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(06-24-2016, 04:07 PM)TomG Wrote: Those must use a LOT of argon! I'm sure they are run at very low volume, but it's a lot of area.

BTW, sorry about the six jaw expenditure. :)

Tom

Hi Tom,

I always asked the same question about purging the back side of welding jobs, but of course when training as a Metalllurgist and later a weld inspector my point of view changed to "What is the cost of a failed weld?" I have always protected the back side since (covered my What?).
A weld failure is often so far more expensive than a little sheilding gas and of course these boxes will actually hold the gas in place unlike the torch side of the weld which is so very turbulent that it blows the gas away. As corrosion of the metal occurs more strongly at high welding temperatures and the back side of the piece suffers through exposure at a lower temperature the back side needs less chemical protection, ergo only a small amount of gas is required,
My setup includes a small needle valve and I set the gasflow low and check to see if more is needed, It rarely ever is.

Truth is sometimes all I do is cover the back side with a cover strip and this inhibits enough airflow if clamped tightly but when quality is of prime importance gas purge every time

Best regards
Rick
Whatever it is, do it today, Tomorrow may not be an option and regret outlasts fatigue.
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The chucks on my Colchester Mascot are... Well... let's say; a bit Beefier than many here would be used to, the four jaw is about 450mm in diameter (18") and with all that extra diameter we have a lot further to wind the jaws when trying to grip work at either end of it's range, I mean with the jaws reversed it'll hold near on 550mm or 22" and it'll grip down to about 20mm or 3/4" when the jaws are fitted in the normal way.
Considering that the original chuck key handle is about 450mm or 18" long and the square drive part is pretty worn and about 200mm long as well which means that it's not something that one can twirl around in one hand like so many of us experienced guys do with smaller machines, there is of course the added complication that the top of the chuck is at my eye level too, so if the chuck key flips out of the socket there's a big lump of steel flying around at head height...Not ideal.

So I made this;
   

It's no leap forward in a new Renaissance but it works for me
First of all I turned up a piece of 50mm (2" approx) diameter piece of EN24 steel about the same length, simply replicating the square end of the old chuck key, to cut the square:
I could have mounted the whole thing in a dividing head to cut the square, too much hassle!
or held it vertically in a table mounted chuck, didn't feel like it!

What I did do was hold the bar horizontally in my vise and machine the first flat, then rotate the piece 90 degrees to machine the next face with the 1st face against the fixed vise jaw, then repeat twice for a perfect square using nothing more than my table mounted milling vise and a carbide end mill,
the result was this;
   

Next I went to my stash of Stainless steel handwheel handles, Before I shut down my last big workshop I set the CNC lathe up and knocked up twenty of these (Only got about five left);
   

I then cut a piece of 20mm x 50mm EN3A cold rolled flat bar and rounded the ends, nicely first by cutting roughly to shape on my bandsaw and then neatening it up on a coarse belt, giving the piece an all over sanded/brushed finish, with a 20mm hole drilled through one end I pressed the handle boss into that 20mm hole to end up with this:    

Turning it over I sat the square drive bit in the middle and gave it a couple of nice 40mm long 5mm fillet welds to hold it all together, for a bit of "Belt and Braces" action I also plug welded the underside of the handle boss into the hole it had been pressed into, by now it looks like this;
   

Finally a nice finish was required so I decided to Chemically blacken the rustable bits and left the Stainless steel, Well I left it "Sans Stains" and buffed it up to a high polish;
   

Now when I need to wind the jaws in or out a long way i stick this doo-hickey in the hole and swing it round by the nice smooth handle which is really nice in the hand and when I have every thing in place I can either swap to the old handle (Never do) or simply put a spanner on the plain end of my doo-hickey and use it to finally tighten the chuck as the vertical handle really seems to help with control I actually prefer the spanner method to a traditional tee handle.
To give you all a bit of scale this is what it looks like on the lathe;
   
Sorry it's a bit sideways,

Anyway that's one of my recent homemade tools
Best Regards
Rick
Whatever it is, do it today, Tomorrow may not be an option and regret outlasts fatigue.
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Very nice, and I can well appreciate the need for that.

What chemical blacking process did you use ?
Andrew Mawson, proud to be a member of MetalworkingFun Forum since Oct 2013.
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Hello Andrew,
I Can't think of the brand name just now, but it's a commercially available pale blue liquid native to the UK, they of course sell you a precleaner, activator/improver and dewatering oil in a kit of four bottle the first time around but frankly you only use them the first time after that it's a lot more casual.

I've used it so much that it's worn out and only acheives a nice medium blue, so I'm looking to buy it by the gallon next time round,
I'll try to remember to read the bottle when I'm next at the WS,

One of my customers loves the chemi black finish before them I used to flame darken my projects, but I'm sold on the chemical process now.

Best regards
Rick
Whatever it is, do it today, Tomorrow may not be an option and regret outlasts fatigue.
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Most of the stuff I have made has been already shown. In other threads.

This micrometer stand/holder I made around 1986 .............. 30 years ago one of the first things I made on my milling machine and I have to say it looks good for 30 years of age.

The reason it looks still new is because I have never used it  Big Grin  ............. I made it, put it in a cupboard and that was that. Smile
No idea why I made it in the first place but I have never used it  Big Grin  

         

Smiley-eatdrink004
DaveH
 a child of the 60's and 50's and a bit of the 40's Smile
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Dave

I like that a lot...The design looks very ergonomic.. Just yesterday i had my 2-3 mike out and flopped around trying to get a number eventually i put it in a small vise with rubber jaws..

Thank you for sharing it.

Anthony.
ieezitin, proud to be a member of MetalworkingFun Forum since Jan 2013.
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Nice one Dave  Smiley-signs107


I also like the design ,especially how the action of tightening the  thumb screw to clamp the micrometer also locks the axis of rotation  .


Rob
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Nice finish on that Dave. Is that anodized aluminum?

Ed
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(11-13-2016, 05:53 PM)EdK Wrote: Nice finish on that Dave. Is that anodized aluminum?

Ed

"Rattle can" on steel.
Smiley-eatdrink004
DaveH
 a child of the 60's and 50's and a bit of the 40's Smile
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(11-13-2016, 01:19 PM)DaveH Wrote: Most of the stuff I have made has been already shown. In other threads.

This micrometer stand/holder I made around 1986 .............. 30 years ago one of the first things I made on my milling machine and I have to say it looks good for 30 years of age.

The reason it looks still new is because I have never used it  Big Grin  ............. I made it, put it in a cupboard and that was that. Smile
No idea why I made it in the first place but I have never used it  Big Grin  

 

Smiley-eatdrink004
DaveH

I like that Dave !  Smiley-signs107

Mark me down for two, one to use and one to just look at.  Drool
Mike
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