Terrapondus Machine Works

carljwnc

carljwnc

Emeritus Forum Staff
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
3,103
Location
Fairview, North Carolina USA
Car Year
2016
Car Model
Forester Touring
Transmission
CVT
Most of you probably know that I am a machinist by trade, although unemployed as such right now.:sad: You also may know that I also have my own personal little machine shop located just down the road in my fathers garage.:ebiggrin: Anyway, I used to have a thread on the 'old' ORS.com where I posted my projects, and due to my latest project, I thought I'd start another.

A good family friend makes jewelry and other little trinkets and he needed to make a mold for casting bronze into ingots 20 gauge (.037", .94mm) thick, so we started off with two very rough, flame cut, pieces of steel.
03.jpg


The two mold halves needed to be the same size so we clamped them together and kept them together until the out sides were all squared up. (just two sides cut at this point)
04.jpg


The faces of both plates were rough as well, so we had to mill flat the two faces that would be mating to each other. Then we had to cut out the pocket in one half (the other half was left flat) for the mold cavity, our target was .037" we got it to .036", missed by .001" (.025mm).:sad::iconwink: Then we made a 'V' cut on top of the two plates to pour the molten bronze into. When it's being used the two plates will just be lined up and clamped together.
05.jpg

06.jpg


Fun little project and for fellow Forester owners, they drive an '05 L.L. Bean Edition (aka. XS).:)
 
Feelin' 'cranky', but not lookin' the part so much. Raw stock...
01.jpg


...after some sand blasting...
02.jpg


...saw to length...
03-1.jpg


...machined square to length...
04-1.jpg


...notching the handle...
05-1.jpg


...test fit...
06-1.jpg


...more test fitting...
07.jpg
 
..grinding guide in place...
08.jpg


...rough ground...
09.jpg


...test fit...
10.jpg


...a little polishing...
11.jpg


...even more test fitting...
12.jpg


...counter bored screw holes, and set screw for dowel pin all loctited in place...
13.jpg


...one made to order loom crank in place. :-)
14.jpg
 
Very nice work carljwnc. :raz:

You are very talented at what you do. :biggrin:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Thanks y'all!!!

This was a really fun project, they are all pretty fun when it's not actually 'work'.:ebiggrin:

I need to get my lathe up and running, that will open even more doors for me. That crank handle would have been much cooler. I'm also sure that my father, my machines are at his house and he's a wood worker, will become a lathe junkie.
 
Great to see your projects, Carl! As always.

The most impressive thing I've done recently is to invest in a Bosch 36v cordless hammer-drill and masonry drill bits to hang pictures in our house here in Dakar. :raz:
 
Escher said:
Great to see your projects, Carl! As always.

The most impressive thing I've done recently is to invest in a Bosch 36v cordless hammer-drill and masonry drill bits to hang pictures in our house here in Dakar. :raz:
Click to expand...

Thanks Escher!!! I need more projects, and more time to do them.:ebiggrin: I wouldn't mind a Bosch 36v hammer-drill either.:biggrin:
 
onebob said:
... i marvel at anyone who can do stuff with wood an' iron......!

onebob
Click to expand...

It's funny the differences between wood and metal. Gimme' a pile of steel and tell me to make 'x' part, and usually no problem.:) Gimme' a stack of wood and tell me to make a table and:shrug:.
 
Is that a massive hunk of solid steel, Carl?!? If yes, are you able to lift it by yourself or not?

Whether metal or wood, objects formed from one piece of source material are awesome! Like my MacBook Air (enclosure) machined from two solid pieces of aluminum. Or the wooden chair on the back porch I occasionally sit on to enjoy a cigar. And of course, many good bits on the cars.
 
Wow that's one huge lift block :eek:
Are you going to put it on YotaRu as part of the lift kit carljwnc :lol:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Last edited:
dirtyRU said:
oh, from the picture i thought it weighed about 1000 :lol:
Click to expand...

It was originally part of a collection of about 800lbs. They cleaned out the stock rack at one of my previous jobs and I took what I could.:) You can see it just to the right of the tail gate latch, this load just about had my tail pipe dragging the ground.:eek:

HeavyMetal01sm.jpg
 
A full two hours of saw time:eek:...now I have to do some milling to square it up a bit, then saw some more.:huh:

IMAG0071.jpg
 
Getting smaller, and squarererer...

IMAG0073.jpg


This is only a very light cut, .010" (.254mm) with this cutter I can easily take a .100" (2.54mm) at a time, but not on my mill at home (it would start bogging down around .050"), not enough HP.:sad: The folks at work were kind enough to let me borrow it over the weekend, 3"(7.62mm), 6 flute, carbide insert, Sandvik face mill.:cool: I love that cutter, and use it every chance I get. Stainless heats up a lot, towards the end of the second pass it starts to glow a little bit.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KjYKIpqdzs"]YouTube - May 7, 2011 11:24 AM[/ame]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top