Process:
I've run into an issue when I was fixing a worn out cross slide for an old 1906 Rahn Mayer Carpenter lathe that the threaded rod was bending under the pressure of the cutting tool that I had to make several more passes in the middle to get the threaded rod all even. In that case I could have used a follow rest to provide the back pressure against the tool.
When I found out that a friend of mine had bought a new lathe with a follow rest that fit perfectly on mine as far as the height was concerned I asked him if I could borrow his follow rest as well as his steady rest and decided to cast one for me.
I also asked the guys on the Yahoo Emco Larger Lathes group whether anyone wanted one and ended up getting 4 orders, one from Newfoundland, one from Ontario, one from France and one from Norway.
The process is pretty well described in the video. Feel free to ask me any questions though.
Videos:
Pictures:
One of the molds ready for casting
Close-up of the mold
Removing the original pattern with help of a welding magnet
The follow rest on my lathe
Machining one of the faces
Machining the other face
Machining the bottom of the follow rest
A view from the back side of the lathe
The finished casting with the extended foot
The other side of the follow rest with the extended foot
Difficulty Level (Easy, Medium, Hard, Insane):
Medium
Process:
A coworker asked me if I could have a look at her 2007 Toyota Yaris because her muffler fell off. The history behind this repair is that a couple of years ago, the muffler rusted off and she was stranded in the middle of nowhere on a Saturday so she found a welding shop that did a quick and dirty job welding it back together.
However, the salt, winter and generally harsh road conditions up here in Canada took its toll on the pipe and rusted it off again. Unfortunately, the way Toyota designed the exhaust system was with no joins/links and replacing/fixing it the way they would recommend it would cost about $1500 bucks.
Needless to say, my coworker was looking for an alternative way of fixing the vehicle. After having a look at it I devised a plan to buy a transition pipe at canadian tire and try to make it work in such a way that the muffler could be taken apart again in the future without having to cut through the pipe.
After I cleaned up the old weld on the muffler, I used my MIG welder to build up the connection point so I'd have some solid metal to weld the new pipe to.
Then, I went under the vehicle and cut off the last 2.5" of rusted pipe and used an exhaust pipe expander to un-dent the pipe. Once that was done came the rather lengthy part of fitting the old pipe to the new pipe to the old muffler.
Unfortunately, I discovered that when they did the first fix a few years ago they welded the 2 foot pipe a bit crooked which made the muffler and the pipe not match up properly. The pipes were off by over 2" and I suspect they just forced it together and did a quick weld. That is why I suspect the weld failed after just two years.
After some thinking and trying a bunch of different things I decided to keep the pipe the way it was but twist the muffler by about 2", then cut the new pipe at an angle so that there wouldn't be any stress in the weld.
Once I dry-fitted it, I did 3 tack welds between the new pipe and the muffler, take it off and took it to my work bench where I finished welding the new piece of pipe to the now built-up area of the muffler. Then, all that was left to do was to apply some muffler cement to the inside and outside of the join, slip them together and use a u-shaped muffler clamp to hold it all together.
Over all it went well, I worked into the wee hours of the night but I got 'er done so I'm sure my coworker will be happy about that and I don't suspect there will be any issues with the part I repaired for at least 4-5 years if not more
Videos:
Pictures:
The rusted off remains of the exhaust pipe
Holy, so holy
After cutting off 2"; I ended up cutting off another 1/2" later
The rusted end pipe what was welded to the muffler
Another view
The old pipe they welded to the existing exhaust 2 years ago
Using a pipe expander to round out the last 2" of pipe
The muffler pipe expander
I had to weld the muffler adapter at an angle to match up the existing pipes
Another view of the weld
Some muffler cement sealed up any small leaks
The finished job after it was clamped together
Tools: Car ramps
Creeper
Impact wrench
Socket set
Ear & eye protection
Measuring tape
Soap stone marker
Jiffy marker
Work lights
Angle grinder
Bench vise
MIG welder MIG welder cart
Materials:
One 1.750" inside to 1.750" outside muffler pipe adapter
One 1.750" u-shaped muffler clamp
Time:
4-5 hrs
Savings:
$1300
Conclusion:
Well, it looks and sounds great. I'll post an update in a couple of years (if I remember to do so)
Note:
This is the second time I've made one of these; the first time was for my own personal lathe, this time it was for a gentleman in town who saw mine and asked me if I could make him one as well. Here's the link: Cam Lock For My Emco Maximat V10 Metal Lathe Tail Stock Difficulty Level (Easy, Medium, Hard, Insane):
Medium
Process:
This time, things went quite a bit quicker because I had already done up the prototype for my own lathe so I just pretty much took the measurements from my cam lock and duplicated it.
First, I turned down a 1" piece to about 7/8" diameter with an M8 x 1.25 thread to match the bolt, then I made a matching 1" piece with a 1.250" diameter that had a 7/8" bore to fit the female threaded part.
After that, I drilled a 5/16" hole across both pieces for the actual cam. Then I took a piece of 1/2" cold rolled steel and turned one side down to 5/16" and left the other side at 1/2". Next, I chucked up this piece in the 4-jaw and set it off-center by about 0.100" and very carefully turned the cam portion.
Then, I turned a 5 degree angle into the 1/2" end of the cam, drilled a hole and tapped it to accept the handle.
After that, I tied down the two concentric sleeves and drilled through the 5/16" hole into the tail stock and drilled all the way through so I could stick the cam through the tail stock, then through the concentric sleeves and lock it in place with a c-clip.
Last, I had to take a 1/2" piece of cold rolled steel, turn the handle down to 3/8", thread one end and turn a knob on the other hand.
All that was left to do was to heat up the parts and quench them in oil to give it a black patina and to protect it from rusting.
Pictures:
The original tail stock with the nut fastener
The back side of the tail stock
Turning the first piece of the concentric sleeves
Tapping an M8 x 1.25mm thread
Getting ready to part off the female threaded sleeve part
The finished part
Facing the second (outside) sleeve
Drilling, then boring to size
Test fitting the pieces
Getting ready to turn down the cam
Making a little groove for the c-clip
Drilling the cross hole for the cam
Drilling through the tail stock
The two sleeves and the cam almost done
More pictures to follow
Tools:
Metal lathe & accessories
Metal band saw
Materials:
3" of 1.250" cold rolled steel
12" of 1/2" cold rolled steel
Cost:
$0.00
Time:
8 hrs (would have been 6 if I had done some more measuring ahead of time)
Conclusion:
Here's the email I got from the gentleman:
Chris, I just wanted to let you know I've had the opportunity to
try the new tail stock modification and it's a real time saver. Every now and again I'm looking for the wrench and realize I
don't need it anymore. Thanks a lot for helping me out on this.
