HSS/Tungsten Tool Honing Machine

In the USA I am sure the 'purists' would laugh at our UK obsession with heavy, dirty cast iron for jobs where it's weight or vibration deadening properties are of no benefit.

Surely the best material for the job is the one that does the job best...

Neil

Thanks Neil,

This is the first of a pair of machines which I am working on. The second is a Rotary Hone / Lap for doing a range of bores. This design comes off the back of a novel way of adjusting a lapping tool, which I made a while back to finish the bores of my Steam Wagon. This second machine is still at the design stage, and hopefully John Slater will do some 3D views of this later in the year.

Unfortunately it will be another Aluminium construction for the main body,

Regards

Gray,

I would never criticize use of Aluminium, it "Looks" as if you've used 6082?. Only improvement I would suggest is to anodize the bits to save the prospect of any oxidation, and yes, although other grades of alloy are better, 6082 DOES anodize.

Another couple of "Expurt" criticisms. The use of Plywood in the construction of the impeller on the first home constructed working model gas turbine. - Read the calcs, it DOES work. And a real gem, the use of reclaimed tinplate (print side in) on the painted cleading of a model steam loco. LBSC did have words to the judges on that one.

Regards Ian.

What can you say but WOW!

What a lovely bit of kit, so well designed and then so beautifully made. Following with considerable interest.

Will you be publishing plans for this (in a MEW article perhaps)?

Chris

Hi Chris,

An article is already underway. The Editor of Home Shop Machinist, George Bulliss expressed an interest in this machine as soon as he saw John Slater's 3D views some months back.

I cannot say whether this will get published over here at this moment in time.

Regards

Gray,

Aluminium extrusions have replaced steel and cast iron for most of the jigs in the motor car industry. Some ingenious contraptions are constructed to deliver parts for robots to pick from, lots of gravity roller conveyors are used. 17km of aluminium monorail track was installed in the body shop for interprocess conveyor. This stuff gets a very hard life making a thousand cars a day.

Mike

We were using Structural Aluminium to build tooling back in the early 90's.

This ranged from Robotised assembly tools that completely assembled things like the indicator and headlamp stalks for Audi and Ford cars. Various smaller items like door switches for Toyota and Ford. As well as Micro Chip handling units. The movement of Compact discs from the moulding press through metalizing, lacquering, printing and packaging. The complete manufacture of friction window stays from raw material through pressing, to assembly and packaging. Plus the assembly of Carbon Fibre segments which would eventually become disc brakes for Aircraft. All were based on structural aluminium systems, like Bosch Rexroth, but there are others.

Many of the specialist pieces of equipment used in Radiotherapy were also built using these systems, but I cannot divulge anything about these machines.

Regards

Gray,

I don't know the material of the slideway itself, but isn't the 'Peatol' lathe bed a hollow aluminium alloy extrusion filled with a special form of concrete?

This is not really any different from the system I have read a major German manufacturer using for building massive machining-centres, though their casings are welded steel fabrication.

I worked for several years for a leading maker of very high-precision screen-printing machines used in electronics-component manufacturing. These machines had, and their successor designs still have, fabricated steel frames bearing large aluminium-alloy plates machined to complicated shapes as the bases for the moving parts.

My role was materials store-keeper, when the company made a lot of the machine parts itself. Among the stock materials I had to order, read off the drawings, was a lot of aluminium "tool-plate". I am not sure of the alloy grade but it was simply wrought plate machined or ground to precise thicknesses and flatness.

No - there is no logical reason why this tool-grinder could not be made from aluminium alloy.

Same with the commutator lathe cited by Neil Wyatt. I would envisage such a lathe, designed for a special, light task, as having its aluminium-alloy saddle fitted with linear bearings running on parallel round bars rather than dovetailed bed; extending through the end-plates of a box-pattern headstock.

As for purists, I recall at one major exhibition, overhearing one say agree with his pal that some minor detail was "wrong", on the machine I was admiring. It was a traction-engine to 3 or 4-inch scale, clearly well-built but not newly, carrying the honourable patina of a well-loved engine that had seen a rally-field or two, as intended. I wondered which were the critics' exhibits...

.

It’s cast, and therefore reasonably stress-free ... wonderful material.

Here’s a quick link for reference: **LINK**

http://www.raaltd.com/aluminium-plate.html#casttoolingplate

MichaelG.

It has been a while since my last post on this topic. The reason being I needed to make another tool to make things easier for me to complete this tool.

Above is the set up for setting a specific radius. The feeler blade in this instance being 0.05 mm.

This gives a better view of what is happening. The dowel pins are aligning the tool centrally on the fixture centre-line. The springs on the tool clamp hold the tool temporarily during the setting process. When the tool is being urged towards the fixed stop. Final tightening being done with the extended M4 capscrew.

The tool holder and segment are then transferred to the radius table on the honing machine.

I have found it an advantage with small radii to initially stroke the tool across a stationary stone. This takes away any tendency for the sharp point of the tool to dig into the stone.

This gives a better view of what is going on,

The spare segment shown on the right is held in position by some small magnets inserted into the tooling holes used to manufacture the segment. These also help draw the segment into the semi-circular recess.

I needed to make a Pull scraper in order to finish the table, with my muscle problems I find this easier to use, more details on this in another Post.

Regards

Gray,

Edited By Graham Meek on 14/12/2020 16:10:07

Sorry to resurrect an old posting, but did an article on this ever get published?

Neil

Hello Neil,

While I have started writing this up, it has been delayed for various reasons. Downsizing the workshop being the main reason. Although I do use this a lot when I am in the workshop. Finding time for the workshop and writing, is proving difficult at the moment. Maybe as the darker nights start to pull-in I can find some time.

Regards

Gray,

That is fine tool-making! I like the centering method, with the two dowels: I'd not thought of that.

I note your point about a little flat to prevent grooving the stone. Can the table also move sideways while rotating the tool-holder, for the same purpose? (The tip axis will still be at the same distance from the hone.)

Thanks for your reply, I thought that I might have missed your write up.

I find honing a tool without altering its geometry can be a little tricky at times, your honing machine looked to the answer to my some what poor efforts.

I shall look forward to seeing the article when it appears.

Neil