Machining small old style adjustable

[Lewis_RX8]

Currently trying to replicate a small King Dick N.0 adjustable my grandad gave me.

Getting on okay few mistakes using the mill on my first easier part , using it as a project to try and learn and pickup some milling skills. First part I am happy with and fits in with the original so I know it's all correct sizes however trying to think of how I could machine the second and not sure what tool I would use

Here is the adjustable , and my two in progress parts

The screw part fits in the old adjustable and fits well so happy with that will sort the top cosmetic parts later





However this is the part I'm struggling with , I have machined a block square and got to starting dimensions however unsure how I will go about making the groove and what tool to use , currently just scored out the lines to see what it will look like but thinking I don't have the right tool so don't want to start milling yet.

 

[DSR]

T-Slot cutter ?

Typical from Cromwell (other tool suppliers exist)

 

[Lewis_RX8]

That looks like what I'm after , just mill enough for a shank to fit then cut the slot with that

Suppose I'll need quite a small one for this

 

[Kram]

I would start by drilling a pair of small holes length ways to reduce the amount of work for the T cutter. If you didnt have one, another option is a square HSS tool bit to broach the slot.

 

[optima21]

you might find that you can get a woodruff cutter that is smaller than a t slot cutter but you'll need to take more cuts as the width of the cutting teeth is narrower

 

[Agroshield]

What you are making is the same as that sold by 'Hand Tool Rescue' on YT. Somewhere in his videos, he has clips of his reproductions being machined. You might pick up some useful clues from them.

The outside perimeter curve is more difficult than the T-slot. You might need to iterate between the two: cut just the slot of the T-slot, which then gives you something to index/fixture off (the external convex curves are symmetric to this slot) and the area where the square hole will be can help with clamping.

Look at the part as a whole and develop a machining strategy so you do not paint yourself into a corner.

 

[Lewis_RX8]

What you are making is the same as that sold by 'Hand Tool Rescue' on YT. Somewhere in his videos, he has clips of his reproductions being machined. You might pick up some useful clues from them.

The outside perimeter curve is more difficult than the T-slot. You might need to iterate between the two: cut just the slot of the T-slot, which then gives you something to index/fixture off (the external convex curves are symmetric to this slot) and the area where the square hole will be can help with clamping.

Look at the part as a whole and develop a machining strategy so you do not paint yourself into a corner.

Thanks, ill have a look at those videos.


And yes that was the plan get all the machining done with it as a square block then do cosmetic curves after as would be difficult to clamp as you say,

I would start by drilling a pair of small holes length ways to reduce the amount of work for the T cutter. If you didnt have one, another option is a square HSS tool bit to broach the slot.

Already need to drill a hole for clerance on the screw bottoming out so will drill some more holes make easier for T cutter

 

[Lewis_RX8]

Ordered a small T slot cutter and had a go at the channels with drilled holes as reccomended here and quite pleased with the result , may remake the moving part as not sure if I'm quite happy with it however the base is looking good

Generic eBay 10mm Dia , 3mm depth T slot cutter about £7.50. not the best quality but worked for me and ordered two as never used these before so was not sure if I would break anything

Drilled holes in a row here then made the channel with a 6mm milling cutter for the shaft of t slot cutter

Made the first cuts with the slot cutter , bit noisy as my small mill isn't the most ridgid machine even with most axis locked however feeding slowly with ear defenders on made the first full depth cut then it was easy after that as was only taking off small depth of cuts

And then this is where I reached last night after drilling a hole through from the bottom and welding it up to allow space for the thread to go , hopefully get out to the lathe and make the nut however I don't have a knurling tool so may need to get creative with that

First tool I have ever machined so quite a learning curve and a few mistakes that have been patched with welders however teaching me alot and learning my way round the machines slowly

 

[JMS1972]

Looks like a nice job.

Are you using a drill chuck to hold the milling cutter? You can probably get away with light cuts but I'd expect the cutter to work its way out of the drill chuck at the most inconvenient moment...

Morse Taper collets (threaded for a drawbar) can be a rigid and affordable way of holding cutters - assuming the mill has a Morse Taper in the spindle....

 

[Lewis_RX8]

Looks like a nice job.

Are you using a drill chuck to hold the milling cutter? You can probably get away with light cuts but I'd expect the cutter to work its way out of the drill chuck at the most inconvenient moment...

Morse Taper collets (threaded for a drawbar) can be a rigid and affordable way of holding cutters - assuming the mill has a Morse Taper in the spindle....

Thanks , and yes I am

Seen collets before but never used it for anything i wanted that accurate however like you say i really should get some as it can ruin a part when it slips as i do believe my mill has a threaded drawbar with taper however would need to check what one i have a holder that came with the mill but there was nothing to go in it so it stayed in a draw.

 

[JMS1972]

Thanks , and yes I am

Okay as long as you get away with it

Seen collets before but never used it for anything i wanted that accurate however like you say i really should get some as it can ruin a part when it slips as i do believe my mill has a threaded drawbar with taper however would need to check what one i have a holder that came with the mill but there was nothing to go in it so it stayed in a draw.

Post a picture of the holder maybe someone can advise on what is possible.

Trouble with machine tools is you can spend loads of cash on tooling

 

[Lewis_RX8]

Finished off the first prototype of the adjustable today however not happy with my moving jaw and a weld on it has cracked so going to be remaking it all from one bit of metal properly this time , also not quite parallel jaws down to my machining technique so the project continues

Made the nut , similar design to the original with the grooves however that's as much as I can add for grip as don't have a knurling tool and not sure if the mini lathe would really handle one

Cut off and cleaned up and it all fit together and worked quite well

Was quite free to move so pleased with that however maybe a little bit loose on the sizes so a little too much play which I will pay more attention to making my next moving jaw to a tighter fit

And here is the machine and holder I have , looks like I would be looking for a ER-32 collet set as that is what I have a holder for that fits my mill

 

[Kram]

I have a spare pair of knurling wheels if you want them, good milling project to make a holder. Any lathe will handle clamp type as it wont push the spindle bearings.

I remember seeing a small 6 peice er32 collet set for a fiver

Collet Set, 6pcs ER32 Spring Collet Chuck Set 10-20mm 65Mn Spring Steel for CNC Engraving Machine and Milling Lathe Tool and Work-Holding Engraving Machine : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Collet Set, 6pcs ER32 Spring Collet Chuck Set 10-20mm 65Mn Spring Steel for CNC Engraving Machine and Milling Lathe Tool and Work-Holding Engraving Machine : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Lewis_RX8]

I have a spare pair of knurling wheels if you want them, good milling project to make a holder. Any lathe will handle clamp type as it wont push the spindle bearings.

I remember seeing a small 6 peice er32 collet set for a fiver

Collet Set, 6pcs ER32 Spring Collet Chuck Set 10-20mm 65Mn Spring Steel for CNC Engraving Machine and Milling Lathe Tool and Work-Holding Engraving Machine : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Collet Set, 6pcs ER32 Spring Collet Chuck Set 10-20mm 65Mn Spring Steel for CNC Engraving Machine and Milling Lathe Tool and Work-Holding Engraving Machine : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

www.amazon.co.uk

If you wouldn't miss those knurl wheels, I'd be more than happy to take them and mill a holder I am sure I have some stock in to make that . Thank you for the offer!

Great spot on the link, some big sizes but I actually have some nice domer , sherwood tooling that I was gifted from a CNC machine operator after woking on the hydraulics his milling machine , However they did not fit in my jacobs chuck because they were over 13mm so bigger collets would let me use those tools. Don't think ill be doing any deep cuts with them and the size/power of my machine but ideal for some bigger projects.

 

[Kram]

Sure, let me know where there going I'll drop in post later.

What mill is it? With mt3 spindle it should have no problem with bigger tools.

 

[JMS1972]

Finished off the first prototype of the adjustable today however not happy with my moving jaw and a weld on it has cracked so going to be remaking it all from one bit of metal properly this time , also not quite parallel jaws down to my machining technique so the project continues

Made the nut , similar design to the original with the grooves however that's as much as I can add for grip as don't have a knurling tool and not sure if the mini lathe would really handle one

View attachment 302351


Cut off and cleaned up and it all fit together and worked quite well

View attachment 302353

Was quite free to move so pleased with that however maybe a little bit loose on the sizes so a little too much play which I will pay more attention to making my next moving jaw to a tighter fit

And here is the machine and holder I have , looks like I would be looking for a ER-32 collet set as that is what I have a holder for that fits my mill

View attachment 302354
View attachment 302355

That collet chuck looks decent. If the taper fits your spindle you are laughing

You can use a bit of M12 all thread as a draw bar if you don't have one. Worth buying an ER32 spanner when you buy the collets. This will be way better than the drilling chuck

For the mini lathe a clamp type knurling wheel will work best the push type need a really beefy rigid lathe.

Another option the handle would be "straight knurling" where you have a vee tool on its side and use the carriage to cut a groove then rotate and few degrees and cut another groove. Effectively using it like a shaper.

 

[Lewis_RX8]

Right well this is well due an update, done a lot of work on the adjustable and have been camping and down at my grandad's house (who gave me the spanner in the first place) for a week so only just got back to finishing this off today

Thanks to @karm for the link to collets they are perfect fit for my mill and holder i already had and for £6 just perfect !! , and to @JMS1972 for pointing out where I could improve the milling setup with these

Then first job with the old jacobs chuck quite forcefully hammered out by the drawbar and collet chuck attached was to remake the moving jaw , I was not happy with dimensions of first one and some welds where cracking where i welded it together so this was made all of one block of steel as i should have in the first place

As recommended i tried to do milling in a thought out process so in my mind keeping it all square as possible until very end as far easier to clamp a square than a handle shape , So with this i milled the width with it as a square the cut it out after so i only needed to mill one dimension holding onto a small part of jaws rather than mill two dimensions

Now i must have got carried away finishing off the moving jaw and forgot to take pics but that was milled into dimension at the sides and was a nice snug fit to my T slot. This is a pic of what i made it from some round stock and rusty old scrapy flat bar i got a few metres of at last years scrap value cheap cheap

Then flycut it all as one to get the surfaces aligned properly , Note flycutter in jacobs chuck as the bloody shaft is 10.5mm or something so i cant collet it

Then scored old adjustable shape on and rainy day activity was to get cutting and filling away

Now the last bit of the puzzle here was making this little springy washer that keeps tension on the thumbscrew , I made this out of old tape measure (spring steel or something simmilar I assume ?)

Very fiddly to cut this small part with big shears and drilled between two bits of ply however had an idea to round off washer and make smooth on bench grinder which worked a lot better then sandblasted it to get rid of tape measure mark which was also fiddly as had to attach to bolt to stop it flying away in the blaster cabinet

While sandblasting it i also plugged up the machined surfaces of the main body and moving jaw and blasted them for a nice even surface not filing marks and fly cutter marks and mess ups lol

Hitting the picture limit here will update it later on and try and get a good video comparing them I am pretty sure I have less slack in mine than the original king dick which has been used for many years and mass-produced however still pleased in my amateur machining skills

Still need to make my knurling tool for karms wheels so i can give the thumbscrew a good kurnl and finish it off however the lines give okay grip for now

 

[Lewis_RX8]

Here is the finished article next to my fag packet drawing as I couldn't keep half these numbers in my head had to scribble down to reference as I went

Anyone notice the slight difference between the two

Also need to figure out how I will mark of stamp it

 

[Agroshield]

Still need to make my knurling tool for karms wheels...

I did not know Parm and Kram had a love child.

Anyone notice the slight difference between the two...

As opposed to the need for a metric adjustable and an imperial adjustable, you have extended the concept to having one for left hand threads and one for right hand threads.

 

[JMS1972]

Nice work. Have you got a lathe? You could probably reduce the flycutter shank to 10mm with that

Support one end with a tail stock mounted centre and you'll be golden