Another Wheel

[farmersammm]

Sam do you have any heat in your container? I have a trailer that i have some of my tools in lathe,a mill,shaper,drill press and other junk. It has plywood on the walls.I thought about putting in some kind of sealing so maybe i could heat it.

I have 3 of these https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...g-mount-heater . I bought mine at Atwoods for about $90 each. I love them. Keeps the container nice and warm down to the 20*F mark.

I don't have any insulation. I've heard too much about condensation when you add insulation to a container. So, my setup isn't as efficient as it could be. So..........I hang plastic tarps as a heat curtain to close off about 1/3 of the 40' container at the back, and also hang a tarp at the door to keep heat from escaping around the cracks. Just the cheapo Harbor Freight tarps held up with those arrow shaped welding magnets.

We pay just shy of .08/Kwh here. So......with all 3 heaters running on low (3000 watts), I'm only paying 72 cents an hour for heat. The biggest price tag is when I run them in the morning to take the chill out of the container after a cold night. I'll run them for about 2hrs on high (5000 watts), that runs 1.20/hour........but man!, it's nice to walk out, and go into a toasty shop. Then I run them on low for the rest of the day if I'm going to be out there that long.

What I like most is, I'm not running ice cold machines. I feel they're gonna last longer if they're warm when run.

[farmshop]

I am not afraid to work in the cold but it is way easier to get motivated if you know your not going to freeze your *** off

[farmersammm]

Put on my machinist hat, and got after it today

I haven't had anything requiring tight runout, so the 3 jaw has been mounted on the lathe for quite a while.

I got the 4 jaw out of the cabinet, AND JUST ABOUT HAD A FIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I gotta coat that thing with somethin' when I put it up for extended periods

So, I go diggin' in a drawer, and pull out the Urana-Bar, and slap it in the chuck.

It's loosely clamped in the chuck, and the live center is used to roughly center it. Then the jaws are lightly tightened, the center removed, the bar brought forward about 1/4" to get it away from the face of the jaws, then fully tightened. This is a fast setup, and doesn't have to be dead nutz on.

The initial setup gets the bar in the ballpark and insures that you're not gonna whack the carriage. Not a lot of clearance. It's only important to get the bar centered within maybe a few thousands........then call it good.

Next, the blank is bolted loosely to the bar.

[farmersammm]

Then ya take it all apart because THE HOLE YA CUT IN THE CENTER IS BIGGER THAN THE CENTERING PLUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a centering plug I use to center the wheel blanks THAT IS ONE INCH DIAMETER. I didn't realize I'd grabbed a ONE AND ONE EIGHTH ANNULAR CUTTER WHEN I CUT THE HOLE

Make a plug...................



And rough center the blank on the Urana-Bar.



Now, you use the jaw adjustments to fine tune the blank. If you remember back a ways.............I said that EVERYTHING runs off of the center hole in the blank.

[farmersammm]

Then ya get to sit on the stool, and watch it go roundy roundy



I was really pleased with how the carbide held up to the interrupted cut, usually I use HSS.



Checked the wheel insert diameter against the semi finished hole in the wheel.

I have about 1/4 to 3/8 extra meat left in the hole to fine tune it to fit the insert

[farmersammm]

At this point, I need to find the center of the wheel, and also make sure I didn't mess up when grinding the center.

The small piece of thin plate is part of the tool set. It's for centering, as well as use as a template to gauge grinding. I wound up within about 1/16 inch error on one side of the wheel.

Using the centering plug, the blank is marked for cutting.

After the center is cut, it's mounted on the lathe. Because the outside diameter was turned using the original small hole as a center, it now provides the indicating point for turning the inside hole. Like I said...........that little inside hole is where everything comes from.



Now, I gots a problem



All the heat from cutting warped the workpiece. When the weather clears, I'll get the torch out, and straighten it.

If this wasn't a hub piloted wheel, I wouldn't care about a bit of wobble. The wobble will create a slightly egg shaped bore in the center, which won't fit right on the hub. If the center hole didn't have to fit the hub pilot, I wouldn't care about a slight error.

[Tarmstrong]

Love your threads...keep it coming...

My only regret is that I wish I had a neighbor with the tools, ingenuity and gumption to do these builds...

[farmersammm]

I tweaked the disc a bit. I usually check something like this against the mill table.........it's the only truly flat thing in the shop.

Anyways, the next thing is to determine the diameter of the pilot shoulder.

Don't laugh It works very good paired with an inside micrometer. Both the caliper, and the inside mic are very Zen It's a touchy feely thing to get the tiniest bit of drag on the calipers, and the teensiest weensiest bit of interference on the mic

To double check.............I dragged out the big boy



They both agreed, so it was off to the races The caliper is as accurate as any other caliper. I really like the Vernier, it's very clearly marked. I picked this thing up about a decade ago, when you could get this stuff cheap...........and the quality was good. I highly recommend one if you can find one reasonably priced. You never know when you'll run up against something that requires a large accurate caliper.

[farmersammm]

Before mounting the disc on the lathe again, I did something I should have done a long time ago.

I made a set of parallels for mounting stuff on the Urana-Bar. I've always just used some flat stock with holes drilled in it. I happened to think about this after tweaking the disc. It occurred to me that it is just plain stupid not have a set of accurate parallels to go with the bar.



I allowed .005 for a good fit. I found this has worked out really well on the loader.



It's a great feeling when it all FITS

[farmersammm]

As much as I'd like to save time.................I really think I need to get rid of the bolts that the previous owner used to keep the wheels on. It's hard to tighten them, and they just don't really make for a good mount. These hubs are originally threaded for a lug bolt, not for a bolt and a lug nut. It's pretty common practice to hammer bolts in the holes when the threads strip. It'll get you through the day, but it's not a long term fix.



I'm sure this arrangement caused the damage to the hub when the wheel started to come loose.

You can see the shoulder was partially damaged. I feel it's still good enough to hold a wheel. AND, there's not enough meat in the shoulder to turn it down. It's really, as ya can see.........just a raised ring on the casting.

[farmersammm]

Center is marked on the Uranus 52A accessory centering plate.

Plate is mounted, along with the disc.

[farmersammm]

Centered up on the mathematical center of the wheel.



Calculated center is never accurate, mostly due to wheel warpage, and wear. It just goes with the territory it seems.

Centering is generally tweaked to get it exact.

Then the disc is used as a template to mark what's left of the wheel center for additional fine adjustment grinding.



Was too late in the day to drag out the welder, and I was getting sorta bored with it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,so onto the shop work I guess.

[farmersammm]

After knocking out the bolts, it's time to get ready to machine the holes for the new studs.

The hub is pretty banged up, so it has to be squared.



Took just enough off to square it up..............this is the side that the other side will register from....has to be flat and square.



Bolt it down to the table, and get ready to do the next step I really never bolt anything directly to the table if possible. I like to use parallels to protect the table. And..........this hub has to be rotated in order to machine it. Has to be remounted 3 times.......that's the problem with a small mill (shrug)

[farmersammm]

Because we're changing this from a threaded hub, designed to accept lug bolts.......to a hub with pressed in studs, the casting has to have some flats in order to provide a place for the stud heads to squarely seat on.



If y'all recall.........I didn't have a radius end mill when I did the loader wheel. I was able to find some reasonable .045 radius end mills (and bought a few at a GOOD price)

You might also notice NO COOLANT NOZZLES. I'm about 75% switched over to solid carbide end mills, and cutters. I'm sick of the mess, and I like the huge difference in longevity of the carbide...........no more throwaway cutters. It's a change that I fought, but lovin' it now.

The studs are nice this time around. Dorman doesn't have consistency in its product line. Some are pure crap. These have very nice clean serrations. This will allow me to tighten up the interference fit.

[Popeye an old miner]

nice work you got goin on there Sam. I gotta say I admire your tenacity...Ithink thats the word...whatever it is you just dont give up and I like that

[Old Doug]

I wondered about condensation. I had a 30x30 that was well insulated with a wood stove i worked in it about every night i sure miss it. Now i have part of my stuff in a 45' trailer and a building is 45x60 that is on my dads farm.

[Todd496]

Sam your thread should read “hard takes time impossible takes just a little longer”. You do some nice work. I did a set of rims on a case 580Ck not that long ago and the rims were bought in Akron, Ohio but the center had tabs on them which made it real easy to switch out. I was surprised how cheep the rims were. Again nice work as always.

[farmersammm]

Sam your thread should read “hard takes time impossible takes just a little longer”. You do some nice work. I did a set of rims on a case 580Ck not that long ago and the rims were bought in Akron, Ohio but the center had tabs on them which made it real easy to switch out. I was surprised how cheep the rims were. Again nice work as always.

It's really only possible this time of year when there's not a lot going on. If it were July, I'd be scrambling to buy a new wheel, and hub, just to get back in the field

K'kins made me promise to get back on the concrete mixer immediately when this is done. We do need that this Winter.

[Brand X]

Sammy,
I just layout my holes by Plasma marking, and then punch them out.. Really little round divot my my punch fits in without any wobble.. Here is a test piece from today.. Had to fire up my Pellet stove to take the Chill off the shop.. Best thing I have done to the place other then the rotary phase converter I put in. 3 phase plasma really punches though plate even with only 60 amps.. Marked these at 10 amps, using 20 amp consumables.. I run a pause to swap out to 60 for plate.. The 60 amp stuff works too, but I like how the 20 amps is sized and super consistence for divots..Even in SS....

[farmersammm]

Sammy,
I just layout my holes by Plasma marking, and then punch them out.. Really little round divot my my punch fits in without any wobble.. Here is a test piece from today.. Had to fire up my Pellet stove to take the Chill off the shop.. Best thing I have done to the place other then the rotary phase converter I put in. 3 phase plasma really punches though plate even with only 60 amps.. Marked these at 10 amps, using 20 amp consumables.. I run a pause to swap out to 60 for plate.. The 60 amp stuff works too, but I like how the 20 amps is sized and super consistence for divots..Even in SS....

I keep thinking about having the LWS punch the big center holes with their plasma, then finishing the hole to size. But I never get around to talking to the kid who runs the thing. Instead, I usually drag out the torch, then have a quality session with the grinder (Oooooomph)

[farmersammm]

Sunday was not a banner day

I made a poor decision to use a piece of undersized scrap to make a template for drilling the hub.

And, on top of that.................my stinkin' rotary table is too small. (Not like I didn't know it's too small...........been using it for years)

So..............I gotta hole problem.

Stinkin' rotary table isn't large enough to bolt the piece down out of the cutter range. I have to accept a couple of bolt holes in the middle of where I have to remove metal. It's too damn complicated to explain

First of the mistakes in a long day of disasters (this was Sunday). I drilled the first hole in the wrong place.



Got past the disaster, and made the holes that will line up with the studs. This, at least, went ok.



The stinkin' holes are drilled, and now it's time to try to hog out the middle hole in the template, because I don't want to watch the lathe spin for over an hour................................I do it on the rotary table



This was all goin' well UNTIL I ALMOST HIT ONE OF THE NUTS BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT ABSOLUTELY IN THE RIGHT PLACE. They were in 1/2" holes, and one was a little offset...................and woudn't ya know it...............I lined up on the one that WASNT' OFFSET

BTW............I'm running the carbide in the "climb' mode. They chew metal at an incredible rate, and the mill works less. You have to be careful to match the handwheel feed with what the cutter wants to cut.......otherwise you get chatter......but literally, the cutter moves the wheel for ya, and lays waste to the metal.

[farmersammm]

So.............I get to the nut that's too offset............it's inside the radius. I come up to it, and have to stop, or hit the nut. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY............I HIT THE STINKIN' PARALLEL

Now I got a hole that ain't right. It's lopsided because I had to reset the travel. A FU'N MESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I had to reset the nut. Both nuts were in a 1/2" hole, and the stud was 3/8"............so I was on the wrong side of the hole. The stud was set too far to the inside of the circle

Now............I have to have a good circel to keep my center. BECAUSE I DIDN'T USE A FULL SIZE BLANK, AND THE OUTSIDE DIAMETER COULDN'T BE TURNED TRUE TO INDEX FOR THE INSIDE HOLE.

I had to loosen one of the nuts, and move the stud, and parallel, to clear the cutter. The other one was left tight, but I know damn well the thing shifted when I loosened that one nut Or, if it's Be Kind To Idiots Month.......maybe the setup didn't shift when I had to move the nut.

Anyways................I have a finished hole to put on the lathe to finish out the last .060..............and I'm hopin' it's true to the pattern.

[farmersammm]

And, why do I gotta go thru this template horsesh$t. MY MILL IS TOO DAMN SMALL, AND SO IS THE ROTARY TABLE

So, I'm stuck with using templates with static setups, which could be easily be done on a proper sized rotary table.

Worked out fine the last time I did it..............but one little error, and yer f'd.

[farmersammm]

I won't know crap until I mount it on the lathe. I absolutely didn't want to do it today. I wasn't in the mood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[farmersammm]

Sometime ya just wanna stick yer head in the toilet............AND PULL THE LEVER