Phase II - Hollowing Rig

Dan Mosley

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1,169
Location
Palm Springs, Ca
I had today off and so I spent some time fabricating and assembling the pc's. With most of the rig welded up and ready it left me with 2 areas that were for me the hardest to deal with - The cutter tip attachment and the Adapter to hold the goose neck in the rig.


Tool Tip Holder - I made a flat spot on the tip of the goose neck (almost 1/2 down on it) and drilled and tapped it. Then took a series of washers and welded them together - then drilled a hole in the middle a bit bigger to accept a 1/4" bolt - then cut a channel in the outter part of the washers - added a smaller washer to the top and put the bolt thru to hold it in place. By making the cutting tip holder this way I am able to change the angle of the cut.
Of course the Monster Articulated Rig has this same set up which is where I got the idea but I used stacked and welded washer to create the thickness I wanted.

The Adapter - Which was a much bigger pain in the rear to figure out and make. The Tube steel of the rig is 1 1/4 and a 1" solid bar fit in snug (not sure of the wall thickness - I just slipped the one in the other when I was out buying the steel ). At first I just bored a 3/4" hole about 3/4 way down into it but later realized that it would be better to just make a large collet with set screws in it. Yesterday I took it to a friend that has a Leblond lathe and he bored a hole all the way thru it just slightly bigger than 3/4" and used a pc of 3/4" cold rolled to ensure a snug easy fit thru. This allowed me to have the goose neck tool longer than normal because it will slip right thru into the 1 1/4 frame.

I know the above sounds easy enough but it took me awhile to figure out how to do it so that everything fits snug and will tighten up securely.

Laser assembly -started on it but not finished as i have to wire it and test it to see if it will be stable enough the way I made it. The pain here was waiting 2 weeks or more for the lasers - didnt realize they ship from Tiwan..........ahhhh well there here and thats the final phase and testing it


Pictures 1-4 are the rig assembled
Picture 5- welding torch now operating and used to finish up the rig
Picture 6 -7 - Tool Tip
Picture -8 - Adapter
 

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Vaughn.............It was very easy until I added the safety stops. Now I just undo a bolt one one end and slip it out sideways. I thought about not adding the stops because it would slip in and out much easier other posts on the subject say to add them. I am going to try the tool out today to see how it works so ill post more this evening.
 
Vaughn.............It was very easy until I added the safety stops. Now I just undo a bolt one one end and slip it out sideways. I thought about not adding the stops because it would slip in and out much easier other posts on the subject say to add them. I am going to try the tool out today to see how it works so ill post more this evening.

Well, you can always cut the stops off after you get tired of undoing that bolt. ;) I wonder if the folks who recommend using the stops also weld stops on the ends of their other tool rests to prevent their gouges from slipping off the end. :rolleyes: To me, it seems about like putting duct tape over the release button on a seat belt to keep you from accidentally hitting the button while driving. In other words, a hassle and otherwise unnecessary if you're paying any attention at all to what you're doing. :)
 
Pictures below are of the first vessel I turned using the new rig I built. I finshed the laser attachment and hooked the whole thing up to test it out. I was a bit thrilled to finally be at the end of the project and to test it out. The vessel is 14" tall and 6" in diameter. It is not as big as i would have liked to turn for the test but its all I had laying around at the time that I could handle alone (mounting anyway).

I forgot to take more pictures of the rig complete but ill post some tomm when i get a chance. I am going to try a much larger pc of wood tomm now that I know how it cuts.

Tweaking it today - I replaced most of the important 1/4" bolts with SS ones for added strength and a bit longer (others were a bit to short but worked). The laser came loose in the PVC holder because i only had tacked it in for the trial. I retacked it in and then filled the surrounding area in the PVC with epoxy to seal it up solid. Then shortened the vertical part of the laser adjustment so it would fit into the steady rest (to tall). Added a few more set screws for future adjustments with other tooling im planning on making for the rig.

How did it cut ? - I was very impressed with how smooth and easy it was to control. I forgot to sharpen the bit so after a few passes I took it out to readjust the angle and sharpened it up. Then the cutting was fast and I had hollowed this vessel out fairly rapidly.

It is a fun project and not that hard to make providing you have some tools at your disposal. I did have some headaches along the way and delays but still something fun to do. The big advantage is I was able to make it stronger than most rigs ive seen for sale.
But if you dont have the time or ability to muddle thru the fabrication I would suggest you look at Monster Tools.

Vaughn - Yep I agree and tomm im taking off the stops. They were only tacked on with brazing so just a bit of heat and off they come. I could have lived with it and kept them on but if you need to work on the arm undoing and retightening it up gets to be a pain. With them off I can leave the distance between the supports secure and don't have to fool around readjusting the height each time.
 

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