Shop made slipjoint blade choil grinder

ken erickson

ken erickson

Joined
Aug 27, 2004
Messages
2,701
Hi,

I like a lot of you guys, like making my own tools and equipment at times.

I have been making slipjoints almost exclusively and have been cutting the choils in by hand with a diamond file or hand held Dremel tool. I have been wanting to make up something with more control and repeatability.

I was in my local surplus/used machinery dealer and scored this high precision xy mini cross slide. It was new but with a bit of rust. $60 later and about a days worth of work I pretty much have it done. I made a bracket and holder for my Fordom handpiece that I rarely use. The base is 3/4 tooling plate, bracket for the grinder spindle is 3/4 aluminum. I have a bit of fine tuning yet. I will be changing the clamp system for the blades.

Thought I would share and if anyone else has pictures of there shop made equipment please share!

Ken
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Very cool. I am impressed. I think you could call that a jig grinder.

In a similar vein (if you think about it) I've adapted a variable speed heavy duty router to a 40 taper tool shank with some brackets and a bit of welding to mount in a CNC mill otherwise limited to 7,200 RPM.

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It is good for those really long programs where you want some spindle speed, but you don't need a lot of torque. Helps save the main spindle from hours spent near its redline. I've got some of the "off the shelf" high speed air spindles too, but this is better for certain things. Here it is putting a finish cut on some ABS.

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Check out the surface finish. Not too bad for "as machined"
 
really cool setups, guys! I like that mini x y table, does the clamp leave a mark in the blade?

The router is a cool idea, what was the abs for?
 
My rockwell on the blade is up around 59 or 60. No mark to speak of. This was a test blade. I would cut the choil before the final finish was given to the blade. I think I am going with two hardened thin heat treated clamps instead of the toggle clamp for my final version. I had this toggle clamp handy and there was the one hole drilled and tapped in the top of the slide. I will post a picture after I make the new clamps.

I like the router setup . Makes sense to save the spindle for this kind of work.

Ken
 
Sooooo....weeeet :thumbup: :thumbup: Both of them, Ken and Nathan :thumbup: :thumbup:

I love that little cross slide like table Ken, that is an excellent score.

Nathan, I would give you a great big adda boy too but I'm getting used to seeing awesome things coming from your bench ;) ;) :D Nothing you do surprises me anymore ;) Its all on the pinacle or should I say....... "on the cutting edge" ;) :thumbup:
 
Here is the extent of my tool making abilities. I duct taped an old motorcycle seat to my bandsaw.

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I like that set up Ken. I had been thinking of something similar but setup to cut in thumb serrations.

Very cool setup you have there !
 
She wont even ride the bike with me. I am not sure riding the bandsaw would be any more appealing to her.:)
 
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