The Metalworking Thread

[davidwyby]

I work with some pretty talented guys

 

[Squareground3691]

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I work with some pretty talented guys

Great job , davidwyby

 

[Firewood Hoarder]

I was unaware that Amsoil was in the industrial lubricants game until this afternoon....

 

[Loony661]

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I was unaware that Amsoil was in the industrial lubricants game until this afternoon....

Yessir…

 

[Wilhelm]

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I was unaware that Amsoil was in the industrial lubricants game until this afternoon....

Generic way & axis lubricant and cleaner/flush.
It is a "single use oil", but it does well keeping friction surfaces clean and lubricated.
I have used that "68 stuff" from multiple manufacturers , other than added color and perfume in the more expensive versions there is no noticeable difference.

With the purpose of this oil just make sure Your machines central lubrication unit works properly and that the return flow prevention valves are functional.

 

[Firewood Hoarder]

Generic way & axis lubricant and cleaner/flush.
It is a "single use oil", but it does well keeping friction surfaces clean and lubricated.
I have used that "68 stuff" from multiple manufacturers , other than added color and perfume in the more expensive versions there is no noticeable difference.

With the purpose of this oil just make sure Your machines central lubrication unit works properly and that the return flow prevention valves are functional.

Our shop has a problem with keeping waylube "in stock" for use by our operators and machinists. We store the full 5 gallon containers in one location, and have 2 locations within the machine shop where we keep "open" buckets for filling up the machines and our oil cans.

Every few months, someone will take the last full bucket from the storage area and not tell our maintenance guy they took the last bucket. This results in a chaotic scramble to get more oil, without fail, every 4-5 months.

I may or may not have drained the lubricator tank on the machine run by the culprit, into the machine I was running, to finish a critical job...

Our former supplier took almost 2 weeks to get us waylube on one occasion. I bet this is the reason we are going with a different brand.

 

[Wilhelm]

Doesn't than imply that Your maintenance guy should have figured out by now how much oil is spent a month on average and order by default as many buckets or barrels You need every 4 months?
It's not like mineral oil will go bad if You over stock on it.

Although, I know how that goes.
We (usually!) have that oil in a barrel (205 liters), it gets spent and then we haul as much as we need from maintenance out of a barrel they have till we get our own barrel restocked.
I guess we have similar workplace logistics issues!

I have seen coworkers filling up the central lubrication unit tank with clearly labeled hydraulic oil because the machine stopped running due to low lubricant and they didn't care about notifying the shift leader to get the proper oil which of course was spent to the last drop.

One idiot once poured undiluted emulsifying oil in the machine he was manning, out of its clearly labeled OEM packaging.
Yeah, this belongs in the I work with idiots thread!

 

[Firewood Hoarder]

Doesn't than imply that Your maintenance guy should have figured out by now how much oil is spent a month on average and order by default as many buckets or barrels You need every 4 months?

In this instance I'm going to defend our lone maintenance man, who is trying to hold together all the equipment and the building, in a buisness employing 60 people, while he has been actively battling cancer. Ordinarily, it's easy to point fingers, but I'm giving him a pass this time around.

The same people who take the last bucket also use the last of the TP in the bathrooms.... The lack of consideration for the next guy/gal seems to be universal

 

[Wilhelm]

In this instance I'm going to defend our lone maintenance man, who is trying to hold together all the equipment and the building, in a buisness employing 60 people, while he has been actively battling cancer. Ordinarily, it's easy to point fingers, but I'm giving him a pass this time around.

The same people who take the last bucket also use the last of the TP in the bathrooms.... The lack of consideration for the next guy/gal seems to be universal

Yeah, now I feel bad about part of my previous post!
I did not know all the details snd circumstances.
I concur , the one maintenance guy can't keep track of everything.

 

[Ketchup]

In this instance I'm going to defend our lone maintenance man, who is trying to hold together all the equipment and the building, in a buisness employing 60 people, while he has been actively battling cancer. Ordinarily, it's easy to point fingers, but I'm giving him a pass this time around.

The same people who take the last bucket also use the last of the TP in the bathrooms.... The lack of consideration for the next guy/gal seems to be universal

Some day you’ll walk into the bathroom and there will be a bucket of way oil where the paper should be. I found a small bail of TP in my refrigerator once. Along with some fresh batteries and my wallet. Yep, I put them there.

Hats off to the maintenance guy. It’s a complex and often thankless job.

 

[64poncho]

Had to do the mounting plate that matches the clam bucket rotator. Was bent from the failure.
Welders got it pretty good but still had to remove .060 to true up.

 

[64poncho]

End ring from a Peterson grinder feed drum. Barely fit in the big lathe to do the outer edge. Had to do the inside on the mill. 32 7/8 OD, 24 7/8 ID, 3/4 inch thick. End of drum needs to be trued up from a previous repair done by the customer.

 

[Wilhelm]

I gave hot "blackening" a try.
I used mineral oil (instead of beeswax & linseed oil) and I did not get my IR-gun to check temps (400°F) which may have contributed to my mediocre results.



Any of You metalheads ever mess with hot blackening steel?
Other than for aesthetics & looks is it even worth the trouble considering it will rust anyway?

 

[srcarr52]

I gave hot "blackening" a try.
I used mineral oil (instead of beeswax & linseed oil) and I did not get my IR-gun to check temps (400°F) which may have contributed to my mediocre results.

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Any of You metalheads ever mess with hot blackening steel?
Other than for aesthetics & looks is it even worth the trouble considering it will rust anyway?

I've never tried hot blackening but I've done lots of oil quenching for hardening tool steel. I don't use oil as it leave the part covered in suit, instead I'll use mineral spirits or gasoline. Just have something ready to cover over the top to snuff the fire out it it lights up.

The results look pretty decent to me.

 

[Wilhelm]

I've never tried hot blackening but I've done lots of oil quenching for hardening tool steel. I don't use oil as it leave the part covered in suit, instead I'll use mineral spirits or gasoline. Just have something ready to cover over the top to snuff the fire out it it lights up.

The results look pretty decent to me.

Thanks!
The right one took a really even dark coating.
For whatever reason the middle one did not.
They were tied on to the same wire not touching each other, and I repeated the heat & dip a couple times.

This was just a test as I was heat cycling and curing cast iron anyway.
I don't think I will bother with other raw steel items I made.
I'll just keep them coated in oil.

 

[64poncho]

Wheel planetary from 789 CAT, putting flanged sleeves in to repair worn pin bores.

 

[Wilhelm]

I unboxed & tried my new 120Amp inverter flux core wire welder today.
After initial setup hiccups I actually got decent results.
Not something a Pro would dare have in his shop, then again my "shop" is a former goat stable and I am anything but a Pro.

0.9mm wire, 2.0mm steel sheet, no elaborate prep grinding done.
The welder auto sets and one can only select material thickness from 0.8mm to 3.0mm.
Bottom weld was set to 2.0mm, top weld to 1.5mm.
I do not recall what the angled weld was set to.
Cleaned only with a wire brush.

 

[Wilhelm]

I need to change the welders ground clamp.
This is not adequate for 120 Amps!

 

[64poncho]

I need to change the welders ground clamp.
This is not adequate for 120 Amps!

We use Tweco ground clamps at work. These are rated 200-500 amps, but would work very well.

Copper Ground Clamps

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esab.com

 

[Firewood Hoarder]

So, I found myself needing a small piece of cast iron this week, to repair/rework a hole that was drilled off-center in a bearing housing. We didn't have any stock available, aside from another cast iron blank that had porosity on the finished OD (material issue, so it got scrapped). I chopped a small chunk out of the good side of the part, and then rounded off one end on the belt sander.

Every single lathe in the shop was occupied, so I made the decision to make the entire patch piece in the knee mill.



Using the mill's quill power feed, a lathe tool in the vise, and the part blank in a collet, I turned the blank to the desired size for threading. I chose 1/4-20 in this instance



Ran a sharp die over my cast iron "pin" and then drilled and tapped the bad hole in the part to match my newly created plug. Then, I installed my piece of cast iron threaded rod with red loctite, and milled the top down flush. The new hole was drilled and tapped in the proper location, and the repair is acceptable for what that hole will do.



I figured alot of guys would never think to use a mill in this manner, as an improvised lathe, so it seemed worth sharing. It's gotten me out of a bind on a few occasions. Sometimes, you just have to find a way to use what's in front of you.