chesterqw
Flashlight Enthusiast
LOL manbearpig.
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Anyone want some titanium?
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PhotonFanatic
Flashlight Enthusiast
Actually I was thinking of having their pictures laser engraved on the body, just to be different from the usual run of the mill named lights. 
I can put Mr. Whiskers on the head, so he'll be more prominent.
If it weren't for the P4 sales, I might have done some work on it this past weekend, but I only got to play for about 1/2 hour. And, shall we admit it, it was another learning experience.
In my attempt to salvage the mis-threaded head by parting off the wrong pitch threads, I would have to make the bore deeper into the piece. Plenty of metal remained, but for some reason, I decided to bore the hole deeper rather than drill it deeper. Bad mistake. I only needed another 6mm in depth, but I could only go about .25mm deeper with each pass of the boring bar.
That wouldn't have been the end of the world, it would only take a large number of passes. But I made one mistake, and repeated it a few times without realizing it: When I plunged the boring bar axially to deepen the hole and then moved the boring bar toward the axis, I failed to go completely to the axis, or beyond on a couple of passes. That left a little nub in the center, which as it grew, started to deflect the boring bar.
Realizing something was wrong, I attempted to remove the nub by attacking it close to its base. Broke the boring bar. The little nub was work hardened at that point and wasn't going to be pushed around.
Another lesson learned. So, time for plan C: Now I'll drill in from the other end, thus wiping out the nub completely. Then I'll finish the boring and opening for the light to escape.
I'm still agonizing over how to give some grip to the surface of the head (this is a twisty after all). Toying with the idea of milling some thin lines parallel to the axis of the light. The head is too thin to knurl, not that I'm able to knurl Ti yet.
You did say you wanted this by Xmas, right? :lolsign:
I can put Mr. Whiskers on the head, so he'll be more prominent.If it weren't for the P4 sales, I might have done some work on it this past weekend, but I only got to play for about 1/2 hour. And, shall we admit it, it was another learning experience.
In my attempt to salvage the mis-threaded head by parting off the wrong pitch threads, I would have to make the bore deeper into the piece. Plenty of metal remained, but for some reason, I decided to bore the hole deeper rather than drill it deeper. Bad mistake. I only needed another 6mm in depth, but I could only go about .25mm deeper with each pass of the boring bar.
That wouldn't have been the end of the world, it would only take a large number of passes. But I made one mistake, and repeated it a few times without realizing it: When I plunged the boring bar axially to deepen the hole and then moved the boring bar toward the axis, I failed to go completely to the axis, or beyond on a couple of passes. That left a little nub in the center, which as it grew, started to deflect the boring bar.
Realizing something was wrong, I attempted to remove the nub by attacking it close to its base. Broke the boring bar. The little nub was work hardened at that point and wasn't going to be pushed around.
Another lesson learned. So, time for plan C: Now I'll drill in from the other end, thus wiping out the nub completely. Then I'll finish the boring and opening for the light to escape.
I'm still agonizing over how to give some grip to the surface of the head (this is a twisty after all). Toying with the idea of milling some thin lines parallel to the axis of the light. The head is too thin to knurl, not that I'm able to knurl Ti yet.
You did say you wanted this by Xmas, right? :lolsign:
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65535
Flashlight Enthusiast
Ya Xmas of 2000 Never.! Lol sorry for your bar loss, this is certanly interesting.
PhotonFanatic
Flashlight Enthusiast
And once in a while, things go your way!
Had a little time on Friday and today to work on the Ti AA ManBearPig Light (catchy name, no?).
As you may recall I was having trouble with the head when I managed to break a boring bar and left a nasty nub in the middle that was work-hardened. The game plan was to attack it from the other direction and just drill it out. It worked! But this time, I heeded everyone's advice and went nice and slow, never letting the Ti get too hot. Took a while, but I did break through and the nub was gone.
Then I just had to complete the bore to depth and do the threading at the right pitch, i.e., .5mm pitch. That came out fine as you can see here:
Next I started on the converter housing, which is made of brass. I love working with brass--it is so easy to work with, and it looks great. Beside those points, the brass will be needed for thermal transfer as this is, after all, a Ti light. Again, .5mm pitch threads:
For those wondering why the threads are so fine, it is because ManBearPig was a cheapskate and send me an undersize bar!. :lolsign:
So the only way to work with the thickness of the wall, was to use a superfine thread as the depth of cut is less than it would be with a coarser thread.
Finally, I spent a lot of time perfecting the fit of the 1mm O-ring to its slot, as I want a tight fit there. The goal is to have the head/converter so tight that they turn as a unit, rather than separate. Of course, in a pinch, threadlocker can be used also.
Here's what the combo looks like at the moment:
So, a little bit of progress. Maybe ManBearPig will get it by XMas '08 after all.
Had a little time on Friday and today to work on the Ti AA ManBearPig Light (catchy name, no?).
As you may recall I was having trouble with the head when I managed to break a boring bar and left a nasty nub in the middle that was work-hardened. The game plan was to attack it from the other direction and just drill it out. It worked! But this time, I heeded everyone's advice and went nice and slow, never letting the Ti get too hot. Took a while, but I did break through and the nub was gone.
Then I just had to complete the bore to depth and do the threading at the right pitch, i.e., .5mm pitch. That came out fine as you can see here:
Next I started on the converter housing, which is made of brass. I love working with brass--it is so easy to work with, and it looks great. Beside those points, the brass will be needed for thermal transfer as this is, after all, a Ti light. Again, .5mm pitch threads:
For those wondering why the threads are so fine, it is because ManBearPig was a cheapskate and send me an undersize bar!. :lolsign:
So the only way to work with the thickness of the wall, was to use a superfine thread as the depth of cut is less than it would be with a coarser thread.
Finally, I spent a lot of time perfecting the fit of the 1mm O-ring to its slot, as I want a tight fit there. The goal is to have the head/converter so tight that they turn as a unit, rather than separate. Of course, in a pinch, threadlocker can be used also.
Here's what the combo looks like at the moment:
So, a little bit of progress. Maybe ManBearPig will get it by XMas '08 after all.
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ManBearPig
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2007
- Messages
- 47
Excelsior!
That's some fine craftsmanship there Fred!
That's some fine craftsmanship there Fred!
KingSmono
Enlightened
ManBearPig said:
PhotonFanatic said:
LOL! :lolsign:
PhotonFanatic
Flashlight Enthusiast
As you may recall in the ongoing saga of the Ti AA light, the walls are quite thin, but since this is a twisty, there is a need to create some grip in the head so that ManBearPig will be able to turn his $1,000 Ti AA light on.
So, yesterday and today were spent learning how to set up my lathe so that I could mill some slots in Ti. First I started with SS and that went pretty well, so today it was time to try some Ti.
Here's the big picture set-up:
That right angle block of iron is holding an indexable collet chuck, in which the Ti is held. It is stationery, meaning that it doesn't rotate during the cutting. The end mill will rotate and cut the Ti piece, which is moved into the end to start the cut, then the piece is moved lengthwise to create the grooves.
Here is the end mill up close, actually doing some cutting:
As you can see, a few grooves have already been done. Between the SS and those grooves, the end mill decided it had had enough and broke:
Interestingly enough, it didn't break while their was any side load on it, it broke as it started to penetrate the Ti. Well, it is only 1mm in diameter, so no complaints about its longevity.
Time to clean it up, face the end to get rid of that nasty burr, and to turn it down a hair, too:
Off to the buffing machine to get rid of the burs in the grooves and to give it a little shine and we get this--1mm wide grooves cut .25mm deep:
I wonder of rounded bottom grooves might look a bit better, even if they might have to be a tad deeper. That's another day's play.
So, yesterday and today were spent learning how to set up my lathe so that I could mill some slots in Ti. First I started with SS and that went pretty well, so today it was time to try some Ti.
Here's the big picture set-up:
That right angle block of iron is holding an indexable collet chuck, in which the Ti is held. It is stationery, meaning that it doesn't rotate during the cutting. The end mill will rotate and cut the Ti piece, which is moved into the end to start the cut, then the piece is moved lengthwise to create the grooves.
Here is the end mill up close, actually doing some cutting:
As you can see, a few grooves have already been done. Between the SS and those grooves, the end mill decided it had had enough and broke:
Interestingly enough, it didn't break while their was any side load on it, it broke as it started to penetrate the Ti. Well, it is only 1mm in diameter, so no complaints about its longevity.
Time to clean it up, face the end to get rid of that nasty burr, and to turn it down a hair, too:
Off to the buffing machine to get rid of the burs in the grooves and to give it a little shine and we get this--1mm wide grooves cut .25mm deep:
I wonder of rounded bottom grooves might look a bit better, even if they might have to be a tad deeper. That's another day's play.
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PhotonFanatic
Flashlight Enthusiast
Most I would have turned off would have been .01 - 02mm in my attempt to clean it up. Actually, I now think there was perhaps no need to turn it down at all. All the little burrs most likely would have come off on the buffing machine.
Yes, that is the same diameter as the Ti AA will be.
Yes, that is the same diameter as the Ti AA will be.
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PhotonFanatic
Flashlight Enthusiast
Finally got a few new tools to allow me to do the milling on the head of ManBearPig's Ti AA light. Went with a 1.5mm ball end mill and did two passes for each groove, the first with a depth of cut of .15mm, the second with another .10mm.
With 24 grooves, this baby took some time to complete.
Another angle:
Then it was back to the dreaded battery tube, where I had been having difficulty with the drilling and boring of this piece. Thanks to some advice from RPM, I purchased a much stiffer carbide boring bar and some very sharp inserts designed for cutting aluminum, which works well for titanium, also.
I was delighted with the results--it was quite easy to bore the interior and the surface finish was quite smooth:
Finally on to the threading of the interior of the battery tube, which went well also:
And just to throw in another phote, the tailend of the battery tube, which will eventually have a hole and slot drilled for a split ring:
And, just to add a cautionary note--while working late tonight, I had a minor accident where I managed to slice my palm with a threading tool. Fortunately, the cut wasn't too deep, just a couple of stitches, but another lesson learned. :lolsign:
The unfortunate thing is that the trip to the ER and back took 90 minutes and meant the end of the evening's play:
With 24 grooves, this baby took some time to complete.
Another angle:
Then it was back to the dreaded battery tube, where I had been having difficulty with the drilling and boring of this piece. Thanks to some advice from RPM, I purchased a much stiffer carbide boring bar and some very sharp inserts designed for cutting aluminum, which works well for titanium, also.
I was delighted with the results--it was quite easy to bore the interior and the surface finish was quite smooth:
Finally on to the threading of the interior of the battery tube, which went well also:
And just to throw in another phote, the tailend of the battery tube, which will eventually have a hole and slot drilled for a split ring:
And, just to add a cautionary note--while working late tonight, I had a minor accident where I managed to slice my palm with a threading tool. Fortunately, the cut wasn't too deep, just a couple of stitches, but another lesson learned. :lolsign:
The unfortunate thing is that the trip to the ER and back took 90 minutes and meant the end of the evening's play:
65535
Flashlight Enthusiast
Make me 1 too he has plenty of Ti
gadget_lover
Flashaholic
That's some seriously nice work. I think you made a good decision about the ball endmill for the flutes. It looks much nicer than the ones I've done using a small endmill.
I hope the palm slice did not hurt too much. How did that happen? I'm guessing you forgot it was mounted when you reached across the lathe.
Take care,
Daniel
I hope the palm slice did not hurt too much. How did that happen? I'm guessing you forgot it was mounted when you reached across the lathe.
Take care,
Daniel
Anglepoise
Flashlight Enthusiast
Very nice effect with the ball end mill. Photos please. Was it a solid carbide ?
reptiles
Enlightened
90 minutes round trip to an ER is pretty good!
Get well soon; enjoy watching your project.
Regards,
Mark
Get well soon; enjoy watching your project.
Regards,
Mark
ICUDoc
Enlightened
This is fun to watch in evolution.
Sorry 'bout your hand- did you watch the stitches go in? That's the only handyman stuff I'm any good at- but I'm learning!
Keep up the updates- it is a bit like watching a pregnancy, and I can't wait for the birth- got any names yet?????
Sorry 'bout your hand- did you watch the stitches go in? That's the only handyman stuff I'm any good at- but I'm learning!
Keep up the updates- it is a bit like watching a pregnancy, and I can't wait for the birth- got any names yet?????
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