Update: Master Mill, Burners

The DC motor controller died.  Thinking about that.  I was getting ready to make the first test after installing new 1:1 pulleys and a toothed V-Belt borrowed from the drill press.

I have been working on burners.  The one I made was a 3/4".    Have made a 1/2" pipe to screw into it.    Turned an aluminum bushing on the lathe to fit the 1/2" inside the the 3/4".  May also make a 5/8" pipe.

Thinking about adding a larger pipe on the end of the 3/4" burner so it can be used like a weed burner.  Need to heat up a bit of the frame on the car trailer and pound it flat.  Another bushing may do the trick.

Cut the one leg on the little shop crane that came with the lathe.    One of the front wheels was about 6 inches up too far.   There is just enough metal left so the leg hinges down into place.   Welded it back on straight.

If I can I'd like to setup this crane so I could choose between the original fixed boom or the swiveling HF boom intended for use in a pickup bed.   The swiveling boom should make lining up parts easier.  Maybe setup some stops to keep from swinging  past the front wheels which would cause it to tip.  If this works out I don't need to repair the hydraulic jack currently on the crane.

Interesting old tool holder

I have puzzled over these in the past.    The first one came in a lot of tool holders for the Sidney.  The atlas came with one too but smaller of course.

While trying to enlarge a .6 something hole to .6686 I was forced to look at the tiny boring bars that came with the atlas.  Rods really.  Then while wondering how to hold them I recalled this tool holder.   The real give a way is the screw pushes the tool down into a V.   

Need to get some better images.

Master Mill V Belt Pulleys

Opted to use a toothed belt instead of a poly-v.  Driven pulley is nearly done.   Still need to cut the key way.

A pair of  4 inch pulleys should work With the belts from the large drill press.

Cut the key way on the Sidney using a sharpened key on a boring bar.   Lath not under power.

Could not use the boring bar on the Atlas because the bar was too small for the holder.  Shimming with aluminum flashing did not work.  Moved to the Sidney which is in theory more rigid.

 

Finished the driving pulley.  Left had tap on 1/2 hole and bored the rest out to fit the larger part of the shaft.   Motor rotation will unscrew it so I added permanent thread locker and tightened it.  Let it rest till tomorrow.

Atlas Spindle

Took a look at the spindle bearings today.  The front has a bit of scoring but should not matter.  What does matter is that it had an .008 shim in the back and a .003 in the front.  Removed the .080 to get a good fit.  

The back bearing cap was not tight.   When I snugged it down the spindle did not turn.   
The back cap would not come off.  Need to back off the thrust nut on the back.  Was too late so its a tomorrow thing.

New CME Six Inch Six Jaw Chuck

My wife bought me a new chuck for the Atlas.   Its a CME 6" 6 Jaw.    Spent the better part of a day tearing it down and cleaning it.
This is my first experience with a new and first with a six jaw chuck.  It grips very well.  Ran a DTI over the outside of the chuck.  Looks like about 1 or 1.5 thou of runout.      Maybe this can be reduced by bumping the chuck on the backplate.

Overall it looks to be very well machined.  I was concerned because similar chucks are much more expensive.
https://cme-tools.myshopify.com/products/6-6-jaw-self-centering-lathe-chuck-with-1-1-2-8-back-mounting-adapter-plate?variant=30994824396

Shot a lot of vid but don't know that I will be using it.   Especially the parts where I was scrubbing parts with my boxers showing above my pants!  That and neglecting to start recording now and then more or less made it useless.

Have a few hours in using the chuck.   Mostly I like it.  Takes a while to swap the jaws around but they are a very good fit.   Once in a while it take a soft hammer bump to get one loose.  When this happens I add a bit of oil.

Found a Hilt we Cast in the 80s

Back in the 80s we were into pattern welding and made a blade to be given away at a SCA tourney we held in North Dakota.   We cast the original as a lost wax gravity pour and made a flexible pattern so copies could be cast, 2nd chance if we screwed up sort of thing.    This is one we did not use, maybe a reject.  Imagine it with the low spots treated with liver of sulfur and the rest polished.

We should have a picture of the prize dagger all polished up on a red velvet background.  But have not seen it in years. 

More Tool Organization

There was a six drawer storage unit with the lathe.  The actual unit was ruined but the drawers were serviceable.  I am making inserts to hold various tools.

This drawer is for woodruff aka half moon key cutters.  This is actually too small to hole them all.  Maybe move out some of the duplicates.  Note that these have both a diameter and thickness.   So although each row looks the same they may vary in thickness.

Used paper as offset to widen the slots.

This one is for the broaches.  There are 13 of them but many are duplicates and no small ones.  And none of the bushing guide things, but they can be machined as needed.   To get a tray of broaches out tilt the box so the broaches all go to one end.  Then push down on the other end of the tray and the other end comes up so you can grab it.  Simple is good.

This shelf has much on it that could be stored elsewhere.   Here the 3/4" holes in this stick are perfect for holding the master mill arbor and cutter holders.  The wood is yet another bit of pellet sticker.  The groove on the back made it easy to screw it to the shelf edge.

Years ago I bought this little Incra fence.  It is bolted to the drill press table and can be adjusted by 1/64ths of an inch via interlocking racks.  The fence along with the clamp produce holes with very good front to back alignment.

Next Day

Looking at the shelf I hung the milling arbors from caused me to realize that I have the storage I need but it needs liberating.   There is another room behind this one.  The shelf divides it.   Need to organize the back room to make room for the stuff that does not belong on the front shelf.  Played with painting it but since I don't know where my random orbital sander is I am just dusting it off.  Such is life.

Anyway should be lots of room for machining tools here.

These are going to the scrap.   Thinking of keeping some of the sheet metal.  Now that I have a metal break it may come in handy.  For example make a cover for the Master Mill's treadmill controller.  Maybe scrounge the PSUs.

May 11

BLogger keeps switching to a NEW and improved or maybe its just the mobile interface.  It sucks.

I am opting to place the little drawers on the big shelf.   Maybe put some bits in place to make them function.

May 12

Continued with the cleaning in the shop in preparation for the arrival of the new chuck tomorrow.
Played with getting play out of the cross slide.   Removed all I can from the front of the screw in the area of the crank.
Still have 20 thou by the DTI when I move the cross slide back an forth against the screw.
Some of this could be in the mounting nut as Chirpy said.  The rest is wear in the leadscrew or its nut.

Was digging through the parts not yet installed on the Sidney and noticed the threading dial barely turned.
Run some of the Dollar General spray oil through it and eventually chucked it up in the lathe and spun it while adding oil.
Then I changed from oil to carb cleaner which mostly took the paint off.  Then 30W.

Update

The Atlas 10" is working well.    I am not happy with the chuck and my kind wife ordered me a new one.   Maybe a post on cleaning it up when it comes.

I have been working on a new driven shaft for an old craftsman 6x9" belt sander I picked up a while back.   Figured it would be a good learning project.
It is.  Cutting the snap ring grooves was harder than expected.  Used the Sharpen-all to thin a parting tool to 40 thou.   Played around for a while and got it to cut with the blade below the center line.
MrPete says hot rolled can be tough to part.

Need the Master Mill to cut the half moon keyways.   Spend too much time freeing up the holder for the 1/2" tools.   But it is done.  Reamed out the hole where the tool goes by hand and it was sure full of crud.  Still need to drill a new set screw hole.

Cranked the Master Mill over by hand and got 9 or 10 to 1.     I was thinking it was 6.    Anyway I plan on turning equal sized drive and driven pulleys.    Have the left hand tap so I can thread the pulley onto the motor.   Still need a set screw because the cutting direction will try to unscrew the pulley.   I cast several blanks last month so I should be good to start on them when the new chuck arrives.

Frozen milling cutter holder

Need to get his loose.

Tried elbow grease.
Heated it with propane several times. 
Tried a hand impact.
Drilled the back of the hand impact to take an air hammer shank.
Tried drilling it out with a left hand bit.
Did not come loose so switched to a regular bit.  Went through a couple they dulled.
Tried an end mill in the drill press to get the sloped sides left by the bit.  Maybe ran it too fast.
Placed it on the floor and drilled with a cordless drill wobbling the bit to get it to bite.
Placed the cutter in the big vice and twisted the hex part with a big crescent.  
It came loose!    
But now the set screw hole is too large to be useful.
I am going to drill a new one on the other side of the holder.  There is enough meat left so it should work.

EBay Versa Mill Image showing belt guard

Wood Lathe Tool Storage

I have been keeping my wood lathe turning tools in their original wood box since purchasing the lathe.   Recently 12 more tools were acquired along with the Atlas metal lathe.  Needed something better.

So I made this.   Made room for a few more just in case.  And the wood shaving seen are entirely from building the racks.

What are these?

These came with the lathe.  They guy also repaired lawn mowers.

EDIT: they are for balancing mower blades.  These rest on a base and tilt based on the blades balance or lack of it.

Sand Blaster Cabinet

Picked up an old sand blaster from the place the lathe came from.  Can't find a name model is "Small Engine"  and later on the data plate "Service"

The gloves are too small.   I can get into them but maybe trapped if I put both on.

The fan motor took a while to spin up.   Maybe need to clean or replace it.

Atlas 10 inch is home part III

After a bit of messing around I managed a nice finish on cast aluminum.  

This is to tool bit used.  It came with the lathe so was more likely ground by a fellow who passed away over 10 years ago.  So no way to know what he used it for.  

Tool angle relative to work.