Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Step 9(Intermission) Toolzyottahave
One of the big premises of the Gingery books is that you can build your own entire machine shop out of old shoelaces, that one thing in that drawer in the kitchen that has kind of a threaded part and probably belongs to something so don't throw it out, and that old tractor part the previous tenant left in the basement, so it's all free.
Well, to echo what a few people have pointed out, I coulda just gone to Harbor ("'cause the Chinese work for free!") Freight, bought a lathe for under four hundred bucks, and have been done with it. Based on what I'd be earning per hour filling out TPS reports (extra credit if you get that), I'm probably about $50k into this project by now. ;-) BUT -- it's fun, and interesting, and fulfilling. (I figure people who build flyable R/C planes probably could've gotten a pilot's license and half a Piper Tomahawk for what they spend, timewise, on a nice model. So there.)
That said - here's the first of a few shots of the tools I've used on the project. The Orange Book (thanks be to Dave) emphasizes that you mostly just need a drill and a hacksaw -- well, ummm, hah. There are a few things you MUST have, and there are MANY more things that are, let's just say, VERY NICE to have.
The hammer handle on the left is for ramming up the sand molds. (I ended up buying some "Petrobond"-type sand from a local supplier - at $30 or so for 70 lbs, it's just too tempting vs. water-based casting sand mix.) At the top is a circle-cutter from Sears for my drill-press -- handy for the compound-slide pattern and a few other things. Continuing clockwise: a metal scribe for marking the (multiple) steel ways. You can get great results with a masonry nail (because it's high-quality steel) ground to a point -- don't get it hotter than hand-comfortable, or re-harden and re-temper it if you do. Next is a fat dowel you'll need for a sprue plug -- I'd also suggest a short length of thin-walled metal tubing of some kind for cutting sprues and risers.
On the right is a skimmer I found at the local Ace hardware for skimming dross (= 'crud') from the molten metal, followed by a standard tap. You'll need a few sizes of taps, and possibly an exterior threading die -- easy to find, but not super-cheap. A tap-and-die set at The Big Orange Store runs in the $20s. You'll need some tapping fluid or a tap-lubricant "crayon" - cheap. And - you will most probably break at least one tap. Then, you'll swear like a sailor -- taps are made out of VERY hard metal. It's a fine and delicate art to actually REMOVE a broken tap -- it's usually easier to junk the part and start over -- new part, new tap.
My advice? Never, ever, drink-and-thread. ;-) Seriously: take it VERY slowly. Do NOT use lots of muscle power when tapping/threading -- if you're applying lots of torque, you're about to break a tap. Back off a full quarter-to-half-turn EVERY quarter-turn -- it's a pain, but it's MUCH less of a pain than a broken tap.
Finally, in the center, is a cheap crappy "wrench" (I hate to call it that -- it's just stamped metal) that came with some dang thing we bought. But it seems to be ideal for rapping a pattern out of a mold. (Put wood mold in casting sand. "Ram up" (compact) sand with hammer handle etc. Screw screws or screw-eyes into (previously drilled) holes in wood pattern. Using cheap crappy "wrench", rattle the screws about so as to loosen wood mold from sand and slightly compact sand about said mold. Gripping screws/screw-eyes, gently remove wooden pattern.)
Well, to echo what a few people have pointed out, I coulda just gone to Harbor ("'cause the Chinese work for free!") Freight, bought a lathe for under four hundred bucks, and have been done with it. Based on what I'd be earning per hour filling out TPS reports (extra credit if you get that), I'm probably about $50k into this project by now. ;-) BUT -- it's fun, and interesting, and fulfilling. (I figure people who build flyable R/C planes probably could've gotten a pilot's license and half a Piper Tomahawk for what they spend, timewise, on a nice model. So there.)
That said - here's the first of a few shots of the tools I've used on the project. The Orange Book (thanks be to Dave) emphasizes that you mostly just need a drill and a hacksaw -- well, ummm, hah. There are a few things you MUST have, and there are MANY more things that are, let's just say, VERY NICE to have.
The hammer handle on the left is for ramming up the sand molds. (I ended up buying some "Petrobond"-type sand from a local supplier - at $30 or so for 70 lbs, it's just too tempting vs. water-based casting sand mix.) At the top is a circle-cutter from Sears for my drill-press -- handy for the compound-slide pattern and a few other things. Continuing clockwise: a metal scribe for marking the (multiple) steel ways. You can get great results with a masonry nail (because it's high-quality steel) ground to a point -- don't get it hotter than hand-comfortable, or re-harden and re-temper it if you do. Next is a fat dowel you'll need for a sprue plug -- I'd also suggest a short length of thin-walled metal tubing of some kind for cutting sprues and risers.
On the right is a skimmer I found at the local Ace hardware for skimming dross (= 'crud') from the molten metal, followed by a standard tap. You'll need a few sizes of taps, and possibly an exterior threading die -- easy to find, but not super-cheap. A tap-and-die set at The Big Orange Store runs in the $20s. You'll need some tapping fluid or a tap-lubricant "crayon" - cheap. And - you will most probably break at least one tap. Then, you'll swear like a sailor -- taps are made out of VERY hard metal. It's a fine and delicate art to actually REMOVE a broken tap -- it's usually easier to junk the part and start over -- new part, new tap.
My advice? Never, ever, drink-and-thread. ;-) Seriously: take it VERY slowly. Do NOT use lots of muscle power when tapping/threading -- if you're applying lots of torque, you're about to break a tap. Back off a full quarter-to-half-turn EVERY quarter-turn -- it's a pain, but it's MUCH less of a pain than a broken tap.
Finally, in the center, is a cheap crappy "wrench" (I hate to call it that -- it's just stamped metal) that came with some dang thing we bought. But it seems to be ideal for rapping a pattern out of a mold. (Put wood mold in casting sand. "Ram up" (compact) sand with hammer handle etc. Screw screws or screw-eyes into (previously drilled) holes in wood pattern. Using cheap crappy "wrench", rattle the screws about so as to loosen wood mold from sand and slightly compact sand about said mold. Gripping screws/screw-eyes, gently remove wooden pattern.)
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
If I were a betting man, I'd have to say you are also a musician...
Musician - well, I did like 10+ years of piano lessons, and a bunch of self-taught guitar - but I wouldn't claim the label.
Cheers - we'd prob'ly get along just great,
Andrew