increased by a magnitude of four, limped along with it at that level, but I've just finished putting my lathe back together after sorting out the problem I'd cracked a casting, luckily it was able to machine a replacement up myelf, so be warned, make shure youre lathe is robust enough to do that sort of trick.

As for using a drill thats a great idea but you have to think of a way to lock the spindle.

Cheers

Stew


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Offline Darren

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2010, 12:12:34 PM »
Oh dear Stew,
I have done it on a lathe slotting leaded brass, but I was not comfortable doing it as the strain was quite apparent.

It was also a slow process ...

I glad you manage to fix it Stew  :thumbup:
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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2010, 12:17:44 PM »
Hi Darren

Here is the tool and tool holder i knocked up a good few years ago  to use in my shaper , you may notice the cutter is back wards , this is correct way to slot with a shaper as you lock the clapper box so it dont move .



Hi fluxcored  , you can make a slotter for the lathe , by using the compound slide on the lathe , you need to remove the feed screw unit, 2 screws normally , so the compound slide is fee to move , make up a leaver and bracket to fit to were the screw fitted  , and fix an anchour piont to the cross slide  , then you can just mount the tool in the tool holder .

cheers  Rob

Offline Darren

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #12 on: February 08, 2010, 12:23:17 PM »
Rob thank you for posting those pictures as I've just spent the last 1/2hr sorting stock to make a holder of a different design.
Having now seen yours I'll have to put all the bits back away  :doh:

Ta mate, back off to the shed to see what I can find to copy those pics, looks great  :clap:
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Offline Bernd

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #13 on: February 08, 2010, 03:17:47 PM »
Nice Rob. Makes me want a shaper. I'd love to get one of those bench top Atlas models.

If all else fails and nothing ever comes up anywere I think I might attempt to build the Dave Gingery shaper. I have the plans. I don't think I'd try to pour aluminum though like he did.

Here's a pic of it :
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Offline Darren

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #14 on: February 08, 2010, 03:36:09 PM »
Rob, your workshop always looks devoid of clutter  :scratch:

Where are all the bits and bobs  :coffee:
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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #15 on: February 08, 2010, 03:50:50 PM »
Rob, your workshop always looks devoid of clutter  :scratch:

Where are all the bits and bobs  :coffee:


 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:  i WISH , at the moment it looks like someone has tipped the shop up at one end , i took the photos so no crap/mess would show  :)

Hi Bernd , i would go for it , build the DG shaper , melting ally is not to  hard to do , you dont need nothing to special

Cheers Rob ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Darren you went in to the shop hours ago  , were is your slotting tool  :dremel: :coffee:

Offline Darren

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #16 on: February 08, 2010, 04:49:54 PM »
It's coming, it's coming .....

Had a disaster with the mill .....  :doh:
The belt kept stretching, I kept adjusting, removing links..... and then again .... and then it snapped  :doh:
It's a Brammer link belt and it's way to old to hold up.

All ok now, robbed one off the 2nd lathe to get it going again and back on the job  :dremel:
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Offline fluxcored

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #17 on: February 09, 2010, 12:39:19 AM »
Thank you all for the great replies. You've given me quite a few tips.

Regards.
"Living is a dangerous occupation. Just look at all the dead people out there." - Thomas Lipton

Offline tel

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #18 on: February 09, 2010, 02:21:49 PM »
Here's a rough one I made - before I got the shaper.


Offline fluxcored

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #19 on: February 10, 2010, 02:10:24 AM »
Tel, I like yours a lot. Thanks for the piccie.
"Living is a dangerous occupation. Just look at all the dead people out there." - Thomas Lipton

Offline hophar

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #20 on: February 26, 2010, 08:47:36 PM »
I was just looking at an excellent post on making key slots...U-Tube
The guy simply drilled the base diameter  with round bit and the hobbed the rest. It looks simple but then everything does until you try it.
hophar

Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #21 on: April 04, 2010, 10:56:10 AM »
Hi Fluxcored,  I used my Logan lathe to "shape" a six slotted PTO dog clutch for my tractor some years ago, and took about a full day, and worked the lathe something hard, but it worked in heat treated machine steel, and it made the PTO work again.  The picture you comment on right above this post is probably the best fast way to get it done right, with no load on the lathe, if you don't want to really do it right, and do the tooling to do it where it should be done, in the shaper designed for the job exactly.  With the right tooling, it's a three minute job to put a keyway in a pulley with the shaper, and looking back, I could have spent half the time I did cutting the spline slots, making the tools for my shaper, and then spent twenty minutes getting the dog clutch machined, and still have the tooling to do the other fifteen similar jobs I've had to work around to get done, since then.  Even the idea of using the top slide, with the screw removed and a lever added is a great idea I wish I'd seen before I went to work on that clutch dog.  Mad Jack

Offline John Hill

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #22 on: April 04, 2010, 07:09:12 PM »
Rob, your workshop always looks devoid of clutter  :scratch:

Where are all the bits and bobs  :coffee:

Umm, behind that bed sheet he keeps for photography? :scratch:
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Rob.Wilson

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #23 on: April 05, 2010, 05:38:44 AM »
 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: i will try harder to get more crap in the shots  :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Here is a few shots of my lathe slotter ,




This tool has come in very handly of late  :D

Cheers Rob
« Last Edit: April 05, 2010, 05:46:31 AM by Rob.Wilson »

Offline Divided he ad

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Re: Poor Man's Keyway Slotter
« Reply #24 on: April 05, 2010, 08:06:19 AM »
That's one nice shiney bit of kit there Rob  :headbang:


A quick question/statement (or two)...

I'm assuming that you have some form of indexer on the lathe spindle?

I'm also assuming that without going to all the effort to make an indexer for the lathe this could be done with a rotary table and the slotter unit on a mill table?

Cause I can make the unit easily enough, but all the time lathe converting/making indexing plates would crash this idea as "fun" for me! (distinct lack of free time at the mo'!)
Of course I'm not fully aware of the pressures involved, I can guess from the length of the lever, but having never tried it...  It might move the RT if the cut is too deep?


Just a few thoughts going through my head  :scratch:





Ralph.


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