The majority of the mechanical work on the router is completed. Now comes the aggravating part, and that is getting the computer to correctly operate it.
Wally, a friend of gun lab, just spent part of his Sunday helping to get it operational.
There are a number of issues that have to be addressed. Starting with windows 7 talking to Mach 4. That is the easy issue. Then getting Mach 4 to talk to the smooth step board. This is providing to be a little more aggravating. Then getting the smooth stepper to actually do what it is suppose to do with the drivers and switches.
This is Wally’s second attempt and I really think he now wishes he had not volunteered to help.
Today he made great strides toward getting things working. Here is the video of the router operating and running a basic program.
Started on the new fluting tool design. We have had some issues with the fluting of the chambers. Some of the issues have been narrowed down to our original tool design. To correct the flute issue we went back to the design. Starting with the thickness of the flutes and the length of the flutes, these were changed to closer match the original German design.
Here are some solid models showing the changes.
We are also trying a couple of different steels. The first is O-1.
The next is D-2
Starting with the cnc turned blank.
It is set up in the mill and surfaced for the proper angle.
With the support and the angle block it is a great deal easier to machine the three sides.
The completed tool.
They are off to heat treat and should be back soon.
Most of this summer has been working on projects that have been hanging around and needed to be finished. We took in a number of outside jobs to pay the bills. The cash flow issue allowed only the projects that required no money to be accomplished. This lead to a number of items being completed that I really wanted to do. This is one of the projects. Getting the 3 burner forge running.
This story actually started long before this last summer. It started with wanting a forge to do some blacksmithing. A number of years ago I started to build a propane gas forge using a freon bottle and a home made gas burner.
After making sure it was empty I removed the valve.
It was open up to allow for insulation and actually setting it up to be a forge.
Parts were machined for the nozzle and the adapter to the tank.
The adapter was welded on and the proper insulation added.
Even a stand was built.
However while I was waiting for the hardener to arrive this forge showed up. Actually I pulled it from a dumpster. It is a natural gas forge that uses a fan to provide air to the burner. Work stopped on the first forge as things do when life gets into the way. I thought I would convert this to propane, but again it was a time thing.
I was ready to get back on the home made forge when this cute 3 burner forge showed up at my door.
I obtain a regulator and hose and it was back to getting the forge up and running in the shop.
Extra insulation was added and it was a go when….
This cute single burner forge showed up.
Then rick, a friend of gun lab wanted to know if I wanted this one.
Being the scrounge that I an I said yes, It is at this point in the story that I must point out that my wife constantly reminds me that I have a problem. Taking it from natural gas to propane was next.
The piping removed.
The door was fixed.
The door still needs a covering of insulation.
The hole was plugged with insulation and just needs a sheet metal cap.
Next will be the new burner hole and adapter.
At least now the three burner forge is up and running.
The new anvil stand is finally finished. The wheel supports are some scrap steel that was sized to and then bored out and threaded for a 5/8 shoulder bolt
The wheels actually came from old floor jacks that I retrieved from a dumpster and then bored out the bolt size on my lathe.
Now when I have to I can move the anvil out of the way easily.
Due to the number and types of projects we work on here at Gun Lab a great deal of raw material is used. For those of you that build projects you understand the cost of material. For that reason not much is thrown out here. Generally most items can be used as is or re-purposed to something else. However, it can get out of hand quickly and easily. That happen here. I had a number of piles of steel and most of it was not accessible. My wife took it upon herself to clean and organize the steel piles into what is now known as Shirley’s WalMart for steel.
The ease of finding material has made a huge benefit in being able to start and complete projects.
Another weekend has come and gone. A few house hold projects were completed and a couple of minor projects worked on. Most of the weekend was spent on writing reports for work. Friday night for 2 hours, Saturday for a couple of hours in the morning and then again that night for a couple of more hours. Then Sunday from 6am to 11 am to finally finish them all up.
The only exciting project that I was able to work on this weekend was the new anvil stand I am building.
Using the router table I built a while back I cut a radius on the posts to allow them to fit inside the angle iron supports.
The radius cutter for the operation.
After welding everything up it was a challenge moving it.
Close up of the new stand.
As it stands in the fab shop. It still needs to be sanded on the top.
With the anvil set up on it.
The final step for the base is to install wheels to allow easier moving
Here at gun lab everything is generally made or re-purposed to go with the project at hand. I have a small fly press that I obtained at a yard sale for real cheap. I wanted to use it in the fab shop for punching hole and pressing designs. So it was time to spend some time making a stand for it.
I found an old lathe that some one had dumped in a field. After some checking in the surrounding businesses t was determined that it was just a midnight drop off. I took my old truck and trailer over and picked it up, much to the appreciation of the property owner. and drug it home. It set in the fab shop for a number of years where it gathered dust and rust and generally was in the way. There was no fixing it and bringing it back to it’s glory days so the next best thing to do with is to re-purpose it.
I took it apart and saved the gears and anything that I could use.
This leads me to the base for the fly press.
When we made the hydraulic forging press the center plate was saved.
That material was then cut for the base.
A nice fit to the base.
two extra holes were located and drilled.
And the plate bolted to the base.
Next a piece of scrap from the hydraulic power pack for the big press was machined to hole the fly press and allow an opening to drop out the slugs.
The press was mounted to verify proper alignment.
A piece of 6″ pipe that I managed to scrounge up was cut to length and welded to the top plate.
After welding up the top and bottom plates the fly press is mounted ans ready for use once the special tooling is made.
Another weekend project completed.
This is it setting next to the forging hammer I built.
Most of Sunday was spent on making a new stand for my anvil. The stand that came with the anvil, when I dug it out of a dumpster, is way to short for me.
Due to the short height I was always having back issues when I did any forging. Finally having a few moments to my self I decided to build a new stand that fit my size.
Starting with old pallet wood, Philippine Mahogany.
The ends were cut off to the point where I could find good wood. This was dome on the radial arm saw.
After that step was completed they then went to the joiner.
This allowed me to make two of the sides perpendicular. From there they went to the planer.
This allowed the sides to be parallel. Then off to the table saw to get them close to the same size.
The wood actually looked usable at this point.
A large amount of material was taken off on some of the boards to accomplish this. Now I needed to put it together as a puzzle.
The ends were sanded to make them as flat as possible.
Today it is off to do the metal work. First to grind down flat my base steel.
It is Saturday night of a three day weekend and already the fun has started.
I have not chatted about the kitchen for awhile but today I finished a major project that I have been putting off. I finished piping the gas to the new stove top. This should make Axel happy.
Eat your heart out Mac and Susan.
I replace all the gfi plugs in the bathrooms. Then went back out to the fab shop and put the last isolation valve in the water system. The water system is energized through out the entire fab shop. I will start of the evap cooler stands in the near future.
The work was started on the new anvil stand. Using the 4.5×4.5 pallet pieces that I have been saving and my wife started making into bench seats.
I started cutting them to length and will continue tomorrow with this project.
Saturday is over just waiting for more fun on Sunday.
I have spent the last 3 weekend getting ready for a new water line to the fab shop. My limit for digging is only a couple of hours. When you look at the size of the rocks you will understand why.
Just pebbles.
The conduit as it came out from under the slab at the fab shop.
All the conduit laid in the trench
The pex pipe pulled through the conduit.
The high tech compacting tool and the trench filled in.
Hooked up at the water source
Hooked up at the fab shop.
The only thing left to is seal the ends of the pipe.
