new tools and materials

#1
a new project 'forced' me to get some new tooling.

20180920_165508.jpg

20180920_165633.jpg
This piece of 4140 1/2" diameter annealed round bar
will be used to make a boring bar. first the machining,
then heat treating, and finally a clean up.

20180920_165838.jpg
This piece of 1018 1-1/2" hot rolled bar stock
will be used for a v block.

20180920_165952.jpg
This 1/2" solid carbide end mill is touted for use with
aluminum. so far i have been using HSS only on aluminum.
The surfaces are not coated and polished to point of being
a mirror finish so sticking should be minimal.

20180920_170114.jpg
This nice little 1/4" square broach will be used to finish the
square hole in the boring bar. I could have bought a few boring
bars for the price of this broach but I watched Adam on ABOM79
use a 2" broach to make a keyway and I wanted to try one out.

20180920_170157.jpg
Here is a low cost 3" indexed facing mill. Looking through MSC
these things cost upwards of $600, this little gem was $150 on
Amazon. Accusize imports tools from all over the world including
:chinese:. It isn't clear where this mill was made but I can't believe
it came from a US manufacturer for the price. I also ordered, but
did not receive yet inserts for aluminum. The inserts that came with
it are for ferrous metals.

So the first project is to turn the 1-1/2" hot rolled bar stock into v blocks,
I actually have two pieces of this size steel, so two v blocks. The center
of each v block will have a 1/2" hole drilled to allow passage of the 1/4"
square broach as it gets pressed through the pilot hole of the 1/2" diam
4140 round bar stock that will end up being a boring bar for general
removal and threading.

:thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
#2
so to push the square broach i need a press and v blocks. not having a press handy i got on amazon to
see what could be had. mostly :chinese: junk. figuring i had enough material in the shop to make one a
quick inventory showed that to be true. a little cutting, drilling, etc, and this is how far i got today with
a small 6 ton press. need to drill some more holes on the side rails, machine the plate that holds the
ram and cylinder, and then the plate that holds the soon to be made v blocks.

20180922_142146.jpg

:thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
#3
Looks like your band saw got quite a workout today cutting that heavy material. In the past, I have used the tailstock of my lathe to broach a part held against the faceplate. Crude but effective for a small broach.
 
#4
i can't imagine that my south bend sb1001 has enough strength and rigidity
to generate 1700 lbs for the 1/4" broach. time for a bigger lathe.....
 
#6
how would you square up the broach relative to the work piece?

the work piece is a 1/2" diameter round bar that needs the center of the broach
intersecting the center of the bar perpendicular and the sides of the broach
must be parallel to the long dimension of the bar.
 
#7
Since your pilot hole is near the edge of the bar it will need supported evenly. Chuck a piece of 1/4" steel plate in the lathe chuck, drill a hole just large enough to clear the broach, slide the boring bar onto the broach, use tailstock to feed broach through the bar while making sure it enters the clearance hole in the plate. The broach will tend to follow the hole as it is the path of least resistance.
 
Top