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Gearhead projects …….

Gearhead88

Gearhead88

Super User
My Craftex B048 knee mill has been a good addition to the workshop , for a small/ medium sized machine . At any given time , I’ve got a variety of things going on and a to - do list a mile long so upgrades only come along when I get a break in the action or I get bored . With spring fast approaching the to - do list is much bigger , yard work & outside projects are coming up real quick , so today I’m doing a small upgrade to my mill that I shoulda done long ago . All of the handles on the hand wheels are cheap plastic , I’ve never liked them so today , pretty much , the 18th anniversary of buying this machine I made all new handles for it . More upgrades coming , not just this machine , lots of my junk needs work . I broke a handle on my Sioux valve grinder , rearranging the shop last week ., making a new one got me motivated to make a few more. Also , unlike most honey do lists, with shop to do lists , I don’t get nagged or reminded monthly , I’ll get to it .…….



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I’m still working on a few details with my boring bar stand project . I made up a pair of “hands free” parallels . When you are preparing to bore a cylinder , there’s a bit of fumbling around to get the cylinder clamped into the table , centre everything up and get it clamped in snug n’ secure . These parallels are moveable yet stay in place so you can avoid dropping tools and less farting around while setting up.

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My recent projects had me slinging a paint brush a lot , when you are making a paint mess , you might as well paint a few other things that have been on the to do list / we’ll paint this later list .

This fab table had been here for 20+ years , I made some hangers to store my angle grinders on and I’m just now getting around to painting it . Isn’t retirement fun?

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It was slow at work today , good excuse to ditch early . I did a bit more on my boring bar depth indicator project .

I need to make a sleeve to secure the indicator and a set screw to position it.




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Newest gadget idea is done .

The indicator holder is for doing precision counterbores & step cuts for "O' rings .
I need to fit a few new cutters into the budget , they aren’t cheap ! , each holder is $176 ! , there are different sizes for small and large bores , champhering , doing counter bores . I’ve only bought one so far , I’m stoked about the finish that is possible with these cutters . The original cutters are 1/4” round carbide ? , they need to be sharpened , honed and maintained to produce acceptable bore finish . The cutters I’m switching to have replaceable inserts that can be rotated to give you six cutting edges . The machine originally came with a diamond coated sharpening wheel and a fixture for putting the correct angles on the original inserts . I have all that but as technology evolves , better tools become available . The old 1/4” round inserts are $50 each !! & there’s a bunch of dicking around to use them , plus the abrasive coating on the original sharpening wheel is shot .
 
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The sad part ......

The former owner of that engine bought the bike used , it had less than 1500 km on it . Unknown to him , it had been sabotaged , someone put something nasty in the oil tank. It took a several miles for the foreign substance to circulate through the engine and plug some vital oil passages . Up till that point he was pretty chuffed with his purchase and now running with the big dogs , then ...... It seized up part way through a ride over Highwood pass with his pals . I was brought in to deal with the problem , It messed up the engine bad enough that , at the time , to get it back on the road quickly , it made more sense to swap the engine out for a “take out” . A take out is often out of a new vehicle , usually they are taken out and replaced with a super sized , much larger crate engine . If you know enough guys , a take out engine isn't hard to find . Some Harley guys have deep pockets and toss money around like it grows on trees. The engine on my bench is the old engine , it arrived here in running condition , you see , only one of the two pistons seized , he coasted over to the shoulder of the highway , once it cooled he was able to start it , he actually turned around and road it home , harley engines are tufff !! . When it was “stuck” it had little value due to the nature of the damage and was left here . At the beginning of the winter I took it completely apart and replaced all of the damaged parts with new. It is a good engine once again .

The funny part ......

I should add , as mechanics , we laugh at carnage and the misfortune that results , I don't know a mechanic that doesn't find humor in seeing wrecked stuff , it's who we are .
In my day to day activities throughout my career I've seen and repaired an enormous amount of wrecked stuff , finding the humor in it is kind of a coping mechanism , to keep our sanity .
I do feel sorry for the guy for having to go through this . Once it was fixed he was happy again and good to go.
 
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A friend dropped off a very expensive Ducati single sided swing arm yesterday , it’s off of a high end Ducati sport bike . The swing arm was damaged by over tightening the pinch bolts which clamp the eccentric hub in position , it’s how the drive chain is adjusted and locked down when the correct chain tension is set . It’s a cast alloy part , I’m told , to buy a new one is several thousand dollars and would take a very long time to arrive from Italy . I think the guy who broke this may have learned a valuable lesson about torque values and procedures ……… or not ?? , it’s not the first time it’s been broken . Prior to arriving here it went to a highly skilled welder for the first part of the repair . This guy is equipped with a more powerful welder than my little Syncrowave 180 and has skills that far exceed mine . My job was to restore the holes , threads, counterbores and make it look nice . It will get painted to finish the repair .


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I had to build a cutting tool that would pilot off the threaded hole . I used a spark plug , to make a 12 x 1.25 mm threaded insert for a pilot .

Some sanding , grinding , buffing , filing , thread chasing . re-cutting of the counterbores and it can now be re-painted.

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