Vice Clamps

I managed to spend Friday on my lathe, but ended up spending most of the time making some mounting clamps for my vice. One the bright side, I got to use the new low profile clamps we made as a group project, and they worked brilliantly except that they slipped a little because the clamping force is so strong it pushed the clamps back. Paul assures me he had the same problem and resolved it by tightening the lock down screw more - I solved it by placing some other clamps directly behind the low profile clamps to make it impossible for the to slip backwards.


The end result looks good and should work nicely. I took them around to Paul's on the weekend and polished (I really don't have the patience for that!) and blackened them so I should get to try them later this week.

Slotted pulleys

After dicking around with it in the lathe, I ended up making a fixture to hold the pulleys for the X2 Belt conversion in the mill vice. This worked out well as it allowed me to tune the widths of the slots by nudging the table left and right.. Need to make up a weener tool to do the small pulleys tomorrow.

PK

Elbow Part 2

I made it back to my lathe yesterday and did another part of my engine, the second part of an airway elbow. The collet chuck really is easy to use, although I am a bit concerned it may actually have a significant runout (0.16mm), which presumably comes from the spindle, and if so I have no idea how to adjust that.



Part 1 fits nicely in to the new part making a nice elbow - now I just have to figure out how to soft solder.

I think my confidence and ability is finally starting to pick up as I knock out these parts a little easier than before, although the more complicated and critical parts (like pistons and cylinders) still await!

Purpose

This blog is intended to be a shared place for Australian hobby metalworkers to post about whatever they are getting up to, whether it is their first go at turning a round bar, any cool new toys they have bought, neat things they have learned, or whatever.

It is not designed as a place to ask questions (there are lots of mailing lists and forums for that), although the post comments will allow some level of discussion.

Metalwork can be a solitary pursuit and this blog is intended to give a place to let people know what Australian hobby metalworkers are getting up to in their sheds, as well as a way to share their knowledge and tips in a publicly searchable place.