วีดีโอ

No problems - the stuff in there is the sort of thing that is learnt by experience and rarely spoken of.

I did - it's the video entitled "Look what the metric system made me do", but I got a couple of comments suggesting making a whole new part was not the easiest way of doing things. This is an explanation of the issues that those ideas may have problems attached to them.

@@occasionalmachinist Ok I get it now, I think. I don't know why your friend wanted to change to a metric in the first place. If it isn't broke, why fix it? As far as everything you said in this video, I agree.

@@opieshomeshop It was originally 20mm but a previous "fix" converted it to ¾" and the bores in the band wheel modified to suit an imperial bearing. That ended up as a failure so this was taking it back to the original specification.

@@ericparsonage7938 I see. Thanks for clearing that up. 👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣

Thanks.

There are additional videos about the sharpener where I build a copy (others also wanted the drawings, but I had not gone through and checked them, so this was the simplest way). The drawings are scattered through the videos as needed. I did find a couple of errors and some things that I thought could have been done differently/ more efficiently, so that is in there too. A couple of people I know have made them and used them, so it seems to work.

That is the nice thing about a device like this

I've done it, and successfully, but it needs care with heating the steel blank - too hot and the plastic melts out, too cold and it does not form the teeth. If you have an IR contactless thermometer, that could be a great help.

I've had that box for close to 40 years now. Normally there is a piece of paper over the top, but it gets used quite a bit as it is just a nice height for standing.

Don't know how you found that. As it's for a camera, I'll call it a Rosette gear (from Wikipedia)

I'm keen to firm up the hinge as its an experiment, and a bit of a lash up. I may also put some depth on my trusses and try to reduce twist that way. It works as is, so plenty of time for thought. A counterweight or spring might reduce the twist a bit, but I need a dampener really. I'll have to see what devilishly intricate and overly complex solution I can come up with.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Bounce is a problem. I'm still thinking about that one. The boom is usable, but I may need to remake the hinge. Being a welded construction of commercial hinges, it's a little loose.

It takes a bit of geometric thinking, but I work out the circumference of the part and divide by the number of teeth. Because it is a 90 degree tooth, the mid-plane distance between teeth is twice the distance from the mid plane to the bottom of the tooth gullet (or a tooth tip). Knowing that mid plane to bottom gullet distance and the radius, angle= arctan(tooth gullet distance/radius).

@@occasionalmachinist Thanks for that 👍

I've seen articles showing these used back-to-back with different pitches to give a low profile discrete movement rotary table. For example, coarse movement one way then fine movement either forward or backwards gives many more discrete movements.

@@russelldold4827 Interesting idea, although sounds like an added complication that most people would not use. Bit like an epicyclic gear box?

Mill tooling is one of those things where you can continuously ask where do you stop. The collet blocks are a good suggestion, although a bit specialised for starter tooling.

@@occasionalmachinist I agree again. the collet blocks are not a beginners must have. I have been into model engineering for a bit over 60 years, and the gear that is readily available today for the home workshop is fantastic. I think 'where do you stop" depends pretty much on where you are going in the workshop, and expanding the kit of devices serves to improve capability, speed, and sometimes finish of projects. I think that TH-cam videos such as yours are really good at introducing newbies ( and oldies) to what is available, and what can be done with it at home. I am continually amazed at how much I depend on the mill. This was very evident earlier in the year when I had an electrical problem that took quite a while to sort out. My first "milling" was on the Myford super 7 with a vertical slide. That largely dealt with my first locomotive, so you don't need to start big. Anyway, it is good to see a workshop video that doesn't assume that you have everything on hand.

It does come in handy. I'm glad I made it.

You are right, and one day I'll finish up the little R/T so I can do that. The only one I have is 8" diameter, and for little things like this, getting it out seems a bit silly some time.

A few bits of the story were edited out, but this is for 3mm thick Al panels, so bending is not a major concern. They are a pretty standard connector so for a one off, I would agree that it was more time consuming, but I expect to have to do one or two of these every few months, so over the next year, I think it will earn it's keep. If I had two plates, I'd also need some way to line them up. The steel is not really hard, just hard enough that I'm not going to accidentally file into the template. A small round file like the one used is relatively inexpensive and I'm only filing the Al till the feel changes, so I don't think I'm damaging the file in a major way. Thanks for asking though - it keeps me honest!

@@occasionalmachinist Much appreciate your feedback, thank you.

Yes - I think the next one that I do will be a 9 pin D - for some reason the 25 pin D connectors don't get used much these days (maybe all those pins that don't do anything...) One thing that in hind sight I should have done was put some cross hairs on the template for more precise positioning. There's always something.

I did think about a punch and die, but I would need a die set to hold them in just the right relationship, and Murphy's law says there will also be panels beyound the throat of the press. This is more low tech but more adaptable too. I try to make clean up as quick as possible, so I tend to have chip trays to collect the majority of the swarf if I can. The one for the mill is new, but the oil quench was done on the cabinet that sits under the drill table - the top is a removable chip tray too.

@@occasionalmachinist A rolling chip tray makes a lot of sense, too. You are always a source of interesting ideas. As far as a punch and die goes, I was thinking the kind with a bolt through the middle joining the two halves and which you use to drive the punch through the work, as opposed to the kind that goes in a press. They may not be as quick or as precise, but they are a lot more versatile! Thanks for sharing your work and your ideas.

@@fxm5715 Might work - the concern here is that the material these cutouts go into is 3mm Al. I'd be a bit concerned that the thickness would either snap bolts or just bog down (the cut out in question was 13.5mm across the flats so a bolt would likely be M6, perhaps M8)

​@@occasionalmachinistUse a piece of urethane as a die. No need to line up the the punch. A couple of example demos on my channel.

@@occasionalmachinist Agreed, 3mm in aluminum is a bit gummy for a punched hole that small, with an imprecise, underpowered punch.

I tram with the vice removed. To do that I have a back plunger indicator (Starrett 196). They are great because you don't have to use mirrors or twist around when comparing side to side.

Yes, the tapped hole does not need to be that long, but I was trying to follow my Uncle's plans as closely as I could. The button is more important than you suggest, as the adjustment screw may not contact the backs of the range of drills that the sharpener will sharpen. A 12mm drill is straightforward, but say a 3mm will sit lower in the V and has a smaller potential contact area.

Potentially. The chainsaw sharpener was relatively cheap though (around A$60 new) and makes everything self contained.

I'm intending to do that one day, but it's a matter of working out what to do with it. I do show some of that in my 'Gears with a twist' video, but the differential indexing is something I still have to do.

@@occasionalmachinist can't wait😁

Cutters are tricky, as a lot of personal preference comes into it. I use mainly HSS on the mill but do have some carbide tipped versions. At one stage I had a multi insert cutter but got rid of it as (in my opinion) the tips were breaking far too often. I'll take the suggestion on notice though.

Hopefully it's useful to people

No probs.

I know it has a quick return. Haven't heard of an automatic return. I use the Piccolo most of the time when I'm boring; although it has the facing function I rarely use it for that. I'll take that suggestion on notice too.

(I always thought elbow grease came in tins.) I do ask our purchasing guys at work when the large box of excitement is arriving, but they can never give me a firm date...

@@occasionalmachinist 🤣😆😆🤣

LIke sleeving, that would be another way to do it. My concern with that is strength - the original part has a radius at the base to smooth out the stresses a bit. A straight shaft pressed into a hole would be prone to pulling out (the square part is only around 7mm think) and probably stress that area highly.

Thanks

In theory it could, but you would need to accurately bore the tube and turn the spigot, fit the sleeve well enough that it would not spin or come off then turn the OD accurately. That's 3 times more precision work than in making a new one.

Drill + ream + groove a piece of 20mm rod 16mm and push on. The concentricity and position aren't important. Make this first then turn the original part to suit the bore.

@@tates11 You could try doing it that way, but I think you are over simplifying how it could be done. For example, if you groove the sleeve first and your fit is not right, will you end up crushing the groove? The spigot needs to be perpendicular to the axis of the pivot, otherwise thereis a risk of the blade not tracking properly. Sleeving would mean that a method would be needed to ensure that. There are considerations either way.

As the spigot and tube are relatively long and not subjected to any significant relative forces I would use a slip fit and loctite. The geometric precision would come from clocking the original spigot in the 4 jaw chuck and reducing the diameter to a slip fit.

We've taken it down to final size and it fits the bearings well, so 👍👍!

I mentioned this project to the guy who taught me to scrape, and after watching the video, be commented that I have far more patience than he does...

@@occasionalmachinist As someone who scrapes a little, I think there's value to putting a whole bunch of time into a cheap wreck and cranking up your skills. I'd be scared to touch a valuable but worn machine tool. But an import table? Fantastic, and a great demonstration of how much you can improve it.

@@smellsofbikes Thanks! It's actually a good size for turning into a silk purse.

Thanks

I have thought about making up a wobbler, but every time I start considering it, I can never find a job that I would use it for. Perhaps I should make one just for those jobs that are never apparent at the time.

Yep mine gathers enormous amounts of dust but very handy when I need it

Thanks. Circlips are one of those parts that are really easy to not get to work properly.

It's as heavy as it needs to be but heavier than I would like. While it should work for the (assumed) intended purpose, it's not the sort of thing that I would think is convenient enough for general use

Maybe originally, but I emery'd a health dose of rust off.

The games TH-cam machinists play...