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What's Paul up to?

Just back from a few heavy rain days at the cabin. Got the irrigation systems shut down. Why does irrigation work always wind up with me soaked?

And when I got back, a heavy but small wooden crate was awaiting me:
1729467381060.png

She's a beaut. All three axes are buttery-smooth. Also has an interesting gear-engaging mechanism where the block housing the lead screw swings out:
1729467470581.png

I haven't figured out any locking mechanism for the rotary axis, however.
No commercial marks on it, and it could all have been done in-shop. Came to me from Nova Scotia.

Paul
 
PaulL said:
Also has an interesting gear-engaging mechanism where the block housing the lead screw swings out:
Click to expand...

My Sowa RT works like that too. Very different, but works quite well. I like it.

Never saw a three axis RT before. Only ever saw one or two. Really nice! Congrats!
 
3 axis on a mill is somewhat redundant, but that would be awesome on a drill press. Good catch.
 
PaulL said:
I haven't figured out any locking mechanism for the rotary axis, however.
No commercial marks on it, and it could all have been done in-shop. Came to me from Nova Scotia.

Paul
Click to expand...

Where is the rest of it?
What's the back story?
Do you know what you've got there?
:)

PS .... lock is via two nuts on the underside of the round bit, as shown

rt lock-800x849.jpg
 
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Mcgyver said:
Where is the rest of it?
What's the back story?
Do you know what you've got there?
Click to expand...
That's all I have. There's not much back story - a friend of a friend spotted this somewhere around Wolfville at what seemed a reasonable price for a rotary table in good order, so I took a chance.
It sounds like you might be able to tell me what I have ;-)

Paul
 
Yes, its the X/Y and RT off a BCA jig borer. They are a highly regarded solid little jig borer more than capable of milling (given they have dovetail ways vs box) Any chance of back tracking and finding the rest of it?

The BCA jig borer was the British version of German Boley jig borer. There were a few manufacturers of it. The story was something like the war office let out the design and contracts to various manufactures as lots of high precision machines are all of a sudden needed. Bomb insights, instrumentation etc. Mine was made by Sigma Jones (instruments) which I think Tony's site mentions was one of the more highly regarded makers.

Really lucky with mine; it's like new with scraping marks visible on all surfaces etc. I have been doing tons of modifications to it. Built a new Z axis "platform" using T slots, built a new spindle as the original used really hard to find collets, dro, oilers and channels on all surfaces, replaced the motor with a DC motor, replaced the X & Z axis bearings with ACs, and so on. It's almost done, but will likley end up selling it as it duplicates some other acquisitions. Kind off irks me that it turned out that way, years of work, but its a self inflicted injury.

Anyway, here's some info on it

B.C.A. Jig Borer - Continued

A development of the
www.lathes.co.uk

Here's a crazy idea ....... fabricate a structure like in the link, normalize it and fill with epoxy granite. The tougher bit would be the Z axis and spindle ..... but if you did so you'd have one the sturdiest little bench mills in existence.
 
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Mcgyver said:
Yes, its the X/Y and RT off a BCA jig borer. They are a highly regarded solid little jig borer more than capable of milling (given they have dovetail ways vs box) Any chance of back tracking and finding the rest of it?
...

B.C.A. Jig Borer - Continued

A development of the
www.lathes.co.uk

Here's a crazy idea ....... fabricate a structure like in the link, normalize it and fill with epoxy granite. The tougher bit would be the Z axis and spindle ..... but if you did so you'd have one the sturdiest little bench mills in existence.
Click to expand...
This is really cool. I've queried the fellow who picked it up for me and see if it's likely the "drill press" part is still around.

Paul
 
Dabbler said:
What is it with the forestry people in BC? yeesh!
Click to expand...
No one seems to believe that ecologies are dynamic and that you can never go back. So crazy things get pulled out in an attempt to take things back to some state that they were never actually in.
 
PaulL said:
I've queried the fellow who picked it up for me and see if it's likely the "drill press" part is still around.
Click to expand...
I got a reply back. Somehow the fellow has all(?) the bits and bobs for the head, but doesn't have the principal casting. The trail goes cold there, and the seller isn't particularly interested in parting with the head components. A reasonable offer would be more than I'm willing to take a chance on.

Paul
 
[Pulling this over from the DRO thread so I can find it later]
I'm lacking in pretty 3D models, but I did get my cross-slide DRO scale tidied up today. The tape is in a new within the dovetail slot. I had to extend the slide a little bit to get a full reading with the read head placed in the cross-slide screw slot.
1732322252011.png
1732322361054.png


The read head is held why what amounts to a tiny machinist's jack.
This is ridiculously tidy. There was plenty of meat to cut the 2mm deep channel for the tape. I used a cap head screw on one end of the tape to both ease alignment and to reduce the chance that something catching the tape might rip it down.
Many thanks @DavidR8 who spared the length of tape I didn't have on hand. If you're in or around Victoria, I have a couple of meters coming on a slow boat from China, hit me up around Christmas.
One more tip: It's not enough to acetone the receiving surface for the tape. When you stick on the upper stainless shield also acetone your tape. It will be so oily after no time flat that it won't adhere. That's almost certainly what bit me with my original install.
A couple of shots of the cross-slide setups. I've never had the knee so low. The holes to hold the extension went in like a breeze.
1732323077898.png
1732323135051.png


There's not much to see with the whole thing installed:
1732323357350.png


The only annoying part is that the extension hits the chip screen, losing 3/4" of far-side travel. I can live with that. If it's ever actually needed I'll drill a hole in the sheild.
 
YotaBota said:
Can you use spacers and push the back-splash back an inch?
Click to expand...
Probably easier to shift the read head forward in the slot. It looks like I can sneak 3/8" there if I move the nut limit screw aside a bit, and then I can probably shorten the extension by another 3/8 or so. I went a little long, not thinking about the shield.
That, of course, came after making my fist extension too short.
 
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