[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Neither a test indicator or a dial gauge will show surface roughness.

Me and Blondihacks are measuring these ridges just fine with our dial gauges: Check at 6;34. (for some reason I can’t get the timed link copied)

https://youtu.be/asmH4HjZLRY?t=365

Surface roughness might be different, but the surface finish is fine, just these ridges.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

For the time being I'd just leave it square. The beautifying can be done later.
Don't see how angling the head will help you in this case.

We will see, it all about the learning, not necessarily getting to the end result quickly. Angle the head, gives you an angled cut across the piece. I wonder how well that would work as the spindle will be at an angle to the column. Not the most rigid of set up I would think. Even so, these are just very shallow, narrow cuts.

Lots of goodies arriving this very morning:


I have most of the materials in house now, still more to come and I have not even began on the screws, bolts, washers. Those can wait though.



I picked up this set of Proxxon parallels on the internet.



All the bits for my Lathe arrived too:



Not sure when I will be able to continue work on the cilinder support. Quite a few other things going on. Weather this weekend looks lousy, so that would make for some good machining time!

Jeroen

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Me and Blondihacks are measuring these ridges just fine with our dial gauges: Check at 6;34. (for some reason I can’t get the timed link copied)

OK. Thought you were trying to measure the what the eye sees as semicircular/ quartercircular tool/ machining marks, not the ridge between passes.

Angle the head, gives you an angled cut across the piece.

How do you plan to machine a length greater than the tool diameter, requiring a X feed?

Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

OK. Thought you were trying to measure the what the eye sees as semicircular/ quartercircular tool/ machining marks, not the ridge between passes.

No agree, that would not work. The ridges do show up and also these very shallow, hollow cuts Blondihacks calls water chutes. Truth of the matter remains that they look worse than they really are.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

How do you plan to machine a length greater than the tool diameter, requiring a X feed?

Wait and see, all will be revealed eventually!

though I can’t guarantee it is yet another case of me just not being experienced enough and thinking this can be done easily, akin to the drilling at an angle episode on my Wobbler engine.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Does Proxxon have motors as accessories for the X and Y traverse/ feed?

Not as far as I know or can tell from their catalogue:

https://www.proxxon.com/en/micromot/...ng-systems.php

They do have CNC (ready) mills, but I have not seen motors sold as accessories. I have seen a few stories here and there about people putting their own motors on them.

The FF500 CNC is approx Euro 4500,-- en the FF500 CNC Ready is approx Euro 3300. Which I think is a lot of money for just essentially, still a hobby mill.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

With so much new stuff aquired in the last couple of weeks my workspace was getting very cluttered. Those of you that have followed my “fiddling with cars” thread know I am very particular about keeping my workshop clean and tidy.

So last night I decided to arrange some things first before doing any more milling. Actually, I do enjoy that too, it is all part of being very nerdy, some say.

I just know I enjoy a tidy space better. Especially these days, with my memory going, keeping everything in its exact same space, helps me remember where to find it.

I also unpacked all the bits for my lath. With the new chuck I should also be able to turn the flywheel, no problem. I have a large chunk of metal of about 115mm diameter and it will fit into the new chuck.

Before:



I cleaned out one shelve and arranged all my special lath and milling kit there.





Got rid of some stuff, re-arranged some stuff. I do need a large work surface to work so, more stuff had to be moved to free up and create some more space.

Also, I took away all the boxes and various other bits and pieces sitting behind the lathe/mill. Cluttering up space and it is a whole lot easier to clean the chips away.





Left my little pile of stock in place for now. Not shown here is all the new stock that arrived earlier. It’s kept in a separate box for now.



The one thing I don’t like about the new set up, is the fact that the grinder is very close to this shelve with all the lath/mill and measuring kit. I will fix something on the side of the shelve to keep the grinding dust of it.

This weekend, hopefully, some milling!

Jeroen

[Thad E Ginathom]

A suggestion: At some point in the future, separate the lathe and bench grinder. Shop wisdom seems to be to keep grinding dust away from bearing surfaces.

In the meantime, I guess... cover the lathe up when grinding?

[Sutripta]

Grinding and electric welding are the two big no nos near precision machines.

Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

A suggestion: At some point in the future, separate the lathe and bench grinder. Shop wisdom seems to be to keep grinding dust away from bearing surfaces.

In the meantime, I guess... cover the lathe up when grinding?

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Grinding and electric welding are the two big no nos near precision machines.

I know, I know. But as they say, it is what it is. This is what my set up is currently and other than protecting my equipment by covering it up, there is not much I can do. Ideally I would have liked to have both the Lath and the mill in a complete separate spot. But I don’t have the space for that. I have my eye on the loft of my garage. My wife has laid claim to the loft from day one, for her Barbie Doll and Doll house collection. But everything is still packed up in boxes. We will see.

At long last I got back to some actual machining and milling!

First thing is to put the vice back on and get it properly aligned



Next, lets make some chips!





Here my very sloppy, horror, layman technique on marking. A bit of blue on the work piece. Put whatever measurement needed onto the caliper, carefully scrape along. One perfect line, perfectly placed! I know this is not how you should treat your caliper, but it has worked for me for decades. Essentially, you only scrape of the blue marked dye, not even scratch the surface of the aluminium.



And now for the tricky part, milling under an angle

Originally Posted by Sutripta

For the time being I'd just leave it square. The beautifying can be done later.
Don't see how angling the head will help you in this case.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

How do you plan to machine a length greater than the tool diameter, requiring a X feed?

Like thus:

This worked surprisingly well. Of course, proper alignment is key, or this cuts will taper towards one end.





Worked really well!



The alternative was clamping the block of aluminium under a 45o angle. But I don’t have such blocks yet.

Overal, I am pretty pleased with the end results.



The measurements are pretty good.



The finish could be a bit better. But once I know everything fits well, I will concentrate on polishing everything so it will look a bit tidier.



Next, the cilinder itself!

I got this in the mail from one of my new model building buddies. He suggested I should try one of these on large surfaces, so he made me one. Very kind.



Not quite sure what the correct English term is for these? We call this a kotter and using them is known as “kotteren”.

Jeroen

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Here my very sloppy, horror, layman technique on marking. A bit of blue on the work piece. Put whatever measurement needed onto the caliper, carefully scrape along. One perfect line, perfectly placed!

Get a jenny. Should not cost more than a couple of Euros.
The Mitutoyo caliper has a feature for just this. But for short lengths. For longer lengths, align a straightedge along the caliper edge and then remove the caliper.

And now for the tricky part, milling under an angle

You are bevelling an edge. Thought you were going to fabricate the crank support A Frame.

I got this in the mail from one of my new model building buddies. He suggested I should try one of these on large surfaces, so he made me one. Very kind.

Home made fly cutter.

Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Get a jenny.

Thanks. I had to look that up. Apparently, they are also known as Hermaphrodite calipers. Live and learn.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Home made fly cutter.

Looks like we have different Dutch terms for these. The term fly cutter is used here as well, but never for these.

This one is also known as a slagmes, which translate roughly as strike knife. These never get referred to as a fly cutter. The one with the big hefty body tend to be referred to as fly cutters.

Its probably mostly semantics as they all do the same job in a similar fashion. I will test it some time this week

Jeroen

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Looks like we have different Dutch terms for these. The term fly cutter is used here as well, but never for these.

That's why I said homemade!

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Thanks. I had to look that up.

Debbie Harry doesn't use them?

Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Debbie Harry doesn't use them?

She made a record called Parallel lines, so maybe she did use them!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_Lines

I fitted my new quick change post to my lath. Very easy and convenient. I used the old handle from the original post, rather than the nut supplied. To be honest, somehow I was under the impression it was a one handle operation, but it is not, it is a two handle operation. Ok, I can live with that.



I had not done a proper checking of all the materials that had been arriving over the last few weeks. So I spend about an hour checking all the stuff I have got against my material sheet.



The good news, I have got most now. The bad news, I havent got everything. I made a few errors ordering and I simply overlooked two bits too. This memory thing of mine is really playing up. More stupidity to come!

All right, next tool I am buying is a decent electrical saw! i have had my eye on one of these:

https://www.hbm-machines.com/product...metaallintzaag

They are not cheap, and they are big, bulky and heavy. But this is the alternative:



After about 30 minutes, lots of sweat and muscle ache tomorrow no doubt!



Anyway, we are in production. I had been studying the design and the measurements of the cylinder for hours. So I cut it to the length I thought would work. Then I put it on my lath. I had been contemplating using the four jaw chuck, but this still works. The advantage is, this give my clearance at the back of the piece as I bore through.



Squared both edges. Checked the drawing. Only the realise I had made a mistake reading the drawing. The good news. I have the overall length at precisely 61mm.

I thought I had an additional 12 mm. Which would have meant I would have been able to machine it all from one position in the lath and then face it off in one go. That is not going to happen now. I will work on it from two directions. The cooling ribs are conveniently spaced out, so I won’t have to much trouble getting the outside diameter looking identical once I swap the piece of stock.

I decided to machine it to the correct diameter and put the cooling ribs cuts into it, before drilling/boring the inside. My reasoning is that this is still a fairly big chunk of metal for my little lath. I like to do all the machining on the outside with it stuck firmly in the chuck on one end and the other end supported as well.

We will see how it goes. If anything the going is pretty slow. With cuts of more than 0,25mm the lath thermo limiter trips every second cut! That makes me wonder how I am going to turn the flywheel which is a whopping (relatively speaking) 110mm!!.

Anyway, apart from making quite a mess, this finish I am getting is pretty good!





Jeroen

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

She made a record called Parallel lines, so maybe she did use them!

Wish I still had the vinyl. Could have then gone through the sleeve notes to find whether a Jenny or someone from the LGBTQ community was credited!

All right, next tool I am buying is a decent electrical saw! i have had my eye on one of these:

Could have parted it off on the lathe.
A bandsaw of that type is not really necessary for a home workshop. A 'DoAll' type is more versatile.
And for cutoff duties an abrasive wheel cutoff machine is the better alternative. (NB - not to be used on Aluminium)

Incidentally I see you use a live centre. Got it with the lathe, or bought separately?

Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Could have parted it off on the lathe.

That would have required a very deep cut and I am not too keen on that. I still need more practice on my facing skills before attempting

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Incidentally I see you use a live centre. Got it with the lathe, or bought separately?

Bought it separately, standard comes with a dead centre.

Jeroen

[Thad E Ginathom]

I gasped at the prospect of taking a hacksaw to that! And again at your beautiful straight, neat cut!