Horizontal Mill Engine From Kit

[zeeprogrammer]

Didn't get anything done today...still hurting a little from yesterday. But my 'real' excuse is that wife came home from her trip. Right.

Thought about the tramming question from -B-...Not sure it's about tramming. The part itself (the edges) seem to be perfectly square...it's just the slot that's off. If the mill was out of tram I think the part would also have been out. Maybe the saw and/or arbor? Don't think so. I think the part rotated in the spindex. That's my first 'professional' opinion.

Should know more this weekend or when I have time to relax and be careful. At least be careful. At least have a go. Wife is leaving again this weekend.

I'll also blame 'nameless', whose initials are VM, for not having enough machining time tonight.

What? Hey! A mystery part showed up...

Doesn't look like the fellow has a very good countersink. It's probably 25 years old and dull as me.

 

[arnoldb]

:big: You were cheated Zee :big: - that mystery part needs a pin in that hole ;D

And sorry to see about your milling/slotting problems... Have yet to try my hand at a milling machine. (well, _maybe_ _if_ the bank manager's in a good mood it's due in the next couple of weeks...)

Kind regards, Arnold

 

[zeeprogrammer]

:big: You were cheated Zee :big: - that mystery part needs a pin in that hole ;D

it's due in the next couple of weeks...)

Hm. Yet another mystery. I had wondered where the mystery guy was getting his material. Now I know. Some brass has gone missing. Too bad for him. I have no piano wire. :big:

You're getting a mill! Great! (You might have said elsewhere...but my memory is pretty selective.)

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Success!

I have a tilting slide now. It's the one on the right.

Quality of pic isn't as good as I'd hoped but the part looks pretty wonderful in my hand. Required turning, milling with spindex, and slitting with spindex. I was pretty nervous towards the end. Also important...this showed the mill is in pretty decent Y tram.

If you look at the first part on the left...you can see on the bottom that the right wall is a bit thinner than the left. The opposite is true at the top. The part had rotated. You can also see that the part is somewhat discolored. This was due to heat.

Lessons...

I think the part may have rotated for a number of reasons. Too deep a cut, too fast a feed, too fast a spindle speed, and spindex not being locked. (Marv had questioned the lock and while I'm sure it was locked for sawing...I can't say the same was true for every operation of milling. I think there was a greater chance during milling as it would have had the greatest force and leverage to rotate the part.) I tend to go too hard too fast.

The discoloration was certainly too fast a spindle speed. It was surprising just how fast it happened. Even saw some sparks which probably tells you just how lousy I did.

So far I'd say my total "do-overs" are running 90 to 95% with about 75% "do-agains" and 15 to 20% are "do-yet-agains". There's an insignificant percentage of "do-yet-once-more" but that was with my very first engine (not the Launch). And I'm not counting the evil crank...that was very much an experiment ;D.

Most of my boo-boos are from doing something new...and these kits are somewhat designed to teach...so they're chock-full of new. So over time...the percentages should improve. If they don't....I won't bother you anymore :big:

[EDIT: A big thank you to the guy who owes me beer. He was a big help. He still owes me beer. :big:]

 

[mklotz]

Nice job, Carl. I would have done that part as an assembly...and indeed did so on my version of the engine you're building...but that's just me.

It's not clear to me why you needed to use the Spindex at all.

Take cylindrical stock and mill opposing sides so remaining tenon is width of slide.

Stick stock in lathe and turn cylindrical shaft to required length and diameter.

Part off from parent stock. Reverse and face slide height to size.

Stick in mill vise and mill slot in slide.

Don't sweat the do-overs, etc.. They're a small price to pay for the opportunity to know that you can do something that 95% of the people can't do and 90% can't even understand.

 

[Foozer]

Hm. Yet another mystery. I had wondered where the mystery guy was getting his material. Now I know. Some brass has gone missing. Too bad for him. I have no piano wire. :big:

Me got a piano, lots of wire in it. Wonder if the Bride would notice? Ah , sigh, guess its better to just turn it down from stock then risk decapitation

Robert

 

[zeeprogrammer]

It's not clear to me why you needed to use the Spindex at all.

Thanks Marv. Yeah I figured it could have been done several ways. I believe the kits are designed to be 'teaching kits', and while we can (and have) discussed the merits of some of the methodology, they at least introduce me to some equipment and alternatives. For example, had I already had the Spindex mounted...then this was straight forward enough (he says) and I wouldn't have to mount and square the vise. I appreciate your suggesting another method (i.e. assembly). This is the 2nd or 3rd time I've wondered about the amount of work and waste to turn a bar down from a large diameter to such a small diameter.

Which reminds me...I'd like to thank you and several other members for help on cleaning up and adjusting my lathe. It made a big difference. I used the center gib screw on the compound to achieve more rigidity. I manually fed rather than power fed and was very happy with the finish.

Me got a piano, lots of wire in it. Wonder if the Bride would notice? Ah , sigh, guess its better to just turn it down from stock then risk decapitation

I'd find my lathe and mill, not to mention myself, out on the pavement if I touched our piano. I've tried to sell it in the past and even the kids have threatened me. (Doesn't help it was a wedding present ;D)

 

[arnoldb]

Very well done indeed Zee Thm:

If you can get a good manual finish, then your lathe/mill is getting adjusted in properly, and you are developing your "feel" . Anyway, half the fun (for me at least) is overriding automation and doing a good manual job. There are some cases where I use power feed on my lathe, but always after testing a bit manually; then I know I'm not causing undue wear on the machine by using power feed, and that everything is safe.

Hope you get some piano wire soon!

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Thanks Arnold.

I'm going to work on the Slide Block next. The piece that goes into the tilting slide I just did.

In the meantime...this showed up...

Looks like he has the same problem I have..."do-over-itis".

Poor soul...I hope he has piano wire and screws...'cause I don't.

Rof} If I do say so myself. ;D

 

[arnoldb]

Hmmm, looks like you have one of the metal-munching little devils hiding in your shop :big:

Better find a bit of piano wire & a small screw to feed it quick - before it gets worse ;D

 

[Tin Falcon]

Thanks Arnold.

I'm going to work on the Slide Block next. The piece that goes into the tilting slide I just did.

In the meantime...this showed up...

Hey I thought I was the only one suffering from scrapitis rockerous You may or may not have noticed my rocker engines are not up and running yet seems like I am able to make scrap faster with the cnc now LOL. things WILL fall into place !!!! for both of us....
is it scrapitis or scaposis ? Hmmm well anyway... life and the machining go on....
Tin

 

[vlmarshall]

... seems like I am able to make scrap faster with the cnc now LOL.

Haha, YES! The fine line between Mass-Production and Mass-Destruction (or "hero" and "zero") is crossed with a single keypress. ;D

 

[Krown Kustoms]

Yeah thats funny, my mill dosent care if I accidentaly told it to cut .250 instead of .025.
It will try it anyway, so on top of scrap I need new tooling.
I had a similar problem like that today.
-B-

Just remember Zee, after it is all said and done you have at least one usable part to continue with.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Thanks Arnold, Tin, Vernon, and -B-

Went to work on the sliding block for the horizontal mill and found this...

Apparently the poor guy couldn't wait for the screws I ordered to show up and decided to make his own. Looks like he was making a collet so he could slot the screw. The crumb broke my one and only 2-56 tap!

He must have jinxed me because after milling the sliding block, I broke my one and only 3-48 tap!

I'm beginning to think I know this guy.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Went upstairs for a cup of coffee and when I came back....there was this!

I'm sure I must know this guy. And...I'm thinking we're related as I find myself suddenly cured of 'rocker-itis'.



Found a pack of 5-40 filister head screws next to it. Apparently the guy ordered the wrong ones and took one of my 4-40 shcs.

Well...since this guy was kind enough to cure me (and leave the engine for me to play with)...I'll critique it!

The pluses:

1: It runs. (Hey...trying to give the guy a break...you haven't read the minuses yet.
2: Decent looking base.
3: Nice to continue the base design on the cylinder.
4: Did I say it runs? (Well? What does he expect?)

The minuses (oh boy):

1: The slots could have been better on the flywheel. Nice try making an encoder though.
2: the fitting doesn't fit. That is, it doesn't screw down all the way.
3: Probably should barb the fitting or otherwise make it more difficult for the tube to slip off. (Actually fits pretty good though.)
4: Wall and bottom of cylinder is too thin.
5: The wall's thinness might explain why the bearing (and therefore flywheel) wobbles. That or the guy didn't use a reamer but a drill.
6: The brass screw would have looked better than the black one.
7: The shcs doesn't look as good.
8: He was lucky too. Looks like the bore of the cylinder comes pretty close to the end where it was turned down to rings. A little more and the end would have fallen off.

Now that my 'rocker-itis' is cured, maybe I can get more done with the horizontal mill instead of being distracted with mystery parts showing up.

;D

 

[kvom]

I bought a pack of 10 2-56 taps a few weeks ago cheap. PM me your address and I'll mail you a couple.

 

[Krown Kustoms]

Well now I have "rockeritis"
I am going to look in my paper work for a cure.
-B-

 

[mklotz]

Nicely done, Zee. (I may have to copy the flywheel patterning.) Many of the "minuses" are merely cosmetic issues. The important thing is that you built a working engine and learned a few things doing so.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Thanks very much kvom. No need to trouble yourself. I have to place an order to replace a 3-48 tap, a 1/16 slitting saw (the tilting slide fiasco), and will use this as an excuse for other goodies...hm...collet blocks.

-B- Enjoy! The treatment is not so bad.

Marv...Thanks. True enough about the cosmetics. I'm mostly disappointed in the bearing hole. The flywheel was an experiment. But it all has added to my experience.

 

[cobra428]

Zee,
The guy that built that engine for you didn't do to bad :big: I can't watch the vid at work they block that here. I'll see it tonight when I get home
Nice Job
Tony