Eyeball Engineering

[Duuuuuuuude]

Got a jump on the weekend and installed the tapered bearings in the headstock. What a difference! No endplay, and just a teeny tiny bit of runout. Just enough to make the needle tick off of the mark. It sounds solid, it feels solid, and more importantly, it cuts solid. This should have been done long, long ago.

Here's one of the bastards that came from the factory.



The largest operational improvement is with the parting tool. It's always been hit or miss, and if it started chattering it would continue to do so no matter what. Now I just increase feed pressure and it smooths right out. If I tried that before, it would either chatter worse or snap the tool.

So yeah, if you own one of these, or plan to get one, put the bearing mod down on the short list of must-do's.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Spent the weekend re-purposing one of the bearings into the pivot for a new and vastly improved radius tool.

Bearing and carrier bolted to the cross slide. The inner race was trimmed down so it wouldn't interfere underneath. Turning chrome steel was certainly interesting. Lots of pressure, more speed than I'm used to, and lots of sparks.



The spinny bits. There are three pieces there. One that is a tight fit into the inner race (it'll be loctited in place), another bolted on top of that to hold the tool holder, and the tool holder itself.



Assembled. 1/16" graduations engraved on top, and a bit of brass shim stock to keep the tool holder tight in the groove. A t-slot would have been way better, but sometimes you've just got to work with what you have.



I'll give it a trial run tonight after the loctite has set up.

[BigSki]

Well done.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by BigSki

Well done.

Thank you sir! Works like a champ, too. There's a little bit of slop in the bearing, but it's manageable. I've got some ideas on how to possibly tighten it up some.


So round 2 of the bomb spinners is just about under way, and I was sent some brass and copper to play with. I've cut brass once, but never copper. My curiosity got the better of me so I dug in. Slow, light cuts, and lots of lube. Heavy stuff too, that 3" slug weighs in at 3/4 lbs.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Copper F-Bomb completed. Super PITA to machine copper. I won't be doing it again.




These spinners are turning out to be a pretty good gig. To be honest, it's probably the first that has actually paid enough to keep doing. My whoring days appear to be over, at least for a little while.

But this newfound side income has got me thinking...maybe it's time to ditch the wee router and possibly the old Rong Foo workhorse in favor of something newer and more favorable to cnc work. I'm thinking a G0704 conversion...

[Duuuuuuuude]

We also changed the fins out to brass, which I had never cut before, which is just amazing material. So nice, especially after the constant butt puckering with the copper.

[EddieO]

After doing a g0704 conversion...by the time I was into it, with all the parts....and the headaches, I could of just bought an older CNC mill. I would look at a barebones tormach 440...(did not exist when I did my conversion) they are very capable machines and you can upgrade stuff as you go (the ATC is close last I saw). I could never get my g0704 to cut well, always had too much backlash. Robs conversion is beyond what most do, but its a ton of work to get something like he has built.

Also, there is a lathe tool bit you can make to get a really nice finish cut on copper...can only use it to finish cut, but its am amazing finish. I have been using them on comms for a while now...sucks because I have to use two lathes to cut comms, but the finish is nuts....I only use it on certain motors though.

Later EddieO

[Duuuuuuuude]

A Tormach would be nice, but waaaay out of my price range.

CNC kits for the 0704 are abundant and affordable, much more so than for my somewhat clapped out RF.


I found that the diamond tipped tool from my comm lathe worked really well. Up until it ripped the tip right off of it. Later on it did the same to a carbide tipped boring bar. What also worked really well was an endmill. Lots of rake and a nice sharp tip and it cut like butter. Still very small cuts, but it cut clean.

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

We also changed the fins out to brass, which I had never cut before, which is just amazing material. So nice, especially after the constant butt puckering with the copper.

Free machining brass? It's a nice material to work with, other grades are 'gummy', like the copper or some annealed aluminum. That stuff will suck your cutter straight into the material.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by BigSki

Free machining brass? It's a nice material to work with, other grades are 'gummy', like the copper or some annealed aluminum. That stuff will suck your cutter straight into the material.

That's the stuff. C360 iirc. The added weight was nice too. Spinamathings need mass.

[rob_b]

The biggest benefit of a DIY conversion is that you can break the outward flow of money into more manageable chunks. I'm rebuilding my G0704 right now for the 100th time and have been torn as to do another round of upgrades (linear rails) or just leave it as is. It has been a great project to learn on but I've truly out grown it's capabilities at this point. Only trouble is that I can't afford the entry fee that is necessary to move up to a small industrial machine.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by rob_b

The biggest benefit of a DIY conversion is that you can break the outward flow of money into more manageable chunks.

Originally Posted by rob_b

I'm rebuilding my G0704 right now for the 100th time and have been torn as to do another round of upgrades (linear rails) or just leave it as is. It has been a great project to learn on but I've truly out grown it's capabilities at this point. Only trouble is that I can't afford the entry fee that is necessary to move up to a small industrial machine.

Also .

This is still a hobby, I don't need to spend new car money on something I'll use at best a few times a month. It'd be nice, but nah.

[Duuuuuuuude]

About a month ago I decided to jump back into tiny truck parts making. I really haven't touched my machines to do anything other than an odd job here or there, but I blew the dust off and got to work anyway. After a short initial run of prototypes and production parts, it was time to make some upgrades that I was desperately lacking.

First up was a mister coolant setup for the cnc lathe. The endless hovering and babysitting with a squirt bottle full of WD40 was just not productive. I had purchased one a few years ago but it worked pretty miserably. I took a chance again and bought another el-cheapo that turned out to be quite a bit better, but created a hell of a fog in the garage and went through coolant in a crazy hurry. I removed my $8 lesson in being cheap and set to work building a fog buster.

I scored a water filter housing from work, rounded up the required fittings and lines, and after 3 failed manifold designs, wound up with something usable. Way better than the cheap mister, uses far less coolant, and far less air. This weekend it ran for several hours and I only had to attend to the router to swap out material and hit the go button for another round. Walking away from a 30 minute run without dread and/or anxiety is totally a thing I can do now, the feed rate is 1/3 faster, the tools last longer, and the parts come out nicer.

Sorry for the sideways pictures.







The next project was a more robust and less clusterfawky air system. For years now I've been relying on a really noisy 10 gallon oil-less compressor and a quieter but almost always running 5 gallon compressor. When I heard that we were scrapping our old 60 gallon compressor at work, I snagged it as quickly as I could. Once home, I pulled the ruined head and burnt out motor and worked out which of my working compressors was going to donate its parts. Turns out the 5 gallon unit had the bigger compressor on it, so it drew the short straw. After quite a bit more work than you might think it would take, I ended up with something that is much easier to live with. A shopping spree in the air tool section of Harbor Freight netted me a regulator, a 1-to-3 connector, a long hose to reach the driveway, and a short hose to keep handy for clearing chips.

Again, sorry for the sideways picture. Not sure why they're uploading like that.



The final pieces of my project as about half done. I absolutely had to put more effort towards workholding. I scored a bunch of 3/8" lexan scrap to use as jigs for bolting flat plate to, and they've worked out wonderfully.

The last bit, the part I've been putting off since I bought the router, is wiring up my home switches. They're installed and the wires are ran, but they aren't connected to the control unit. If I have a crash (which thankfully happens less and less) I have to reset one if not all of the axis to the job. It's a PITA but I've been living with it. Maybe if I get another rainy weekend with nothing to do....

[goobs]

nice, keep it up bud.
im loving the wheels i got from ya btw.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Speaking of wheels... I'm not saying that I'm going to get back into making them, but this is something I've been playing around with...

[JatoTheRipper]

I know I'm late, but I'm just seeing it now. I want one of those bombs! LOL Useless, but cool.

Good to see you getting back into the lab.

[goobs]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Speaking of wheels... I'm not saying that I'm going to get back into making them, but this is something I've been playing around with...

nice!!!

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I know I'm late, but I'm just seeing it now. I want one of those bombs! LOL Useless, but cool.

Good to see you getting back into the lab.

They were a pretty cool take on the fidget spinner trend. I probably made 3 or 4 dozen for the guy, most sold at weekly live auctions on facebook. When the very first one came up for bids you could tell he wasn't sure if he had made a good investment, it was all over his face. Then when it sold for $120 it was fun to watch him keep his composure. People went nuts for them. Highest price ever paid was $360.

After I finished the all copper version, he sent it off for some acid etching to kick it up a few notches and really get the bids coming in. Before he got it back, the bottom started falling out of the spinner market. I don't think he made any money on it. Too bad too, because it came out pretty awesome.

And, as the market was crashing, I just happened to be wrapping up what would be his final order. It took nearly a year to get him to pay me for them. A shitty deal to be sure, but even worse considering that we've known each other for 30 years. Once I got paid I jammed everything I had been working on for him into a small flat rate box and washed my hands of the whole relationship. Haven't talked to him since.

But as a keepsake, I still have the only all brass version in existence.

Because they are cool.