Scrap Yards

[Darren]

I mentioned on another thread that I have visited my local scrap yard yesterday.
I didn't collect anything from there until I went back today. Difficult to find anything as most of it was old cars and stuff.

But I did find these, and a couple of nice 20mm 3ft brass bars as well





And this, frame is alloy, bars SS, and that block is alloy.

Now come on guys, collectively I reckon you can come up with something useful to do with it?





There was a lot of old machinery there, and the biggest miller I've ever seen, it was huge. Alas it's been out in the elements for far too long. The bed was about 8ft long !!

Oh and and old single cylinder Lister looking a bit sorry for itself.


Anyways, from the first pic I took the old corroded diesel piston for a little operation on the lathe. 
Anyone guess where this is going..... ;D
Pistons are made from nice quality alloy BTW  ;)

[bogstandard]

Darren,

You should class youself as a real scrounger. I do exactly the same as yourself. I don't look on the surface, but what is inside.

The piston shows what I am on about, no-one would give that lump of junk a second look. But just look at the nice bit of material on the inside. The rough you could most probably get for free, the clean bit of metal inside would cost you pounds. Also, old cast iron castings can contain some of the nicest material you can come across. At one time castings were put outside, sometimes for years, to mature and relieve stresses. I think some of the old castings contain material that hasn't got an ounce of stress left in them, and it usually machines up like cutting silk. Maybe that big old mill should be tapped with a sledge, or if they will, crane it up and drop it, then gather up all the wonderful big bits that break off.

Well done

John

[CrewCab]

Anyone guess where this is going..... ;D

Hmmmmmmm .................    ;) ............. I suspect we might be creating one of Ralph's favourite bit's of kit, I built one mi'self but another is on the cards as the 9x20 fitting is not conducive to Boxford ownership  ;D

CC

[Bernd]

I was going to say flywheel, but when you mentioned Ralph, I got to thinking "Ball Turner". I think your right CC.

Bernd

[CrewCab]

I got to thinking "Ball Turner". I think your right CC.

Bernd

Great minds Bernd  8)

CC

[Darren]

Ha, could be  ;D

But for tonight I decided to have a go with this piece from the scrappy



I cut a square off and stuck it in the 4 jaw, drilled and tapped to 6mm



And then stuck it on a bar with a 6mm threaded stub



A little while later it ended up like this





I did make the other half as well, but it's a bit late now and I don't have a pic, will sort one tomorrow.

To my utter surprise this flat steel bar machined beautifully, first time I've had a decent finish with steel. The "free cutting" steel bars I have are awful.
But then it's prob me doing something wrong, speed or something. I'll get there.

I hope you're not all bored with all these pic's, I know most of you are well past all this and have moved onto more exciting stuff..... ;D

I was just so pleased to see the steel machine so well at last, had to tell someone see... ;)


Darren

[Brass_Machine]

Darren

I don't think any of us are bored with the pictures. Keep em coming.

Eric

[bogstandard]

Darren,

Wonderful stuff.

Remember in my reply earlier in this post about 'weathering'. You just might find that because the material has sat outside for a while, all the stresses have been relieved, hence your much better machining results.

You might also find that by using ground up HSS tooling instead of tipped tooling will give much better finishes.

But if you wanted to stay with tipped tooling, I have used one of these for many years, and as long as you don't use it for interrupted cuts, can give finishes like a mirror. The added advantage is that once one part of the tool gets worn, just turn it a bit and you are onto a new cutting area. You should be able to get about 10 to 15 new faces on it before you have to throw it. Go to the bottom of the page and look at profile tools.

http://rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/INDEXABLE_LATHE_TOOLS.html


John

[Darren]

I was going to say flywheel, but when you mentioned Ralph, I got to thinking "Ball Turner". I think your right CC.

Bernd

At the mo I'm just getting a feel for turning, not quite ready to start making an engine.
But I'd like to at some point  ;D

[Darren]

Hi John,

I seem to prefer tipped tooling. I believe it's because I can up the speed which helps the finish on a plain lathe having to hand feed everything. I have wondered about those round tips several times. Maybe I should invest in one and try it.
Interrupted cuts !! Yep, I lost a couple of tips last night making squares round 

My crosslide lead screw is a bit worn, and last night it showed when facing larger diameters.
I was wondering about these and if I could make them fit? The female threaded parts on the slide are easy enough as they are simple brass parts.
I'm not sure if these are the right types of thread.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TR10x2D-Trapezoidal-Spindle-Acme-Ballscrew-Leadscrew_W0QQitemZ280239661742QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_Metalworking_Milling_Welding_Metalworking_Supplies_ET?hash=item280239661742&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TRTAP-M10x2RH-Trapezoidal-Tap-Acme-Ballscrew-Leadscrew_W0QQitemZ220307826465QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_Metalworking_Milling_Welding_Metalworking_Supplies_ET?hash=item220307826465&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318

I've also been wondering about a coolant setup, it could be rigged for several tools. Do they make a diff and worth the investment?

Darren

[kellswaterri]

. Maybe that big old mill should be tapped with a sledge, or if they will, crane it up and drop it, then gather up all the wonderful big bits that break off.



John
[/quote]

Hi john...just exactly what I am going to do with the Chester Conquest mill when I obtain my new mill ;D
All the best,
                John.

[Darren]

Ha, just what my mill needs, similar to an Eagle 30

A half decent pillar drill it may be, a miller it's not !!



Darren

[bogstandard]

Darren,

Usually the topslide and crosslide use left hand threads, so you would need to take them out to check. Also you would need to find the pitch, otherwise your handle scales wouldn't tally to the movement obtained.

You can usually get away with just replacing the nuts.

The nuts are usually made of bronze, to take the continual stresses and wear. I have made these myself for my old Atlas lathe, but usually I make a slight modification to adjust out the wear, and it doubles the life of the leadscrew nut, but it depends if you have a little room spare around it. If there is enough meat on the old ones, you might be able to do the dead easy mod,  and it would keep you going for a couple of years. I have a couple of acme taps, you would need to find out the correct size.

With regards to coolant, I used these on my old lathe and mill, and are about the cheapest you will find anywhere.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/sessionID/QOL/recno/1/product-Axminster-Coolant-System-21084.htm

They do extend tool life considerably, plus also the workpiece doesn't heat up as much and change properties half way thru machining. But goggles and apron are a neccessity, otherwise you will get rather wet, unless you fit splash guards. It is a basic system, but works well.

BTW, the mill drill that you have is what I had been using for the last ever so many years until I just upgraded. I managed to make a few nice pieces on mine, and never gave any trouble at all. It coped with everything, including this chopper frame in for modification.



Problems are usually in the mind, not with the machine.

John

[Darren]

That's a very tidy clean workshop you have there John, hope you never visit mine 

To be fair I shouldn't have written that post on my miller. In all fairness it's been badly abused. It is difficult to slide the tables and one of them has a crack.

I bought it off Ebay unseen described as "perfect working condition" Two hand weels were broken and as mentioned the side problem.
Live and learn.....


The leadscrew on my lathe is 3/8 10tpi clockwise thread. I have inc a pic and hopefully you'll be able to see just how worn it is.
When winding the crosslide out it's silky smooth, but going in sticks at one point in every revolution.  This transfers marks to the work.
The slide on it's own is smooth.

It's not a huge problem, but I can fit a new leadscrew at reasonable cost it has to be worth doing.
I have not stripped the compound slide yet, it works fine, I believe it uses the same acme screw but I'd have to check.



Regards
Darren

[Darren]

And pics of the two parts turned yesterday





Well that's another project that needs finishing !!

Darren

[Divided he ad]

Have I missed it... Entirely possible! .... What you making Darren?



Looks precise 





Ralph.

[Darren]

A generator Ralph......

[bogstandard]

I don't want to sidetrack this post any more than is possible, but just to comment on Darren's leadscrew.

As you said, that is worn beyond repair. You can buy leadscrews fairly easily of this size, but from the US. If you bought say an 24" length, it would most probably do both cross and topslide. The taps for the nuts you could buy from Tracy tools.

http://www.tracytools.com/tapsanddiesacme.htm

I checked my acme taps, and they are 1/2", both left and right, so no use to you.

Screwcutting one is no problem, plus you would also make your own tap the same way. My machine is metric, so I don't know how accurate it would cut an imperial thread, I haven't got that far with it yet, otherwise I would have knocked one up for you.

John

[Darren]

Thanks John,

I think this may be worth pursuing, esp as it won't cost the earth.

I did find these, though they don't list the 3/8 size they should be able to help. The nuts look just right as well.

http://www.kingston-engineering.co.uk/data/frame3.htm

Darren

[bogstandard]

Darren,

I would send them an email, but don't worry if they don't reply. These engineering people usually have rather large minimum order prices, but on the off chance, by reading the text, it looks like they carry stock and just might have an offcut in your size.

The other way is to see if one of our colonial cousins will purchase and send you a piece. It seems to be very cheap in the US (as is almost everything). The exchange rate isn't in our favour at the moment, but it just might be a much cheaper and easier option.

John

[Brass_Machine]

...

The other way is to see if one of our colonial cousins will purchase and send you a piece. It seems to be very cheap in the US (as is almost everything). The exchange rate isn't in our favour at the moment, but it just might be a much cheaper and easier option.

John

Darren,

I have done favors like that in the past for a few people in England and Australia. If you need the assistance, let me know.

Eric

[Darren]

Thanks Eric,

I'll post any results here and let you know how I get on.

Apreciate the offer,

Darren

[Divided he ad]

Erm.... I don't know if anyone told you this early in your life Darren.... But it's kinda hard work to "generate a Ralph!!!!"   ;D  8)  ;)

Oh well it made me laugh!!


So, a jenny ehh! How's that going to come from 2 interlocking discs then?? I will watch intently  ;D




Ralph.

[Darren]

I'm teasing you Ralph,

It's, or going to be, a ball generator  ;D ;D ;D

[Darren]

Darren,

Usually the topslide and crosslide use left hand threads, so you would need to take them out to check. Also you would need to find the pitch, otherwise your handle scales wouldn't tally to the movement obtained.

John

I've been thinking about this John.

If the thread is 10TPI that's one 10 turns to the inch, one turn 10th of an inch, The handle scales are divided into 100 so 1thou per div.

But with 100 divs on the scale this could leave us with a good option to convert to metric could it not?


Say a screw pitch of 2mm, one turn would be 2mm, each div would be 100th of 2mm or 0.002mm. Um maybe not so clever.

1mm pitch would work out well, but prob not enough meat on the threads.

I'll think some more

Darren

Edit, the mini lathe uses 1mm pitch, Am I off track here or could this be done? I'm also wondering if this could also be cut on the mini lathe. Another little project for me maybe.