TMWT: The machine work thread

[GLTHFJ60]

@RedHeadedStepChild why didn't you tell me 1-2-3 blocks were hard as hell? tried to mill two down to make 1.75" spacers for something and roasted another end mill.

I think I could have beat it with different speeds and feeds. Will try again another day.

 

[angerhater]

Ouch. Did you use a cutting fluid or just coolant? I can’t remember the name of their stuff we used to use but it was soluble oil we mixed in water. Look like milk when I used it.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

You're thinking of normal machine coolant I think. I used a generous amount of cutting fluid, but it didn't help enough.

 

[cruisermatt]

Why wouldn’t you just use solid aluminum

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Why wouldn’t you just use solid aluminum

Could have, but wanted to try this.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Got the next phase of 220v wiring in the garage done finally. No longer need to use extension cords to power my machines!

Used the lathe to cut down some IFS hubs for @fourtrax and @4LowandSlow to work with Tacoma rotors!

 

[cruisermatt]

Drilled and turned down some tube on my neighbor’s lathe for sleeves to use 9/16” bolts with Cruiser leaf spring bushings. Stock pins are 18mm..
@GLTHFJ60 what bolts and bushings do you use on your front spring setup?

 

[cruisermatt]

And here is my setup to drill my new pitman arm out to 5/8”.. tried to remove it from the box but got denied.
Pitman arm has a nice flat on the bottom and side which makes it pretty easy to set up.

First drill to 19/32, then ream to 0.6224” (lucky find, brand new for $10 and perfect size for to make nice tight fit for a 5/8” bolt). Wish I had it when I did my steering arms, although I got pretty good results from a good 5/8” bit and going slow.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I don't recall which bolts I used, lol. May have used standard bolts with a loose fit though cruiser bushings. Need to look at it soon, front bushings are about wore out.

 

[stevezero]

I like how im not the only one that does metalwork in flip flops or other open shoes. lol

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Notching tubes ftw. Need to set up a dedicated notching arbor now that I've realized how effing well this works.

 

[S4Cruiser]

Kinda wrenching but my struggles are machine related.

Drilling (33/64") and taping (9/16-18) the output shaft of the sm465 I'm rebuilding. I was able to jerry rig the shaft to start the hole in my drill press...then continued drilling by hand...until I broke my only bit. I was surprised how easy (relative speaking) it was to drill.

Today while waiting for anothe drill bit to arrive (need to drill the hole another 1/4-1/2") I started taping the hole. HF I have never attempted to tap something that is this much of a PITA. I used a tap set (taper, plug, bottom) that was used to tap another shaft years ago...and I ****ing destroyed them.

I did heat up the end of the shaft with map gas but it was still a huge challenge to cut threads.

The taps I destroyed were just normal carbon steel and not HSS. Hoping them being carbon and not HSS is one reason they didn't cut it.

Also, should I be hearing the end of the shaft till it's literally glowing red? I heated it for a couple minutes straight but it was not cherry.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Bummer. Why didn't you bring it over to the house to try this in the lathe?

No, you should not be heating the material while tapping. If you heat the material to a critical temperature and let it cool, you're annealing the metal. This will make the metal somewhat softer for tapping, but it'll also be softer in use too. Not sure how hard that shaft is from the factory, but you don't want to deviate too much.

Also, heating the material will make the hole shrink in size, as the material grows with temperature. This will make the tap cut more metal than it's designed to do, and make your threads too lose once the material has cooled.

In conclusion, it's bad idea to heat a material to try to make it easier to tap. You're shooting yourself in the foot.

 

[S4Cruiser]

Bummer. Why didn't you bring it over to the house to try this in the lathe?

No, you should not be heating the material while tapping. If you heat the material to a critical temperature and let it cool, you're annealing the metal. This will make the metal somewhat softer for tapping, but it'll also be softer in use too. Not sure how hard that shaft is from the factory, but you don't want to deviate too much.

Also, heating the material will make the hole shrink in size, as the material grows with temperature. This will make the tap cut more metal than it's designed to do, and make your threads too lose once the material has cooled.

In conclusion, it's bad idea to heat a material to try to make it easier to tap. You're shooting yourself in the foot.

I’m a bit stubborn and wanted to do it myself...hindsight

Makes perfect sense to not heat for tapping...hindsight (prevailing theme).

I think the shaft is 4120/4130 based on the limited info for it in the interwebs. Also, from what I read, only the surface of the shaft is hardened.

I think I have/created a combo of issues that made it a challenge to tap...dull taps (not super quality carbon that had been used before vs HSS) some which were self inflicted (heating during tapping). Hopefully I did not induce too much ‘work hardening’ of the hole and the HSS taps I have in route will finish the threads.

BTW, assuming that DOM tuning I ordered is waiting when I get home, I’ll head over to your place this evening.

 

[S4Cruiser]

Output shaft 1...Jon 0. Moral of story, don't resist asking for help AND do not drill output shaft by hand. LOL.

Huge thanks for Johnny's time on the lathe! Got the trans nose cover turned down to fit inside a cruiser 3spd bell housing and the end turned down for sleeping with a piece of DOM that matches the 3spd cruiser throw out bearing. Got the inside lip a speedo gear housing bored out to run double seals...vs speedi sleeping the parking brake housing cone.

Also...attempted to correct my output shaft crooked ass drilling work. Damage was already down. Luckily brand new output shafts for the sm465 are readily available and not that costly. New one ordered and back to Johnny's MFS (machine/fab/service) later this week for a redo!

Few slow-mo vids!

 

[S4Cruiser]

One more...

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Sorry we couldn't save the output shaft bud. New one won't take long to modify on the lathe though!!

 

[S4Cruiser]

Sorry we couldn't save the output shaft bud. New one won't take long to modify on the lathe though!!

No worries! Thanks again for the help bud!

 

[S4Cruiser]

Done! Despite my best efforts (well intentioned) to tap it at a 20* angle

@GLTHFJ60 thanks again dude!

 

[cruisermatt]

Helped @GLTHFJ60 make some room in his garage this weekend... just need to figure out how to get it out of the truck now