Getting Jiggy With It!!

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Well today I got jiggy. I have been working on a custom wooden model of a tractor, and because this tractor must be four wheel drive, I got four times the problems in making the treaded tires. Its a real pain.

It also consists of 4 axis machining. So this morning I set out making a jig to get this PITA done as quickly as possible. I made a bearing and bolt fixture to hold each wheel. I made a 15 tooth gear and ratchet system to index the wheel in the same spot, and then fabricated an extensive system to control a router in the right profile. It took about 4 hours to make.

And in the end?

Well it did not work so I had dinner, retought my plan and went back out to my shop. This time I fabricated a super simple jig, adjusted my radial arm saw and produced my treaded tractor tires in no time flat. You would think that after making custom wooden models for ten years or more, I would have learned to just keep thing simple!!
 
Dear Travis ,
You are taking some heat over no photos. That along with the knowledge you got from the time invested in the first jig seems like your day balanced out.:D Or did it?
Shaz
 
My word you guys must have a picture fetish. I barely have time to get in my shop to say nothing about taking picture, downloading them onto my computer, uploading them onto my website and then posting information on here.

Yeah I know I am whining. I don't have pictures of the outlandish jig, nor could I get them either as that jig has been dismantled. I will try however to get a picture on my other jig. Its pretty simple. Just a gear, a ratchet mechainist and bearing/ wheel mount. Nothing fancy, but it worked pretty good.
 
Yeah Travis....everybody likes pictures. I pretty much always have mine (camera) in the shop or in the truck to take the necessary "proof" that something really did happen :D

I was gonna break out the "this thread is useless" picture but I saw you were already getting enough heat......remember though, we kid because we care!:thumb:
 
Well put Steve, :) Stop whining Travis:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Shaz
I think the desire for a photo of that jig occured because it seemed so awesome in the way you described it, some thing like Leonardo Da Vinci would have drawn in a notebook.:D
 
Hey there people. I knew you were only busting my chops. I just wish I had more shop time. The baby has really cut into that, but for the past few weeks, I have used a break in the weather to get this tractor project rolling along. The thing is, I am a die hard snowmobiler and if we ever get snow here, I know my shop time will be nil as I will be on my new sled. The tractor and case is due in April which sounds a long ways off, but in my life, and with my models, time is the enemy.

As for the jig, well the one that works is so simple it would make you sick. I am one of those non-jig building people. Because my wooden models are all custom made (that is, no plans or duplicate orders) I hate spending time and materials on jigs I will only use once. That carries over to this jig though I might use it more often now.
 
Its kind of funny. My Grandfather was a railroad Machinist too, but he built wooden toys not models. He came out with this jig to mill out tractor tires (the rear tired lugged kind) but used a tablesaw to do the milling.

I am a non-tablesaw user. Mine hardly rips a board but my radial arm saw sure gets a work out. I tried to figure out how he used the tablesaw to do the work, but couldn't. About halfway through my first wheel I looked at it and smiled. Somehow my radial arm saw milled wheel looked just like his wheels did.

Its just kind of interesting how two people in the same family could use two completely different saws and make essentially the same part out of two completely different jigs.
 
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