Tool & Cutter Grinder

[cfellows]

I'm never one to let a series of unfinished projects get in the way of starting yet another one. So, the past couple of days I've been working on some mods to a small tool & cutter grinder I built several years ago. Here it is as of a couple of days ago with the grinding wheel removed.

I had always wanted to see about modifying the grinder to double as a small surface grinder. And, the two examples of multifunction tools displayed by black85vette and ghart3 inspired me to move ahead.

The first order of business was to extend the motor spindle so the grinding wheel could extend further out over the work holding table. Here are a couple of pictures, first of the pieces and then the put-together piece.

The next thing to do is make a new motor mounting assembly that lets me raise and lower the motor (and grinding wheel). I also want to adapt it to be able to use an abrasive cutoff blade for cutting small pieces accurately.

Chuck

 

[slick95]

Nice Mod Chuck. The extended housing looks real good. Interested in the final product.

I guess I should not concern myself with completing a project prior to starting more...what the heck I'll just pile them on.

Jeff

 

[black85vette]

Looking good Chuck. I like the table and slots. May have to start another project. oh:

 

[Blogwitch]

Very nice indeed Chuck.

I am going the other way, trying to use my small surface grinder for sharpening all my own tools.

I don't want to sidetrack your post, but to add to it slightly,

I notice one of the cheap outlets in the US was doing these sharpening fixtures, http://cdcotools.com/, and now I have got my head around it, I can thoroughly recommend getting one.

The destructions with them are no use at all, but I have now figured it out how to sharpen up to 12 fluted end mills.

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=1434.0

Blogs

 

[cfellows]

Nice Mod Chuck. The extended housing looks real good. Interested in the final product.

I guess I should not concern myself with completing a project prior to starting more...what the heck I'll just pile them on.

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. I've found that I flit from project to project a lot. Virtually all of my projects involve my own designs and ideas so I have to make things up as I go along. Unfortunately, I can't sit down and force creativity, so while one project is simmering in the back of my mind, I go off and work on something else. My brain just seems to be an assembly line of various projects and from time to time one gets completed and pops off the line!

Looking good Chuck. I like the table and slots. May have to start another project. oh:

Gotta tell tell you, that slotted table nearly made me give up machining for good. The raw material was a 5" x 12" x 1" thick piece of cold rolled steel. There was nothing inherently difficult about it, just a lot of metal removal. To mill the t-slots, I first milled the vertical slots using a 1/4 roughing mill, then completed them with a t-slot cutter. Lots of oil, low rpms on the cutter, and real slow feed (by hand). Then I had to cut the dovetail the full length of the bottom.

Very nice indeed Chuck.

I am going the other way, trying to use my small surface grinder for sharpening all my own tools.

I don't want to sidetrack your post, but to add to it slightly,

I notice one of the cheap outlets in the US was doing these sharpening fixtures, http://cdcotools.com/, and now I have got my head around it, I can thoroughly recommend getting one.

The destructions with them are no use at all, but I have now figured it out how to sharpen up to 12 fluted end mills.

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=1434.0

Blogs

Thanks, Blogs. I used to have one of those devices. I may still have it, but I rarely used it. It always seemed to me that most end mills get used and need to be sharpened on the flutes, not the bottom. I suppose the real answer is that you need to sharpen both. I have a small, air bearing, flute sharpening fixture that I built. Haven't used that much either, but I do plan to do more sharpening of my own end mills instead of just buying new ones!

 

[cfellows]

Got the motor bits all reassembled today. I fired it up and it ran smoothly but was making a some pretty bad noises. A little investigation revealed that the ball bearing race I installed on the outboard end was trashed. Many of the bearings in my parts drawer are reclaimed from a previous life and I'm never entirely sure about their integrity. So, I'll be ordering a new bearing and hopefully that will correct the problem.

Chuck