More new toys

Over this past year I've been  collecting a few machine shop tools as I've always wanted to create model engines from scratch. Earlier this spring I purchased a used Craftsman (Atlas) 6" metal lathe. Later I was able to get my hands on a larger and more capable South Bend 10L lathe from approximately 1946. Here is a picture of the South Bend lathe.

I noticed that the tail stock center seemed to be lower then the head center so I was checking whether this was indeed the case. Hence the dial indicator attached to the face plate in the picture. It seems that the head stock center is 25 thousandths of an inch higher then the tail stock which means it will need to be shimmed to bring it up. Often times the South Bend lathes tailstocks will wear at the front end because they are repeatedly pulled backwards via the hand wheel. That doesn't seem to be the case with this lathe which means either the tailstock is not original to the machine or the headstock is not sitting all the way down. It seems to be a static 25 thousandths below center which can be corrected with shim stock between the two halves of the tailstock.

I need to rebuild the lathe before I use it. For the most part the lathe appears to be in good shape except the lower tail stock. However it was supposedly stored in a barn for about six years. So before I use it, I need to clean out all the dirt and old lubricants and make sure that all the oil passages are clear. I bought a rebuild kit from ilion industrial services on eBay.

This past weekend I bought yet another toy - a nice Bridgeport milling machine from Dempsey and Company in Richmond, VA. It was a bit of a challenge to get out of the u-Haul trailer. In order to get it into the trailer we had to take the ram off separating it at the top of the base casting. The total weight of the milling machine is just around 2100 lbs, with the lower casting probably accounting for about 1600-1800 lbs alone. Getting it into the trailer was fairly easy using a forklift, but no such luck at the home end. I had to go out and buy a 2 ton engine hoist to get it out of the trailer and even that was a bit trying to get the thing to balance, in part because I didn't have a long enough sling to wrap the casting and also because the hoist arm had to be off center and lower then the height of the casting to get out of the trailer since the base casting was almost the height of the trailer opening.

In this picture we've already used the hoist to get the base into place. We go the base out by getting it to clear the bottom of the trailer by an inch then driving the trailer out from under it. Then we set the base down across the legs of the hoist and rolled it to the back of the garage. Then we lifted it up off the legs, spun it so that it was between the legs of the hoist and rolled it back into its new home and set it down. Sounds a little easier then it was. Then we carefull hoisted the ram and brought it back to the base. We had to lengthen the hoist to its maximum arm length and really shorten the straps to get it into position. Here Mattheus and I are struggling to get it to line up and Johannes i operating the hydraulics.

Here is a picture of the mill with the ram back on the base.

Here is a shot of the y axis ways with the chrom and some of the scraping still showing. The ways feel tight and there is very little backlash in the feed screws.

Here is a closeup of the milling head.

Not sure I like the red paint but thus far the boys have nicknamed the mill "Big Red". We sprayed a lot of WD40 on the exposed metal of the table and any place on the ways etc and scrubbed it down. The reason for this is it was sitting outside under a "carport" and was getting some water (not a lot) on it during the rain on Saturday. I've been out a few times to check it and spray more WD40 and wipe it down. I haven't seen any new signs of rust and all the light misting of rust that started on Saturday has been wiped away.

I need to get a variable frequency drive (VFD) and a control box, a switch and a potentiometer to finish wiring it up. I'll probably order the VFD in the next couple of days from Automationdirect. I'm looking at getting a GS1 VFD - 1 hp single phase to 3 phase. This will both provide the phase conversion as the mill has  3 phase motor and at the same time it will give me variable speed control of the mill - more then the current 8 speeds attainable using the 4 step pulleys and the back gear. I also need to get a small part that acts as a stop control for the boring feed. Need to order that from High Quality Tools.

I also need to find out what kind of oil is needed to lubricate the ways. I know the "grease nipples" are not meant to handle grease on this machine but rather are used to oil it. Somewhere I need to find a manual so that I can understand the operation of the power down feed for boring operations. I have a lot to learn - its been over 20 years since I last worked in a machine shop.

I've got a crazy dream to build model engines - both steam and perhaps internal combustion. I have a whole stack of Home Shop Machinists that my dad gave me and a pile that I bought on eBay. I've always wanted to build the engine on the cover of the 2nd issue of the magazine (March/April 1982) but unfortunately I'm missing the first and third issues (the only 2 issues I'm missing between 1982 and 1994). I've been trying to find them on eBay but the few times they've shown up they've gone for way too much money. Why that steam engine - well it was one of the first models engine plans that I saw as a kid and always wanted to make but we didn't have a milling machine. But first I need to rebuild the South Bend Lathe first.

Hayrake Stretcher Table

My second oldest son is heavy into woodturning and is currently selling some of his bowl and vase type turnings at a local country store. He needed to supply his own table to display things on. Not having a spare table handy he borrowed an old card table from a friend of my wife. The card table worked but it had splotches of paint all over the top and legs so it was a chore trying to hide the table using various table cloths.

Here is one of his recent bowls that he made a few weeks ago from a piece of ambrosia maple. Not bad for a fourteen year old :-)

I decided to make him a table that I had seen on the Fine Woodworking's website. However the plans there were for a full sized dining table - just a tad too big to fit his needs. I took the plans and reduced them to 78% of the original - except of course the height. Because the table is in the Arts and Crafts style, I also chose to go with bread board ends instead of the arched ends the plans called for. I always wanted to try a bread board end. So while the style and the basic measurements came from the Fine Woodworking plan set I did some improvising and experimentation on my own.

Here is the stretcher from which the table gets its name:

All the parts are mortise and tenon together, with the majority of tenon's being through tenons that are wedged. I have to admit this table covered a lot of new ground for me. I've never wedged a tenon before and its amazing how tight they can get - the final assembly required no clamps at all. Also all the tenons in addition to being wedged were also draw bored using through dowels. Again this was a first for me. I did manage to make a couple of errors in the process that really disappointed me but I'll chalk them up to learning new things and trying to get something done in record time (2 wks to of evenings to complete it). Below shows the table partially assembled as I fitted all the pieces together for the first time.

Here are all the major pieces of the table minus the top in a blown up perspective to see all the joints and the draw bore holes.

Here is the bread board end and before you say anything, yes the pin holes are wrong but alas I didn't have the heart nor the time to start over. What happened was I assembled the bread board ends onto the table and went to drill the holes. Without thinking I went with center of the bread board end and even spaced holes.  Instead I should have layed out where then center of each tenon was and measured in evenly from the edges. Once the table comes back I'll route off the bread board ends and redrill the holes and fill in the existing holes in the tenons. I just needed to get the table done for him. Again this was the first time I've done a table like this and I just plain wasn't thinking.

Here is the table frame all assembled and the finish on. I use a multi-step finish the same as I did for the living room furniture I built a couple of years ago - analine dye, oil stain, amber shellac, poly. The little squares on the table are used to attach the top to the frame - the frame has slots routed in and these pieces have a little lip on them that fit in the slot and then the body is screwed into the bottom of the table top. This allows for expansion and contraction during seasonal wood movements.

Here is the finished table top.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the finished table. I'll have to go over to the store and snap a picture of it with Mattheus' bowls on it.



Pine Bedroom Built-in - Part V

I finally finished up the bedroom built-in about a month ago. I've been slack in posting as I've been extremely busy with new projects. I have yet to go and install the bedroom unit, though we fitted the dresser unit a while ago. The client I made it for is finishing the units herself and when she is done then I will go back and install them. I didn't take a lot of pictures of it while I was building it. Here are a couple of the pictures that I do have. The first is of the dresser unit showing the carcass construction. The heavy face frame on the far right is because the drawers had to be moved over enough to allow them to get by a window frame that stuck out.

Here is the bookcase - just held together with clamps in a dry fitting sitting on top of the completed dresser. One piece of wood was used for all the drawer fronts so in essence you see a continous sections of the board starting in the top left and finishing in the lower right. Really liked the way the bottom row turned out. The two empty holes are by design as there is an electrical outlet on the wall so they wanted direct access. Guess they'll put some alarm clocks or the like on them.

Here is the bench seat as I was gluing it up. The entire thing went together as a single glue up. The face frame is tongue and grooved using the Sommerfeld system. The bench top is dadoed into the end boards as is the bottom shelf. The dividers are also dadoed into the bottom of the bench top and the top of the bottom shelf. The face frame and sides extend a 1/2" above the bench top to allow it to hold on whatever pad the client makes to sit on top. The face frame was the only part glued up separately. The tall lower board on the face frame was done like that in order to accomodate a base board heater sitting in front.