Shop Studies, the joy of creation

[Nitro]

I live alone, everyone is either dead or living so far away i can never see them.

I live alone too.
In my museum of oddities and old toys.
Plus I'm a hoarder.
Because I have no one to tell me I can't and I'm a gearhead, I have a 427 Chevy big block engine with a full chrome and polished aluminum treatment I'm topping off with a supercharger and a Muncie 4 speed that will one day be my TV stand.
I only have to get my new shop built so I can clear the machinery out of my greatroom to bring her in

 

[Skittlebisquit]

That souds like an interesting life. I only dissassembled 5 or six engines in my life. We took apart a ford motor out of a 1990's ranger that was performing poorly. The oil pan had about 1/2 cup of
Little chunks of metal in it. Turns our that three out of the six pistons had shattered skirts all the way up to the oil control ring. That thing was running fine before disassembly. What a trip

 

[Nitro]

I live alone, everyone is either dead or living so far away i can never see them.
Cherish what you have

I have a drill press with standard tooling and a few extras. Have you ever built a v block vise jaw for a drill press vise? Its a simple build, just a vice jaw with a piece of angle welded vertically at the centre...

That one and the shop built disk sander were some of my earliest innovations.

I tried to teach myself to weld with an old smith lifetime oxy ace rig 26 years ago. I got to where i could do it ok, since then i have purchased an antique welder for stick and a modern wirefeed its a lincoln

No, I have standard hardened V-blocks

Most of my drill press vises already have smaller v grooves in then too.

My torch sets include a standard issue burning and welding outfit and an aircraft setup which is smaller.
I might pick up a new 180 amp Lincoln MIG machine next week to supplement my Lincoln 110v flux core unit and my Italian 110V MIG.
When I sell my 1957 Atlas lathe I refurbished, the proceeds will go towards a new Miller TIG machine which can serve as a stick power supply too.
I will then have a dinosaur Lincoln buzzbox that will need a new home.

 

[Nitro]

That souds like an interesting life. I only dissassembled 5 or six engines in my life. We took apart a ford motor out of a 1990's ranger that was performing poorly. The oil pan had about 1/2 cup of
Little chunks of metal in it. Turns our that three out of the six pistons had shattered skirts all the way up to the oil control ring. That thing was running fine before disassembly. What a trip

I used to dragrace, so I built a lot of engines over the years.
One of my favorite ones was a 2100CC VW beetle engine that revved to over 8 grand and only lasted 5 hours before it shredded the flywheel off the crank
It started off as a 65 horse 1600cc version that had tons of lightening done to it and machined modifications I learned from working with the 1200cc formula V guys. It sported 40 IDA Weber carbs on each cylinder head and a rejected camshaft out of Anderson Racing's 9 second aircooled HumBug.
I had that in a chopped apart Baja Bug I built.

I have a 1200cc Harley Sportster that twists it's crank to the tune of about 100 ponies.
Buell top ends and a really crazy pair of cams in that bugger.

 

[Skittlebisquit]

These sawhorses changed my life. They are made from 3" pipe, with channel for the base plates. The vise comes off, and spins all the way around the pipe. That allows alot of versatility in positioning work.

They were not an easy build for a novice, but they both came out flat on top, and are heavy enough to stay put. There is a telescope relatioship between 3 inch pipe and 3.5 inch tubing that allows the parts to fit well

 

[Nitro]

These sawhorses changed my life. They are made from 3" pipe, with channel for the base plates. The vise comes off, and spins all the way around the pipe. That allows alot of versatility in positioning work.

They were not an easy build for a novice, but they both came out flat on top, and are heavy enough to stay put. There is a telescope relatioship between 3 inch pipe and 3.5 inch tubing that allows the parts to fit well
View attachment 67209

Cool, but I'll raise you this:

Chinesium double jawed swivel vise mounted on a bowling ball on top of a PVC pipe cap.

Not for heavy duty use, but a very welcome addition to my hobby bench which will allow a wide range of positions.
I still have to add some rotation limiting pins to finish it up, but that's the easy part.

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Thats fantastic! I did not know that a bowling ball could be used for anything like that, its a resin polymer? Like HDPE?

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Large pvc parts are really useful. I have a short section that holds up a fixture for working on circular saw blades

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Here are the remains hinges for an oven door. I am clueless. Jennair range from the 70's parts no longer made. When i get happy about it i think to use stainless tubing in lieu of formed sheet for the rails, which might work, geometry on the parts is wierd, list at like 300 for one hinge and not available, obsolete. Could a machinist make such things? I dont know how to do that sort of forming i think it would take a deep draw press.

The one on the left is not broken

 

[Nitro]

Thats fantastic! I did not know that a bowling ball could be used for anything like that, its a resin polymer? Like HDPE?

I'm not sure what it's made out of, but not likely HDPE.
The outer shell is somewhat hard but it has a softer core.
I drilled and tapped it 1/2-13 and bolted the aluminum collar I fitted to the ball with an Allen bolt that is recessed up inside of the swivel pocket.
I kept the bench mount clamp that came with it so it can still be mounted firmly when needed.
The vise was $19.99 and the cap cost about $8.
The ball was donated to the cause and the 6061 t-6 aluminum mounting socket was machined out of a drop from my Dad's shop.
They do a lot of CNC work for an outfit that makes retrofitted prelubers for bigger diesel equipment. There are literally tons of drop ends of barstock all over the plant, so basically, they are free because someone else already paid for the material. The prelubers bring the oil galley pressure up to operating parameters before the starter can be engaged to keep them from dry firing and wiping out the conrod and main bearings.
Engine shell bearings are hydraulically isolated from the wear areas by a film of oil when running. A diesel will always have excessive pressures from their higher compression ratios, so one that has been sitting can often lose that film after being shut down which in turn accelerates their wear.
We made parts and adapters for Caterpiller, Komatsu and many other manufacturers engines.

 

[Nitro]

Here are the remains hinges for an oven door. I am clueless. Jennair range from the 70's parts no longer made. When i get happy about it i think to use stainless tubing in lieu of formed sheet for the rails, which might work, geometry on the parts is wierd, list at like 300 for one hinge and not available, obsolete. Could a machinist make such things? I dont know how to do that sort of forming i think it would take a deep draw press.View attachment 67213
The one on the left is not broken

It could be duplicated out of barstock, but might not be cost effective. It looks like stampings.

 

[Nitro]

Custom 6061 aluminum fuel cap I made to replace the janky original one on my Harley Sportster
The threaded part was an automotive fuel cap that had the handle removed and the OD sized on it in order to press fit it inside the outer part.

 

[Nitro]

Home made scrap steel tailstock clamp vs. the replacement unit carved out of 6061-T6 aluminum barstock.

The tailstock clamp is a part of my 1938 Sears Craftsman wood lathe I brought back to life.


The 3/8" stock it was made of were drop ends from our CNC milled thoroughbred race horseshoes manufacturing process.
CNC milled race horseshoe

Note the straight section on the hold down stud to aide in alignment of the nut.
I found a suitable vintage Craftsman box end wrench to reside on the nut so the tailstock can be adjusted as needed without chasing down a wrench each time.

 

[Nitro]

Prototype 27MM hex driver bit for Fairmont Supply.
Fairmont, a coal mining and industrial products distributor had customers who were destroying the drivers they had in stock.
They either sheared them off near the straight section or mangle the hexagon ends.
These were made of 4340 low alloy Chromium-Nickel-Molybdenum steel in an attempt to make them a superior tool.
The straight sections were radius cut to eliminate the stress risers in a square cut corner like the units they were to replace.
The floppy disk held the G-code for Heidenhein computer numerical control (CNC) which automated the machining process. Our actual job number was placed on the disk as well as the initial programming date.
The actual machine files and prints (mechanical drawings) were all placed in folders which included images of finished parts and/or details of the machinetool setups to speed up the retooling of the jobs.

 

[Nitro]

Stainless steel exhaust stack with an added heat muff for a homebuilt experimental aircraft.
The muff ends were formed out of .036" (.914mm) stainless sheet stock that was CNC milled to shape then pressed into a CNC milled die with a punch clearanced for the material to match the die. The outer wrap was fully TIG (tungsten inert gas) welded to the end caps and along it's seam. It and the stack was purged with argon gas to prevent sugaring (oxidation) of the stainless welds from exposure to oxygen in the air. The inside of the muff had convoluted baffling in it to increase the exposure of the incoming air to the exhaust heat.
The stack was fitted from .0625" (1.587mm) wall mandrel bent tubing sections.
Very tight engine cowling restrictions dictated the location of the muff and stack routing and the added plumbing for the heater.

Orange indicated the .072" (1.829mm) total material thickness seal welded areas while red highlights the expansion sleeve that was necessary to alleviate thermal expansion cracking of the stack.
The fitting and jig welding of this stack assembly took about 20 hours with about 4 hours of design, programming and machining of the CNC die set and muff endcaps.
While welding the muff, I used a 2x cheater lens in my weld hood just to be able to see my puddles.
It was a necessary evil for my blind old eyes even at age 48, because if you can't see your weld puddle, you can't weld

 

[Skittlebisquit]

I ve never used magnifying lenses to weld with. My craft improved alot with the optrel auto darkening hood.

 

[Nitro]

I ve never used magnifying lenses to weld with. My craft improved alot with the optrel auto darkening hood.

Yes, auto-darkening hoods are cool, but the magnification is a necessary evil for TIG welding perfect 1/16" beads while joining 1/32" stainless steel sheetstock.

The cheater lenses help you see your very tiny puddle which gets even smaller as you can only introduce your filler wire to the outer edge of the puddle.

Stick welding is a different game, and never suitable for thin work due to the nature of how the heat is generated.

 

[Skittlebisquit]

I can stick weld a tin can, thats pretty thin, maybe what yoi mean is the weld would break under stress. I ran tig a bit, mostly sheet stock seams lots thicket than that, i think .080 was the thinest and not much of that. .100 and .125 were the more comon it was all either stainless or aluminum. I did boats for a while and toolboxes. I never got the optrel until i started doing alum hand rail for aircraft load ramps. Ive seen some pretty tig work for headers and such, looks tricky

 

[Nitro]

I can stick weld a tin can, thats pretty thin, maybe what yoi mean is the weld would break under stress. I ran tig a bit, mostly sheet stock seams lots thicket than that, i think .080 was the thinest and not much of that. .100 and .125 were the more comon it was all either stainless or aluminum. I did boats for a while and toolboxes. I never got the optrel until i started doing alum hand rail for aircraft load ramps. Ive seen some pretty tig work for headers and such, looks tricky

Educate me then, what size rods are you using to stick weld tin cans, and at what amperage setting?

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Oh hell i dont know. Long time ago, im a grown man now. You dont believe me i guess. Thats ok. Used to be stick was all we had for exhaust repair, and blowpipe work and all that. There is like 2 ez things that can be done and one tricky one, that i dont know how they did it.

So... the rod is ez bc there was only a few we had. 6011,7018, something we called jetrod, all just 1/8. I tried smaller sizes but never did work right. The filler rod was for tig, it was smaller, no coating like on stick rods.
So with all of it running the arc needs to be stabil but not distort the metal, then the filler rod was used to do the weld. Its more like torch welding than tig technique. Im sure its not proper, i know i welded tin cans with it

The most common field application is in blowpipe work, so thats...

like looks like a culvert sorta, and goes up on stands at a saw mill, its for moving dust.

We would say 30 inch round or something, i never knew the wall thickness. Some was pipe to formed flange,(like angle rolled into a ring) some was called bell and dove, or bell and cove.

that was a mod done to the tubing in the air, one side made smaller and the other belled out. That was tacked and then stitched and then glued up with silicone or airball it would depend. Those joints were all stick.

Other than using filler rod, the other thing ive actually done is modify the ground wire. I forget now, i think it was ground like three times as long as the work lead, rock solid work clamp. I made a few of those to deal with arcblow. The spring loaded jaw style is convenient, but not a solid mechanical connection, we would make 3bolt bar clamps instead and use those.