New machine day

Almost as good as Christmas and twice as good as a birthday unless they coincide. My Rong-Fu clone is a great machine to start with. Good work envelope, fairly well powered and often more ridgid than many other mini-mills for the same price. It's biggest downfall perhaps is its ability to retain spindle location on the round column when the head clamp is loosened in order to lower or raise the head. When doing concentric operations this can be a pain.

Knee-mills like Bridgeports and their clones are a premium if you can find one. Alternatives are likewise rare and overpriced. A machine came available on Trademe that had great potential as a second machine. Initially I had concerns about its likeness to a jig-borer which can handle light milling operations. However the differences were also obvious. Like a bigger version of a Myford VMB it has wide dovetails on the column and the ability to lock them. The spindle is considerably beefier with double row angular contact and ball bearings. The table is also beefier with far greater range of operation making this machine more like a mill.

While I'd like the advantage of tilting the head there are few operations that call for it where tilting the work is not sufficient. On the plus side my MT3 tooling is all ready to use. After a good clean and changing the motor out for a similar speed 2hp single phase its ready to use for quarter the price of more popular machines.

Detours

It's been years since I had a suitable kite mountainboard and I have always been a fan of the D-Ex Genesis elastomer truck design. However since DesignExtreme stopped production choices have been limited to skate and channel trucks.

Where there's a will there's a way. Since embarking on the mission to come up with an elastomer for the leading link suspension on the buggies I realised I had found a solution to my truck design and thus I have the very first board built from scratch.

Moosetruck 2.0

After a long time sorting out other workshop projects and getting the design reworked I made some changes to the original.
* I did not like the bolt-on rear. While it had a nice cross member it was a pain to bolt on.
* Seat frame was too wide and is now a snug fit.
* The front was a little high in the gooseneck and the forks so that was compacted and the mounting bolt was changed to a simple coach bolt.
* The springboard axle was a success and could be added permanently.
 * The back rest brackets looked terrible and slipped. Now I build a large h-frame hydraulic press I could bow some tube to fit the arch of my back.
* The seat was totally rebuilt. A little more 3D in shape and better located straps to support it.
* Spent a long time on the axle brackets and in the end it was so simple.

End result is stiffer, lighter and better fitting. Still want to make a mesh kit bag for the rear but for now it's ready to ride.

Things are shaping up

Over the last few years there has been the odd job that calls for broaching internal key ways for pulleys and lever cranks. My arbor or hydraulic h-frame presses can both be put to service with a good set of broaches. However that's is all they are good for and some things call for a more elegant if not antique solution. When this little(>350kg) 10" Alba 1a(circa late 1940) showed up I was not to concerned that it was missing a compound and clapper box:

The rusty look is mostly dirty oil/grease and there is very little wear in the areas that matter. Even the cracked knuckle hinge on the drive arm is nothing that cannot be repaired or made from scratch. I'll be happy to strip this down to bare metal and put it back into service to watch it do what it was always good at again.

Bit of quiet time to set up

Since my last update I've had my hands full with a large project at work, second child and then getting seconded into IT management. However things have not been standing still.

I was recently in the process of selling my little 9x20 lathe in order to fund purchase of an Enco 12x36 fixer-upper. The Enco was an older 1980's 3phase belt drive, missing a back gear for lower spindle rpm and a following steady. I could sort out a steady though the back gear would be a mission. If driven by VFD I could still get the full range of RPM.

Trupro 9x20 after a clean:


Two days after I helped deliver the 9x20 I got an offer on a newer gear head 12x36 complete with all original accessories and a larger motor. Pretty much ready to use for NZ$300 more than what I sold the 9x20 for. I'd prefer the belt drive but a newer machine with parts available and a gap bed that will take 19" swing was too tempting.

Hafco 12x36 prior to pickup:

All the chucks and accessories together weigh more than the 9x20. In fact the workspace of the new lathe is larger than the whole 9x20!


Till recently I was using an old 180A AC/DC HF transformer welder. I replaced the rectifier diodes and fitted it with a powered gas-thru fitting on the front cover to take modern torches. It was never used to weld aluminium as the power requirements were higher than the rated supply of my shop. In general anything thicker than 5mm would be a challenge in DC to.


I sold it and purchased a 160A DC inverter unit.


Later I also got a 50A inverter plasma cutter.


Currently working on a H-frame hydraulic press and a tube bend former to bend stainlesss up to 32mm.

Another generation

Added more than a few kilograms with the increased 'engineering' which I'll happily balance out in the rear. the 60x40 box section in the gooseneck was recycled from a scrapped gooseneck in an earlier project. Keeping rubber to the road means I'll track better and transfer more power from the rig.

The footpegs came off the Moosetruck as I made them to heavy. As part of this I made another set to lighten up the front on the Moosetruck. Got the first set of tinted elastomers out of the mold ready for testing too.

Getting a good fit

After a full day making aluminium tinsel on the milling machine I now have a full set of female molds that make a good job of casting the elastomers. Surprisingly quick if you have access to a 1.25" drill and a micrometer boring head. Actually took longer to halve the stock and square it with the facemill.


Using an old pressure cooker for a vacuum degassing chamber helped keep the bubbles to a minimum. I might try running pressure on a set to see what works best.

Next update: leading link front for the barrow race buggy.