Darren's active projects

[Darren]

Batched out some tool holders for 1x1" shank tools. That was a 0.750" rougher, so I was able to move over a bit and carry on .

 

[Darren]

I couldn't help the laugh icon.... My friend Fred got ultra-precision ballscrews on his 10X50 mill, and he doe curse them from time to time. He had slowed down using it these days, so it is more frequent that he forgets to lock Y.... He and I laugh when it happens!


Nice that you managed the save! That is one powerful machine!

Its only happened twice to me when it has mattered and both times I was able to save the part. On things like facemilling, I don't lock it and it never moves enough to matter.

The first few roughing slots on these parts were done at 0.950" depth and the Y didn't move at all. Got a bit hot so i stepped back to one 0.500 and a 0.450 before I switched to a finishing mill.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I have always heard that repeated, but this I think is the first instance I have seen of proof that this actually happened to anybody. Glad you were able to save the part.

 

[Darren]

Yea, thats why I figured I'd post up. Its does happen, but its not like it takes off like some people seem to think. It takes a heavy cut. That said, I will take ballscrews any day over regular screws. Zero backlash is very nice.

 

[PeterT]

@Darren you obviously have used both ball screws & regular screws on mills. The other thing I've heard about ball screws is the act of locking can displace the table because they are free-er to move (DRO reads 0.000, lock the axis now DRO reads 0.002"). This seems counterintuitive. Now I think this was coming from a guy who CNC retrofitted an RF-45 or similar mill & those stock dovetail locks are not the best from my own experience, they torque on the gib strip which can add a displacement component.

 

[Darren]

Peter, my locks don't usually move the table much at all. Maybe a few tenths if anything. I think its probably due to the preload in the ballscrew nuts and bearings. Once in a while the dro will creep off zero on the locked axis while milling after the axis is locked, but its really nothing. I'm not pretending to be Robin Renzetti here.

 

[Darren]

Had a bit of a situation to deal with tonight. Working on a Promaster van, which uses lug bolts, instead of studs/nuts. It has McGard locking bolts which require a key. The key was broken. I had to weld nuts onto the lock bolts to get them out. My largest extractor for locking nuts was too small. Then i was faced with being two bolts short to send the van out. Can't get new ones till Tuesday. So i figured i'd machine a hex on the original locks to get them back in service for a few days. Problem was, my 5/8" (16mm) 5c collet wouldn't tighten down enough on the 15.5mm shank to use my hex collet block. Was in a rush, precision wasn't a concern, so i came up with this. Thought you fellas might find some value in it.

Worked good enough to get em back on for a few days. Socket fits good. Felt like a pretty fart smeller after.

 

[DavidR8]

Good thinking!
Guaranteed some person is going to look at them and think those are the most useless locking studs ever invented.

 

[Darren]

Locking lug nuts are the most useless things ever. I have a cordless impact and extractors and they normally wouldn't even slow me down. Anyone who has worked on German cars with lug bolts knows how tight normal lug bolts get over time. A bolt torqued to 80 ft/lbs feels like 200 after its been on there a while. So the keys for the locking versions break all the time. These guys are lucky they never got a flat. Last guy put the broken key back in the glove box. The one where i welded the nut with a few tacks is the one they broke it on. It was not that tight and still had remnants of the key in it.

 

[Darren]

Anyone have this set of Accusize 5c collets? I'd like to try them but import collets make me nervous.

Amazon.ca

 

[6.5 Fan]

Anyone have this set of Accusize 5c collets? I'd like to try them but import collets make me nervous.

Amazon.ca

I just got a set of 5c collets, mine are not Accusize though, Findmall brand. Acceptable for the kind of halfassed precision work i was doing, but not great.