SY2932
Administrator
Welp rather than posting up a separate thread for everything, I'll "compartmentalize" everything... Got to spend a full day plus in the shop today engraving some pieces parts.
First on the list was a differential cover made by Trick Flow for a member on here:
After securing it to the table, the dial indicator is used to get it in parallel as well was check it for trueness in height from left to right. It checked out within a few thousands of an inch so "buh bye" Trick Flow...
The four inch face mill makes quick work of cleaning it up for something more *exciting*.
Now that's what I'm talking about
! Twenty seven minutes later the .0625 end mill has finished it's job. Engraved to a depth of .030". After I decked the top clean, the dial indicator was zeroed out on the top of the table. Then the cover was flipped over and the indicator was zeroed out at the lowest point. I knew that there was plenty of material on the back. Turns out that I had .325" thickness.
The owner of this cover is going to paint the script and desired a machined finish on the top that they were going to clear coat over. To aid in the paint department, the cover gets glass bead blasted to give the cover some "tooth" as they say after a good washing. All threaded holes are masked off to protect the threads.
To get the machined finish back after blasting, the cover gets a good cleaning and goes back into the machine for a fuzz cut of .002" (less than the thickness of a piece of paper or a hair) to clean it back up.
While that was getting cut, another part gets set up in the other machine. A HIGH profile owner on here wanted to have the horn button on his billet steering wheel engraved. The problem was that the flat on the top where the engraving would have been was quite small. The easiest way to address that problem was to just cut a new button:
This gave me plenty of time to work on other things like prepping stock or polishing parts before they were engraved. The finished OD on this button is the same as the original, 2.980" Time to engrave this with a .010" carbide engrave tip was two hours twenty seven minutes at a depth of .015". This tool is air powered and runs at 14,000-16,000 RPM.
In an effort to stand out from everyone else, a member requested the smallest turnbuckle that I have ever made:
In addition to being polished, it is engraved on every other side to a depth of .015". This was cut with the same tool that was used to cut the horn button above, the .010" carbide engrave tip. It takes twenty five minutes to cut each "typhoon" on this. Engrave time on this part alone is one hour and fifteen minutes. I drilled and tapped the center section for the stainless steel rod ends on the lathe. Mirror in the back ground to show the backside of turnbuckle.
The madness never stops and an engraved EGR block off plate is on the request list:
Tool is the .010 carbide engrave tip again and this only takes forty seven minutes to cut.
Just for "fun" I decided to make an additional horn button with just "GMC" in the center like the owner wanted originally. He's gonna be surprised when he gets his stuff back unless he sees this thread :lol:. I got to use a big cutter this time, a .047" end mill. That was a real time saver at fifteen minutes start to finish. The original button is at the top. It as well as the center of the steering wheel need to be lightly sanded and buffed due to scratches. These buttons just need to be hand polished and they will be done.
Today was a pretty productive day I'd say!
First on the list was a differential cover made by Trick Flow for a member on here:
After securing it to the table, the dial indicator is used to get it in parallel as well was check it for trueness in height from left to right. It checked out within a few thousands of an inch so "buh bye" Trick Flow...
The four inch face mill makes quick work of cleaning it up for something more *exciting*.
Now that's what I'm talking about
! Twenty seven minutes later the .0625 end mill has finished it's job. Engraved to a depth of .030". After I decked the top clean, the dial indicator was zeroed out on the top of the table. Then the cover was flipped over and the indicator was zeroed out at the lowest point. I knew that there was plenty of material on the back. Turns out that I had .325" thickness.
The owner of this cover is going to paint the script and desired a machined finish on the top that they were going to clear coat over. To aid in the paint department, the cover gets glass bead blasted to give the cover some "tooth" as they say after a good washing. All threaded holes are masked off to protect the threads.
To get the machined finish back after blasting, the cover gets a good cleaning and goes back into the machine for a fuzz cut of .002" (less than the thickness of a piece of paper or a hair) to clean it back up.
While that was getting cut, another part gets set up in the other machine. A HIGH profile owner on here wanted to have the horn button on his billet steering wheel engraved. The problem was that the flat on the top where the engraving would have been was quite small. The easiest way to address that problem was to just cut a new button:
This gave me plenty of time to work on other things like prepping stock or polishing parts before they were engraved. The finished OD on this button is the same as the original, 2.980" Time to engrave this with a .010" carbide engrave tip was two hours twenty seven minutes at a depth of .015". This tool is air powered and runs at 14,000-16,000 RPM.
In an effort to stand out from everyone else, a member requested the smallest turnbuckle that I have ever made:
In addition to being polished, it is engraved on every other side to a depth of .015". This was cut with the same tool that was used to cut the horn button above, the .010" carbide engrave tip. It takes twenty five minutes to cut each "typhoon" on this. Engrave time on this part alone is one hour and fifteen minutes. I drilled and tapped the center section for the stainless steel rod ends on the lathe. Mirror in the back ground to show the backside of turnbuckle.
The madness never stops and an engraved EGR block off plate is on the request list:
Tool is the .010 carbide engrave tip again and this only takes forty seven minutes to cut.
Just for "fun" I decided to make an additional horn button with just "GMC" in the center like the owner wanted originally. He's gonna be surprised when he gets his stuff back unless he sees this thread :lol:. I got to use a big cutter this time, a .047" end mill. That was a real time saver at fifteen minutes start to finish. The original button is at the top. It as well as the center of the steering wheel need to be lightly sanded and buffed due to scratches. These buttons just need to be hand polished and they will be done.
Today was a pretty productive day I'd say
!
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