Turning, Milling & Grinding

My wife decided she wanted a stick man with an umbrella for the yard. Don’t ask my why??
The umbrella is 14” across. It will provide shelter for the bird feeder that will hang off one of the arms.

I made a floating chucking reamer chuck.
This device/tool allows the reamer to find its own center without influencing the size of the bore.

Hey all.
Long time hugh?

A friend asked me to make some custom changes to a flywheel that will be used in an engine conversion.

I still need to drill for the larger bolt circle. So far so good.

I’m just about finished with the rolling gate project.
We had some interruptions in the process.
We went to England for a few weeks. When we got back we went to the annual Hampton family reunion.
Always a joyful event.

Salisbury Cathedral.
Salisbury England is the town you stop at to take the short bus rice to Stonehenge.
This is a breathtaking cathedral. Built in 38 years, it was finished in 1258.
The foundation is only six to eight feet deep. The water table is just a few feet down.
The building has stood for over 700 years. Hard to comprehend.
The pics do not do it justice.

Glenda arrived safe in London after a memorable trip yesterday. Found some hreat pubs and restaurants just a block or two away. How many chimneys can you count?

I’m working on a metal fence. It’s going to have a sliding door on V rollers.
I can’t believe how high the cost of materials are.
This is $875 worth if cold rolled steel.

I decided to replace the spindle bearings in my 1966 Brown & Sharpe surface grinder.
Fortunately I have contacts in the industry that walked me through the process. Bearings should arrive soon.
The accuracy of a good surface grinder has the ability to remove .0002” each pass.
That’s two ten thousandths of an inch. A human hair is about .003”. 0002” is less than 1/10th of a human hair.
That’s pretty darn accurate.

I am working on a method of sharpening stump grinder bits.
A local rental yard is hopeful I can help out. As it is they have to send them out to a shop In Sacramento. I should be able to perfect the process.
The pics show a cutter I just sharpened. They are very high quality brazed carbide bits.
A 4” diamond wheel is the trick. Just arrived yesterday.

Precision ground stones.
These two Norton stones were ground perfectly flat on my surface grinder. Before use, they are rubbed together to retain flatness.
A precision ground stone will not scratch fine finishes, (notice the ways from my lathe). They will only remove high spots.
Notice the shiny points on the example. A golfer knows when you put a divot on a green, the ball produces a hole and surrounding high points.
It’s the same thing when a part is damaged, dented by something. It can be made flat again by using the stones.

How does a squareness comparator work?
The first pic is establishing “zero” on the test indicator. Establishing zero is done on a known square standard. Then you apply the same test to the part to be checked for squareness.
In this example, the 2x4x6 block is off by .0005” at two inches high.
This can be corrected by using the surface grinder.

This part is chrome molly. AKA 4140.
It has been heat treated and surface ground. The cross hatching you see is from side wheeling, or cutting on the side of the wheel vs. the outside diameter. I love the look of the pattern.

I made a set of 4” parallel clamps. This turned out to be a lot of fun.

Machine repair is something I enjoy doing. This 70 year old Craftsman 10” table saw was hopelessly seized. The blade height adjustment would not budge. I’m told sap and rust cause this issue. I had to press the pin out, clean and reassemble. While I had it this far I replaced the bearings as well.
Easy job, ready for another 70 years.

My surface grinder didn’t come with a coolant tank. I made a three chambered tank that fits perfectly behind the grinder.
The sediment settles in the primary chamber while the third one contains the pump.
Works great.
I use a synthetic grinding fluid.
Keeping the parts cool greatly increases accuracy. When we are removing as little as .0002” at a time, heat is a big factor.

I made this copper rose for a family member last year.
It's easier than you would think

A while back I made this slow speed diamond disc lapping machine. These are well over $2,000 so I figured I could make one.
It works great. The 8” diamond discs are centered on a pilot and held on by magnets. The discs vary in grit from 150 to 2,000.