Fred R Clark & Son Machineworks

[Nitro]

Scored the paint, a new brush and self-etching primers necessary for her new outfit yesterday.

Will be spraying some of the coatings where I want really flowed out even finishes and other areas will require a brush.

Now all I need is to settle up a few more items on the homefront before my return.

The hurry up and wait game is killin' me

 

[Nitro]

First the ER32 collet chuck arrived, but I didn't have the proper fasteners to attach it to my machine.
Easy enough, acquire the needed hardware and bolt her up.

Today the socket head cap screws arrived.
Still no dice, the heads were too big.

Ok, chuck them in my Logan 922 and take a couple of passes off the heads.

Boom!
Perfection!

Dial indicator proves it at a .0005 TIR
(just .00025 runout, well beyond the precision of the machine)

Collet chuck in place^

New #2 Morse taper live ball bearing center ^

Finis

The ER collet chuck will take the place of this three jawed scroll chuck that can only offer a .005 total inches of runout at best.

More precision is more better, right?

And imagine this for a minute, the total cost for the collet chuck and the new center was only $32.


Soon this will make it's way up to the machineworks to serve as another machine to assist with the improvements to the older girls that live there.

Hope to get back there soon!

 

[Nitro]

Dug out the Horror Fright (Harbor Freight) HVLP spraygun today and a gallon of acetone to thin the Rust-oleum paint for the drill press.

Too much stuff going on at home to get back to the machineworks until probably Tuesday evening.

The weather liars are saying it will be 63 on Wednesday, so with any luck, I can get the old gal in her new dress.

63F will allow the paint to flow nice so it should lay down pretty flat.

I'm chompin' at the bit fer sure

 

[Nitro]

Wednesday morning rolled around and found me greeted with the flat tire on my John Deere:

Easy enough, get cracking with the two new tires I got for it.
Nope, not easy at all, the tire simply wouldn't come off the bead.
While using a huge bench vise.
In fact I had to use a hacksaw on the tire just to open it up:

After it was finally opened up, I used a hand grinder with a wafer wheel on it to cut the bead wires.
That was the ticket.
Not really, the wheel was disastered out with rust near the rim.
Ok, time for a new plan.
Chuck her up in a lathe and hit it with emery cloth:

As we say, close enough for government work

 

[Nitro]

Not so fast, Sherm, it needs a coat of paint.
Good thing there was some left over from the bicycle fender patina session

All back in order!

Nope, this morning it was flat as a pancake again.
Went to drive it back inside and the battery went flat too.
Four hours of Wednesday wasted on something that wasn't right in the end.
Better luck next time.

 

[Nitro]

Ok, so Wednesday was shot in the butt over the tire issue and the changing of the guards with my lift chairs pretty much did me in physically, so no painting as was planned.

Then it got even colder on Thursday.
Dammit to hell, no painting in the cold.
Priming was ok, but no painting:

Ok, the shop looked like a bomb went of in it, so git on it and git 'er done

 

[Nitro]

After dragging the one and a half ton monster towards it's final destination, I hitched up my trailer and went to the sawmill area to gather the needed lumber for the lineshaft support system.
Nice thing about this winter is lodging for the Farmall in one of the crafter's shelters:

While at the sawmill, I selected a wider plank to make a drive pulley for the Farmall.
Blanks cut octagonally:

These came home with me so I could flatten them then glue them up to make a cylindrical form on my lathe.
Should be a fun project that will ultimately look a lot nicer than a beat up used paper original.

 

[Nitro]

So last night around midnite, I ventured into the great outdoors to see something I have only ever seen one time before:

 

[Nitro]

Cheese wheel production

Two down, three to go.
The nibs will go away with a little bit of grinder action before the glue-ups, but trust me, I got this...

Had to do some rather unorthodox setups to get these done with metal cutting tools, but with wits and a little bit of crazy to overcome the fear factors, nearly anything is possible.

 

[Nitro]

Very cheesy

 

[RESleight]

So last night around midnite, I ventured into the great outdoors to see something I have only ever seen one time before:
View attachment 137534View attachment 137535View attachment 137536View attachment 137537

With these images, I really like how they have the combination of the night sky, the halo light effect, and the tree branches all in one. These are very good pictures. I've always liked sky images combined with branches and or other objects and elements.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

You are reminding me I have to fix the flat tire on my lawn mower. I see you tackling these projects with so much joy, which I totally lack in this department. I’ll try to take some of your with me.

 

[Mary Terry]

Our electricity is off again, fourth time this week. Thank goodness, we have a built-in propane gas generator that automatically comes on when the power goes off. Estimated power restoration time is 7:00 pm tonight. I hope we have enough propane to get us through today - will go look at the tank gauge and call the gas company if we're getting low.

I'll go help my elderly friend who lives alone get her portable generator out, gassed up and plugged in to her refrigerator/freezer and her TV.

 

[Nitro]

Chasing the bears around the mountains and Thanksgiving has kept me away from the Machineworks, but that hasn't stopped my bids on ecommerce

Got an er32 collet chuck already there and needed some t-nuts to affix it to a milling machine table.

Also ordered a cast iron precision angle plate for it so I can use it on it's side

The angle plate will require a few slight mods to make it work.
It will need four added thru holes on both surfaces and two registering slots for a table key for the Diamond 22 horizontal mill.

The table key will allow me to get accurate placement of the fixture by simply bolting it to the table on the mill.

Arrows indicate the t shaped table hold down slots for the t-nuts which also provide an accurate registering point for the key on the angle plate.

The ER series of spring collets are a welcome modern addition to a century old setting, but will only be used during off show times to keep with the general theme.
The bonus is that they are compatible with both milling and lathe processes.
They can hold both material or cutting tooling with a firm grip and a high degree of accuracy.
Much better than some of the sketchy at best setups from the days of old

It may sound complicated, but to me it's all in a days work.
It's kind of cool to know they might let me keep my fingers a bit longer too

See ya when I'm lookin' atcha kids!

 

[Nitro]

It's been a while since I got to spend any time at the shop with the holidays and all, but now that that part is out of the way, time for my return.
The t-nuts I ordered for the collet chuck arrived but were the wrong threads.

Plan b said to open up the holes in the backing plate to accept the nuts I already own.
Yeah, thru hardened steel, so that might present a new challenge.
Easy enough, maybe I can worry a tungsten carbide masonry drill thru them.

That went extremely well:

The next operation will be to drill and tap the cast iron angle plate and machine a locating plug.
What I will be after is a set of coordinates that are the well rounded number of 2.000 inches from two planes on the sides of the angle plate.
Easy enough to do and very readily adaptable to using a table slot locating key for quickie setups.
This new tool is going to be pretty sweet when it is finished.

So here we are again, on the very cusp of a new year, and per my usual, I will be spending the week in solitude in the tinyhouse.

Have to pack in some provisions and take a few more items to the shop, but that is to be expected, right?
Can't wait until Monday to be back home with all of my older gals and toys.

 

[Nitro]

Wood chisel refurbish

Pretty nasty with rust and will need a new edge, but we got this.
Evaporust to the rescue!

It hit the bin a little before 7

 

[Nitro]

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

This is perfect for me. I have found a lot of rusted tools around the pole barn. Now I know what one of them is and how to refurbish it. Thanks!

 

[Nitro]

Well, arrived at the tinyhouse about an hour ago and already felt the weight of the world removed from my shoulders.

Have I ever mentioned just how much I love being here?

Brought way too much treats and food again, but it should be a good week here.
For now, it is time to settle in and begin coasting for a few.

First on the to-do list is to glue up the pulley project for the Farmall.

 

[Nitro]

Ok, the pulley project hit a bump in the road due to equipment being inappropriate, so it will return home where I am better equipped.

The wood chisel worked for removing the center nubs but the center holes will be easier at home.

The Farmall decided to act up yesterday but did get a resolution after we dragged her to the shop and sorted it out.
She just turned 75 , so she ain't a spring chicken by any means.

Then the rain started.

oh well, move along...

This morning I woke up to a much colder day, so the next on the list was a tent made of poly tarps to experiment with getting the drill press warm enough to paint.
She was 50f yesterday and is about 43f today, so I will monitor it over night to see if my idea will work using an oil filled electric radiator in the tent.
65 would work, but 70 is better, so wish me luck!

Ok, cross yer fingers and toes kids, I want to get her in her new dress soon!