Paul Wightman Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 It is a long standing custom for something to be built over Christmas in these parts. My vapor build is past the need for a pipe notching tool but there will be a new rear radius arm on the market soon which requires pipe to be notched. There are assorted tools on the market which utilise a hole saw and a pistol drill but these are not the best tool for the job. In the past I have used a hole saw and a milling cutter in the lathe which was reasonably successful but a bit slow. I first thought i would buy one, one of the belt sander variety, £2000! Bu&&er that, I'll make one! Now those who know me will know I have a habit of hoarding stuff and buying cr&p stuff which will come in useful one day. I have motors, switches, steel and machining and welding to hand ,piece of wee wee I thought.......... no. It's taken almost a week to build. The motor I had, a 4kw 2800rpm 3ph monster, switch was not a problem but what to use for a drive wheel? Needed to be 250 dia 125 wide reasonably heavy, rubber faced and coned to aid tracking. To cut a long story short..... two 10" x 2 3/4" forklift tyres (which are rubber bonded to steel tube) welded together with spokes to a hub to suit the motor and the rubber machined to run true and coned. If you want to know about machining rubber I will be writing a three part novel on the subject later! The present front roller is 46 dia, this is rotating at just under 20000 rpm so needs to run fairly true, Machined from solid aluminum with quality 6200 bearings runs OK, we'll see how long it lasts. Only other tricky bit was the vice as it needed to hold round and square tube and present it, securely gripped, to the belt. The belt is a 40 grit 2000 x 125 supplied by Andrew Beattie and Co for £15. I hope to buy a quantity for less! I had a few problems with vibration to start with but it now runs fairly smoothly if not a little noisy! Capacity is 60 dia at 60 degrees and notch can be offset by packing under the vice. A guard is being manufactured now and once I am happy with it I will paint it. You may notice a pair of wheels, it's heavy and will need to be mobile. I'll post a piccy once it has a coat of paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve 90 Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 And a coat of paint, That will be posh. Good work and a handy bit of kit to have round! Usual thing tho, A couple of hour job seems to always be a week to get it finished!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 As always, beautifully put together! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Paul, Stop trying to squeeze yourself into the Vapour build competiton - it won't work, we can see through your plan Will the 'Master of Vapour' has the lead, You are so far behind making a nice little tool like this after the pipework is mainly done is farsicle - At the very least to even think of starting to catch up Will in the Vapour Build Stakes you'd need to entirely dismantle your new truck that you have built so far <fuel tank doesn't count > Oh and taking "time Out" and building a giant workshop was a poor second choice of effort Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2hotdog Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Nice job Paul We have a number of these at work (belt sander type) used mainly for balustrade type work - very quick and easy to use Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz800 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Sorry but the only thing you may need to do a few tubes is a lot of belts, unless you v the tube first. outherwise a nice job. By v ing the tube you reduce the material the belt sander needs to remove. I have a bird mouth tool at work and it used on a 40 ton flywheel press, it makes mince meat of scaffold tubing. Another way to do this type of job is with a milling machine and a large cutter. Daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro_Al Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 By v ing the tube you reduce the material the belt sander needs to remove.Daz It can't be worth the time. These belt type notchers are used commercially and I've never heard a bad word about them and that the belts last a good while even without pre-notching. Really great job Paul. Love it. Part of the beauty is the ability to notch off-axis and any angle. In light of that, have you thought about adding a height control to the clamp? That'd be sweet (though infrequently needed I guess). Also, what is the dust situation like? Do you have alternative vice jaws for square material? (Maybe you just unbolt the end plates of the left hand jaw - hard to see exactly in the pic?) Oh, and go on - whats the deal on machining those rubber wheels? I imagine it just catching the tool, gripping and breaking things. Loudly. Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Wightman Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 As you say Al pre-cutting a V is a waste, on a bought machine they reckon a belt to last 50+ notches and it only takes 15 seconds to grind 48 dia at 90 degrees. Height setting is kept simple by using packing shims under the vice. Square section is accommodated by removing the V jaws. Dust situation is bad! plop, dust and sparks everywhere! The guard helps, an extractor would be the answer, will have to see what I can find. Machining rubber took a while and to be true I am no expert, I just got away with it! It does not turn, sand or grind, in fact it seems rather keen on staying in one piece! It will cut with a knife if a slicing action is used so I played around with lathe tool shapes which result in a 'rubber band' being produced. ie the swarf comes off in one piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan kemp Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 It can't be worth the time. These belt type notchers are used commercially and I've never heard a bad word about them and that the belts last a good while even without pre-notching. Like Paul says, they are expensive, none available on Eblag, where could one be bought second hand. Nice work Paul, not something I could make though, too much time involved and no turning equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mortus Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 thats pretty mega, youve got me thinking of building my own tools now i made my own brinell surface hardness tester, but.... thats not very useful.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro_Al Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Like Paul says, they are expensive, none available on Eblag, where could one be bought second hand. Alan, I think you've misunderstood me. I agree sanding type notchers are very pricey and don't come up used often. I was referring to the suggestion of making each notch a two-part operation by cutting a V first and then completing the curved shape on the notcher. I was saying that its not worth the time to do two ops per notch. (See the quoted text in my post above). Cheers, Al. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan kemp Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Alan, I think you've misunderstood me. I agree sanding type notchers are very pricey and don't come up used often.I was referring to the suggestion of making each notch a two-part operation by cutting a V first and then completing the curved shape on the notcher. I was saying that its not worth the time to do two ops per notch. (See the quoted text in my post above). Cheers, Al. Sorry, I thought you meant it was not worth the time in making one, ie a complete machine . Maybe paul should market them God I wish I could sleep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Thats a cool machine Paul, I've been thinking of making something like this for a while now, will just have to get on and do it now! Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D9OSV Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 God I wish I could sleep Tell her to leave you alone ! You 'ole perv Was at Pauls the other day, and got see this beast in the flesh. Awesome. Have seen shop bought ones and they look very flimsey compared to this unit. In fact so sturdy is it, that i nearly wagered that Nigel had specced the design Ace mate Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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