The planets are in alignment

[DonInReno]

Thanks - it’s just a goofy fun project to give me something to do over the Christmas vacation :-)

[DonInReno]

Finally had time to dig into the new reducer and so far it seems much more compatible for sewing.  It’s a 050 size, which is two steps down from the first one that I’ve been using this year.  It’s super compact and eliminates one belt that would be used in a traditional reducer.  It’s so compact in fact there’s a good chance at least one of my fabric machines will get directly coupled and eliminate all the v belts, although in that case a 5:1 reducer might be better matched.

I was happily surprised to find it came with a flex coupling.  So the input shaft is 14mm, the output is 16mm and both ends of the flex coupling are 14mm.   

A 5/8” pulley was drilled out to 16mm with a countersink bit that was .005” under 16mm then finished up with a router bit that just by chance was exactly 16mm across the cutters.  Honestly I didn’t expect the router bit to survive, but with lots of oil and a very slow feed rate it appears none the worse for wear.

Drilling out one side of the flex coupling didn’t go as well since I tried to save a half hour and clamped it in the vice with a bored out piece of wood that was just too soft and it moved a bit over .008” which is too much runout for this type of coupler.  We’re a little spoiled with a Grainger store about 5 minutes away - a new coupler already the correct dimensions is only about $10.

For a motor that little consew servo will mount up very easy - if the front bearing retainer plate is just too thin and it craps out I won’t miss it much.   To join the motor the threads are cut off the motor shaft, four mounting holes are drilled in the front case and it bolts together in a nice compact package.

The world is so full of metric parts I almost ordered a set of drill bits, but instead wasted a couple of hours that would have paid for the new drill bits - it’s silly what we do to avoid having to wait two days for shipping...it still makes me chuckle.

 

 

[DonInReno]

I almost forgot to mention how much I’ve grown to like the first reducer.  I’ve sewn with it about 8 months and the biggest change is I rarely have to touch the hand wheel.  Literally the handwheel may not get touched in any given sewing session.  With a quick tap on the gas I’m able to inch it along 1/8 of a stitch at a time.  Stopping the needle all the way up or down is a piece of cake so a needle positioner wouldn’t do me much good.

Between the motor and reducer the pulleys are set up to function more like a 5:1 and the initial stiffness I was worried about has not been an issue and it’s not difficult to hand wheel if need be.  Having a little too much reduction makes sewing much more relaxing and I’ll not miss the days of always being on edge with a machine that hauls asss! Lol

[dikman]

Haven't got a lathe? You definitely sound like you need one! As for using a router bit to ream out the hole - (but I guess as long as it worked).

These days if you do any metal work you really need a set of metric drills, taps and dies unfortunately. Even then you can still run into lesser used pitches that you don't have a tap for!

[DonInReno]

It’s funny that you mention a lathe - being primarily a wood guy my side of the family garage is filled with woodworking tools, but for a month now I’ve been adjusting to the idea of replacing a mobile wood lathe for turning tapered columns with a big stationary metal lathe.  Here’s a cute little bar in a train caboose that I finished earlier this year.

[dikman]

Now that looks very classy!

If you're going to tinker with making things in metal (as you have been) then even a medium sized lathe will be invaluable. A small mill is also very useful, but a milling attachment can be used on a lathe. I just bought one of those little lathes on ebay and it's quite useful for turning small items (the bigger lathe can be clumsy for small pins etc.) but it did need a bit of work to get it usable.

[immiketoo]

Wow.  The level of cool here is off the charts.  I love this experiment.

[CowboyBob]

That is some really nice looking work you've done there.

[alpha2]

Nice caboose! (And I don't say that to all the guys!)

Maybe I don't hang out in enough bars, but what is the thing circled?

Jeff

[DonInReno]

On 12/27/2018 at 6:39 AM, alpha2 said:

Nice caboose! (And I don't say that to all the guys!)

Maybe I don't hang out in enough bars, but what is the thing circled?

Jeff

Wow - this is an old post - sorry Jeff I somehow missed your question!  :-)

For months the client and I were on the lookout for an old looking faucet for the bar sink, then one day he showed up grinning from ear to ear saying he found a good one!   This is a $4k faucet, but it’s not available in brass, so he sent it to a plater and had it brass plated and with a clear coating of some kind - probably another $1k?  It was nice to have such a good budget on that project!

The caboose is a “yard bar” and when large parties are thrown a bartender is hired to pour drinks and the bathroom is fully functional.