Brierley Drill Grinder ZB50

[Smouser]

Titanium is a sod to machine.

I once made some 4mm parts in Gr5 with a grooved profile in the middle.

It has to be super rigid. Like stainless you can't wait around, you need to good tool pressure. If you hang around, it work hardens.

Chatter can be a nightmare with it.

Powder metal taps are usually more effective.

Thread milling is better again.

Good tips, thanks.

It was my first time trying to machine titanium and it shows

I have read up a little on machining titanium/tapping titanium on a couple of forums after I struggled so much.

I don't really have a need to use titanium, I just though as I had it, I might as well use it. It is VERY doubtful that I will NEED titanium for something in the future.

 

[RobCox]

Dont worry about the blunted drill. This is a drill sharpener, right?

 

[Smouser]

Dont worry about the blunted drill. This is a drill sharpener, right?

Haha.

A non working drill grinder with an untrained operator.

At the current rate, it might be a while before it is operational

 

[Smouser]

Some of the signs/decals/data plates are a bit rough and some are missing.

Some examples of the old signs/decals.

The optional extra cross-sharpening motor's data plate is a sticker which is worth replacing too.

I have been slowly making some new signage on Adobe Illustrator and will probably use Colourfrog again to get the data plates/signs printed.

The previous time I used them for my Elliott Omnispeed the signs turned out great.

Because there is such a small price difference between a smaller and slightly larger sign, I will get a sign printed of 400mm x 375mm, fill it with all the individual decals/signs and then cut them out with a guillotine.

The work in progress sign.

I also need to buy grinding wheels.

At a minimum, I need to buy the point-thinning 'dish wheel 191 x 18 x 31.75 (the machine never came with one).
Thus far, I have not been able to find one at a decent price yet. Any recommendations?

I will be the first to admit that I don't know much about grinding wheels and my knowledge goes as far as course/fine. I am not too sure what type of grinding wheel I need.

The manual has some information (translated from French) on the shaping of the dish wheel.

Dish Wheel
Lock the chuck by placing the lock on one of the two green pegs. Mount the diamond holder in the
chuck, slightly tilting the diamond upwards. Set the drill head to 118° (graduation 19) and lock it.
Approach the wheel with the cross slides. The pass is made either with the transverse movement
(12) or the longitudinal (11). Advance by pushing the tail of the diamond holder forward. Spring
return. After completing the first side of the angle, rotate the head 105° and repeat the dressing
operation on the second side. This second operation requires repositioning the diamond holder in
the chuck. After these operations, make a small radius of connection between the two faces of the
angle.

Here is a drawing of a drill being 'point thinned'.

 

[Smouser]

A few small updates.

I removed the main grinding wheel from the arbor, easier said than done, it was a real struggle.

I had to work carefully as I would like to reuse the grinding wheel (at least initially until I can be sure the machine works properly before sinking any more money into it).
It is a non-standard grinding wheel which is recessed and it is also a 'layered' wheel. I only found one place that sells them and it works out at about £101 for the grinding wheel delivered.

The original wheel was made by the 'Universal Grinding Co.' which I believe has since stopped trading.
A couple of references to the Universal Grinding Co. which used to be in Stafford.
Link 1
Link 2

I already ordered a new dish wheel for the point-thinning operation from Midland Abrasives through their eBay store.

If you order directly from their website, the wheel costs £55.68 delivered or on eBay, it costs £50.25 delivered
I can't understand why a company's products are sometimes cheaper on eBay (which has platform/seller fees) compared to their own website.

There were a few parts that were originally blackened which were looking a bit worse for wear.

I have used Philips Professional Cold Blue on some parts of my Elliot lathe and got pretty good results.
However, on my last auction run, I acquired a part-used Frost Blackening Kit and thought I would try that instead.

Some of the parts

I cleaned the parts with a wire wheel, degreaser and finally solvent (just as I did before with the Phillips Cold Blue) and then placed them in the Frost Blackening solution.

They came out okish. Some parts took better to the blackening than others.
However, in my opinion, the Phillips Cold Blue gave me better results with deeper blacks and if I have to purchase cold blueing/blackening products in the future, I will stick with Phillips Professional Cold Blue.

 

[Smouser]

Today I got the coolant tank out.

Nice!

I cleaned it out as best I could.

This week I will clean it up properly with a grinder and get some paint on it.

I had a look at my tin of Jotun Jotamastic 90 which I have used on many projects before and there might just have been enough paint left over to get the tank painted. Unfortunately, there was so little paint left over in the tin that it went lumpy and 'dried' in places.

I do have two full tins of Jotun Penguard Express ZP (age unknown) which I got on an auction. From the product's specifications it appears that Penguard Express ZP could work well on the coolant tank.

Jotun Penguard Express ZP is suitable for structural steel and piping to be exposed to corrosive environments up to very high. Recommended for offshore environments, refineries, power plants, bridges, buildings and mining equipment.


The coolant pump have a 3-phase motor.

I have not yet decided what I want to do with the pump. The machine will already have 2 VFDs for the two grinding motors. I don't really want to use three VFDs to run the machine.

I am thinking that I will either use a capacitor to run the motor on single phase power or fit one of the two single phase coolant motors I already have (provided they will fit).


I refitted a few more parts including the 'dust cover'/bellows. I considered getting new custom ones made on Aliexpress but, the original ones cleaned up well enough and I don't need new ones right now.

I hope to get the wiring and switches installed in the next week or so.

 

[Smouser]

Brief update.

The tank has been painted with Jotun Penguard Express ZP.

lots of bugs about

I decided to use a single-phase coolant pump and wanted a relatively easy 'quick disconnect' for the power supply to the pump so I could remove it with the tank if needed.
Found an in-line connector in my electrical stash. Not super quick to disconnect but quick enough.

I also installed 2 aluminium 'bars' so I can fit the VFDs to them.

The dish wheel was also fitted.

It needs to be reduced in OD and also shaped.

I briefly started the Brierley's motor yesterday just to make sure everything works. I still need to do more wiring for the control and tidy cables up etc.

Getting close to destroying my first drill bit

I already have a 'few' drill bits lined up!

My biggest drill and also the max capacity of the ZB50!

 

[Agroshield]

I already have a 'few' drill bits lined up!

You have small hands.

On large bits, if they have damaged or chipped points, it uses up less of the expensive Brierley wheel if you first grind them to a 118 degree conical point on a bench grinder or belt sander before showing them to the machine.

There is one in the box with a flat end, 180 degree point angle. If you wanted to make that into a standard 118 degree point or make a 118 degree point into 180 degrees, the bench grinder is a more efficient/cheaper roughing tool.

 

[Agroshield]

This just in at the local video rental shop:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/3d-cad-files-for-109475323

 

[ukracer]

Some of the signs/decals/data

I have been slowly making some new signage on Adobe Illustrator and will probably use Colourfrog again to get the data plates/signs printed.

The previous time I used them for my Elliott Omnispeed the signs turned out great.

Because there is such a small price difference between a smaller and slightly larger sign, I will get a sign printed of 400mm x 375mm, fill it with all the individual decals/signs and then cut them out with a guillotine.

Do they print direct to the steel,ali?

View attachment 457998

How much is a sheet of stickers like that printed cost roughly

 

[Smouser]

Do they print direct to the steel,ali?

How much is a sheet of stickers like that printed cost roughly

It is around £26 for a 400mm x 375mm sheet. It is not stickers, it is aluminium dibond (thin aluminium on both sides with a 'filler' sandwiched in between)

You can choose brushed aluminium or white aluminium.

The brushed aluminium looks like this:

Last time, I used a guillotine at work to cut the signs out.

 

[ukracer]

It is around £26 for a 400mm x 375mm sheet. It is not stickers, it is aluminium dibond (thin aluminium on both sides with a 'filler' sandwiched in between)

View attachment 459821


You can choose brushed aluminium or white aluminium.

The brushed aluminium looks like this:

View attachment 459819
View attachment 459820

Last time, I used a guillotine at work to cut the signs out.

Not a lot of money in the scheme of things. I was thinking laser stickers or sublimation . Not really worth messing at that price.
I would be interested to do a test print though if you did not mind uploading it to me.

 

[Smouser]

Thanks @Agroshield and @bR39Da. I will heed your advice roughing badly damaged drills on the bench grinder.

The big drill's tip looks like this

 

[Smouser]

Not a lot of money in the scheme of things. I was thinking laser stickers or sublimation . Not really worth messing at that price.
I would be interested to do a test print though if you did not mind uploading it to me.

My brierley design is not finished yet.

I am working away until Wednesday but I think I have the Elliott sign saved on google drive.
Will try to send it shortly.

 

[Monarch]

I just purchased a ZB50, one cam. But I do have the original manuals that could be some help

 

[Smouser]

I just purchased a ZB50, one cam. But I do have the original manuals that could be some help

Nice!

It will be interesting to see how good/bad the AI translation was with the French manual.

I really need to finish the last few bits on mine so I can try it out. Hopefully I will get a chance this weekend.