94 Cobra #3815

[SublimeRT]

Haha, gettin me on here too.  I'll try to get to it in the next few days.  Just tool stuff though.  

[95riosnake]

Tool stuff, car stuff, fab stuff.... I love it all so share away any time you please. You have the same level of overkill in the things you build as I do so I enjoy seeing whatever you're working on.

[Psychorugby]

2 hours ago, SublimeRT said:

Haha, gettin me on here too.  I'll try to get to it in the next few days.  Just tool stuff though.  

 

We love updates on anything around here... hell, I had a kid update (thanks to @95riosnake lol.

[SublimeRT]

Right on guys.    @Psychorugby  I'm not far behind you on that front.  In the home stretch now, third trimester.  Due date is August 11th.  

 

I guess I will pick up where I left off, with the English wheel. 

 

I needed to brace it some to prevent the C shape of it from opening up too much when wheeling something.  I could tell from the little time I spent with it after getting it home, that it was very flexible.  It could also use some extra strength to prevent it from flexing side to side, like if the anvils were to try to roll over one another, if that makes sense.  A few of the better English wheels I've seen, the rear of the frame was much thicker and tapered down to the opening, where the anvils are mounted.  But this is not as critical.

 

I started with a few ideas, making cardboard templates, and decided on something I thought looked alright.

 

Trying to act like I know what I'm doing, making these templates.

 

I went and got a 4'x8' sheet of 1/4" steel.  30"x5' I set aside for a bench top.  My 'benches' are those plastic topped tables with fold down legs that you can get at Lowes and Home Depot.  I think most people play beer pong on them.  So can't wait for the day I make a real bench.  Anyways I rough cut all the pieces out with a 9" angle grinder, then cut them down from there close as I could get to the scribe lines with the portaband.

 

To get them down accurately to the scribe lines, I got a new toy.  Harbor Freight was having one of their big sales, so I went and got a 12" disc sander from them.  There was a sweet 20" Apex on Dallas' Craigslist for a grand that I was drooling over, but the HF one was $140, so I settled with it for now.  Maybe someday I can upgrade.  Till then though this thing really works good.  I bought it around late February I think and I use it all the damn time.  I made a little stand for it out of some of the roll bar tubing from the Wolfe kit that I wasn't going to use.  And went and got a few feet of some more tube from the metal store to finish it up.  Gonna finish it up soon with some paint, caps on some tubes, some feet I got from McMaster, and I have a bunch of expanded metal leftover from a project that I think I'll use to make a little basket to set behind the machine, to hold extra discs.  I made it to where I could store the shop vac under it, and the machine also has a vacuum port on it.  Works real good.  Minimal mess in the surrounding area when I use it.  Probably the worst thing about the machine is the aluminum table is a bit 'sticky' feeling, and the supplied miter gauge is basically garbage.  I'll probably address the table situation someday.  

 

I don't have a tube notcher yet, so I go online and print off a little tube template.  

http://metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi

http://www.blocklayer.com/pipe-notching.aspx

I've used both of those and they work alright.  I mark the tube and then cut a notch out mostly with the cut off wheel in the 4.5" grinder, then switch to a flap disc and finish it off and bevel it.  

 

 

This was done with a Makita dry cut carbide tooth chop saw.  Works good aside from the mess.  I've decided with my latest project, that I want to sell it and get a good horizontal band saw in the future.  I'll get to that later though.

 

I think it's just tacked up in this picture.  I'll post up some more after I paint it though.  This is basically what it looks like though.  The accessories on the vacuum, I mostly took off, and I route that tube differently, and it tucks up under it nicely.  I don't have to lean over it to use the sander.

 

Where I'll mount the expanded metal basket for the extra discs.

 

Anywho that's that.  Works great for squaring up ends of things, straightening up edges, sanding down to scribes lines, etc.

 

Here's some of the side plates for the English wheel frame.  I tacked them together and cut and sanded them as pairs to ensure they'd be nearly identical.  These are the edges sanded down with the disc sander.  I could have done this with a flap disc on a grinder, or with a roloc disc on the whiz wheel, but this is faster and more accurate I think.  Though of course, the inside edges that the disc can't reach were done with a flap disc.

 

Here they are all separated.  The holes were done with a 1 3/4" hole saw in the drill press, slowed way down, while the pairs were still tacked together.  It worked good, I was surprised and delighted.  I thought it might chatter a lot but it didn't.

 

I needed some short lengths of 2"x4" material to span between the side plates.  I had some 4"x4"x1/4" leftover from the chassis table that I cut a section out of and welded back together.  If you look close you can see I did not get full penetration inside the tube. I did not put a huge bevel or leave a gap in the tube.  I did not want to risk warping the hell out of it, and this should be sufficient for this application.

 

I cut some strips of 1/4" material to cap the side plates off, after getting the side plates welded on the inside to the original frame, and the 2x4s welded to the original frame.  These were bent with a combination of the press brake and sticking the material between the spotter bars on my squat rack, one hole right above the other, and giving the material a tug.

 

 

 

All these outside edges of the frame will be fully welded up and smoothed out like the leg I'll post below.

 

There is a lot of slack in this lower adjuster.  There are a handful of things I'll be doing to completely fix it all both in the tube and the acme screw, but this sleeve from McMaster welded on fixes the majority of it.  Only welded on these two sides to allow it to still clamp.  

 

 

I started making some legs for the English wheel.  The little wheel from its air compressor days seem stressed.  Here's a little progression.  Rough cut with the 9" Makita, trimmed a bit on the portaband, then final sanded down to scribe marks with the disc sander and flap wheel/4.5" grinder.  I only made the bottom one with the M on it with the cardboard master template.  I made all the rest of the leg pieces from the steel master.  I think this is more accurate.

 

I did not tack these together and cut/sand them as pairs as I did the side plates of the wheel frame.  Still worked out well.

 

Mocked up.  Not yet done in this picture, but all those holes in the side plates have been transfered to the frame and drilled as well.  I took, again, some of that leftover 1 3/4"x.187" roll bar tubing and welded it in place.  Also IN this picture, the bottom left inside corner of the frame, I cut the straight traingle gusset out and replaced it with a curved one.

 

Once again I cut some 1/4" strips and bent them in the press brake only this time, since they were much shorter, to cap off the top and bottom of the leg.  Got good weld penetration on these as the fit up was much like the caps for the wheel frame pictured above.  Big outside corner joints.  Single pass but was really feeding the rod.

 

I thought about leaving it like that with that fabricated look, but decided to stick with the original plan and smooth it out.  

 

 

 

That's about as far as I am with the English wheel project.  I'm dying to do some wheeling, but it's not high on the priority list as far as things I need to do around here.  I have started welding up the frame fully though.  I have not yet decided between three or four legs, or their orientation yet.  Some wheels I see have four, some have three with two out the back of the machine and one out front under the anvils, and some have two out front under the anvils and one out back.  I do have everything cut for four though, and have 2 rigid casters, and two total locking swivel and wheel casters.  

 

I know I said I wouldn't go crazy with spending too much time on this machine, but I get real sucked into these projects sometimes.  I think it will be a nice machine when done though.  I plan to make a bead rolling attachment for it, for it to do double duty as a large throat bead roller and tipping machine.  So if I ever get around to making my big English wheel, I can leave this one set up as a bead roller which will be convenient.  

 

I have a bit more I can post later of some other projects, but it's way past my bedtime now.  Thanks for checking things out.  

 

 

Edited May 24, 2016 by SublimeRT

[95riosnake]

Looks awesome and it appears you have the TIG working really well these days too. When you're done, I think you'll have the most badass HF english wheel in existence. As far as 3 legs vs 4 legs, 4 will give you better stability, but could have a tendency to wobble over uneven surfaces, whereas a 3 leg setup won't ever wobble but isn't as stable. You could to a 4 leg setup with casters on all 4 as you planned, then add leveling feet to the front two legs as well. That way once the wheel is sitting where you are going to use it, just bend down and use a ratchet to extend the leveling feet and take out any wobble it may have.

 

Love the stand for the disc sander as well, especially that it was made out of leftover materials!

[Psychorugby]

Wow... just wow.

[SublimeRT]

3 hours ago, 95riosnake said:

Looks awesome and it appears you have the TIG working really well these days too. When you're done, I think you'll have the most badass HF english wheel in existence. As far as 3 legs vs 4 legs, 4 will give you better stability, but could have a tendency to wobble over uneven surfaces, whereas a 3 leg setup won't ever wobble but isn't as stable. You could to a 4 leg setup with casters on all 4 as you planned, then add leveling feet to the front two legs as well. That way once the wheel is sitting where you are going to use it, just bend down and use a ratchet to extend the leveling feet and take out any wobble it may have.

 

Love the stand for the disc sander as well, especially that it was made out of leftover materials!

 

Thanks.  I'm getting more comfortable with the TIG welding, though some days I still should just back away slowly from the torch.  I intentionally left a gap and bevel in some 3/16" material the other day, to try to walk the cup and fill it up nice.  Didn't work well at all, lol.  There won't be much HF left of this wheel when it's done.  Pretty much the original frame, part of the lower adjuster, and the anvils.  At this point, maybe I should have just started from scratch.  I think I posted a cardboard cutout of my frame idea a while ago.  Though, it would probably require at least 3 4'x8' sheets of 1/4".  But, I will have learned a lot from this wheel in both building and using it that I can apply to the next one.  

 

That's some good input with the legs.  I will think about it some more.  I figure I'll make 3 and tack them up to the tank and see what I think.  

 

 

1 hour ago, Psychorugby said:

Wow... just wow.

 

[SublimeRT]

Here's just a real quick little something.  I needed to relocate the brake to make room for something else, and I also needed to use it, so I figured I'd just go ahead and redo it a bit.  In its previous iteration the work surface was really high for some reason; about up to my chest.  Bending something was like doing an upright row, and I like my shoulders, so I lowered it about a foot.  It was really kind of slopped together looking too so I wanted to address that.  And it wobbled a bit on the floor.  Being as top heavy as it was, that wasn't desirable.  I didn't have to use any new material except for some 1/8" for the caster plates for those rigid casters, a short length of 1" solid bar and 1/4" plate for the jacking pad, and reused almost all of the existing material, so that's kinda cool.  Also used some leftover leveling feet in the right side.  And with the bottom left open, there is a bit more usable storage space there.  Just need to decide on paint colors for the stand and brake, clean up all those fingers, and add a few tool holders for the allen heads and wrenches needed to adjust the brake.  

 

Old

 

New

[95riosnake]

I often find myself working on things and compiling a list of things I need to build carts and stands for... you just build them right away it seems lol. I love all the fab work!

[RideTech_Ryan]

UPDATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Looks great man.  We cant wait for you to start wheeling on the cobra either.

[SublimeRT]

Thanks Dan.  I still have plenty of similar lists though.  I tell my wife that I have so much to do around here it's not even funny.  You probably know the feeling.  

 

Another thing I've been working on is, well the chassis table warped when I welded it.  I knew it would, but didn't think it'd be too significant.  I tried to weld it in a sequence to minimize it, and maybe it helped, maybe not, but it still happened.  All the vertical tubes going down off the main rails, I even only welded two sides of each tube.  Maybe because majority of the welding happened on the bottom side of the main rails.  Welding distortion is a beast I've not yet tamed.  I straightened it out using a laser and heat on the top side.  

 

If anyone remembers, I'll be using 6' crossmembers on top of the main rails.  I can just add, remove, and place these as needed.  I was originally going to just weld them onto the main rails where I needed with some healthy tacks, then cut the welds when I needed to move them around and stuff.  Well after that warping episode I decided to go a different route because I plan to do multiple cars on this thing.  I got some .5" thick flat bar to go on top of the rails.  It is hot rolled flat bar as cold rolled was much more expensive.  Dimensionally I think the cold rolled would be more accurate, but as far as thickness goes, I don't think the hot rolled will cause any problems.  I'm drilling and tapping 3/8"-16 holes all the way down it.  This way I can weld some angle iron to the 6' crossmembers as mounting brackets, and just bolt the crossmembers down wherever needed.  The end result will be a lot like a Unijig table.  

 

I drilled and countersunk holes in the flat bar for 1/4"-20 flat head allen screws.  They are spaced every 6" down the length of the bar.  Drilled and tapped into the 1/4" top rails of the table. 

 

All the holes are drilled in this section of the bar.  For a few feet in the front and rear suspension areas there are holes every inch.  That's why in those sections there are two 1/4"-20 bolts.  Everywhere else the holes are spaced at two inches.  

 

I'll be adding some bar across the 3 crossmembers of the table as well.  

 

I want the mill scale off of these, and flap discs usually get into the base metal a bit, so I soaked them in this little trough of distilled white vinegar.  Overnight or about 8 hours will do, but a bit longer doesn't hurt.

 

After soaking, wiping down, and a quick sanding with 80 grit and red scotchbrite.

 

To tap all the holes in the flat bar, I wasn't about to do it all by hand or with a handheld drill, so I scored The "Procunier" off ebay.  This is the size 3E tapping head.  It is rated to tap 1/2" holes in steel.  It came with a few collets, a MT3 shank, and a MT3 to MT4 adapter.

 

Well the drill press has a MT2 shank.  There are adapters to go from a MT3 to an MT2, but I didn't want to go that route.  They are kind of long.  In hindsight maybe I should have just gone that route.  Anyways I bought a MT2 shank from Procunier themselves.  I get it and there seems to be a problem.

New MT2 on left, old MT3 on right.

 

I emailed them, sent many detailed pictures and measurements.  The guy I talked to has worked there 31 years I think he said, and was very helpful and sent me many drawings of their parts, but in the end said he'd never seen a tapping head like mine and my best bet was to take it to a machine shop to have that additional material on the new MT2 shank machined off.  

[SublimeRT]

19 hours ago, RideTech_Ryan said:

UPDATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Looks great man.  We cant wait for you to start wheeling on the cobra either.

 

Thanks man!  I need to do something on the Cobra in the meantime, to relight that fire.  

[SublimeRT]

So I took that shank to a machine shop I've used before.  They didn't seem too confident they could fix it, and three weeks later I stopped by and it was sitting in the same place they put it when I dropped it off.  So I took it back.  

 

I decided to start lathe shopping.  I have been wanting one for a while and I can use it to make many things.  Things that come to mind are English wheel anvils and attachments, bead roller tooling, Delrin hammer heads for metal shaping mallets, bushings, shafts, pins, etc for some projects for the Cobra, custom fasteners for projects I have in mind.  The list goes on really.

 

I started looking for an older American made lathe.  My area is kind of a machinery desert though.  I found some in surrounding areas like Dallas and Houston through Craigslist.  Most were either not what I was looking for, priced too high for the condition, or just priced too high in general.  I looked at a few used machinery dealers and it was pretty much the same story.  So I turned to ebay and even with shipping I found some nice machines with some tooling for decent prices, even if they needed some freshening up and a VFD.  I missed out on a very nice restored South Bend Heavy 10 with 5C collet set and a couple chucks and misc tooling, got outbid in the last few seconds, a Logan 14x36 and a Clausing 5914, both I sat on a few days to think and when I went to bid were gone.  There were some others I was eye-balling but just didn't go through with.  

 

So at that point I decided to get a new Grizzly G0752.  May be a better decision as it is new, under warranty, and let's face it, I have enough projects around here.  A minor lathe resto and rewiring would just further derail things.  Again, as with the disc sander, I'd love to have some old American iron, but this will get me by for now.  Maybe I can upgrade/add to the collection later down the road.  One thing I notice about people with lathes is, they often have more than one.  It would have been nice to swing for a larger 12x36 G4003 or something, but not in the cards right now.  These G0752s have a big following and I've talked to a few people that have them and do similar work as me and they are happy with it.  

 

I needed a stand for it.  I got some 3"x3"x3/16" as I knew my metal supplier uses a lot of it and has plenty in stock.  Probably a bit overkill, but a heavy table in a shop is not usually a bad thing.  I kept the design pretty simple.  Cut all the material out with the Makita dry cut saw.  I mentioned this saw earlier and how I'd like to upgrade to a horizontal bandsaw.  That's because I had to buy a new blade for this chop saw before I could cut all this, and they aren't cheap.  I will say though they last a good while if you use it right.  I cut tons of metal with the old one including a lot of 4"x4"x1/4" and 3"x3"x3/16".  The thing makes a mess though.  Chips fly everywhere within at least a ten foot radius.  I also needed a place to store tooling and measuring tools and such.  Right now all I have in the shop is my Cornwell cart and a small Craftman tool box, both full.  So I looked at used Kennedy machinist tool boxes on ebay, but came across one of these Equipto drawers and thought it'd work better for the application.  I plan on redoing the whole thing completely and combining some of the drawers, to make some double wide ones.  Not everything will fit in those singles.  Dan, if you want to come redo this for me you are more than welcome.  We know you like to restore these things.  

 

 

I took some hockey pucks and drilled a 5/8" hole, then drilled halfway through with the 1 1/2" spade bit pictured.  I got this idea from a guy named Cody @ 25tilt_kreations on Instagram.  Check him out, he is very good.

 

Just put a 5/8" 5" long bolt through and tightened it down with some red loctite.  I'm unsure of the loctite's strength, so I will add a few tack welds as per Cody's recommendation, so I can use the nuts as the adjusters.

 

Some quick little brackets to mount the drawers.

 

Welded to the table.

 

Table all welded up, all the welds except the inside corner ones smoothed out.  Partly because these are the welds I experimented with walking the cup on, partly because I wanted the smooth look to begin with.  Some little gussets in the top corners.  And a larger chip tray than the supplied green on posted up there.  Made this out of 18 gauge.  Used the finger brake, but 18 gauge is about the limit I think for the 4' width of the tray and width capacity of the brake.  The edges are also folded over, kind of like a wire edge on a fender.  The bending for the long sides was started with the brake, but largely done with a hammer and dolly.  The brake handled the short sides just fine.  TiG'd the corners up and smoothed the welds on the outside of the tray.

 

Just a little mock up with the drawers again.

 

I tried to match the color of the lathe, it's an off white/cream sort of color, but couldn't get it close enough, so then I thought, I'll paint it machine gray, paint the chip tray and backsplash red, and paint the lathe gray to match after its initial shake down runs.  But decided to paint it with a roller and some gloss white Rustoleum.  A good look at the supports for the lathe going across.  5/8" 5" long bolts welded flush with the tube on the bottom, so the drawers can be mounted as high as possible in the frame.

 

This won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I was inspired by another awesome fabricator I follow on Instagram named Ian @ MetalheadKustoms.  He has some brightly colored equipment in his shop and I have been wanting to paint something like this for a while now.  I got some fluorescent pink, green, orange, blue, and purple paint and went to town.  It was a lot of fun.  I don't regret it at all and really like it.  Years from now, we'll see.  But it's just paint.  Can always be redone.  Plus, maybe this is far fetched, but I was thinking maybe my daughter will be more inclined in the future to hang out and learn things in the shop if she sees some bright, engaging equipment.  As long as she does not engage the equipment without Dad!  If not, that's fine.  I still like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really dig it.  I still really like the traditional machinery gray and red and things like that, it is very professional looking.  Just wanted to mix it up a bit.  I have the lathe mounted and powered up as of yesterday.  Just need to get some pics.  As always, thanks for checking out my long posts.  

 

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2016 by SublimeRT

[RedTwilight]

Looks like we have a Jackson Pollock on the forum! 

[95riosnake]

That is a beast of a lathe stand! I dig the splatter paint, definitely looks cool. The hockey puck feet are a great idea also, heavy duty leveling feet are big money so I'd imagine those are a much more affordable option.

 

I've also been on a lathe hunt for a few months, I too hesitated and missed out on a beautifully restored Southbend 9C for $700. The thing was absolutely mint, the ways still looked brand new. Since then, a couple Logans have popped up but at prices a bit more than I was interested in. I scour CL every few days though, I'll find something sooner or later.

 

The Equipto cabinet looks cool, as far as restoring it goes, that's probably one of the easier ones to fix up since there are no slides or any complicated areas. I'd do the outer cabinet that cream/white color then pick one of the splatter colors and do all the drawer faces. Unless the drawers are really rough inside, I'd leave them as-is inside as they're gonna get beat up from tooling anyway. Another option might be to just drop them all off with a powder coater.... then they'd be beautiful and stay that way.

[RideTech_Ryan]

That will be the only lathe stand to survive the end of the world.  That thing looks stout!  I dig the paint, its something different.  

[Psychorugby]

I really dig the paint scheme!  The stand looks beefy as hell... you could always use it to barricade the door should the need arise lol.

[SublimeRT]

14 hours ago, RedTwilight said:

Looks like we have a Jackson Pollock on the forum! 

 

Haha, I always did like his work.  

 

 

13 hours ago, 95riosnake said:

That is a beast of a lathe stand! I dig the splatter paint, definitely looks cool. The hockey puck feet are a great idea also, heavy duty leveling feet are big money so I'd imagine those are a much more affordable option.

 

I've also been on a lathe hunt for a few months, I too hesitated and missed out on a beautifully restored Southbend 9C for $700. The thing was absolutely mint, the ways still looked brand new. Since then, a couple Logans have popped up but at prices a bit more than I was interested in. I scour CL every few days though, I'll find something sooner or later.

 

The Equipto cabinet looks cool, as far as restoring it goes, that's probably one of the easier ones to fix up since there are no slides or any complicated areas. I'd do the outer cabinet that cream/white color then pick one of the splatter colors and do all the drawer faces. Unless the drawers are really rough inside, I'd leave them as-is inside as they're gonna get beat up from tooling anyway. Another option might be to just drop them all off with a powder coater.... then they'd be beautiful and stay that way.

 

Can't wait to see what you score.  Your machinery is always very nice.  A lot of machines I saw were up in your part of the country.  You'll find something for sure.

 

Yeah, the Equipto cabinet is very simple.  I was actually happy about that.  No slides to mess with and all that jazz.  As long as I don't fill the drawers with bricks I think it will be okay.  I was thinking about splattering the whole thing, but I like your idea.  The outer cabinet won't really be that visible, and I don't wanna go overboard with that splattering.  The lathe itself and backsplash are just going to be plain white.  Powder coating would be great.  I don't know of anyone around here that does it though.  There was a sketchy looking place that advertised powder coating on one side of town, but they've closed up.  Maybe I need to look around again.  Or, maybe a business opportunity, ha.

 

11 hours ago, RideTech_Ryan said:

That will be the only lathe stand to survive the end of the world.  That thing looks stout!  I dig the paint, its something different.  

 

11 hours ago, Psychorugby said:

I really dig the paint scheme!  The stand looks beefy as hell... you could always use it to barricade the door should the need arise lol.

 

Haha, thanks guys.  I'm kinda glad people are diggin the paint.  I wanted the stand to be pretty beefy.  Kinda like the old cast iron ones.  I just like the look of the bigger tubing too.  I figure if I ever get rid of this lathe, I can chop the studs off and plate the top of it and have a nice little work bench with tool storage underneath.  

[Blackmage]

[SublimeRT]

[SublimeRT]

I realized I forgot to post some pics of the lathe mounted up and all.  

 

I painted that chip tray with the same treatment.  I think I went a little heavier with it than the table actually.  

 

Lathe mounted up and leveled and backsplash painted white.  The cream color of the lathe doesn't look terrible, but I'll definitely paint it white someday.

 

Been doing a lot of experimenting with grinding different tool bits, tools angles, feed speeds, surface speeds and all that jazz.  Starting to figure a few things out.  Chip control is the biggest problem right now.  BUT, I've only been machining this 1" hot rolled mild steel.  Which after some digging around, it is agreed upon that it machines like crap.  That's been my experience as well, and it's been hard to get a good surface finish on it too.  Here's one little test piece of it.  That middle section turned out fairly smooth but I turned the speed way up and the feed all the way down, with a very light cut, and cutting oil.  

 

 

I did pick up a section of 1045 steel to make a mounting stud, for a Multifix style quick change tool post.  I machined about an inch of it and it was much nicer to work with and made nice little chips just sticking to the recommended speeds in the South Bend lathe book.  

 

After gaining some confidence I decided to have a go with the shank for The "Procunier".  Here is the shank as I received it, on the left.  That extra material right above the threads was preventing the shank from screwing down completely.  After turning down that material I discovered that it needed the threads extended to thread down completely as well.  

 

Here's the finished product.  Turned down, extended threads, and faced that little shoulder and cleaned up the inside corner some with a tool bit that I ground a rounded corner on.  I don't know what this material is, but it machined like butter.  

 

If you look really close you can tell the section I threaded is a hair smaller in diameter.  Before threading, I turned this section down a bit more than the outer diameter of the existing threads, thinking a little relief would allow it to thread completely down as it should.  This was not the case so I threaded it.  I think a little more relief would have done it though, like if I had turned it down to the same diameter as the valley of the threads (which I learned is called the minor diameter).  I opted to give threading a shot though.  The shank works as it should now and the 1" of threads that it came with should sufficiently hold, and the threads I added do engage as well so it only helps.  

 

 

 

[95riosnake]

The splatter effect on the chip tray should also make it look more presentable when it's not cleaned up 100% also. Not that appearance is everything but I've found my morale is always higher when things at least feel "clean" in the shop lol. Looks like the lathe has already proven its usefulness. I can't wait to have a nice lathe in my collection. Something the size of yours would be just fine for my needs. My dad keeps trying to push me toward the "bigger is better" mentality, which honestly applies to a lathe in most situations, but even though my shop is a lot larger than my previous one, I doubt I could give up the space for a large floor standing engine lathe for that one time 25 years from now when I might decide to make a cannon lol.

 

How's the english wheel coming along?

[Psychorugby]

Someone make a cannon!

[SublimeRT]

15 hours ago, 95riosnake said:

The splatter effect on the chip tray should also make it look more presentable when it's not cleaned up 100% also. Not that appearance is everything but I've found my morale is always higher when things at least feel "clean" in the shop lol. Looks like the lathe has already proven its usefulness. I can't wait to have a nice lathe in my collection. Something the size of yours would be just fine for my needs. My dad keeps trying to push me toward the "bigger is better" mentality, which honestly applies to a lathe in most situations, but even though my shop is a lot larger than my previous one, I doubt I could give up the space for a large floor standing engine lathe for that one time 25 years from now when I might decide to make a cannon lol.

 

How's the english wheel coming along?

 

I was kinda thinking the splatter paint would hide some of the mess if I didn't clean up the tray 100%, and it does help.  After using the lathe though I am considering making a pull out tray, unpainted, maybe out of aluminum, to just pull out and dump all the chips in the trash can.  Between the drill press and lathe, I have a dedicated metal swarf trash can now.  We'll see.  Either way, one little project added to the list is to make a magnetic swarf wand.  Cleaning chips out of all the nooks and crannies and under the bed and everything is kind of a pain.  

 

And I agree, a clean shop is so much better.  If I'm not working on something at that very moment, then the tools need to be put up and the area cleaned and organized.

 

Honestly I've already thought of a few projects that exceed the limits of this lathe.  Buying new, if I could have swung it, I'd have gotten a bigger one.  The projects I thought of aren't holding up progress with anything currently going on though.  More just like, "Man if the lathe were this much bigger I could fit that on it."  

 

I haven't worked on the English wheel any more yet.  I ran out of 3/32" filler wire and haven't gotten more.  I'll pick some up soon.  I need to wrap that project up.

 

13 hours ago, Psychorugby said:

Someone make a cannon!

 

Haha.  I always had a lot of fun with potato cannons as a teenager.  Maybe I can make a little one to fire off some little spuds across the yard.

[SublimeRT]

Well alright guys.  I said in Dan's thread a few weeks ago I'd hopefully be taking the knife to the Cobra that coming weekend.  But I either haven't gotten the time or when I had the time I couldn't find any help.  I'll be starting from the top, and the first order of business will be taking out the front and rear glass.  That's what I need a helper for.  

 

For the time being though I'll post some tool updates.  Posting from my phone, i may be on baby duty, things may not be in chronological order, I haven't been the greatest at taking pics of works in progress lately, and I might submit posts before I really finish that line of thought, just so I don't accidentally lose a big post.  But bare with me.

[SublimeRT]

Alrighty well I went back a few pages and didn't see much that I said about the chassis table.  It is finished and I have the Charger on it.  It is working out well but in hindsight I'd have done quite a bit differently in design, materials, and construction.

 

With the top rails, which are 1/2"x1 1/2" flat bar, I tapped 3/8" bolt holes every two inches, except about a three foot area around where front and rear axles will fall, which is at 1" spacing.  I figured the Mustang is about the shortest car that'll be on the table, and I measured one of the 67 Monacos around here which will be about the biggest.  In  hindsight, and this is one of those things, I should have used about a 3 or 3.5 wide flat bar.  Just would have made mounting a bit easier I think and that flat bar wasn't very expensive.  And if you wanna get real picky the wider bar would spread the load out a bit on the 4x4.  The 1.5 bar is right in the middle of it. Anyways there will only ever be bare chassis on it and between the 3x3x3/16 movable cross bars, 1/2" tapped bars, and 4x4x1/4" bottom rails there is a lot of material there.  Also in this pic you can spy the little 5/16 leveling feet I had.  According to the specs on these they could handle the load in compression, but side to side I thought they flexed a bit.  I didn't want one buckling if I was really tugging on something in the car, so I replaced them with 5/8 grade 8 bolts and large 1/4" steel plate feet on the 4 corners.  Much better.  Left the two small leveling feet on the two middle uprights.  

 

Drilled, tapped, countersunk mounting holes.  

 

I moved it into the booth and DA'd the whole damn thing with 80 grit which sucked.  

 

Got a gallon of semi gloss black tractor paint and hardener from tractor supply and sprayed it.  In contrast to the lathe table, I just chose plain black.  I was thinking if there is a car on there and I wanna take a step back and look at and think about things, I just want to see the car and not get distracted by some wild colors.  

 

Then I wiped the rails down good with WD40 as they're unpainted and installed them, all the leveling feet, and the casters to get it into place.

 

Wheeled the table into place under the car, leveled the table and tightened the jam nuts to keep the legs in place, and then lowered the Charger down over it to the height I wanted, then took the 6' sections of 3x3 and placed them at the anchor points I wanted.  The 3x3s are bolted down by some 3x3x3/16 angle slices TIGd to the tube.  I'll have to get some better pics.  I'll have to get post up about the adjustable body cart that I made to roll the Charger around and get it into place and lower over the table.  I'll use the cart for the Mustang as well.

[95riosnake]

The chassis table looks great Blaise. I can only imagine the patience it took to drill and tap all those holes.

 

Not many people can say they have a chassis table, even fewer can say they built their own chassis table.

[SublimeRT]

Thanks Dan.  Tapping actually went pretty quick once i got in a groove.  I've got some little video clips somewhere.  Drilling though, ugh.  And the lay out of all the holes took a while too.

 

I'm glad I built it and have it to use now.  I learned a lot.  I'd say though, unless you find some good material for cheap to build your own, or have some specialty projects, then something like a JD2 table seems like a real good deal to me.  It has a two rail system where crossmembers can be bolted down anywhere.  I'll also say though, if I build another I'd probably just use some big ass I-beams with the tops Blanchard ground and probably again some tapped holes for mounting cross members and such.

 

Here's a quick little lathe project.  The stock tool holder is a pain.  I was shimming the tools up to height with an assortment of feeler gauges.  There's a machinist on YouTube that goes by Abom79, and one of his videos I was watching he was talking about his multifix style quick change tool posts.  I was intrigued and it seemed a bit easier/faster to work with vs the Aloris style.

 

 I found a Chinese company called Create Tool that makes a copy.  Emailed them and talked to a nice lady named Nina and placed an order.  Actually arrived pretty fast.  

 

I made a new mounting stud out of 1045 steel.  I don't know much about metallurgy and if it is a suitable choice or if it should be heat treated, but it is holding up well so far.  Been a few months so far.  

 

I'll have to get some more tool holders someday.  There were three in the kit.  I've got a turning tool in one, facing tool in one, and a small boring bar in the last.  I'd say one disadvantage to this style vs the Aloris is I've seen people machine their own tool holders pretty easily for them on a mill and save some money there vs buying pre-made holders.  The multifix style looks a bit more complex.  

 

 

I've got a couple of these LED lights in the shop and I like them.  Mounted one right above the lathe and it really helped out.

 

And a quick little video.

 

[SublimeRT]

A lot of little loose ends around here.  Trying to tie a few up.  I'm bad about starting things and getting them operational and then moving onto the next thing.  

 

I got a Harbor Freight 12" disc sander a while ago.  I really dig it.  Use it almost every day and it's a tool from there I haven't really had to do anything to.  It has just worked.  

 

I made a stand though and posted up about it a while ago.  I had not finished welding it, painting it, installing feet, etc.  

 

Well one day I decided to just knock it out.  Finished welding it up, capped off some tubes, made some mounts for some leveling feet, and added a little hook to hang the cord for the vacuum on. Painted it with some of the leftover black from the chassis table, and repainted the horrible green case of the sander with Rustoleum Sunrise Red.  Since the sander is right next to the drill press I thought it'd look proper.  Used the sunrise red on the drill press reduction kit.  

 

 

 

I really wish the vacuum was not orange haha.  It'll probably get a round of mods someday because I can't leave anything alone.  New casters definitely.  Rolling it around is a fight.  Maybe I'll wrap it.  

 

[SublimeRT]

Alright so with the expectant sheet metal work to come, and due to a little band saw injury, I've been looking for alternate methods to cut metal.  I've been using a cut off wheel on grinders, the band saw, and for sheet metal work, handheld scissor type shears or tin snips.

 

The cut off wheels and band saw work okay but are loud, messy, and the edges always need quite a bit of dressing.  Tin snips work good but I'm sure to end up with carpal tunnel if that's my only method.  I do have a handheld electric shear but it is one of my least favorite tools to use.  It is from Northern Tool.  I'm keeping an eye out for an old American made one to try out.  

 

I started looking for one of the famed Beverly shears.  A B2 or B3 model.  No luck with any of the local classifieds, Craigslist, etc.  Started looking on eBay.  Bid on a B2 but it went higher than I wanted to pay.  I suppose like a lot of the old American tool designs that have really become staples in metal shops, they have a bit of a cult following, and the prices reflect it.  There are many import copies, but I wanted the real deal. 

 

I came across something I'd never heard of called a Hand Nib by National Machine Tool Co.  It looked pretty cool, was advertised to handle up to 3/16" material, and had a provision for cutting small bar stock.  I did some Googling and found this machine is still produced under the company name of Heinrich and parts are still available for it.  It was on eBay for about $150.  The buyer said something was wrong with the rod cutting bits, out of alignment or something.  So I figured since parts are still available, I'd give it a shot.  The biggest Beverly, the B3, is advertised for 3/16 capacity, and they seem to go for $750+ on eBay.  The Beverly will do inside and outside curves though, and the Hand Nib will only do outside.  But what the heck.  

 

So I get it and mess with it and everything seems to work great, not sure what the seller was talking about.  I took it apart a bit and re-greased things, and it is even smoother than before.  Like butter.  Really a quality tool.  I'd still like a Beverly someday, but I really like the Hand Nib.  It has a fold down lug to mount in a vise, which worked good except my vise is on a stand with wheels, so really getting down with it is hard.  I've since solidly mounted the Hand Nib.  More on that later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[95riosnake]

That tool holder looks like a solid setup, seems very simple to use for sure. The sander stand looks great and I don't blame you one bit for painting that ugly bright green motor case.

I'd love to pick up a shear at some point. That one looks legit for sure. If it suits your needs as you put it to use I wouldn't even bother trying to pick up a Beverly. I have become a bit annoyed with a lot of the tools/machines that have cult followings. Sure they are the best but I really can't stand the prices they demand because of the following they have.

[SublimeRT]

Yeah it is pretty ridiculous how that happens to some of the well known tools.  I noticed that with the South Bend lathes when lathe shopping.  And I'd like to build a planishing hammer one day.  The old planishing hammer heads, some I've seen go for thousands of dollars.  For just the head.  I mean something that can fit in your hand.  You'd think they were made out of some precious metals.

 

So sometimes when doing some sheet metal work, if it was originally spot welded in, I'll drill holes for plug welding the replacement back in.  Drilling all those holes is much more work then it should be.  Center punch, drill, de-burr, then sometimes even planish the metal back out, when the twist bit grabs the thin metal and distorts it.  And sure it is easy to zip over the metal with a whiz wheel to get rid of some burrs but that is just another operation to add to the process and I like to avoid taking any abrasive to the already thin metal when possible.  

 

To speed things up I found a good deal on a Roper Whitney XX hand punch.  They've been making these a long time, and still do.  I think this one is not very old.  It is nice and tight and works great.  Currently I only have a 5/16" punch and die set, but that is typically the size I use for plug welds with the MIG.  I'll pick up some smaller ones because I've been experimenting with plug welds with the TIG and they end up looking more like the original spot welds, and I can get away with a smaller hole.  1/4" or so.  An 1/8" set would be good too for Cleco holes.

 

I've also been keeping an eye out for a larger kick punch/press.  I came across this Whitney Jensen model 68 for a really great deal, even with shipping.  It was shipped via Fastenal shipping.  I forgot they offer shipping, but it was quick, the closest store is here in town, and it was at a really good rate.  I was impressed.  

 

This will be great for many operations.  There are tons of available die sets, and even places that can make custom ones  Punching holes in large panels, round holes, square holes, slotted holes, oblong holes, key holes, corner notching, inside and outside corner radii, press braking, louver punching, dimple die punching/forming, flared holes, etc.  With the way the upper punch holder and lower die block are set up, there are many possibilities.  I'm going to try to make some dies to use the machine as sort of a manual Pullmax, to form strips of metal like trim pieces and such.  We'll see if it works.  I've even seen people covert these to air/hydraulic and electro/hydraulic setups so no kicking a pedal.  I do like how all it requires to operate currently is my own power.  

 

 

One of the lower die blocks, and that upper cylindrical punch holder is removable as well and has a 1" shank that fits up into that ram.  So for the sheet metal forming I'll make some dies and weld the upper to a 1" piece of cold roll.

 

A larger lower die block it came with.

 

 

Had to clean up the tag.  The other one I might remove.

 

Also removed those big pieces of angle.  Would be great if I worked with flat sheet all the time. 

 

Gonna do a little restoration on the whole machine.  Really doesn't need much though so it'll mostly be cosmetic. I might not be able to resist a paint job like an old WW2 fighter though.

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by SublimeRT

[SublimeRT]

I contacted a company called Cleveland Punch and Die.  After a few emails I purchased some tooling for the kick punch.  To start out with I just got 1/8", 1/4", and 5/16" round sets.  I have a floor pan I need to put in the Charger, all spot welded, and it's about a 2 ft square panel.  So with the deep throat I'll just be able to punch all the plug weld holes quickly, no drama, and install the panel.  

 

Here's some pics and a test piece of 18 gauge steel with the 5/16" punch. 

 

 

 

[ttocs]

man I missed this build for a little while somehow.  When I saw you were concerned about the inside of the frame rails I thought about this stuff I used.  You can pull the tip off and use it on other paints after this can is used but its great for getting paint inside the rails after welding.

 

http://www.ecklersearlychevy.com/internal-frame-coating-paint-5420.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAyuPCBRCimuayhb3qqvwBEiQAgz62kaAIBJqkoMMVTKx_Xtum0osXHrNKuniXxLG6pwtq4UAaAgDn8P8HAQ

[Psychorugby]

3 hours ago, SublimeRT said:

 

 

 

 

 

I have this on my electric stapler at work, so I definitely approve for badass heavy machinery!

[RideTech_Ryan]

Glad to see more updates.  Looking forward to the ones coming down the pipe.

[95riosnake]

That kick punch is pretty badass! I also 100% approve of the fighter plane paint job, do it!

[Lanter]

Fighter plane paint scheme will look right at home against the green!  Really looking forward to seeing the mustang on the chassis table.

[RideTech_Ryan]

that fighter plane scheme always reminds me of this

[SublimeRT]

On 12/20/2016 at 0:09 PM, Evilcw311 said:

The a-10 warthogs made that paint most popular later in and it was always an incredibly awesome look. 

 

 

Reminds much of this boat boat I seen in Florida this year. 

 

 

Boats kinda freak me out, especially big ships.  My wife jokes that I died in a shipwreck in a past life.  Ha.  That is bad ass looking though.  And A10s rule!

 

23 hours ago, ttocs said:

man I missed this build for a little while somehow.  When I saw you were concerned about the inside of the frame rails I thought about this stuff I used.  You can pull the tip off and use it on other paints after this can is used but its great for getting paint inside the rails after welding.

 

http://www.ecklersearlychevy.com/internal-frame-coating-paint-5420.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAyuPCBRCimuayhb3qqvwBEiQAgz62kaAIBJqkoMMVTKx_Xtum0osXHrNKuniXxLG6pwtq4UAaAgDn8P8HAQ

 

Scott, I don't think you missed anything.  I just haven't been posting up, ha.  I actually have a few cans of that stuff, but good looking out!  Thanks.  ?

 

21 hours ago, RideTech_Ryan said:

Glad to see more updates.  Looking forward to the ones coming down the pipe.

 

?? I'm looking forward to it as well.  I've had my fill of screwing around with tools for a while!  You guys might be too, but thanks for sticking around.  

 

 

Dan and Kevin, it's gonna have to happen I think, haha.  I'll be stripping and laying down a machine gray base first.  Green is my favorite, but it's gotta be more.... Sublime.  ?? And yeah, Mustang on the table will be a big moment.  

7 hours ago, 95riosnake said:

That kick punch is pretty badass! I also 100% approve of the fighter plane paint job, do it!

 

5 hours ago, Lanter said:

Fighter plane paint scheme will look right at home against the green!  Really looking forward to seeing the mustang on the chassis table.