Machinery General Discussions

From A. E. Holiday We have a number of belts that are used very tight and in consequence are difficult to place on their pulleys. The small device shown in the illustration makes the task of placing a tight belt an easy one. The device is made of 1/8 inch flat steel about 2 inches wide. It is bent at right angles at the ends, the bends being made so that the contrivance will fit the width of the pulley face. The ends are about 2 inches long. By starting the belt on the pulley and holding this iron the belt the belt can be run on the pulley without difficulty. To avoid accidents the belt should be run on by hand or at a very low speed.

The original use of this table was the side of a machine that was already cut into pieces at the scrapyard. I bought it because I wanted to strip all the pneumatics and other components of it. The original plan was to sell it back as scrap and then I realized it would make a nice bending table. I had to make the legs, fortunately my steel supplier had some off-cuts, and then I mounted my two benders to it. It has a 10mm thick top, and there were enough drilled and tapped holes in all the right places so I didn't have to drill any holes into the table. It is as solid as anything I could wish for and will make a very useful addition to my little workshop. The …

Hey guys - I have a lead on one of these saws and it looks really nice, but wondered if anyone has any experience with them - good or bad. I can pick it up for around 1250.00 and I see them reatailing for 2000 on most sites. Anybody have any thoughts?? Would be used primariliy on metal stock 1" x 1/4-1/2" like knives and billets I make. But would also like to use for cutting my own scales out of wood and micarta.

I can't do a search for air tools on here (must be 4 letters) so wanted to know if any smiths are incorporating air tools, such hammers into your smithing. I was thinking an air hammer with different shaped chisels might come in handy or that small air grinders might be easier to use than larger electric angle grinders.

We got a Faro arm last winter here at school and the 2 people who took the class are gone and really thought the machine is messed up and could not use it on thier own. The cost for getting someone from Faro up here to teach another class is 7300 bucks. I am hoping to find someone here in the local area who knows how to use one and will be kind enough to show me how so I can at least teach the basics to others....I am trying to follow the instruction manual we have but it is very confusing. I need some help.....

I've got a Qunicy compressor that just started making some heavy knocking noises. I did shut it off immediately when it started making them, so I'm hoping there isn't too much damage. I'm going to try and photo-document the process. I've got a gasket kit, so I'm going to install that as long as I'm taking the head apart. Here is how it looked when I got it: This is how it looked after I put in the unloader mod so I could run it continuously when using my air hammer: And here is the gasket kit:

I have a Red Arrow Engine Hoist Model SH-950. Does anyone know what the weight rating for this is. I can't find anything on the web. Read the company dissolved in the late 70s or early 80s.....

I've got an Abrasives Machinery Corp 3B surface grinder. It looks like the turret from a battleship, and takes up about that much space :wub: . I've been wanting to convert it to a 2 x 72 belt (I've got LOTS of used, but not used up belts). I need a contact wheel. The issue is this: The end of the drive shaft has a 1.125 x .750 threaded stub machined on it. I assume that I will have to have a wheel made. I also assume that I need at least a third of the stub clear to hold the wheel on the shaft. If I were a machinist I could make such a wheel, but I don't think my skills are up to the job. So I need advice on where to get a contact wheel. Anyone? …

This Saturday I was able to bring some of my machines to my new shop. It has been a long process building it and it was satisfying seeing some of my machinery finally come home. My Standard Modern radial arm drill. Elliot Invicata shaper. I still have a lathe, a nibbler and a few others to move not to mention connect the power, insulate and drywall. It was a good day and I thought I would share. brad

Would this be helpful in making damascus knife blanks.? I could copy picture would need to check a link. Hope it's ok to post a link. I have no power hammer or press but could afford this. http://stlouis.craigslist.org/for/3966314818.html

Below is a picture of a treadmill motor controller I would like to use on a 72" belt grinder I am building. I need help figuring out where to hook up my Potentiometer. Thanks, Rick

Im repowering a mid sized camel back drill press. I was setup for 3 phase so I setup the single phase motor at the same rpm and its much to fast. Can anyone give me an idea how fast the pulley shaft should spin? thanks marcus

I'm about to purchase a 7.5hp 80gal compressor for the shop and I have 2 options in front of me. For what I will be doing the cfm and tank size on these will be good, just need to decide which. One is a new Campbell Hausfeld from the local grizzly store(model G2815), 3 year warranty, 25.1/27.2 CFM at 175/90 PSI. The other is a local used Snap-On(model BRA7180V), 7hp baldor motor, nearly identical cfm rating, 3 years old but it hasn't been run in about a year(guy got it when his father in-law passed), less than 50hrs on the timer, looks clean, auto tank drain, still on the pallet from when it was new, dual fan, higher quality pump. Comes with extra hose and oil. …

Does anyone have a source to help me identify the sheet metal capacity of my recently acquired Chicago Brake. It's an oldie, and I can't seem to dig up anything on line. I'd love to be able to brake 16 gauge. -Adair

Finished our rotary tumbler. Works very well and should save a lot of time in the future. Thanks to Larry at Monster Metal, and Steve at Incandescent Iron Works for their suggestions. You can see some notes added to the pictures in my gallery. Basic information is; "48X"20, 60 RPM, Rolled "3/16 drum, Plasma cut end parts with pilots to accept machined "3 DOM axles

Recently I have had a couple of questions from people on my tumbler. So here is mine. I did not make this one. I bought it from a smith who was going out of business. If I had to make another it would be based on this one. The barrel is made out of 1/4" floor or tread plate, and the tread is on the inside. It is also 6 sided so you do not have to put baffles on the inside, which means less maintenance. It will fit 48" pickets and this one turns very fast. Almost to a point it will centrifugal force the parts to the outside, but not quite. I have been told by more than on smith that this the way it should be, because it takes less time to do your parts. Some argue that i…

I just got this baby unloaded this past saturday. Havent even gotten it wired up yet, but I cannot wait. US Burke right out of Cincinnati.

Lately, I have been doing a lot (for me) of torch brazing on small items of various size. I find that fiddling with clamps, vise grips etc. to hold piece in place is most time consuming and frustrating. Are there some examples of simple home made fixtures people have made for the task. Generally, the items are under six inch length and rarely weigh a pound so that is an example of the size I work with.There is no standard size so I need a "universal" fixture. Thanks for you help.

hey all, i got a nother post drill this last weekend. it is a buffalo forge #616. question is what do you all think, when i restore it do i go origenal or restore it with the mods put on it. it came out of a shop in nebr. and they have some nice mods for using an electric motor to run it. and build a really nice gear cover for it. it also has a nice metal mounting plate instead of a wood one. does anyone know did buff forge make a metal mounting plate, has anyone else seen one or is it a nother mod? i will get some picks in the next couple of days. i also picked up a champion #106 post drill. payed $12 each.

Finishing kmg grinder clone with 3.5 hp DC treadmill motor. Have to wait a couple weeks for the controller. But I really want to run the grinder to check for allignment and direction of rotation. The motor is rated for 130 volts. Can I hook up a car battery for a no load test run. And yes, I'm out side of my knowledge base as to DVD motors lol. Thx. Keith

Good morning. Not sure if this of interest to members or not. I am in planning stages to host a scraping class that will feature Richard King as the teacher. Here is his website http://handscraping.com/ Class will be held in August in central Iowa. Have room for campers, motels are nearby. Dates have not been set yet, still looking for input as to what week would work best, along with length of class. Any questions please contact me. [email protected] Thanks Marshall

was trying to do something stupid in my lathe and it went bang as it jamed and it cracked the head stock bearing clamp, I am not even going to bother looking for a new one is it is a 1937 lathe. Should I have a go at brazing it? or some other kind of rod I should use? was also thinking about making a metal strap to go over the top

So I made this rivet spacer. it is not perfect, but is accurate enough for my uses. (not using it in machining) As you can see from the photo I had to drop a few rivets. Obviously in a situation like this the small errors multiplied to give me my headache. My question is about layout. I laid out one leg very accurately and used it as a guide. should I have laid out each hole separate? My guess is the errors came in towards the end of the process as the guide got less accurate each time I used it. Could I have just made two guides and switched towards the end, or buckle down and let my brain go numb while I layout nearly 100 holes?

Anyone know of a source for this type of pulley? Want to use a DC motor for a VS belt sander build. Didn't find them @McMaster, Grainger and several others. Torquetrans was custom built only.....Thanks

I found this buried under a bunch of stuff under my basement stairs (I forgot where it was).It's a Berkroy slip roll bender in great working condition.I was curious if another Tinknocker like myself could tell me anything about it such as age,etc.