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Question for Machinists
- Thread starter cmort666
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Frank46
US Veteran
Try looking at Creedmore shooting sports, they may have what you want so it may pay off to do a little finger work. Google can also be used if you type in your question or what are you looking for and see what pops up.You can find the darnedest things on the internet. Frank
BTW - Here's one of the things I was looking to buy or fabricate:
These come in 2 1/8" without hardware, which is exactly what I was looking for.
These look like the adjusting arm for the alternator belt on my 1969 Pontiac Firebird. Or the support hinges for a cedar chest. Rockler dot com might be a place for this specific item.
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cmort666
Member
They're curved lid supports.
I tried Rockler, but theirs were much too big, and included hardware unnecessary for my application. These are the right size for what I'm trying to do. I actually found a couple of sources for them. I've been looking for at least a couple of months.
I've seen similar objects used for a variety of tasks, in a variety of sizes, from jewel boxes to (I believe) the tripod on the Schwarzlose water cooled machine gun. I was just unable to find them in a small enough size, and minus the jewel box hardware, which I would just have to remove in order to use them.
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cmort666
Member
Unfortunately, the closest one is in Pittsburgh.
Not a bad solution if they were closer.
Thanks.
BTW - Here's one of the things I was looking to buy or fabricate:
These come in 2 1/8" without hardware, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Trying to fabricate something like that with a mill would be a nightmare. Maybe a big CNC machine, but certainly not on a bench top model.
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cmort666
Member
I figure the way to do it would be to lay it out on the stock (using a template done in Corel Draw (what I have) or a CAD program.
Then drill out the starting and ending points, followed by a series of evenly spaced holes between.
Connect the holes using the mill to create the inner cavity.
Finally cut the rough outline out with a saw of some sort.
Clean up the edges with a Dremel and or files.
We're talking about very thin sheet stock, so it wouldn't require a lot of cutting power. I'm sure you could make a jig that would hold the work in place with repositionable pins. And note the length dimension I give (2 1/8"). That's not a large component.
If they make metal cutting blades for bandsaws, you could use one of those. It'd probably be easier than the milling machine.
It could be done without a milling machine or bandsaw. You'd use a drill, jigsaw (or hacksaw), and a Dremel and or files. I just imagine it'd lack some of the precision.
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In small vertical mills Grizzly Co. has a goor reputation for warranty and
customer support. They offer models for $1000 or less and will UPS a
mill to your door. Check their website. In low cost you want basic, not
features. No power feed or pivioting head. A quality mill vise and drill
chuck and endmill collets are important. A milling machine is very
versatile. Over time you could make many of your own fixtures. Read
the feedback from owners of Grizzly mills and the opinions on home
machining website forums.
customer support. They offer models for $1000 or less and will UPS a
mill to your door. Check their website. In low cost you want basic, not
features. No power feed or pivioting head. A quality mill vise and drill
chuck and endmill collets are important. A milling machine is very
versatile. Over time you could make many of your own fixtures. Read
the feedback from owners of Grizzly mills and the opinions on home
machining website forums.
I agree that it would lack precision. I'll second the recommendation on Grizzly mills. I have a large, heavy tabletop machine from them. Weighs nearly 1000 lb with all the whistles and bells. It's too light duty to do any real precision work, but does ok for what I need it for, which is making sight pusher parts. If I'm accurate within .001-.002, that's close enough. A really good vise is absolutely essential. These can cost $500 and up. I got a $350 Chineese vise that does the job, but I won't tell you it's as good as a Kurt. The table dials on a small mill are almost useless. Digital read out (DRO) renders this a non issue, but adds $500-1000 to the cost. You can use digital gauges in place of the DRO, and though they are a lot cheaper they also lack the real precision of a true DRO. I find that power feed on the X axis is absolutely essential. If my joints weren't worn out, I might get by without. Anyway, a real small, cheap mill can lead to a lot of frustration, depending of course on your expectations.
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cmort666
Member
Fortunately, nothing I'd be likely to make requires very high precision. We're talking about flash and camera mounts, tripod accessories and the like. This is all stuff that can be cleaned up with a Dremel and or files.
Anything that I'm likely to make any time soon can be done with a drill, jigsaw, hacksaw, Dremel and files. I saw a pretty clever horizontal tripod macro arm on YouTube last week that somebody made to allow himself to shoot straight down without the tripod legs getting in the way. Other than the square aluminum tubing, I have just about everything I need to make it now. If I'm not mistaken, a store bought (and probably incompatible with my tripod) equivalent would run upwards of $50, if not much more. I figure that my cost to build one would top out a $10-$20.
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