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Working on the hot forging press

Chuck — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 12:08:53 +0000

Part of this last weekend was spent working on the hydraulic forging press and the fluting machine for the VG1-5. I started by threading all or at least most of the 3/4 high pressure hydraulic piping necessary. This is a video for the project.

With the hard piping completed all the old hoses were removed and new ones ordered. The pipe supports were also ordered and the throttling valve for the fluting press. Hope to have it together this weekend.

Part 2 of the weekend work fest

Chuck — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 08:00:07 +0000

While Axel worked on the pattern for the stock more was accomplished on the router table.

All the drawers have been finished and the top has been glued together, marked out and the moulding cut and fitted. I would have finished the moulding up gut my disk sander

gave it up.

With no new pads we had to wait until Monday to buy some new pads.

I wanted 100 grit but all Harbor Freight had was 120.

Got two of them from the wood working store. 100 grit.

I really want to finish this project so I can get on to making the stocks.

making and anvil for friends

Chuck — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 08:00:50 +0000

This last weekend between working on the kitchen and the router table I started on a project for a couple of friends. Axel is back in country and will be here for awhile and needs some stuff for his new shop and Paul ,from the flintlock site , need an anvil as well.

I have had an old truck at the house that I gave a loan on. Well he can’t be found after a decade so a while back I decided to use it for other things. This is part of what it went to.

I had more fun then you can even imagine taking this front end apart.

Nothing came off easily. Every thing was a battle. starting with the break drum. None of the bolts would come loose without an impact wrench and heat.

The only way to get the break pads out was to cut them out.

The same goes for everything else as well.

All the bolts on the drum had to be beaten out with a sledge hammer.

At the end of the day I was left with both drums.

The cross member

And a pile of scrap to be used in forging projects.

Now came the fun part. With Axel’s help I was able top move the cross member to the band saw room and cut it into usable lengths.

Then after some time of the mill I finally cut the first one down to the rough shape necessary to work it into an anvil.

The horn still needs work but that will have to be done with a grinder.

Update on the router table

Chuck — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 08:00:49 +0000

This last weekend more work was accomplished on the router table. As with the rest of the project we recycled as much as possible. The molding was added to the cabinet. Starting with a piece of an old oak cabinet that was cut over sized and planed to the proper dimension.

With any luck the larger drawers with be installed this next weekend

Weekend update for 4th of July

Chuck — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 08:00:12 +0000

Like all weekends I started out with a list that I could not possibly get done in the time frame allotted.

There were projects that I have been wanting to accomplish that are fun. Some of the things I needed to finish were under the direction of the commander in chief of the house. Some projects are necessary to finish the VG1-5 project. And some just needed to be done.

I started my Saturday morning with trying to get the pistol grip of the AR-16 rifle 3D printed. The PLA that came with the 3D printer is old but seemed to work on the first few projects. That was not going to be the case this weekend. The material did nothing but continue to break off in the feed tubes. After spending a few hours on this I just threw my hands but and ordered some new material.

I hope to back on this project next weekend.

On to the next project. This is doing a little upgrade to by duplicator. I have always found it to set to low for me so I wanted to raise it and changed where is sat slightly. I was able to put the risers on it after a little adaptive engineering.

However, when I went to look for my Johnson bad and skates, about an hour of looking, I could not find them anywhere. A friend borrowed and I will have them back on Tuesday. Then like a fool I tried moving it with out them and not such a good idea. More on this later.

So now off to another project and that is one of the trees at the house has been a little sick and needed to come down, this was a project handed down from the commander. So the task was set into motion. All the limbs had been cut down and taken to the dump all that was left to do was use the backhoe and remove the rest of the stump.

The backhoe decided to take the weekend off. Nothing would get it to start.

I wanted to install new A/C units in the wood shop and machine shop. With the temperatures that we have been having there is no joy in working in the shops. To do this in the machine shop I needed to take down the evap cooler first. This little project took several hours and was not the least bit of fun in the 110 degree heat.

However the A/C guy called about 2 in the afternoon to inform me that he did not pick up the units and it would be next weekend before they would be out. It was okay as I still needed to run the new electric line for the A/C’s and while I was at it I would change the wiring around a little. I also needed to install a return air duct. To do this work I first had to move the bead blaster.Then cut the osb and sheet rock off the wall.

Then the wiring was run for a new 40 amp circuit and set up out side with a new disconnect.

I went to use the small air compressor in the wood shop, the big one needs a new motor and that is another project for another day. It has been acting a little iffy lately so a new pressure switch was ordered and received on Friday.

Once again Murphy came back to visit. The switch that was ordered and suppose to work was not the correct type.

Once again the weekend did not go as planed. In addition to all the fun I had in the 110 degree heat some where along the line I pulled my back and could hardly walk,sit or lay down without being in great pain. Not sure if it was the trying to move the duplicator, taking down the evap, dealing with the tree or running the new electric. At that point I just threw in the town and took my wife to the movies.

3D Printer update

Chuck — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 14:36:55 +0000

When we received the new 3D printer and some of the plastic support pieces were broken. I did a post about making the new parts. Then when we tried to operate it we noticed that the over travel switch did not work on the Y axis. There are still spare parts so a new wiring harness was ordered and received this last week. The old harness was removed.

and a new one installed.

The problem with the Y axis over travel switch was the set screw had damaged the wire. It had been improperly installed at the factory.

Spare switches were also ordered in case repairs are needed in the future.

I completed the first test print and actual part print on Sunday. There were a few set backs but nothing serious.

The first issue was that the filament is old and gave me a few problems feeding.

Once this problem was corrected the next issue was the nozzle placement over the printer tip wipe. It was not going back far enough. A quick search on the internet as well as looking at the cube x courses, along with Orin’s help, and a solution was found and implemented.

This is my first test print which went totally wrong.

The final product did not come out.

The next post on the 3D printer will cover the corrections and the final test print that was completed.

CNC router update

Chuck — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 08:00:08 +0000

Some work was accomplished on the CNC router over this long weekend. The angle bracket was machined for all the connectors to attach to. I was going to wire the plugs up but found out that the wire we have is not the correct type, it is on order no for next weekend.

Here are the pictures of the angle bracket that was made.

Just as a reminder this is where it will set on the side panel of the cnc router.

Another update for the cnc router

Chuck — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 08:00:37 +0000

Well all the missing components arrived for the new cnc router controller. And it is time to start assembling the new system.

This is an over view of all the components as assembled on the 20×20 steel plate.

A close up of the servo motor controllers

A look at both power supplies and the terminal blocks.

A look at the second power supply and relays

All the terminal blocks installed and ready for wiring

The interface with the computer

As it looks today with the tool box for special tools, collets, end mills and measuring and touch off tools.

I will start wiring this machine up this weekend.

Just for everyone that thinks that it is always sunny in Arizona. This was the view tonight.

Working on the cnc router

Chuck — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 08:00:53 +0000

You have seen the previous write posts about the cnc router. The table was not steady and had way to much movement. That was the first problem corrected. Now we are on the way to correct the wiring and control circuits. The wiring as we received in the machine looked like two rats mating and dropping by products everywhere.

So first Plexiglas was cut and routed out for fans and filters.

This was completed the old fashion way, by hand tools.

Then they were mounted on the frame.

The new mounting plate was laid out and hole were drilled and tapped.

This too was accomplished the old fashion way,a ruler ,straight edge and square.

The rest of the components should be here this next week and I can finish up the new wiring.

Parts cleaning

Chuck — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 08:00:59 +0000

This last weekend was a busy one, like most weekends here. On the list of projects that had to be completed was get the parts ready for heat treating. This meant bead blasting all the parts going to heat treat. Not a weekend of fun and frolic. Thousands of parts needed to be cleaned and prepped. The though of cleaning them one at a time did not make for a project that I wanted to do. I have been looking at rotating parts bins for my bead blaster but have not had much luck. I knew a simple solution had to be out there, This is a video I saw on the net that I felt would be a long term solution, but for now something quick and simple.

So I made a manually operated rotating tumbler for the bead blaster. Here is a quick video of it and using it.

The first attempt was a 3lb plastic coffee can and just rolling it around.

I needed something that was a little easier to use and could hold a few more parts. So I made one out of a 1 gallon bucket and some old castors.

This is what the rusty bolts looked like starting.

And at the end after a couple of minutes.

Not a perfect solution, but a workable one. When I have some spare time I will make a motorized one with a spray nozzle that does not have to be held.