making support rods(last of the pics)

[Rick Prentice]

Thought some of you guys would like to see some of the work involved to making the support rods. Both sides are basically the same steps, just different lengths and bends. A couple years ago when my dad was coming over giving me a hand with things, I asked him to build me 3 stands with rollers that would also double as a steel rack. They work great. Here's some of the steel for the supports and the snow shoes.


I start out by setting up a stop on the band saw. That allows for a bunch of pieces cut the exact same length.


The pieces are all sanded to eliminate burrs before they go into the lathe.


Once all the parts are sanded, the lathe gets a workout, beginning with center drilling, to drilling, to tapping


I still use my ELMER 2, a homemade bender thrown together from a bunch of hydraulic parts and pieces from auctions, ebay, flee markets, the neighbors left over hoist extensions, and steel from the local scrap yard.


There's a bunch more pictures scattered on these 2 pages from the photohost: http://photos.cubfest.com/thumbnails.php?album=603&page=2

I'll post some more pictures tomorrow after I do some welding.

Thanks for viewing,
Rick

[Mr E]

That is very interesting, Mr. Rick. Wish I was close by, I'd beg you to let me watch the process.

[Barnyard]

Hey Rick, where were these pix taken. I don't remember the shop being that clean last time I was there. Did Gary Dotson and David Grapes pay you a shop makeover visit too?

[Bill Hudson]

That is very interesting, Mr. Rick. Wish I was close by, I'd beg you to let me watch the process.

Mr. Roy, you're going to have to stand in line.

Bill

[Rick Prentice]

I don't remember the shop being that clean last time I was there.

I'm not done yet. I'm thinking about painting my pegboard silver and buying some bright red formica for my benchtop

Thanks guys,
Rick

[Bill E Bob]

Sure wish I had that equipment Do you save the "leavings" and recycle them to the scrap yard? Looks like lots of $$ left on the floor with all the required machining However, the end product (to me) is worth all that and more

[Rick Prentice]

Do you save the "leavings" and recycle them to the scrap yard?

Yep Bill. Any scrap metal, shavings, or even plasma dust, goes into a tub and eventually ends up at M+K Scrapyard. It's a pleasant surprise when you take scrap and walk away with $40-$50 in your pocket But right across the street from the scrapyard is Big Buffalo Pawn shop----they always have neat stuff to buy.

[Bill E Bob]

Do you save the "leavings" and recycle them to the scrap yard?

Yep Bill. Any scrap metal, shavings, or even plasma dust, goes into a tub and eventually ends up at M+K Scrapyard. It's a pleasant surprise when you take scrap and walk away with $40-$50 in your pocket But right across the street from the scrapyard is Big Buffalo Pawn shop----they always have neat stuff to buy.

Location, Location, Location

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

......... But right across the street from the scrapyard is Big Buffalo Pawn shop----they always have neat stuff to buy.

I envy people that have pawn shops with reasonable prices. The ones around here have worn out stuff priced within just a few dollars of new.

[Rick Prentice]

I finished up some more of the braces today. Here's the material I use for the right and left pads. The right side is pretty simple to make, but the left side is a pain. After drilling the 5/8" and the 7/8" holes, the piece gets clamped in the mill and a 3 degree angle gets flycut off the bottom, then a radius has to be ground to mate with the casting by the hyd pump area.


A dummy block hangs off the end of ELMER and allows me to install the pads and the rods in place to assure proper alignment while welding. Here's a left and right pic of the items in place just before welding



Once the pads are welded to the rods,

they're flipped upside down and aslo plug welded from the bottom.


Here's an almost finished set of braces,

They still need to have the flats milled on both sections(used to hold the rods in place while tightening) and then sandblasted and primered.

I ordered some packets of "anti-sieze" today. Once the braces are all painted by the member, they can apply some anti-sieze to all the thread sections in case years down the road they need to remove the braces to do a clutch job or engine R+R. Each order will have an instruction sheet with an anti-sieze packet stapled to it.

Thanks again,
Rick

[Mr E]

Rick,
Forgive my ignorance, but exactly was is "plug welded"?

[Barnyard]

Rick,
Forgive my ignorance, but exactly was is "plug welded"?

Roy, notice in Rick's first picture there are flat plates with two holes in them. The rod goes into the larger hole and is welded. The plug weld is when it is welded through the hole on the bottom side.

[Rick Prentice]

Yep, Mr. Roy, Barnyard has you covered. I keep the 7/8" rod about an 1/8" from being flush with the backside. That allows me to fill(plug) that cavity full of weld. Something drastic will have to happen for those pads to ever come off

Rick

[Rudi]

Rick:

Just in case you really need it, I got two sheets of almost IH 2150 Red plastic laminate in the shop

What amazes me is the similarities in how trades set up for a production run/one off piece. A lot of what you do is the very same as what I do.. the only difference is the medium in which we work primarily. The medium defines some of the specialized skills needed but the basics are allied. The mark of a professional is in the details.. how things are set up to produce a part. Rick my friend, you are a real professional. I like your shop. It may be small (mine is too) yet some top notch products emerge from within the confines of your play room.

[Ben B]

I'm very impressed with your little fabrication shop. Your welds look better than most factory weld jobs I have seen.

Those brackets look like they would be a very wise investment.