Evolution of a Boring and Facing Head

Back in the late 1980's I adapted the standard Emco boring head design to do facing work as well .

While many of examples of my Boring and Facing head have been made around the world the design did not suit everyone. Some did not like the original large dial used by Emco, not realising this was in fact there to aid balancing.

As the original design was an adaptation to meet an the needs of a pending job at the time. I decided to start with a clean sheet of paper and design a boring head which had the dial concentric with the main body. Certain features of the original Emco design have been retained. No point trying to re-invent the wheel.

The New version has a continuous drive to the feedscrew during facing operations un-like my initial design which has an intermittent, 2 speed, bi-directional drive. The New head has a single speed but still feeds in two directions. There is an inbuilt adjustable clutch to cut out the feed when the stops are being used.

The Dial is Zero setting and one complete revolution removes 0.1 mm from the bore. Each numbered division removes 0.01 mm from the bore.

The largish knurled ring on the end is the selector mechanism for the direction of feed.

The Mk V head came about after a friend asked me to make him a B&F Head as he could not find one suitable for his new Mill. I must admit I have not seen any to suit this particular mill with a facing capacity. The Mk I being the initial Emco design.

More details of the evolution to follow,

Regards

Gray,

When I tooled up the X1 milling machine I decided the original boring and facing head, (Mk II), was just too big for this machine. I therefore made the Mk III which has a 50 mm body, compared to the original which had a 66 mm body.

This boring head saw more use on the Emco FB 2 in the end and it proved to be a much more in keeping with the size of the machine and the work that I do.

Thus when it came to making a NEW version of the B&F head with constant drive I decided that the 50 mm body would be the basis of the prototype. This then is the Mk IIII, and has seen considerable use on my version of the Clayton Steam wagon and the Fiat 702 Tractor that I am building.

Regards

Gray,

Beautifully done.

What a lovely thing to wake up to, as I sit in bed with coffee and pad. I will struggle to understand the facing drive but I hope it will become clear eventually. Thanks for posting Gray.

Thanks for the kind comments, this B&F head was a joint venture. As so often happens lately this head was mentioned in passing during a conversation with John Slater. Who has done some 3D views of the internal workings of the Mk IIII head. When I said I had schemed out a smaller head he said he would like to see the drawings.

Thus another collaboration started on the MK V. John however was not the recipient of the Mk V shown, that was for another machine. John is building his own version for his mill.

I wonder how many have thought the Mk V was on an ISO 30 shank?

The actual taper is a BT 20,

Regards

Gray,

One last photograph to show the lineage,

Regards

Gray,

Gray,

I like the look of the middle one; it's the sort of size to which I can relate, both in construction and use terms. Have you, or do you intend to publish the plans anywhere? I've already built my version of the one described in your book.

John

The article and 3D images are away at the publishers for the Mk IIII or 50 mm B&F Head. Given the challenges of making the Mk V an article may get written in the near future.

Regards

Gray,

Following numerous requests for drawings of a larger version of the 36 mm and 50 mm Concentric Dial B&F Heads. Of a size along the lines of my original 66 mm design that appeared some years ago. I have recently completed this design of a 66 mm Concentric Dial version and thought I would share this with the Forum.

I have also included a view of the component parts prior to assembly. The worm drive for this version is a modified 2.5 mm pitch screw thread and the helical worm gears are 30 degree Pressure Angle. Many have asked how the drive is achieved in previous postings on this Forum, and elsewhere, so this should give those wishing to know most of the answers

Articles on all three versions are either in hand, or already away at the publishers.

Regards

Gray,

What fantastic boring heads! Have any articles on these been published yet?

i originally made the screw cutting dog clutch from grahams book about five years ago, works faultlessly. with recent lockdown the book came out again and the boring and facing head was made, a beautiful thing. Out of interest grahams drawings are the only ones I have used which so far have had no mistakes this is in itself a pleasure

Hello Bernard, thanks for the reply. Can I ask for the title of the book you are referring to? I presume the drawings in the book are for the Mk1 version? I'd love to have a go at making one of his later concentric dial heads, what a beautiful and useful tool for the workshop!

Projects for your workshop vol 1 from tee publishing

The 50mm one would be ideal for my small mill, this is a contender for a next project. Superb work Gray, the ISO20 version is especially nice!

IanJ

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the kind words,

The 50 mm design has just been published in the Home Shop Machinist. Part 1 was in the Sept/Oct issue and part 2 has just been published in the Nov/Dec issue.

The smaller 36 mm size was sent to Neil for publication a while back. I suspect current Covid problems have delayed the publication of this article.

The article for the 66 mm version is nearing completion.

Hope these notes help,

Regards

Gray,

Hi Bernard,

Thanks for your kind comments concerning my work and the drawings. I never offer anything for publication that I have not made myself. The original drawings which go into the workshop usually come back before the computer with red marker pen signifying a modification, or omission. As the years go by these drawings seem to be getting more red on them.

Regards

Gray,

Edited By Graham Meek on 16/11/2020 16:43:29

As usual Gray, superb workmanship. and so well designed. Simply stunning pieces of kit.

Thanks Raymond for the kind words, it has been a while since we last exchanged emails, I hope all is good with you.

My best regards

Gray,

Graham is right, Covid has meant I am getting through the 'queue' of submitted articles rather more slowly than usual.

I hope we can publish the 36mm design in the spring.

Neil

Graham - I have a larger mill, nearly Bridgeport sized so the 66mm version is of keen interest. Has it been published yet? If so where?

regards - James.

Graham,

Can I add my name to the list of enquirers for the drawings for the 66mm version? I could try to scale up the plans in issue 311 of MEW, but would prefer to work from original, definitive drawings with their attendant dimensions.

In order to fully understand the construction and operation of the tool, I like to model it first in 3D. It helps me to visualise it and work out the most efficient way for me to tackle the machining processes involved.

Regards,

John