I have to thank you guys.

On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 11:31:05 GMT, "LCT Paintball"
wrote:

oh yes. lathe and shaper etc.


I ran a shaper once, about 20 years ago. They were outdated even then.

oh yeah. as inefficient of time as hell but for a guy like me who
likes to watch the job develop they are just fine.

I usually set it off and do some lathe work. as soon as the note of
the choonka choonka of the cut stroke changes I'm back on to it.

one of the beauties of experimental aviation is that you can perform
the building tasks just for the pleasure of doing the work and of
achieving the craftsman like end result. to hell with the
efficiencies, I'm doing this for the relaxation and stress relief.

I decided to build a little ply scarfing sander today. two days work
to make an 18 inch ply join in effect but all the other ply scarfs to
come will be effortless and perfect.

I'm having a ball building this little summers afternoon aircraft.
Stealth Pilot

2 The satisfaction of making it yourself.


Yea, I guess I get all caught up in the profitability aspect of the venture.

I own a machine shop that specializes in building plastic injection molds.
About once a week I get a farmer in the shop that wants me to build a gear
that he could buy at the local parts store for $20.00. They never understand
the amount of time it takes to make a 1 off item, or the actual cost
involved.

one of the beauties of experimental aviation is that you can perform
the building tasks just for the pleasure of doing the work and of
achieving the craftsman like end result. to hell with the
efficiencies, I'm doing this for the relaxation and stress relief.

I'm having a ball building this little summers afternoon aircraft.
Stealth Pilot


That's cool. I used to do wood working for the same reasons. Now I find it
too close to what I do for a living, so I'm not about to do it to relax.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired wrote:


Why not us a cutoff tool on your lathe instead of a band saw?

Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired
-------------------------------------------------

Dear Dan,

Turning 'between centers' means the work-piece is supported by a
pointed, cone-shaped center at each end, driven by a 'dog' that grips
the work-piece and hooks into a slot in the face-plate.

A cut-off tool is a narrow cutting tool having negative draft, allowing
you to cut a deep slot into the work-piece, effectively slicing it in
two.

If the work were supported entirely by the chuck, or by the chuck and a
steady-rest, you might use a cut-off tool. But when the work is
supported between centers, using a cut-off tool means you've just cut
off one end of your support.

-R.S.Hoover

LCT Paintball wrote:


The real question is why spend an hour making something you can buy for
$10.00, and probably at half the weight?
------------------------------------------------

1. Mostly because I can.
2. I would prefer to spend the $10 on something else.
3. A simple part, such as pulley... or a gun barrel... provides a good
opportunity to pass my skills along. Besides imparting a fair degree
of competence in my own kids, I've trained a few hundred sailors, a
number of Scouts, a couple of wannabee homebuilders and I've now got a
crop of grandkids coming on line.
4. If you have to ask, you probably won't understand the answer.

-R.S.Hoover

wrote:

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired wrote:


Why not us a cutoff tool on your lathe instead of a band saw?

Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired

-------------------------------------------------

Dear Dan,

Turning 'between centers' means the work-piece is supported by a
pointed, cone-shaped center at each end, driven by a 'dog' that grips
the work-piece and hooks into a slot in the face-plate.

A cut-off tool is a narrow cutting tool having negative draft, allowing
you to cut a deep slot into the work-piece, effectively slicing it in
two.

If the work were supported entirely by the chuck, or by the chuck and a
steady-rest, you might use a cut-off tool. But when the work is
supported between centers, using a cut-off tool means you've just cut
off one end of your support.

-R.S.Hoover

I have used lathes before and know what a cut off tool is. I was
thinking of supporting the work with a steady rest leaving two pulleys
in position to be cut off, then moving the rest and repeating.

I should have been more clear.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

wrote:


LCT Paintball wrote:


The real question is why spend an hour making something you can buy for
$10.00, and probably at half the weight?

------------------------------------------------

1. Mostly because I can.
2. I would prefer to spend the $10 on something else.
3. A simple part, such as pulley... or a gun barrel... provides a good
opportunity to pass my skills along. Besides imparting a fair degree
of competence in my own kids, I've trained a few hundred sailors, a
number of Scouts, a couple of wannabee homebuilders and I've now got a
crop of grandkids coming on line.
4. If you have to ask, you probably won't understand the answer.

-R.S.Hoover


'sides it bullds character.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired wrote:

I was
thinking of supporting the work with a steady rest leaving two pulleys
in position to be cut off, then moving the rest and repeating.

----------------------------------------------------

That would work, assuming your chuck was accurate enough. My three-jaw
isn't that accurate (which is why I do a lot work between centers) and
setting up a long piece of bar-stock in the four-jaw can be a bit of a
bother. But I wouldn't be able to get as many slices since the steady
-rest would not allow me to work as close to the dog. (My steady-rest
is home-made and kinda big.) Plus, it would be a bit more work (at
least, for me).

The last time I made pulleys I spent about an hour to produce twenty
pulley-grooved 'slices' from a hunka 3" bar stock about 16" long.
After being sliced on the bandsaw the cartwheels went into a drawer, to
be drilled & faced as needed, often by one of the kids using a 'baby'
lathe.

-Bob

On 21 Jun 2005 18:07:02 -0700, wrote:

I don't rock. But pulleys do. It's rare for the amount of
cable-travel to exceed more than 90 degrees of rotation of a large
pulley. That means you don't really need sealed ball bearings; a
properly fitted bushing (Grangers, McMasters-Carr, etc) works fine.

After making a few I took the trouble to grind a tool bit for the
groove & shoulders.

Bob, one of the more interesting manufacturing processes I have seen
involves making pulleys by slitting the edge of a piece of sheet
metal, then rolling it out to make the flat/vee/round depending on the
"belt" planned.

This was 10+ years ago; I wish I remember whare I was. IIRC, these
were for alternators and water pumps.