Ognib

The plan is that the machine will be on the bench, first week in June. Been visualizing the process & sequences of building the rear end for this car. There will be an output shaft with a u-joint yoke. This will pass through a bearing collar & seal, which will be bolted to the face of the side cover. My current research is dimensions for the yoke/shaft. Collar can then be built to fit it's dimensions. Mounting flange will build off of this. Only at that point, will I really know what size I need to machine the side cover face so it will properly take the the hub & show proper proportions & perspective. So, in spite of my excitement to see the center housing take shape, my first pieces need to be the shafts.

I could see a #1 or 2 being used to bolt the side covers to the center section.

Back when I was shopping for the rotary table & chuck, the 3 jaw models I looked at were all self centering. I chose a 4 jaw with independently adjustable jaws...just so I could hold odd shaped pieces for rotary milling. Had to "flip" two of the jaws for greater outside reach on the center section.

Indeed!

Moving in! Roadster stuff. Body buck with practice panel & body shape templates. Flathead headers. Cowl buck & practice panels with front axle.

Thanks for stopping in, everyone! Appreciate the comments. Can start moving some stuff in here now. After I get the machine in place, I'll go ahead & shelf around it down the left wall as well. Hung a drawer from an old rack mount system for tooling, bits etc for the machine. I've been devouring the two milling books for a couple of months now. Written by an old timer from way before CNC...talks about turning the cranks by hand...they assume no prior machining experience & spend time addressing which accessories are needed & which can be postponed for later. Well written & very informative for a machine shop noob like me. The rat rod book was a bday gift from my son, this year. Not a real big fan of the genre but there are some good ideas incorporated in several of them.

It is exciting! Seems like I've been saving for this forever. Kind of an odd shaped little arrangement...kids are gone & the wife & I are in 900 sq ft. I've got a small music room where I jam with some friends plus the git shop...This is my last available corner...lol...I'm out of floor space...the rest of the house is her domain.

As Y'all know, for quite some time, I've been saving my lunch money for a small benchtop milling machine. Well, I've got my dollars together & am ready to buy. Building a little cubbyhole area to set it up in & to do my builds...get them out of the clutter & busyness of the git shop. Going to do some shelves on the back walls this weekend. Drier/ regulator for my air system.

Thanks, Bill. In my time on this board, I've noticed that you frequently offer quite a wealth of information on various subjects. Much appreciated...your willingness to share. Agreed on the subject of forgings & strength. On the quick change, just looking for different visual approaches to the parts I'm building.

In the 1:1 world, does anyone make a machined billet quick change center section? Did a google & Winters, champs & the rest all seem to be cast items. I'm cutting billet style block & heads, in aluminum, for my coupe & have been thinking a machined housing for the irs quick change would blend right in, visually.

Nice work! In this pic...do you use a circular saw blade for separating the part from the remainder of the bar stock?

That's a nice motor collection.

Nice jigs!

Sorry for lack of contact. My mom has been a hospice situation...in another state. Being there for her & here for work & the house payment...tricky, recently.. Appreciate the comments. I'll be back.

Any pics of your setups on the mill?

Nice! Did I read some time back that you now have a lathe to go with the mill?

Enjoy seeing your work come together.

Nice! How many sq ft? Going to have it under roof & tight before snow?

Hey Scott. In the photo above your post, you can see a heavy radial ball bearing, at the bottom of the spindle, that absorbs side loads. I checked the side play on the spindle with a dial indicator before I began cutting on that first side cover & then again later & it was staying the same. So I figure it's ok to proceed with caution. Very slow feed rates to keep side loads to a minimum. I've got a deal working on one of my bass rigs...fender jazz with duncan active pickups, carvin 600 w head & an avitar neo speaker cab...lateral transfer of funds to sherline for one of their vertical mills. Tim has one & speaks very highly of it's quality & features. I figure I've done gone stark raving mad over this stuff & I'm really digging the machining process & the mental challenges associated with it, so might as well do it right!

Stewart McDonald guitar supply has nitro plus tints, toners & thinners.

Cut a couple of plugs off of a piece of round barstock from the salvage yard. Bandsaw is giving me good square cuts. Normally turning to spec diameter on a piece of stock is done on a lathe. I need to know how to accomplish that with this. I've got my spindle speed up to 2540 rpm & that smoothed things out a bunch. Looks more wavy than it feels. LOL, now that's a gangley lookin stack a stuff there, idnit?? But I'm having fun, so leave me alone with my madness. In the background, a couple of cheap, busted up old acoustics of no value, that I just don't have the heart to pitch them into the dumpster...they're just there to add visual texture to my shop.

Another learning curve staring me in the face. Going to read the table for run-out as a first item of business. Still have to dig through some more storage & find the magnetic base. Quite impressed, considering the modest cost of these two items. Gear backlash on the table is almost zero & it has a good solid feel when rotated & the quality of the marking of the scales is impressive. Mounted in the vice, it has X, Y axis as well. My weak link now is the fact that I'm working under a drill press instead of a mill. One thing at a time, ya know what I mean, Vern? I can, at least, limp along slowly with what I have now & experience tighter tolerances on my quick change side covers.

To what extent do you feel that having a mentor is accelerating your learning curve?

The formula for converting FPM tp RPM is: Spindle Speed [RPM] = cutting speed (in inches) (pi*tool diameter). / Basically, find the circumference of the tool, divide the cutting speed by the tool circumference and that tells you how many times the tool will need to go around per minute to achieve the proper cutting speed. A larger diameter tool will go slower because it cuts more metal per revolution of the tool. ----------------------------- This is one of the better, I think, answers I've found on line. Since my feed rate is slow, I should be able to work with a slower spindle speed. I'm currently experimenting at about 1,000 rpm...with very light, slow feed cuts. Just trying to get a real world feel for what others, who are doing similar work, are using. You've mentioned in your thread some of the long days you've spent producing a particular part...