Tecnico's Shop Window

[Susquatch]

It works! I really like that it gives an uncluttered finish with good access to the depth stop assembly and no mods to the machine.

I like it a lot! It's very clean! If I even do mine over, I would copy your design.

The only thing I'd do different is to flip your sensor so the cable goes up instead of down. It's relatively easy to make it track which avoids a lot of cable problems with the cable hanging down.

 

[Tecnico]

Very similar to mine except my read head is mounted 180 degrees to yours.

The only thing I'd do different is to flip your sensor so the cable goes up instead of down. It's relatively easy to make it track which avoids a lot of cable problems with the cable hanging down.

Thanks for the feedback.

I looked at that, in fact I started with that assumption as well. I mounted the head both ways to try it and decided that I liked the cable behavior better with it down. If you set it in a loop down and right back up and along the ram then it travels well and does not hang down anywhere near a tool path. As you lower the quill, the loop only travels half the distance so it gets further from the tool as you go. I eyeballed it and decided that it wouldn't be in the way for me.

With the cable up I would need to position the head further to the right and toward the front for the exit fitting to clear the castings plus the cable bumps into the castings etc. and quill feed control above as the quill is cycled.

I have routing tie-downs to do with all the cables once everything is mounted.

YMMV of course so yours is up to you.

D

 

[Tom O]

I made part of one as a test project it fit the Bridgeport perfectly

 

[kevin.decelles]

@Tom O , what material did you use for that project ?

 

[Tom O]

That was just aluminum I never made a steel one. If your cutting it on a manual mill you will have to offset for the taper.

 

[YYCHM]

If your cutting it on a manual mill you will have to offset for the taper.

How would you do that?

 

[Tom O]

I believe you change it with the dividing head and + or - on the y axis. If you just mill through the center it only contacts in one place.

 

[Tecnico]

How would you do that?

@Tom O I believe you change it with the dividing head and + or - on the y axis. If you just mill through the center it only contacts in one place.

@Tom O, I remember seeing your test piece. Did you do that manually or NC?


Here's how I did it after scratching my head for a few minutes:

Set up the part on your dividing head with its center on-axis with the spindle and zero the dividing head. Crazy easy with the TouchDRO BTW. Move the part so that the spindle is now offset half the diameter of your cutter on the Y axis so that the cut you do on the X axis will create a face that passes through the center axis of the part. Rotate and cut in steps of 40 degrees (9 teeth) until you're back to the start.

Re-set the center axis back to on-center with the spindle. Offset the Y axis half the diameter of the tool the other way. Rotate the part 20 degrees to give the correct (even) tool/gap width and repeat the cut/rotate steps above for the other side of the tooth cut.

In the end you should have a part with nice even teeth and gaps and even better if it's sized like my First you'll have a part that fits! If it's too tight then a round of skim passes might be in order.

Tip: If your mill is like my First, the mating part just slides off the shaft (keyed) and you can check the fit before you take it out of the DH fixturing.

D

 

[Tom O]

That one shown was done with the Haas although I made one without compensating on the Craftex 601 that is why I thought I’d point it out.

 

[Tecnico]

Update: First Mill DRO Installation Wrap-Up.

Z scale mount - After looking at what others have done on machines like this with column surfaces that are inconveniently tapered/contoured, I decided to mount the Z scale on a piece of bar stock supported by a couple of adjustable posts threaded into the column. That still allowed for fine adjustment on scale installation.

Beyond that a few pieces of angle & channel make the connection between the knee and the read head. Works well so far.

​

The cables from the scales are rather bulky so I wanted to do something with to get them out of the way as much as possible, I resorted to stick on pads designed to accept Ty-wraps. The big thing was to position the cables so they didn't snag throughout the travel of all the axes. I’m fairly satisfied with with the result except the birds nest at the back but the cable runs aren’t all the same length. It’s all good if the pads don’t fall off, LOL!

The DRO display uses the same Lenovo tablet as my lathe but for the mill I bought a quick change mount on AliEx and brewed up an arm to support it. The arm swings on a mount I machined to fit the “lift” point on the ram and the there’s a swivel on the vertical that the tablet mount is attached to. The tablet mount allows landscape or portrait positions and it has a ball & socket for quick adjustment.

That pretty much wraps up the DRO install. One final thought; it has definitely changed the way I work, for the better!

D

 

[Tecnico]

Tecnico’s Bucket Head Swarf Collector.

I got the bug for a bucket head shop vac a while back after seeing the discussion @DavidR8 started in his Shop Shenanigans thread (HERE). After seeing mixed feedback about the Home Depot vac I got thinking about what other options I might have. What I came up with was a regular shop vac plus a bucket cover that I could switch from bucket to bucket when I switch material. I wanted a vac for the detached shop anyway so I wouldn’t have to drag the one from the basement back and forth.

The other day one popped up on Kijiji for all of $30. It looks like this:

45l and 6HP if you believe the marketing copy.

I knocked out a cover from some scrap material and a couple of fittings from Lee valley, cost me about $10 and I even gave the mill quill feed a bit of exercise boring the holes. I could have bought a cover from BB for about $38 all in but it was more fun making my own and besides, it’s greener than a plastic one!

Since this is a machining forum I might as well throw in a picture of boring one of the ports. When you have a mill everything you do needs a mill.....

Finished it looks like this:

I’m pleased with the result. It works well, very few of the chips make it to the vac itself.

D

 

[Doggggboy]

Tecnico’s Bucket Head Swarf Collector.

I got the bug for a bucket head shop vac a while back after seeing the discussion @DavidR8 started in his Shop Shenanigans thread (HERE). After seeing mixed feedback about the Home Depot vac I got thinking about what other options I might have. What I came up with was a regular shop vac plus a bucket cover that I could switch from bucket to bucket when I switch material. I wanted a vac for the detached shop anyway so I wouldn’t have to drag the one from the basement back and forth.

The other day one popped up on Kijiji for all of $30. It looks like this:

45l and 6HP if you believe the marketing copy.

I knocked out a cover from some scrap material and a couple of fittings from Lee valley, cost me about $10 and I even gave the mill quill feed a bit of exercise boring the holes. I could have bought a cover from BB for about $38 all in but it was more fun making my own and besides, it’s greener than a plastic one!

Since this is a machining forum I might as well throw in a picture of boring one of the ports. When you have a mill everything you do needs a mill.....

Finished it looks like this:

I’m pleased with the result. It works well, very few of the chips make it to the vac itself.

D

When you have a mill everything you do needs a mill.....
When you have a hammer........

 

[jcdammeyer]

When you have a mill everything you do needs a mill.....
When you have a hammer........

....everything looks like a nail
Until you get a 3D printer....

 

[Susquatch]

I’m pleased with the result. It works well, very few of the chips make it to the vac itself.

I forget whose idea that was, but I liked it when I saw it too.

Yours looks great!

I wonder if you can get screw on adapters with the correct hose taper....

It looks like you tried to get a bit of a vortex going. Did that work?

 

[Tecnico]

I forget whose idea that was, but I liked it when I saw it too.

Yours looks great!

I wonder if you can get screw on adapters with the correct hose taper....

It looks like you tried to get a bit of a vortex going. Did that work?

I saw it first at BB but recently I saw a reference by @Larry_C9 about there being discussion about one in a shop vac thread. Probably the same thing.

I’m not sure what you mean about screw on adapters. The fittings from Lee Valley I used are sized and tapered to fit typical 2-1/4” shop vac hoses. I use a smaller hose with a 2-1/4 end to get faster flow velocity on the pick up though.

I picked that angled fitting (~25* angle) with the idea that it’d put some spin on the flow and that I’d add a deflector if I wasn’t happy with how much material passed through into the vac. It’s not the vortex that I get with the Dust Deputy I use with my sandblaster but so far it’s looking good. It seems to deposit small chips in a pile in a straight shot from the fitting.

I have to say that it makes cleaning up the mill a lot quicker and does a better job than by hand. I wonder if I can rig up a mount so it follows the cutting tool…..

D

 

[Susquatch]

Sounds good. I am still using a small 5hp 15L Rigid shop vac with a 1-7/8 hose. It works perfectly. Lots of volume. Hardly ever Plugs and when it does, it's at the adapter end where it is easy to clean out.

What I like most about the pails is that it's easy to keep swarf metals (steel, brass, aluminium, stainless, and copper) separate.

What I don't like about the home depot vacuum is that it is a suckless wonder. I was the first to complain after buying one.

So I'd like to put something together like yours.

Yes, it was Larry_C9 where I first saw the idea mentioned.

Kudos to you on a working vortex system!

What I meant by the adapters is just the need for screw flanges to attach them to the lid.

For a direct hose connection, I think you need a taper. Just easier to buy than make.....

Lots to think about.

 

[Tecnico]

I am still using a small 5hp 15L Rigid shop vac with a 1-7/8 hose.

Hmm, I thought all shop vac hoses were 1-1/4 or 2-1/4…

So I'd like to put something together like yours.

Yes, it was Larry_C9 where I first saw the idea mentioned.

How’d I miss that thread?!

What I meant by the adapters is just the need for screw flanges to attach them to the lid.

For a direct hose connection, I think you need a taper. Just easier to buy than make.....

Lots to think about.

The (tapered) adapters were the perfect solution and surprisingly inexpensive (made in Taiwan) considering pretty much any shop vac accessory seems to be made of gold these days.

Just a random thought or two if you’re going to make one. I happened to have a piece of sawdust board (AKA MDF) the right size for the top disc. In hindsight it was a good choice because I didn’t need to bother sealing the fittings and for the first trial I didn’t even use a gasket at the bucket face and it seemed to seal OK. I eventually made a gasket out of truck cap foam tape. For the other part I made a disc that fit in the mouth of the bucket to centre the cap.

Pretty simple all told and if you bore the cover on the mill like I did you can tell your other half that the mill paid off again!

D

 

[Susquatch]

Hmm, I thought all shop vac hoses were 1-1/4 or 2-1/4…

There is also 3 something (I think 3-1/2). So with the 1-7/8 there are at least 4 standard sizes.

Thanks for the info on the adapters.

 

[Janger]

There is also 3 something (I think 3-1/2). So with the 1-7/8 there are at least 4 standard sizes.

Thanks for the info on the adapters.

I asked at the vacuum store about hose sizes - he said every manufacturer uses slightly different sizes so you are locked in to buying accessories and hoses only from them. He had a huge selection of various adapters and fittings. This is the perfect excuse to buy a 3d printer. Make your own.

 

[Tecnico]

This is the perfect excuse to buy a 3d printer. Make your own.

Lol! I have steadfastly avoided letting myself be sucked into that black hole. I have enough things on my wish to do list without adding another. I just finished fixing a camera and I’m thinking about another to make one more out of two….

It would be good to have a friend with one though…..

D.