Stuff you have made today

prepman · May 5, 2022

DAPPH said:
You have given me an idea .... for a simple tip balance scale , like a butchers steel scale , I too have been caught out with not enough gas a couple of times . Cheap spring balances vary a lot with temperature and if the spring has always been loaded

Always kept unloaded for that very reason.....smarter than the average bear?
Have used it for years...trouble is if I don't weigh it after usage ...still get caught out. Spare cylinder is extra rental.
Picture was very much 'tongue in cheek'...the scales part does work. Fortunately beer gas cylinder sizes don't tend to vary...but the argon does...which doesn't matter...although with accurate scales still possible.

DAPPH · May 5, 2022

Morris said:
This update is really a sub-project I have been tinkering with for a few weeks as and when I felt like it.
One of my projects is a Ford Pop I am building for Wifey. It's being built to pass the BIVA test and as such one of the requirements is certain mandated warning lights. I am not a fan of the "drill a hole and stick one in" style of warning light, they can look a bit '70's boy racer if you're not careful. So I made this (sorry about the dust on it!)
View attachment 344818
It's a chunk of SS machined to shape with a smoked perspex front. Behind that (and bonded to it) ia a 0.004" brass sheet which has been acid etched for the logo's. This was done by drawing the logo's actual size and then getting a local print shop to laser print it. This gives an iron on mask for the etch.
View attachment 344819
The perspex and brass front is then held in with six aluminium vanes which divide the sections off. there is also a central bolt for assembly.
Behind this is a machined Delrin lamp holder which has six ba9s lamp holders in it. These have coloured led ba9 bulbs in them.View attachment 344820
The end result is this. The slight unevenness around the logo's is only showing because of the size of the photo, in the flesh they cannot be seen.
View attachment 344821

That looks brilliant .
Psst. You can get crimp on Lucar spade connectors with a full insulation sleeve on them so you reduce the risk of shorting when they are placed close to each other .

Morris · May 5, 2022

DAPPH said:
That looks brilliant .
Psst. You can get crimp on Lucar spade connectors with a full insulation sleeve on them so you reduce the risk of shorting when they are placed close to each other .

That's only temporary wiring to show it working. I have lots of insulated spade connectors.

MysterG · May 5, 2022

I've no idea what I made ...

dan.taylor.1 · May 5, 2022

MysterG said:
I've no idea what I made ...

View attachment 344966

The preview to a pile of grinding dust?!

MysterG · May 5, 2022

dan.taylor.1 said:
The preview to a pile of grinding dust?!

Tell me about it.
I actually bought an Airshield helmet thing because of this damn thing. Best thing I've got in ages. No more black snot and crunchy spit :thumbup:

mtt.tr · May 5, 2022

MysterG said:
Tell me about it.
I actually bought an Airshield helmet thing because of this damn thing. Best thing I've got in ages. No more black snot and crunchy spit

Wouldn't be without mine

Maker · May 6, 2022

I made a hemisphere.

It's machining by numbers, I set up a table in a calculator to tell me how far the cross slide needs feeding in for every ten thou in Z, 165 passes and you've got a reasonable sphere.

I'll show what it's for when it's finished, I need to figure out how to put counterbored holes in the curved face now, should have drilled it before turning. :doh:

My Old Landy · May 6, 2022

Maker said:
I made a hemisphere.
View attachment 345157

It's machining by numbers, I set up a table in a calculator to tell me how far the cross slide needs feeding in for every ten thou in Z, 165 passes and you've got a reasonable sphere.
View attachment 345158

I'll show what it's for when it's finished, I need to figure out how to put counterbored holes in the curved face now, should have drilled it before turning.

That's a bit fancy!! Are you turning yourself into a CNC :thumbup:

Hitch · May 6, 2022

2 cones, done in halves to allow pressing. 1000mm down to 100mm.
A little dressing in on the edge of the small end, and they should be nice.

Sheared the drive off on our small rollers earlier in the week, so decided to step bend them. Did a few test bends yesterday and the press decided it didn't want to work properly.
So managed to persuade my previous place of work to let me use one of theirs for a couple of hours.

Dr.Al · May 6, 2022

Just a couple of practice pieces, but I feel like I'm getting better at this (slightly helped by 3D printing a saw guide to help me saw straight!):

roblane65 · May 6, 2022

Very nice

4String. · May 6, 2022

DAPPH said:
Perhaps make a thin row of pigeon holes for the sand paper .
Put some blocks on the underside of the shelf with the black & decker on , in 20 mm wider holes than the sheets of sand paper ( remember to tale the width of theb batons into account ( guess howe \i know this ? )

. Say ech hole 30 mm wide x 40 mm deep, pre drill then glue & screw the batons to the shelf at the worked out distances to give that 20 mm clearance or so at the sides .

Cut up some larch ply the same depth as the shelf , cut out slots for the existing woodwork brackets etc and make finger slots in so the slot will be in the =middle of each pigeon hole sand all edges nice & smooth .
Now glue & screw on a section of the thin ply with the divider batons to suit the sheets of sand paper

Oh.... I forgot before you fix the ply cut some finger width slots to about half of the width of the ply , so that when you have a score of sand papers in upside down you can pull them out one at a time on your finger tip .

Thank you @DAPPH

I had to read your suggestions a few times before I figured them out, in my defence I've had a strange week :whistle:

.

Due to fitting and wiring in some more double sockets in the workshop, one of which is underneath the new shelf, the workshop is in utter turmoil tonight, so this weekend seems like the perfect time to make storage area for sandpaper :thumbup:

.

Maker · May 6, 2022

Maker said:
I made a hemisphere.
View attachment 345157

It's machining by numbers, I set up a table in a calculator to tell me how far the cross slide needs feeding in for every ten thou in Z, 165 passes and you've got a reasonable sphere.
View attachment 345158

I'll show what it's for when it's finished, I need to figure out how to put counterbored holes in the curved face now, should have drilled it before turning.

It's a base for this strange vice I've got, trying to make something along the lines of a jewellers/engravers vice. The plastic ball is sort of a proof of concept, ideally I'd do it again in steel so it's heavier, might make it bigger too.

The vice looked like this underneath, no idea what it mounts onto, some sort of quick release I imagine.

I turned the square away and carefully drilled and tapped it M5 (Actually helicoiled M5), then made some transfer screws to mark the hole positions on the flat face of the hemisphere.

To drill it, I pressed it as square as I could into a close fitting bit of pipe, drilled 5mm right through, then ground a pilot onto a 9mm drill to counterbore the curved face. 9mm was the biggest I could fit in a collet, so I had to reduce the screw heads slightly.

Then I turned a base, same procedure as turning the ball, just concave. For some reason, I found it really hard to figure out the equation to generate the table of values, I'm not sure if I made a mistake in the maths or the machining but it came out a little oversized, and therefore useless. I might try lining it with rubber, the jewellers vice that inspired all this sits on a rubber ring.

Bit of pipe will do for now:

Quite happy with that. It's definitely not heavy enough but I think a better base would help keep it still. I want to mill the jaws square and fit inserts so they can close down to nothing, right now it really only grips round material and only down to 20mm or so.

DAPPH · May 6, 2022

That ball & socket joint / fit , male / female half spherical device should be a doddle for someone more skilled than me on a 3D printer perhaps having a threaded securing clamping ring to hold the unit into a printed female .

If the vice is a failure have a look on " RDG tools " website for the four inch round vice ..it's sturdy and can be adapted with ease . I've got one on my lathe to make it a small vertical mill .

Maker · May 7, 2022

I made some fancy looking scrap.

There's a work hardened spot and the end of a 3mm drill inside it. :doh:

Richiew · May 7, 2022

Got a bit further on with my disc sander that I mentioned 30 pages back.

The ring was rolled a little while ago and today I welded it up and added a foot and some supports.

I've also cut and welded up some mounts for the motor to give clearance for the disc. Still need to sort the wiring, drill everything and bolt it in place.

The ring is 3mm strip. The handle on the rollers was upgraded after rolling this as it was tough going.