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Thread: Your latest project
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27th Apr 2015, 11:22 PM #1456Diamond Member
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Looks great Richard, and very useful for many simple indexing jobs. As you say, much lighter and easier to handle than a big dividing head too. You should get the vacuum cleaner out though, and do a quick clean-up, because your photos are definitely unsanitary compared to BT's. I s'pose you blame that rust on your recent cyclonic weather.
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28th Apr 2015, 09:51 AM #1457Most Valued Member
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28th Apr 2015, 07:24 PM #1458Pink 10EE owner
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28th Apr 2015, 10:51 PM #1459Diamond Member
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Optical Comparator
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2nd May 2015, 04:06 AM #1460
Making an etching/printing press
My darling Pam attended a workshop two weeks ago on printing natural objects - with her particular interest in printing leaves and feathers etc onto woven fabrics and her own felted farbics.
The key tool was a roller press. $1000s
She told me last Sunday (April 20th): "For my birthday present I'd really like a press ...." (Birthday: April 26th)
So I spent half the night researching what was involved and if it was possible for me to make one for her.....
Anyway, Monday I looked around my shed to see what materials I had on hand and what I would have to purchase if I took up the challenge.
I seemed to have all the steel required - just in a different shape to what was needed.... I went for a drive to the local bearing service and purchased some suitable bearings and flange and sliding mounts and the nuts and bolts I thought I would need. The local junk yard (Bendigo Trailers and Hardware) yielded a find of a huge cast iron valve handwheel and a suitable piece of laminated MDF.
By 1am that morning a few bits started taking shape on the lathe. The photos show some of the materials used: sections of a weight lifting bar, some 4" and 2-1/2" water pipe, some round 1/2" thick disk offcuts, a short offcut of 3" diameter solid, a decent piece of 1/2" flat plate I had to cut in half, some 2"x1/2" flat bar and some 5/8" round bar pieces I had.
I used a couple of M16 rod joiners (extra long hex nuts) and some M16 allthread left over from another project for the height adjustment.
The table giude wheels were cut with a circle cutter out of a piece of 12mm thick Pheolic sheet I was given some years ago. The plugs were then drilled to suit the 5/8" spindles and turned to the size required.
Tuesday I cut the waterpipe pieces for the rollers and welded the ends and the spindles in. I cut all the steel to size and layed out the holes and welds to be done.
I then discovered that the size selected for the rollers was right on the end of the capacity of my lathe - tailstock only half on the bed. A quick attempt showed that the chatter was uncontrollable - bugger. So I visited my friend Peter and his Sheraton. Around midnight one of the rollers was finished beautifully! Wednesday night the other one. I also managed to weld the sideplates and yokes and drill all the holes that day. By Thursday, Pam says "well, have you given my printing press any more thought?" I replied casually "yeah, I though about it. Should be an interesting project..."
That day I turned and threaded the tie bars and gave all the frame parts a coat of primer. Friday I checked all my measurements and tried a few parts carefully for fit as the primer dried off. I also gave the sideplates and yokes a first coat of gloss. Saturday I painted all the parts, cut out the table and sealed the edges and laser printed some labels for the machine.
Late Saturday night, with the paint still soft but dry, I moved all the parts into her studio and started to assemble the machine. I got most of it together, but a couple of bearing fits were too tight (it turned out the locating grub screws were just sticking into the bore by a smidgeon but I was too buggered to notice. And I started scratching the paint in a few places working by myself. So I left the whole thing looking almost complete at first glance. I even put the lables on 'Pam's Printing Press' and 'Printing press - 2015'
Sunday morning Pam went into her studio and nearly had a heart attack. She woke me up and thanked me profusely and asked how I managed to find one exactly the size she wanted??? When I told her I made it she said I was BS-ing, she said she saw the manufacturer's label on it. I suggested she go and READ the label
Well, that made her even more excited. She was over the moon.
I explained what happened the night before and that I would assemle it properly shortly.
We talked about corrosion control at some point and I passed on Peter's suggestion of having the rollers nickel plated. She thought that would be a good idea, given the wet environment in the studio some of the time.
So during this week I had the rollers plated - great job by the way - and made a mobile stand for it as well as sorting out the fits.
Today it got reassembled and tested. Working like a charm! A couple of minor bits yet to be fitted to allow lifting the top roller (little collars to be turned and fitted to the adjusting screws) and fixing the machine to the trolley.....
Here are the pics:Cheers, Joe
retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....
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2nd May 2015, 05:59 AM #1461
Good grief Joe,
If my missus sees this, she will want to know what I'm doing spending all my time in the shed...
Nice work !Best Regards:
Baron J.
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2nd May 2015, 07:42 AM #1462Philomath in training
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Nice one Joe - and with split second timing too.
Michael
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2nd May 2015, 09:15 AM #1463Member
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Great job
Crikey, that kept you busy. Well done, and a very enjoyable write-up.
You will have Brownie points to spare for quite some time to come.
Alan...
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2nd May 2015, 09:21 AM #1464.
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What a fantastic job Joe!
Your resurrection and re-purposing skills are an inspiration.
Bob.
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2nd May 2015, 09:29 AM #1465
A great job, well executed with on hand materials with a tight time frame and a happy client...........
Like to see some of Pams prints, was thinking of doing something similar awhile back. Does she post pics anywhere?vapourforge.com
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2nd May 2015, 10:17 AM #1466Senior Member
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- gold coast
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What an awesome build and in such a short timeframe. You are the man!
and to think I've spent a week just working on turning one small shaft for a gear for my lathe.
I'm pretending it's the journey, not the destination.
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2nd May 2015, 11:27 AM #1467Diamond Member
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Really great work Joe, especially considering the time frame restraint too. Looks like you're in for a happy life! Best wishes,
Rob.
P.S. Great scrounging too, that handwheel really looks the part, no wonder she thought you were b/sing her about the manufacturing bit. R.
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2nd May 2015, 12:02 PM #1468
Thanks guys for the comments!
Rusel, she has a website, showing her work, but as yet no 'press' prints, only contact prints from steaming leaves on her felt:
www.rawedgetextiles.com - I reckon she does magic work....
I designed and built her prototype felt rolling machine too, 7 years ago. It's been running for about 4000hrs. Has worn out two motors and is now running on a 24V DC motor with PWM speed control since around 3 years without any signs of motor wear. The issue was that it has to reverse every minute or so. The previous 2 motors didn't like that.Cheers, Joe
retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....
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2nd May 2015, 06:12 PM #1469Most Valued Member
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2nd May 2015, 06:49 PM #1470Pink 10EE owner
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Picked up this today.... Indian made Ruston 3YWA... 15kva single phase only dunlite generator.... Surprisingly the generator has electronic voltage regulation, it dates from the early 1980's i think, it was used on a rural property until they had mains connected in 1984, then sat doing nothing until today... Engine not running very well, it has problems...
http://youtu.be/8IMAeTEdLyI
20150502_133716.jpgGold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.
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