A question for the ages..........What do "those people" do, when they can't find their 11/16 drill bit, but don't have a lathe?????

[Runs With Scissors]

So there I am just minding my own business working on some little BS project when "BAM."

I smash my finger between this stupid "coolant dispenser" and the tailstock.....again!!! (I have actually done it about 400,000 times now and its pissing me off)

Now I have no idea if this thing (coolant dispenser) even works, I have never used it yet, so I probably should have just removed it and been done with it.

HOWEVER..........being OCD/ADHD/ADD (and my wife says "on the spectrum") I can't help but making a "mountain out of a mole hill"

So here is a pic of what I am talking about.......You can clearly see the "interference problem"....

Here is a general overview "problem area".

I decided it needs to be "moved back" a wee bit, so I decide to make a plate that extends it back a bit. This satisfies my stupid/unreasonable need to "keep it original" (kinda/sorta)

This also has the benefit of giving me another reason to use my lathe/mill/shop

I decide that by using the original hole, I could just turn a piece that fits it, and mount a plate to that.

While digging through the "scrap pile" I find a couple of "donors" willing to "take one for the team"

So it's off to the lathe.....(to fix the lathe? )


{ Full disclosure: I forgot to take some pics along the way, so some pics are "staged"}



I turn this bar to the proper diameter and tap it for some 1/4-20 screws I have had just sitting there for about 20 years.

BTW....I love those HSS inserts I got a while back.....kinda pricey, but very convenient, and tends to give a great finish.

Now its off to the mill to make the mounting plate.



The original donor pieces were not very "square" so I perform a serious of what I consider "kinda dubious" moves with my Chi-Com parallel's, in order to square things up a wee bit.

After a few passes with the mill, I get what I consider an "acceptably accurate block" to work with.

Now I have to just drill a few holes.

But "Ill be damned".....I can't figure out what my wife did with the damn 11/16 drill that I need....

(I probably looked for 40 minutes, but "no joy")

I decide to just get it close, by using the next smaller one.

 

[Lil Foot]

Bore it? Ream it? Make a single flute drill? Broach it?

 

[Runs With Scissors]

so I drill the hole for the attaching screw, and use this little "micro adjustable counter-sinking tool" from "way, way back in the day" when I was doing aircraft sheetmetal work.

Perfect!

A regular mortal, should/would have just open that hole a "scosh' using a file, and been done with it...But NOOOO......I can't do that.


So being the "stubborn cranky Jarhead" that I am, I decide I am going use my "new'ish to me lathe", come "Hell or high water".

Just then, I look over and see this bad boy sitting there.

So I mount it up, and after trying to get it secured, this is the best I could come up with......

It's not as "elegant" as I had hoped, but there was no other way I could figure out how to mount a 2nd clamp to it.......Every configuration I tried either would not reach far enough, or it would stick out too far and hit the ways.

I reason to myself that it should hold it "good enough" for the small amount I need to take off...~.025'ish

It worked, so I tapped it for the cap screw that I will use to secure the pipe with.

My milling skills need A LOT of work, so I have to use my "poor mans surface plate" (a.k.a a piece if granite I dug out of the garbage) to shine her up a bit.

and Wa-La!!!!

Works like a charm.

No more "smashed fingers/knuckles/thumb"

Hell, you could drive a truck through there now!!!!

The End......

 

[Hoserman]

Outstanding! I really miss the maintenance shop where I used to work. I had access to all the metal working tools and government jobs ran rampant. There was basically nothing we couldn't make. Dang! I miss that. You did awesome.

 

[ken erickson]

So I mount it up, and after trying to get it secured, this is the best I could come up with......

Would you have been able to hold the work piece in your four jaw chuck, indicate off the existing hole and bore from there?

 

[NCL4701]

Nice work!

To your original query, what do those of us without a lathe do when our 11/16” drill bit goes missing? I must admit I have yet to lose an 11/16” drill bit but have lost a variety of other sizes, including once losing an entire box of drill bits. (Thankfully a small box.) Using the money I saved by not buying a lathe, I purchase a replacement drill bit(s). Not nearly as fun as what you did, but effective.

 

[Pawnee]

Cool fix!
Wash your hands before you eat a sandwich though.

 

[Cape Cod]

I don't know about "those people"...
But "this" people
<<<<<
would (plan to) fire up the HAAS CNC machining center and circular interpolate the hole with a 1/2" carbide endmill.


Of course, I would get as far as taking the vertical pipe out of the existing bracket and tossing it in the chip pan. Then life would get in the way, and I wouldn't even finish the original lathe project I was working on.

 

[Sidekick]

Don't you have a Bridgeport and boring head. I drill undersized and use my boring bar that is all in one setup.

 

[Shawn T. W]

I'd just go buy another bit, and when I got home I'd find the "lost" one!
(That tends to be the easiest way to find lost stuff!)

 

[Hugo Habicht]

I would use a 11/16" milling cutter
Alternatively the 17.5mm drill bit

Nice modification

But the real question is: why is it that you (or me) hit your hand 400000 times before you do something about it?

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Don't you have a Bridgeport and boring head. I drill undersized and use my boring bar that is all in one setup.

I wish sir!

A Bridgeport is on "The List" though.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

But the real question is: why is it that you (or me) hit your hand 400000 times before you do something about it?

Good question.

The first time I ever touched that machine, I smashed my thumb on that pipe.

I must be a "slow learner".

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Would you have been able to hold the work piece in your four jaw chuck, indicate off the existing hole and bore from there?

Excellent idea.

Thats one thing that intrigues me about "metal working" in general.

The ability to accomplish the same task multiple ways.

Admittedly, I did get "tunnel vision" once I spotted that face plate, and totally forgot about the 4 Jaw chuck sitting in the cabinet.

Strange how the mind works sometimes.........

 

[Sidekick]

I wish sir!

A Bridgeport is on "The List" though.

I thought you said it's off to the mill to make the plate .

 

[ken erickson]

Thats one thing that intrigues me about "metal working" in general.

The ability to accomplish the same task multiple ways.

I agree! Coming up with work piece holding or clamping solutions was always the "fun" part of machining for me.

And your spot on, many ways to skin a cat.

From your pictures you now have a milling/drilling machine? When you do score that Bridgeport your going to be amazed at just how versatile they are and will open up a whole new world as far as clamping and work piece holding solutions.

 

[torch]

So I mount it up, and after trying to get it secured, this is the best I could come up with......


View attachment 157710

It's not as "elegant" as I had hoped, but there was no other way I could figure out how to mount a 2nd clamp to it.......Every configuration I tried either would not reach far enough, or it would stick out too far and hit the ways.

Do you have a 4-jaw chuck? Perfect application for one as the jaws are independently adjustable so you can grip irregularly shaped pieces in the lathe. Use a lathe centre finder or a DTI on the inside of the hole instead of the OD and adjust the runnout as normal.

You can also mount a 4-jaw to that rotary table and use it in place of a milling vise. I've milled some pretty intricate pieces this way:

Of course, it also works with the rotab mounted vertically too:

 

[bbxlr8]

Speaking as one of "those people" I would either wing it with the next size or stop everything and go buy another one; then have two once I found the original one

In hindsight, I have determined that I am on the extremes with these things - either a perfectionist or pure bubba/mcgiver type, but trying for the middle ground!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I thought you said it's off to the mill to make the plate .

I did, but it's a little Chi-Com mini-mill, not a real Full size Bridgeport....(yet )

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Do you have a 4-jaw chuck? Perfect application for one as the jaws are independently adjustable so you can grip irregularly shaped pieces in the lathe. Use a lathe centre finder or a DTI on the inside of the hole instead of the OD and adjust the runnout as normal.

You can also mount a 4-jaw to that rotary table and use it in place of a milling vise. I've milled some pretty intricate pieces this way:

View attachment 157793

Of course, it also works with the rotab mounted vertically too:

I do have a 4 jaw.

And I certainly need to explore the options I have.

One day, when I get to tell "The Man" where to stick his job, I will have more time to explore/experiment.

One of my favorite songs, by my favorite Country singer.....(when Country was actually Country, not this "pop star bullshit" today )