A couple of tips from my shop.

[DICKEYBIRD]

Big changes at my "real job" recently has me doing more work with less pay and more time spent there....sign of the times I guess. Bottom line: less time and money for doing the things I enjoy in the workshop at home.

That said; I did get a couple inexpensive things done that I thought I'd share. I'm working on a tool grinder project that needs a couple steel plate gusset/bracket thingies to support a collet fixture. (More details later on the project if it works.) Anyhoo, the parts needed 3 slots accurately placed with a couple holes that needed to be in the right place as well. I took the time to sketch the overall project in TurboCAD since the angles and relationships of the parts need to be accurately worked out before committing metal surgery.

I printed out just the gusset portion of the CAD drawing on my trusty ol' shop inkjet printer and cut it out with scissors. I drilled, countersunk and tapped 2 pieces of 3/16” plate and screwed them together with 10-24 c/sunk screws outside of the parts’ outer perimeter which left a flat lower surface for clamping on the mill table with a couple 1-2-3 blocks underneath for clearance. I glued the drawing to the plate with super glue and was able to easily cut the slots and drill the holes very accurately in the mill. Beats the heck out of trying to lay out and mark everything with a ruler and a scribe.

(The dark stuff in the 2nd pic is from the cutting oil after it soaked into the paper.)

Once the slots were finished and the 2 holes drilled & reamed, I put 2 bolts and nuts into the holes so the outside shape could be cut out on the bandsaw and the edges finished on the disc sander. The finished parts will fit well and are identical since they were cut out at the same time.

Mini-project #2 was the construction of a new collet rack to go alongside the mill. The original one was too close to the “cutting zone” and I was constantly having to clean chips from the collets. The new one was made from a scrap piece of maple and short pieces cut from busted carbon arrow shafts an archer/hunter friend gave me. The spacing was worked out in CAD and I made a drill jig with a piece of tubing glued in it to hold the drill at the angle and spacing I’d drawn up. It works a treat!

 

[Bernd]

Nice job there Dickeybird. I use Autosketch to do the same thing. It's great for laying out holes on a bolt hole pattern if you don't have a DRO.

Can't wait to see that tool grinder when it's done. Promise to do a write up on it when you get it sorted out? ;D

Bernd

 

[DICKEYBIRD]

Thanks Bernd, CAD opened up a whole new world for me and I use it all the time for all kinds of things. It was a struggle at first 'cuz I didn't have a clue how to use it when I started over 10 yrs. ago. I was lucky enough to have a friend down the street that came over and helped me over the hump. I'd recommend anyone in the hobby to take the time to learn 2D CAD. I wish I could learn 3D...maybe someday.

I'm a couple of weekends away from having enough progress on the grinder project to show & tell but I'll definitely share it here. Hopefully it'll work!

Milton

 

[Lew Hartswick]

Regarding the collet holder: Is/was there a reason that you used the "arrow shafting" as a "male"
holder rather than just drilling a hole for the shank size of the collet as a "female" hold?
Reason I ask is, I made several large block to hold the R8 collets for the mills at school and used holes,
and it would have made the protrusion less by an apreciable amount.
Just curious.
...lew...

 

[DICKEYBIRD]

Hi Lew,

No particular reason other than it seemed easy at the time to just screw a piece of wood to the end of the workbench with some dowels sticking out to hang the collets on. I was fresh out of dowels at the time and didn't want to waste the gas to drive down to Home Cheepo to pick up some. The arrow shafts were the 1st thing I came across that were about the right size and were free.

That's me alright...lazy and tight with a dollar...so tight I take my glasses off when I'm not looking at anything. :big:

Milton

 

[DICKEYBIRD]

...ps: Lew, I forgot about the other benefit of stacking collets this way. With a little practice I think I could play Louie-Louie on them.;D They ring like bell.

 

[rond]

Regarding the collet holder: Is/was there a reason that you used the "arrow shafting" as a "male"
holder rather than just drilling a hole for the shank size of the collet as a "female" hold?
Reason I ask is, I made several large block to hold the R8 collets for the mills at school and used holes,
and it would have made the protrusion less by an apreciable amount.
Just curious.
...lew...

Hi,

Nice work, BTW. Take the time to learn 3D...it'll expand your skills more than you can ever imagine. I liken it to a machinist going from a lathe (2D) to a mill (3D). You'll also find that after you get the hang of it briefly, it's much better and easier too.

Ron