10mm Conversion Lab - C'mon in Y'all

[BMCM]

Lets finish up the work on the plungers, shall we?
First I need to grind a toolbit to cut that 0.050" groove.
This looks to be a likely candidate.

A few minute on the grinder and we have this.
Meaasures 0.051 at the cutting edge... Close enough

Back in the collet getting everything lined up.

As I thought, works just fine.

These are done! The top one is the factory part.

Next up we'll tackle the guiderods proper.
That short fat one is the correct length and I will base some of the measurements off that. As you can see it's about 1/8th inch shorter than the rod you'd find in say a 4516-2 with the nested spring set. Top of the frame is a piece of 12mm 416 stainless bar.

I need to do some number crunching first to figure just how long a piece to saw off for one rod with the goal of minimizing waste. Once I get that sorted and a couple pieces cut it's back to the lathe for some turning.

Stay tuned.

Cheers
Bill

 

[Turn & Bank]

Bill
Love the work you're doing and am interested in your lathe. What type is it? I've a lathe myself but I need something a little more precise. Your input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jim

 

[BruceB]

And what's up with the lineup of horological devices?

Looks like a couple of Panerai, and some pocket watch work lined up.

 

[BMCM]

Bill
Love the work you're doing and am interested in your lathe. What type is it? I've a lathe myself but I need something a little more precise. Your input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jim

Thanks! The lathe is a Taig. I've added quite a few attachments to the basic setup along with some custom touches. It's very accurate and quite solid. Downside is no threading capability and the work envelope is kinda small. Hindsight being 20/20 I would still have bought it, it's a great tool and very simple to work on and customize. I can see where I'm going to want something bigger with threading in the future. Perhaps a Hardinge tooloom lathe Hah not bloodly likely$$$$$. I get all my Taig stuff from Nick at Cartertools.
The Taig Lathe and Milling Machine

Cheers
Bill

 

[BMCM]

And what's up with the lineup of horological devices?

Looks like a couple of Panerai, and some pocket watch work lined up.

The one you don't see the the 88 year old Bunn Special that lives in my pocket

Under the hood... 21 ruby bearings in solid gold settings and all the train wheels are solid gold. Keeps time wonderfully well.

The big gold watch there is my Great Grandfather's 18 size Waltham model 1892. It's 120 years old and running fine.

Those "PANs" are knockoff of a 1950's vintage Rolex 6152/1 Something for me to tinker with. If I ever come across an Angelus 240 movement or a Rolex Cal. 618 movement I'll case 'em up just because

Ever since I was a wee lad I've always held a fascination for all things mechanical. Thus my appreciation for these old timepieces among other mechanically thingies. Kinda sad that the skill & craftsmanship that made these is lost to history. Same as an M&P or Glock...Plastic watches with batteries have no soul.

Ok, Thanks for the break...I'll get back to machining the guiderods and update in a couple hours.

Cheers
Bill

 

[BMCM]

Getting started on the guiderods proper here.
I sawed off two pieces of that 12mm bar about 3.5 inches long. I wanted to have just enough extra length beyond whats needed for the finished guiderod to allow work positioning without any undue waste.

One piece is there in the chuck but I decided to change the setup before cutting.

Gads! what a mess!
I changed back to the three jaw scroll chuck for this operation.

Quite a bit of unsupported stickout so I need to take pretty small cuts to prevent tool chatter.

Ten thousandths 0.010" at a time. So far so good.

First operation and the bulk of the materiel removal done on both parts.

Setting up for the second operation I'm switching to the four jaw chuck. Now you might ask... Why are we swapping chucks all the time and what the hell is the difference? OK, well, the three jaw is a scroll chuck not unlike what you'd find on a hand drill. All three jaws adjust together so, if you have a part that's real rough or out of round it may have significant runout or misalignment when tightened. It's easier to use and It's accurate enough for most work.

For real tight, precise work well, that's where the four jaw chuck shines. On the four jaw chuck, each jaw is adjustable independently of the others. This allows you to hold oddly shaped pieces, square stock and even intentionally hold things off center. For this job we want the minimize runout as much as possible by adjusting the chuck until the part is as close to exactly on center we can manage.

Here's one of the rods in the four jaw held by the skinny end and indicated in with ZERO! discernible runout Spin that chuck around by hand and the needle?... she don't move

Next we're gonna make a facing cut to clean up these saw marks and true the end of the rod.

That's much better.

Now set up to center drill the fat end so it can be stabilized with the live center while I work on it.

There, that will do nicely. Coincidentally that hole, when finished, will be where one of those plungers will live.

Now to change tool the toolbit to a lefthand, flip the toolpost around and reverse the carriage feed. I'll be feeding the tool from left to right away from the chuck for this operation.

That's all for now

Cheers
Bill

 

[BruceB]

The one you don't see the the 88 year old Bunn Special that lives in my pocket

Under the hood... 21 ruby bearings in solid gold settings and all the train wheels are solid gold. Keeps time wonderfully well.

Those "PANs" are knockoff of a 1950's vintage Rolex 6152/1 Something for me to tinker with. If I ever come across an Angelus 240 movement or a Rolex Cal. 618 movement I'll case 'em up just because

Ever since I was a wee lad I've always held a fascination for all things mechanical. Thus my appreciation for these old timepieces among other mechanically thingies. Kinda sad that the skill & craftsmanship that made these is lost to history. Same as an M&P or Glock...Plastic watches with batteries have no soul.

Ok, Thanks for the break...I'll get back to machining the guiderods and update in a couple hours.

Cheers
Bill

Absolutely gorgeous!

My little 6mm and 8mm watchmaker lathes look teensy next to that Taig.

OK, back to the topic! Always totally intrigued with your projects.

OK, another side note in a different direction, I just got word that I'm getting an invitation to the decommissioning ceremony of the first and only big white one I rode. USCGC Boutwell WHEC-719 is being decommisioned in San Diego on March 16th. It was only 2 years old when I first stepped aboard, and it's hard to believe it's being retired in my lifetime. There were 311's and 327's from WWII vintage still pulling ocean stations when Boutwell was new.

 

[BMCM]

Last update for tonight...

Ok, got the lefthand bit in there with the tool post turned around. Power feed is in reverse and part is spun up. Touching off the toolbit to start cutting.

Now that the workpiece is supported on both ends I can take much bigger cuts. Going forty thousandths a whack.

Now it's starting to look like something.

That's it for now.

What's left to do:
Reduce head diameter to 0.405
Thin head thickness to 0.065
Drill recess for spring & plunger
Cut inverse bevel to engage nail nick on barrel underside

I'll get after that stuff tomorrow.

Cheers
Bill

 

[BMCM]

I just got word that I'm getting an invitation to the decommissioning ceremony of the first and only big white one I rode. USCGC Boutwell WHEC-719 is being decommissioned in San Diego on March 16th. It was only 2 years old when I first stepped aboard, and it's hard to believe it's being retired in my lifetime. There were 311's and 327's from WWII vintage still pulling ocean stations when Boutwell was new.

I couldn't even consider not going. You're gonna go, yes??

Loved those old ships. I doubt very much any of those new boats made outa cheap Chinese steel will last 50-60-70 years like those old cutters.

Keep her so!
Cheers
Bill

 

[growr]

All I can say is WOW!!!! What a craftsman!!!

Randy

 

[BMCM]

Evening Gents,

Picking up from where we left off last night...

Still have the part in the four jaw chuck and supported by the live center. Using the lefthand tool were gonna shave the outside diameter of the head down to 0.405"

As before, the part is well supported here so I can take big cuts. Turning at 1375rpm and taking 0.040" cuts.

Done.

Once they're both done we're gonna change the machine setup a bit.
Looking go so far.

Still in the four jaw chuck but with very little stickout. Indicated to virtually zero runout.

We have three operations to do from this position to each piece.

First, with the toolpost flipped back around and the righthand toolbit in place, take successive facing cuts to bring the head thickness to 0.060".

Now with the head at sixty thousandths thick the next operation is drill the recess to house the plunger & spring. The live center is removed and the drilling chuck installed in the tailstock. The drill is a #15 TiALN coated solid carbide bit. You cant see it but there is a mark on the bit in a little spot of layout dye for me to judge the correct depth. the hole needs to be 1.060" deep.

Liberal use of Rapid Tap cutting fluid and pull the bit out often to clear chips. Ya don't want to snap a bit off down in the hole

About a quarter inch to go now.

now with the hole drilled to depth, the last thing is cut the bevel to engage the barrel's "nailnick". Using the righthand toolbit angled about 30 degrees to the work.

That'll do quite nicely.

Before & After shot

Pull that piece and chuck the other one, indicate it and perform all those operations again. Once they're both done there's still a couple more things that need doing.

Well, they both pass the nailnick test but it appears they each need a bit of a trim.

So now go back to the three jaw scroll chuck since high precision isn't critical here. M42 steel 0.040" parting tool mounted on the back side. A little dye and scribe the cutoff mark.

One down and one to go.

Spinning at 500rpm and a liberal dose of Brownells do-drill fluid

And that takes care of that.

Last thing is flip 'em around in the chuck a few times at 880rpm for a bit of polishing with some 600 grit abrasive tape.

Done and Done

That's all for now. I have the stainless slide undergoing some Kroil treatment overnight so tomorrow I'll detail strip, clean & blast it. Then both slides go to the mill for the de-cocker mod.

Cheers
Bill

 

[03Fatboy]

Learning an awfully lot here. Thanks!

 

[Shadow1006]

Very interesting project...salivating in anticipation!

Carry on!

 

[BMCM]

Ahoy there Gents,

Last night I decided do the slide machining for the spring loaded decocker on both slides.

Here I've gathered all the stuff needed and am setting up the mill for this operation. Since I've had the vise off recently I needed to tram it in again.

With a test indicator mounted in the spindle I sweep the table back an forth and adjust the vise mounting until the jaws are exactly parallel with the long or "X" axis of the table.

I did the end mill cuts with this Weldon 1/8" four flute mill mounted in that R-8 collet you see sitting on the vise

Came out perfect.

Now to drill the holes for anchoring the dead end of the spring.
I switch to a 1/8th in collet and a #56 carbide drill which makes a hole about 0.0465" diameter. or 1.18mm.

Well, I started on the blued slide first. Got everything clamped up and positioned then started drilling. Now, knowing how delicate and fragile these tiny carbide tools are, I know to feed into the work slowly, use plenty of cutting fluid and clear the chips frequently. Everything was going swimmingly until disaster struck

Yeah, the rest of that bit was stuck in the bottom of a blind hole This is the second time I had one of those break. The last time I was just breaking through and was able to use a thin piece of steel wire to poke out the broken piece of carbide without too much trouble. Not so this time. Blind hole and I have nothing here that will drill carbide tooling (need diamond tools for that) so Awww Hell!

I tried a number of things to get that stub out to no avail and eventually sat down at my desk as started searching the web for someone who has a EDM tool disintegrator where I could either drive or mail the slide to and have the carbide burned out.
I found plenty of outfits selling those machines but noone that had one or offered the service. Well, I decided to try one last thing. I loaded a larger carbide bit in the collet. This time a 1.6mm or about sixty one thousandths carbide bit. Drilled down to the broken stub, shattered two bits to get there bit I made it nonetheless. Then took the slide off the mill over to the bench, stuck a small pin punch down that hole, and beat the snot out of it with a hammer Knowing how brittle the carbide is and that the surrounding steel is comparatively ductile I figured to shatter the remains of the stub into tiny shards then run another bit in there to clear out the junk and perhaps finish the hole. It took one more of those 1.6mm bits being wrecked to do it but my plan of last resort was successful.
The remains of the stub were pulverized and the third drill bit was able to clear the pieces and drill through the rest of the way.
Nice clean hole and the decocker fits & functions perfectly.

The wreckage.

I still needed to do the drilling on the stainless slide though.
I attended to that this afternoon. I did make a change to my standard routine... Up sized the drill I use for this operation to a 1.55mm and it worked perfectly.

And breakthrough.

All done here.

Next thing I deed to do is blast the stainless slide. I might get to that tomorrow. And I think I need to do something about the color mis-match on that blued piece.

Hmmm, methinks I shall give that Caswell Plating stuff a try

Cheers
Bill

 

[03Fatboy]

You referring to the black oxide kit? If so, I'd like to know how that turns out.

 

[BMCM]

You referring to the black oxide kit? If so, I'd like to know how that turns out.

Yup, Caswell's Stainless Steel Blackener, You'll see the results here when the stuff is delivered. I want to do a little touchup on the slide and blacken that decocker and the ambi lever to match.

Cheers
Bill

 

[6actual]

Are you planning to thin the decocker and the ambi lever down a little as well? They is pretty thick

 

[10mmauto]

This thread just knocks my socks off!

 

[SAFireman]

Wow, you have mad skills!

Please post more of your machine work, I find it fascinating

 

[Turn & Bank]

Are you planning to thin the decocker and the ambi lever down a little as well? They is pretty thick

6actual
Just my opinion on the decocker but leave it thick as it is. I have a 4013 conversion to 10MM and with the 23 lb. recoil spring I need all the grip available I can get to rack the thing. Unless a person has hands of steel it is a tough one!
T & B