65 Fairlane pro-touring build

[Rickysnickers]

Well done. However, I had to laugh at the "if you weren't so lazy" comment. Kind of an ironic thing for you to say since you are rebuilding a car, . Hope you can see the humor in my post

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Well done. However, I had to laugh at the "if you weren't so lazy" comment. Kind of an ironic thing for you to say since you are rebuilding a car, . Hope you can see the humor in my post

Well, the lazy comment refers to how I first look around to see if I can buy a part I need rather than just making it like I did when I was a lot younger. I have a buddy that swears it takes three times as long and twice as much money to build something instead of buying it and I think he's onto something. The thing about working on these old cars is that we often are forced into fabricating parts because there's nothing out there that will satisfy the vision in our minds.

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Trying to figure out your setup on the bridge port, carrasole...
Does the device have threaded holes for the clamps
Where did you buy it
Great work so far, keep on keeping on

The device I'm using is a 6" precision rotary table from Yuasa (HV-6). I bought it many years ago at a machine tool company that was going out of business. They're still available from companies like Penn Tool but have gotten pricier over time. You can find less expensive versions, but they aren't the same quality. Mine is relatively small compared to what you would find in a commercial machine shop, but I mostly use it for trinkets. It has T-slots in the table that accept T-nuts you can position wherever you need. I have a selection of different length studs that can be used to fixture material of varying thicknesses. Due to its small size, clamping down the material can be challenging.

On this particular piece, I sawed two pieces of 1" thick aluminum and then milled one long edge on each piece. I then clamped the two pieces together and spot welded them in two places such that the welds would be removed once all the holes were drilled and/or threaded. Since I had a square piece and needed it to be round, I drilled a hole in the center to locate it using a pin on the rotary table. After clamping it on two sides, I used a roughing mill to cut the circle I needed. It took several passes and I had to skip over the clamps. When that operation was finished, I removed the part and used the lathe to finish the outer diameter. From there, I went back to the rotary table and set up again to do the hole patterns. The dial on the wheel is marked in fractions of a degree so it's extremely accurate. With the part centered, I moved the mill table out half the diameter of the bolt circle and began cranking the wheel to give me 60 degrees between holes. Once all the holes were done, I removed the piece again and went back to the lathe. I needed a 2.1" hole in the center, so I used a 2" hole saw chucked up in the tailstock to rough it in. This operation removed the spot welds, but the part was clamped tightly so it couldn't move. I finished the inner hole with a boring tool, faced the part and chamfered the corners. Because this is a manual process, it took me a little over a day and a half to complete. But I ended up with exactly what I needed for nothing more than some extra material I had on hand and my labor.

This is why I've tended to buy equipment when faced with the choice of doing it myself or farming it out to a shop. If you use the tools even a few times, you're ahead of the game.

.

[jaros44sr]

Thanks Vic for the detailed information, I couldn't figure out how the T nuts held, but now I see the slots

Speaking of used machinery, I bought my Bridge port from the original owner, he bought it in 1950 and built the 2 phase converter which i am still using,we have single phase in our area

I'll look into the company's you suggested, I don't want to buy Chinese, as quality is important with tolerances

Thank you for taking the time to explain in detail

Car is looking great

[Vic1947]

You're welcome, Jim. I wish I had the space for a 9x40 Bridgeport. Had to leave mine behind when we moved to KC from Houston. I also had to use a phase converter with the one I had. Hope you find a nice rotary table that doesn't break the bank. They sure come in handy at times - especially if you're doing bolt circles. I know the Machinist's Handbook has coordinates for doing them, but man, is it tedious.

[72 tigger]

Fine craftsmanship as usual!

[jaros44sr]

Yeah mine is an antique, but the ways and gibs are good

Bought it for 400.00 w/phase converter,and power table feed, I learned in HS at vo tech how to machine manually, never used CNC
Still looking for the turntable

17084285339508963078761345492803 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/97391199@N06

[Vic1947]

That's a smokin' deal. Actual Bridgeports are built like tanks so it doesn't surprise me that it's still in good operating condition. Does your phase converter allow the machine to instant reverse? The one I had required a complex relay wiring scheme to reverse instantly. Before installing the relays, if you tried to reverse out of a tapped hole, for instance, it just kept going in the forward direction. (Not good!) You could stop the machine and reverse would then work, but I needed it to instant reverse like they do when connected to actual three phase.