Spring is here - kinda.

Quick walk around the farm

I have had the flu for the past week and a half, so when I got to the farm this weekend I really wanted to get out and see what the state of affairs was.  Many plants are starting to come out!

Elderberries!

Forsythia

Spindle thread protector

I received a threading tool (internal and external, indexed) this past week and wanted to try some threading.  I figured one of the first things I should make was a thread-protector for my lathe spindle.  Lathe spindle is 2 1/4 x 8TPI.  Only metal stock I have that can accomodate this was a piece of old 1" plate-steel that I got from the scrap-yard years ago.  I have been using it as a makeshift welding table.  I got my 14" metal abrasive chop-saw out an went to work.  To finish the cut I used a metal blade in my sawzall.

While it is only an inch thick, the spindle threads only go about an inch, so that's perfect!

It's in rough shape, but the lathe should be able to clean it up.  

After I cut out the beast, I needed to put it on the lathe for cutting.  This is where the 4-jaw chuck shines!  I popped it in the chuck and had it rough centered in only 5 mins or so!

I did a touch pass there to make sure I was at a good center.   I wish I had paid more attention at this point though; from this picture it is obvious that there was a partial cut in the piece!

Then I was ready for some serious metal removal!  I used a carbide tool and about 600 RPM (maybe a wee bit faster - 800rpm?)

Ugh - that cut is deeper than I realized.  I am hoping to use the TIG and fill and recut later to overcome this problem.

Ready to flip the piece and cut the other side.

At this point the phone battery was too low to get the action on the back side.  All I did was flip the piece over, recenter (roughly, no indicators) and face and turn the piece to approximate shape.  Then I decided to mount the piece on a mandril in a collet chuck to get the best concentricity quickly.  The ER32 collet chuck worked great!

Here it is with a half-inch hole bored into its center.

Actually, the mismatch in centering isn't too bad, but it needs to be perfect before I bore it to size and thread!

Ready to clean up the diameter

Making swarf.  This stuff is a pain in the ass to clean up.  Clogs the shop vac and is friggin dangerous to handle due to extremely sharp edges.

All done!  The finish isn't great due to the carbide tool chipping a bit.  But at this point its fine.  I did break the edges with a file file before I took it off the collet.

Not bad!  Next step is to bore it out 

Maybe not so bad.  I will bore and then clean it up for TIG fill

Cherry tree relocation and flat electric fence

I figured that this was the last chance to move the cherry trees before they had come out too far.  I dug them up and moved them to the other side of the sour cherry patch.  Sweet cherry trees can get big so I wanted them as far from the septic drain as possible.  Crossing fingers that they survive!  Also, since the electric fence had to be moved anyway, I went ahead and swapped in the new flat fence!  

Flat fence is definitely easier to see!

I will have to bury the old line.. hmm

Threading issues - leadscrew and apron cleaning

I had planned on taking the apron apart later in the year and giving it a good going over, but fate intervened...

I was setting up the lathe to do a test thread-run and noticed that the leadscrew was becoming disengaged when the cutter was up near the chuck.  The split nut seemed to not be engaging there for some reason.  I thought maybe the leadscrew there was dirty or something so I cleaned it thoroughly.  Still there was the problem.  I felt around where the split nut should engage and noticed a lot of dirt and crap in there.  So I bit the bullet and decided to take the apron off!

Look Ma, no apron!

A picture of up-into the saddle where the apron gear connect to the crossfeed

Apron is off!

What a mess!  I don't think the apron had ever been removed

It looks as though the crud was blocking the split-nut form closing completely.  Either that or thread on the split-nut has been worn too badly ....

UGH - look at the filth on the bottom of the oil-reservoir!

Yeah, a little filthy

Lots of cleanup to do!

Almost 5 cans of brake cleaner later...

Threads are in great shape!

I tried them on leadscrew and they really dig in!

Cleaned and coated with light layer of WD-40 to keep from rusting

Back together!

Reassembled on the lathe!

I ran the leadscrew again like before and it did not disengage - BUT, I did hear some strange sounds and then the leadscrew it self stopped turning!   I freaked out a bit and traced the problem back to a loose nut on the "banjo" - a metal arm that holds the threading stud gear in contact with the spindle/backgears.  I simply moved the arm back in place an actually tightened the bolt good and restarted the lathe.  No problems!  Whew

Here is a video I made of the cleaning ordeal:

I hope to get to do a threading test next weekend....

Collet chuck done, new lights in shop and trying some TIG welding

ER32 Collet chuck done

The socket head bolts came in so I installed them and cut them to length.  The collets also came in this week so I chucked a couple in and gave the new chuck a spin!  Works great!  I much prefer the ER collets to the 5C's (and 5V's on the mill) that I have.  

New metric (M8-1.25x40) socket head bolts installed (and cut to fit lengthwise)

ER32 Collet in the chuck - fits nice!

Video of Chuck construction and running for first time!

Shop lights

I finally got around to putting up some of the LED shop lights that I have had for about a year now!  I dearly needed more light around the lathe and the mill!  Now I have it.

Wow!  Such a difference! I can SEE!

Its like a new shop!  Except now I can see how bad the walls look!

Also, now I can see how dusty everything is!

TIG welding!

I managed to stop by Roberts Oxygen in Frederick Maryland on the way up to the farm.   I got some E70S2 filler rod and a small tank of argon.  the filler rod I had ordered off ebay didn't get to me yet.  But I didn't feel bad about buying it at Roberts since I will always need more!

"consumables" that came with TIG.  3 different size collets, a collet closer, and 3 different diffuser cups - I think 4, 5 and 6

This is still setup with the plasma cutter - but the connections are very similar

Just a front shot of the combo unit

They don't get great reviews - but so far its done everything I need it for!  

Here is the TIG torch with a "red" tungsten tip in it.  I sharpened it myself on the grinder.

Its a "New Century" WP-26.  New Century is a Chinese brand and WP-26 is the size designation.  This is air cooled torch.  WP26 is a larger torch from what i have read.  But by no means the largest.  Size actually isn't necessarily a good thing - it makes it hard to reach into places!

See the "New Cent" logo?

Here is the cute lil argon cylinder connected up!  I had to get a hose clamp to connect it to the welding hose - the little clip they sent let it leak!

Notice that this flow meter is calibrated in L/min?  I didn't at first - I was assuming it was cfh!  I was blowing holes in my work!

Connected up and ready to go!  I wasn't sure how much Argon I would be using so I got this small unit.  I figure if I need more I can always trade up.  Small cylinder is easy to move around!

TIG welding requires very clean metal and close-in work so I set up this table in the shop.

I put a chair in the - it helps a lot!  but can't see the work that well - even with the halogen lights I set up nearby (you can see the glare from the lights in the picture)

The torch, in between tip sharpenings!  I went through about 1 inch of a tungsten electrode during the weekend.  I am not sure how much argon.  So far though, I am not alarmed at materials usage.

Some of my first tries at drawing a bead!  Yes, the metal was clean when i started!  

I tried left and right handed.  There is a surprising amount to keep track of when you are doing this!  Besides the settings for argon flow and amps there is the torch angle and filler rod feed rate and tip "extension" from the cup.

I got tired of cleaning metal so i just used some old bolts

Some of these beads aren't as bad as they look - I hammered on some afterwards to see if that black was scale of just dirty metal.

On the right there you can see that I actually welded these two bolts together.  The welds are surprisingly strong!

Bottom line:  I need MUCH more practice!  I am watching youtube videos like crazy and learning a lot.  However, nothing but practice will get the hand steadiness that I will need to get good welds.

More orchard care

I got out the pole-trimming tool and went to work on the orchard.  I did all of the high cuts and some of the low cuts on a few trees I didn't get to last time.  Actually, I didn't get to the peaches at all last time - and peaches take a lot of trimming!   I finally got to the spraying of the dormant oil and realized I needed to remove the plastic protectors to spray the trunks.  Worked out fine though as a way of marking which trees I had sprayed.  I would remove the protector just as I sprayed the tree. When I was done spraying the trees and grapevines I went back and gathered up all the protectors. The next day I sprayed the cherry trees and removed their protectors.  

I was in a rush of sorts to get this done since the weather report says we are going to have a warm week and the trees might take damage if I do this too late this year!

Septic field concerns

While looking for some papers earlier this week, I found the septic field layout that the original inspectors drew up for us when we bought the farm!   

The drawing shows some interesting things. 

I tried to layout some markers on the ground to get a better Idea which trees I would need to move.

See the little white "baton" in the upper left of this picture?  On the ground.  That's about where the distribution box is for the septic drain lines.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where the individual lines were  - I think that this is close to where one of them is. (the yellow measuring tape on the ground)

Overall, it looks like I really only need to move the lower 2 sweet cherry trees!  I will move them all - the lower two are the biggest anyway - the upper ones should be an easier move.  I am considering moving some of the sour cherry trees too - but from my understanding - sour cherry trees are all "dwarf" and maybe wont send roots so far...  I will do more thinking about this.