2 questions and a thanks...

[Seanol]

First, Thanks to Bob Warfield for the tip on the COAX indicator. I bought one and tried it out on my lathe. I could not get it to better that .005 out. I decided to take the tailstock apart and found 2 6" Tilton steel rules under the joint between the base and the tailstock. With those removed I got the tailstock centered to .0005 according to the indicator. I always had a problem and now I was able to find it!

First question is: What do you do about chip clean up? I tried 2 different vacuums (Shop Vac and a generic shop vac) and it seems that the chips get caught up in the hose. If it was straight instead of corrugated I think the chips would make the vacuum container.

Second question is: How do you remove a drill chuck from an R8 arbor (JT3 taper) with out wedges? Any home methods besides 2 pry bars?


Thanks for all your help, I am really getting to the point where I can start making tools to make tools to make an engine!

Sean

 

[steamer]

Hi Sean,

The vacuum is the second line of defense in my shop. First is a good ol dust pan and brush.

Reliable and y2k compliant

DONT USE COMPRESSED AIR!....it will put chips into some really bad places. This is especially true of older machines that don't have the efficient way wipers some modern machines have.

The Vac will work much better if you can take care of the long chips first ( from the drill) the smaller chips go through just fine here.

You might want to put a liner in the shop vac to keep it from getting all goey from the cutting oil, and don't wait too long to empty it out...they get heavy.

Additionally, get yourself some scrub matts to keep your shoes clean or you will, no matter how hard you try, track chips into the house.

As to the drill chuck, check this out

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=1785469&PMT4NO=39482689

You can order over the phone it will be there the next day for 7 bucks plus shipping
OR.....make some yourself....nice little exercise. ;D

For home use you could make them from just about anything...even aluminum, but if your going to put in the time to make them, make them from steel.
Even just band sawed (hack sawed) to shape would work.....clean them up with a file so they're smooth and slide nice....but there is nothing particularly magic about them

Hope that helps!

Dave

 

[Bogstandard]

Just a warning on removing the swarf from your machine. This is the only time I would condone the use of gloves. Long curly strings are like razor wire, and in no time can cut you to the bone. Even with gloves I would be tempted to make yourself a small baling hook to drag the stuff around, easily bent out of a bit of thinnish rod. After that is away your vac should easily cope.

John

 

[DickDastardly40]

If cutting steel and wanting to remove swarf there is the magnet in a plastic bag trick, when the magnet becomes loaded and can attract no more turn the bag inside out, remove the magnet and ditch the bag.

For long strings, this sort of thing works fairly well, we have one at work:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cyclone-magnetic-swarf-collector/path/drill-presses-magnetic-drilling-systems

I have cheap 2" paint brush at home for sweeping the bed of brass or ally into a pair of old oven trays which sit under the bed of the lathe, which I then lift out and tip in the swarf bucket.

As regards the stuck jacobs chuck, is the R8 arbor loose or in the machine? If loose you could try putting it in the freezer over night and see if the shaft contracts enough to tap the chuck off.

Hope some of this is of help.

Al

 

[Seanol]

Thanks for the replies! ;D
I don't use compressed air and I do have a couple of paint brushes that I cut down. The dust pan idea is good but I can't get into all the places and it is hard to get the chips out of the T slots. I like using the vacuum but I think a smooth liner hose may be the ticket.
Al,
I will put the chuck in the freezer tonight and see what happens. If that doesn't work I will make some chuck wedges. Can't buy them cause I have used up my tool budget for the near future... :'(

Thanks again,
Sean

 

[Bernd]

Sean,

Before you use the wedges make sure that there is no screw holding the chuck on the arbor. Open the chuck all the way and use a flashlight to check the inside to see if there is a screw holding the chuck on the arbor.

Bernd

 

[steamer]

Bogs comment on sharp string chips is a good one.

Additionally, make yourself a t slot cleaning tool. It's just a t slot shaped piece of fairly heavy sheet steel that you drag through the T slot and it pushes the chips out in front of it.

You can buy one too....as budget permits....I feel your pain... ;D

Dave

 

[Alphawolf45]

I do this fulltime not just on weekends and I always use compressed air and never have any trouble doing it that way..But there would be some folks who shouldnt be allowed to use a blowgun..I've had a few employees that come instantly to mind...Probably its better in general to warn against use of compressed air but most shop owners who care about their equipment would be using all due caution with an air hose..Pride of ownership and all that stuff....Dont blow swarf up into glass scales of your DROs is probably worth saying..

 

[rake60]

Sean
I have two drill chucks. One on an R8 for the mini mill and the other on an MT#2
for the lathe. One is more more accurate than the other and there are times I will
swap them depending on the situation at hand.

Mine are both just a press fit to the JT taper.
I remove the chuck from the arbor with a short piece of tubing, a heavy punch
and a 3 pound hammer.

A sharp rap or two on the punch knocks the arbor free.

As Bernd has already stated give it a good look first to be sure it doesn't have a fastener
in there!

Rick

 

[wareagle]

Lots of good stuff here; no need to repeat it.

I will add one thing that I do in my shop that is effective, and that is to keep the areas consistently clean. Things get a quick clean up after breaking down a set up. If I am doing a series of tasks with a part in a fixture for instance, I will clean up after each step or every other step with a quick brush off or vac job. I have found that alone will make the clean up time much shorter and pleasant, and adds to the overall safety in the shop.

On the shop vac front, I use/have a couple of Rigid shop vacs, and one is for the exclusive use of picking up swarf and chips. It is oily, grungy, and nasty, but that is it's only purpose in life. The other I use to vacuum out cars and the like where you don't want greasy trails left behind. Long strigy chips are handled by hand or dust pan, and the remaining stuff the vac gets. Only one time has the hose clogged up, and a broom handle/pipe can easily clear the restriction. I realize having two vacs is out of many people's budgets (or the money is better suited for that new ____), but it could be an idea for that hard to come up with Christmas, Father's Day, or Birthday list and aren't so expensive that they are out of reach.

 

[howiesatwork]

I have to get this place cleaned up a bit. Last major cleaning involved the leaf blower... Well, it does get behind things you can't reach...