Working with metal is fun!
I want to encourage people taking on jobs or trades working with metal.
Most trade people are on their feet all day and get some of their physical exercise in the same time,..it's good for you!
Please post pictures from your creations...working with metal and produce parts can be very satisfying.
I'll start with some...being a machinist tool & die maker.
These are hole saws I make from solid bar stock..up to around 18 inches in diameter, used in hot taping into pipelines out in the field.
I also do the sharpening
Large bolts
Rubber Mold
Complete dies,..this one for hot forming points on ends of metal rods for surveying.
These are die replacements for it,...finished machined, going out for heat treatment.
Another die, made all part's except two punches, holders, like die plates, guide pins, bushings etc.
Made this long shaft, key way put in on the mill
Special tool holders, made from solid 4140H round stock.
Large plates for molding press.
Large bronze bearing made from solid.
Cutting key way into the bore of sleeve.
Cut bolt holes into large bronze split bearing.
Cut in half in the vertical saw..
Splined shaft made from solid, for main spindle /milling machine on the left, also boring bar going out for heat treatment.
Made a set of precision squares from tool steel.
Boring and threading replaceable heads.
Set of precision angle plates from solid 8620 material.
Comments (31)
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoHere a couple of hot taping/spade pilot drills, inserts/spades can be interchanged when dull. These are 1 1/4" in diameter in various length, the cutouts with holes on the shanks are for 1/8" wire put into place and bend on both sides 90 degree folded into pockets, these wires will pivot, fall outward when the pipe is drilled through and retrieving the larger piece, anywhere from around 4 inches to 16 inches or more.
Upper drill shows the insert/spade put in, [without the screw holding it]
- 11 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
Before major pipelines go into the ground vigorous test's are sometimes done like here, a test laboratory had me making test strips from pipes, every 90 or 180 degree, 2 thin strips were needed about 7 inches long, one near the outside of pipe, one near the inside, two strips in one section, saw cut first, bent flat, saw cut in half, then machined and ground surface for analyzing corrosion under chemical etc. also chemical composition for wear etc.
Related Discussions
does GE II work on metal to glass?
Comments (4)yep GE II should be ok in my opinion - but see what Marlene says. I have another favorite for things that will have to withstand freeze/thaw cycles, but my brain is under some stress today and I can't remember what it is called. Will probably post it later from home!...See MoreFavorite tips to make gardening less work...and more fun :)
Comments (30)These tips are all great! I use the "pack 'em in" theory of gardening to cut down on the weeds as others do. It also cuts down on the chore and expense of mulching. I used to deadhead, but the goldfinches and other birds really appreciate the seed heads, so now I do lots of my garden clean-up in the spring. Actually the plant material is brown and dried up at that point and I've found usually I can rake an area and the dead stems come right up. As opposed to clipping back in the fall when I have to cut each stem. There simply seems to be "less" plant material to get rid of after a winter since it's all dried and shriveled up, if that makes sense at all. I am really learning to settle down about getting it all done. This summer I haven't worked too much in the garden (because of the heat) and it has been so enjoyable finding other fun things to do (like the beach, etc!). The thread about garden seating pushed me to add adirondack chairs to the backyard and lately after work I come home and read a magazine out there instead of weeding. Much more enjoyable. What LL said is true. If people aren't gardeners they won't even know they're weeds and I really think that most gardeners going through a garden that has weeds think to themselves "PHEW! I'm SO glad to see that they have weeds too!!" Let's face it, ALL gardeners fight the weed battle and can appreciate weeds in any garden. I still have not learned to garden the size I can take care of. I'm only on phase 3 of my yard and have another 2 or 3 fairly sizable areas to work on. However, I have learned to pace myself and work for about 5 years on a certain phase of building an area before moving on to another area. During that time I think a lot about the next phase (plant material, design, most especially how will it be watered, etc....) So far we've been OK with the amount of space we've gardened. I'm wondering in which phase I say "Uh Oh, now I've bitten off more than I should have!" I know someday that will happen but for now I'm going to keep my phased approach and hope for the best. Unfortunately, once all the phases are done, I'll be 15 years older and at that point will be looking at how to pare down the garden!! LOL! Pfmstin, I've never heard of that material and it sounds very interesting. I'm definitely going to check that out. Xantippe, what type of edger to you have? Do you have a machine? So far, my DH is my machine! We're (OK, really HE) is edging many new garden beds and anything we (HE) can do to reduce time/energy would be great to know. You see, the less time he spends on edging, the more time he'll have to help me with other things! LOL!! Gardenweed, Amen to planting more fall plants. The garden season for those of us in northern climates can be extended into November with flowers and color. There are so many great fall plants and shrubs out there that are worthy to extend the season. You know, I've heard many times about cardboard and newspaper under mulch and have "thought" about doing that for weed control. But some of you brought up a very good, important point with that tip in that the worms love it. I hadn't thought about that before so thank you for mentioning it. I am going to use this tip in the backyard where it's a new area and needs to be covered....See MoreWanna have fun? Wanna have BIG fun?
Comments (3)Try 'sifting' them. I've got a grate with about 1/4 inch holes and it lets the VC through and keeps most worms in. I just taped the small grate to the bottom of a small cardboard box and shake it. Those with large enterprises have big automatic systems- kind of cones that rotate, but it's the same principle. Also, since I started using a flow through, I haven't needed to sort worms from compost. Not everyone's flow through keeps 100% of the worms out of the bottom stuff, but I've been lucky. I also leave it in there until I need some, so it stays there for a long time. Even so, I'm still a member of disturber's anonymous....See MoreThis CL find would be fun to work with
Comments (3)I adore it! If I didn't already have a nice-quality breakfast room set that I'm not about to get rid of, I'd snatch up a set like this in a heartbeat. TOO cute!...See More- 10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
- 10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
- 10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
I've been fortunate to make a bunch of tool holders with different angles, used in pipe facing before welding.
Since no odd ball size in rectangle bar stock is available, I got slabs of rounds, faced in lathe, cut strips, then cut to length in vertical saw, milled the two saw cut to about .010" over size, then ground, squared, within .001" to size, then milled.
Taped two slabs together before saw cut.
- 10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
Ground to size, this will be a 30 degree style.
- 10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
Had fun with some flying very hot metal chips coming off a hardened thread gauge, had to take off 3/8" in length, using ceramic insert.
It looks more dramatic in this picture because of low shutter speed on my little camera made the red strings allot wider then they really are.
- 10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
Latest creation...
these metal strips, about 1/8 thick, ..had to cut out two window and insert, [sliver solder] HSS pieces into. These two spots had a wear spot from rollers running back and force under high pressure,..they called it pressure plates. They needed in a emergency basis, 2 day's. I'll be making a bunch of new one's from better material, [O1] then heat treat.
- 10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
For the machine shop
To speed things up in the shop I've made nuts with the same hex size of 7/8", this is standard for 1/2 NC thread which I use most of the time, some nuts are 3/8 and 5/8 NC thread but I maintain the hex size of 7/8, this way, only one wrench size of 7/8 is needed throughout the shop.
As you see,.. no washer needed on these nuts.
8 years agoSome fun parts made the other day using stainless 17- 4 PH, cut from solid block, used for fingers, a industrial fortune cookie baking machine holding the hot dough and dropping into a folding apparatus when inserting labels.
12 pieces, 7/8" deep cut
Then cut off in the bandsaw, I only needed one piece for a new holding unit, rest is spare parts for future orders, [ hopefully ? ]
Sliver soldered onto a long tubing, 1/4x1/2" which has a 1/8" rod through, supported with bearings on ends, soldered another finger, [machined similar] this is the center piece, [opposite finger] which can rotate, holding and releasing the baked dough.
PRO8 years ago- 8 years ago
Manufactured some small hex screws which couldn't be bought.
1/4" - 28NF x 1/4" long with 5/16 hex ..hardened for holding planer blades in place. Made of D2 material. Done on manual machine.
- 8 years ago
Here I came up with my own design in making a inspection stand for checking engine valve stems for concentricity before grinding,.. for a diesel engine rebuilder.
8 years ago- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
Made some tapered Ring & Plug gauges, 1 degree inclusive taper, .20939" taper per foot.
- 7 years ago
Showing more detailed, step by step on these tool holders.
Turning sides on 14" diameter material.
Then grinding
Band saw cutting/milling sides and grinding
Milling
Going out for heat treatment.
- PRO7 years ago
PRO- PRO7 years ago
7 years ago- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 6 years ago
- 6 years ago
Made up some hot tapping drills...longest 22 inches.
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
Made this face driver for lathe work when turning between centers, could be used for wood also. Morse 5 taper, hardened and ground including I.D. for center piece which under load transfers force onto the driver plate over 3 dowel pins.
6 years agoBuilt a T handle on a tap for a guy this week that needed to get into a difficult spot. The wall thickness of the socket for the tap was too thick so the T handle worked well. I used my TIG machine for this
- 6 years ago
That's a interesting tap! Got a little hot and in the danger zone of loosing hardness, cooling the threads in water before the heat travels down would have helped.
Made a grinding fixture for grinding/sharpening 3/8" square HSS tools, 32 at the time, 7 degree angle on top, [rake]. Picture showing cutting V grooves on a ring using a vertical slotter.
Here showing 32 tools, two pieces held with one screw and flat bar from the side, finished ground on top using a rotary Blanchard type grinder...about 1/16 to 1/8" needs to be taken off.
- 6 years ago
More close up...
Have 2 - about 20 year old worn out drill chuck key repaired..I find the pin on the key engaging the chuck hole is too short when new...thus tilting too much when tightening the chuck and wearing out the teeth, I drilled out and reamed in lathe and installed a hardened dowel pin, should have a few more years life in them.
Oil field is getting busy again, been manufacturing some tooling/tool holders for cutting welding bevels on pipelines out in the field for welding, some going to Huston.Single insert..
double insert and one prototype on the side.
A grinding fixture for internal grinding carbide sleeves..
Manufactured some meat grinding plates..
Ornametals and Finer Welding, Inc.