Monty Remon’s Indexing Projects.

It seems that the majority of people going DC fit a large diam., pulley to drop the spindle speed down so I followed suit. Having some 2 1/2" bar and 5mm aircraft grade alclad sheet I set about fabricating some larger diam.,pulleys. I copied the standard Taig pulley small end to drive my gear box then added a 3/8" disc of 2 1/2 inch bar and machined a belt groove, the parts were joined using 3 c/s screws about 120 degs apart. Wanting to regain a facility I had on an old pulley system I fitted a 3 1/2" disc of 5mm alclad, this would give me a 1/4" and clamping ring clear of the head stock and a really large pulley diameter, the 5mm thickness being enough material for a belt groove. This plate was also attached to the pulley assy., using 3 c/s screws about 120 degs apart, this method of construction ensures that the parts only assemble in one configuration. Not wanting to waste an opportunity I decided to drill some index holes in the plate too, but did not know where. I made quick Bentley type index pin that clamps on outside of the 'T' slot, then out of curiosity I slipped drills into the 'T' slot to see if one would fit, not impressed I slipped in a length of 7/32 hex rod, a perfect sliding fit! So I made my hex index pin 2" long with a 60 deg., point on each end, I tapped a blind hole and screwed home a bolt and ground the head off, a bit of brass hex for the clamping nut and a sticky ally washer completed the job. Both types of pins could be used to mark the hole positions on the disc. The pulley disc assy., was removed from the spindle and fitted in the 4J chuck and the holes drilled. It was convenient having already added the indexing capability to my 4J. It has been noted that the 'T' slot dimensions in the h/stock are all the same, be it the old split type or the new one piece extrusion, but the PCD derived from using the index pins is different between the two h/stocks, here the new h/stock has the advantage in that my hex pin design fits the top or the back 'T' slot, only one pin needed to cover both sets of holes. I took several pics of the above procedures but it was when I was reviewing the shot from the back with my 3J chuck fitted that I got diverted! (Again) See the spacer washer I have to use?

Did you see where that washer was going to take me? Well I just imagined it 82mm diam., with holes in. I thought I would fabricate some index discs, that can be slipped onto the spindle when required to do those little jobs and clamped with 3J, 4J, Taig drill arbour, collet set or face plate. I was lucky enough to have some 16g alclad under the bench so I set to. First I cut out some 85mm oct., shapes and centred them in the 4J chuck, the middle was turned out to .75" diam., and the fit checked by reversing the chuck on the spindle. When the size was right the plate was removed and clamped back on the spindle using a Taig arbour and the O.D. turned down to 82mm. The back face was coated with a marker pen so that the two PCD scribed by the index pins showed up clearly and the disc reversed. Once the decision was made as to which series of holes were to be drilled and the method (I am spoilt for choice here as I already have a selection of gears, index plates and and my modified 4J chuck). The method shown in the pics is the fastest for doing the 72 hole series . I turned a stepped arbour in the 4J to take the 72 gear hub and the .75" disc and clamped them with a dished washer. The drill system was set up at the far end of the x slide, then lined up with the scribed marks and the slide locked. A hex key was clamped to a tool post at the near side of the x slide and set up to engage the gear teeth just before the drill touched. The drill size at these diams needs to be 3/32". 2 seconds/hole was a respectable rate! I transferred the other holes from my 4J chuck at 10 secs/ hole. A few points to think about, either lub the disc to save the ally when clamping or maybe use some steel sheet. The index pin profiles can of course be modified, in the case of pairing a disc with a 4J chuck then two shallow grooves at 2.76" and 2.2" diam on the back face will clear the points. And just to finish this train of thought, a full set of index holes could be drilled in the back of a face plate (next job). Another thought if a face plate has a 60 series of holes drilled on the back and a series of 72 around the the outside diam., there is a difference of 1 deg., in their angles? Hmmm. If I'm not careful I could get side tracked again.

I could not resist having a go at index drilling my face plate, I did what I had threatened to and having all my bits of kit from my index plate mod to hand, I marked the index pin hole location and set to and drilled the back of the face plate with 60 holes, then swapped things about and mounted the plate on the x slide and drilled 72 holes around the outside as per my 4J chuck mod..Now for those that are not aware of where all this is leading, the 60 hole ring has 6 degs between holes and the 72 ring has 5 degs between holes and the difference between them is - 1 DEGREE ! I knew this could be right handy but not how to make use of it. If all else fails I have a cup of tea and sure enough the solution (groan) appears. I just made a slot in the lever mounting used with my chuck mod., so that the lever assy., has vertical and lateral adjustment, only a few degrees needed, it will be in the pics. And now the procedure to tweak my face plate by any number of degrees. eg. REQ'D - Two degs C/W. Slacken 60 hole index pin rotate plate two divs (12 degs) c/w. lock with 60 hole pin. Align 72 hole index pin assy., clamp lever mounting and check index pin seated, withdraw 60 hole pin. Now rotate plate using the 72 hole ring, 2 divs (10 degs) a/c/w, seat index pin. End result 2 degs C/W movement. Well it was either solve that little problem or cut the grass!

Irv Bakeland’s Sherline Motor Adaptation for the Taig Mill.

• Instructions for Installing the Sherline Motor-Controller on the Taig Mill: Caution: Make sure to unplug the mill before making this conversion. Also, hand turn the spindle to make sure that there is no interference before powering up the converted mill. 1. Unplug the mill, remove the belt, the motor, the motor mounting post, the switch box and the cord. Lay aside the two "square nuts" that are used to mount the motor post. These are needed to mount the Sherline motor bracket. 2. Loosen the spindle pulley setscrew with a 3/32 inch hex wrench. Using a heat gun or an 1800 watt hair dryer. set on high, heat the spindle pulley. Do NOT overheat, as you may melt the grease in the top bearing. Using an oven mitt. pull off the old Taig spindle pulley. Notice the flat spot on the spindle shaft that the setscrew locks onto. 3. This is a good time to adjust the preload on the bearings with the preload nut to eliminate any vertical movement of the spindle. Lay the specially made aluminum spacer sleeve over the stub of the spindle and then the modified Sherline spindle pulley onto the top of the spindle shaft, with the setscrew position aligned with the flat on the shaft. Depending on your particular spindle shaft, the pulley will slide on with minimum or no pressure. It has been machined for easy install and removal to allow access to the spindle preload nut. Tighten the setscrew with the 3/32" hex wrench. 4. Place the two short special length stainless socket headed screws through the two round holes in the zinc dicast Sherline motor mounting bracket. Thread the two saved Taig "square nuts" onto the ends of the capscrews until their tips are even with the end of the threads on the nut. 5. Slide the square nuts of the assembly into the "T" slot of the milling head on the right side with the corner of the bracket even with the top corner or end of the "T" slot. Finger tighen the screws to make sure that they do not bottom out on the bottom of the "T" slot. If they do, use the supplied washers under the head of each screw to prevent the screws from bottoming on the "T" slots. 6. Make sure that the belt is on the large sheave of the motor pulley inside of the belt guard. Wrap the belt over the small sheave of the spindle pulley with the motor controller unit tilted to the left. Carefully position the motor controller unit until it lays down with the two aluminum mounting holes align with the slots of the motor bracket. Using the two 3/4 inch long socketed headed screws with the included washers, thread the screws through the bracket slots into the aluminum threaded motor mounting holes. Apply light tension to the belt by sliding the motor unit to the right. Tighten the screws. 7. Turn the spindle by hand to make sure there is no interference or drag on the assembly. The clearance between the belt guard and the top of the spindle pulley should be about 3/32 inch, the thickness between the 3/32 hex wrench's flats. If you experience any vibration, it would be due to incorrect belt pulley alignment. Belt drives are very forgiving. A little wobble or misalignment is acceptable, as long as there is no vibration. All motors and drives, like machines and machine tools vibrate a little due to "backlash." Machines adjusted too tight are hard to move and will generate excessive heat. 8. You have completed the conversion. Enjoy near vibration-less variable speed operation of your new Sher-Taig Mill.

PC Case Made With A Taig Mill

Over on the Hard Forum, User Jojo69 has posted details of his build of a PC case using a Taig CNC mill. He did a great job one workpieces larger than one would normally attempt on the Taig. EDIT: Here's another user drilling a PCB with his Taig lathe (2nd pic). I need to read that forum more often!

Peter Zicha’s Taig Twins

“Here is were I am at with the Taig twins , as I mentioned one will be CNC and the other manual / electric. both units will ultimately be mounted side by side.”

Monty Remon’s Adjustable Height Toolpost

“Once I had seen a design for an adjustable height tool post I new I'd have to make one, the woodruff key design was ideal. I have reconstructed here with photos the operations I used to achieve my goal, hope it helps someone.
I used 1"x1/4" steel off cuts clamped in the tool post, this was used as the work holder and then this was mounted off centre in the 4J chuck. A radius of 0.75" was suitable for machining material 1/4" thick, (a piece of 1/4" brass has been substituted for illustration purposes.)
Method, cutting the external diam.. First, wind out the tool .75" from the centre, zero dial (note reading). Centre the tool post width in the 4J then offset with the other jaws and packing to bring the work piece up to the tool bit. Now crank away from the work, and check everything is clamped tight. 3/8" of cutting will allow enough metal to part off with a saw later. I took 5 thou cuts and was down to the surface ( ZERO/.75" rad.,) in no time. Change your tool bit now for a thin internal cutting one and wind it OUT until the cutting edge aligns with the external surface you have just machined. Slide the tool holder out of the chuck. Remove the woodruff piece and the 2 tool post screws. Mark a line on the face of the tool post 1/4" below the normal tool bit seating. Slip the tool post back in the 4J and wind the jaws until the scribed line comes up to the cutting edge of the tool bit, clamp everything again with padding. Now do the internal boring, here the radius of the cut takes president over the depth (1/4") of the cut, the inside edge of the tool bit will catch the top of the tool post slot if you get this wrong. Set the depth stop and remove metal until you 'zero'. Theoretically both machined surfaces will have the same curvature. Saw your woodruff seating turning off the stump, you could now clamp this back in the tool post and face the edge. This has been harder to describe than to make!”

Monty Remon’s Diamond Tool Holder

An internet search for diamond tool holders reveals that this method of grinding and mounting tool bits has been around for years and that several designs are manufactured for the industry and retail at considerable (inhibiting) sums.
I like many must have puzzled over the geometry and the tool holder machining to get the magic angles at the sharp end. I was lucky my solution came in a flash and I made the prototype in five minutes. I just worked back from the bit in a straight line (keep it simple), the tool holder was a piece of 5/16 square door handle furniture mounted in a Taig tool post, jacked up 3/32" then the end drilled through 1/8" diam., at 10degs 'ish and then a saw cut 1/3 down and long enough to get a far as the clamping bolts. It took a further 15 minutes to try and grind a tool bit. My non-standard Taig tool post was reduced in height by 1/4" to allow for the tool bit geometry and a 1/4" packing washer fitted to the top to keep the clamping bolt happy and the large corner reliefs allow the tool access to the work piece. The theory that the vertical clamping force would lock the inclined tool bit proved true.
OK so that was the tangential system sorted but the 'diamond' part needed internet help from those in the know. I found figures of 30 degs tool bit grinding angle and mounting in two planes at 12/12degs., to be common. Much head scratching and drawing yielded the result that the tool bit should be inclined at 16 degs., in the tool holder to give the req'd angles with the holder/ tool post clamped at 45 degs to the work face. (Could it be this simple?)
I came up with a system to accurately drill and broach 1/8" square hole in a tool holder at the 16 degs., and achieve a 30 deg., face on the tool bit. Basically two tool holders are made at the same time, with part of each forming the drilling broaching /guide for the other.
The broaching tool was a length of 1/8 sq., tool steel set in a flanged brass turning, the drill chuck transmits the cutting force via the flange to the broaching bit. A diamond disc in a Dremel was used to make notches on the end of the cutter.
The 5/16 bars were bolted together and packed up 3/4" one end then clamped to the side of a 1x2x3 block for drilling and broaching. Flipped over and the process repeated. The parts were unbolted and the small clamping bolt holes drilled and tapped, then separated with a saw and slotted. Grinding the angle on the end and fitting the clamping bolt and washer completes the tool holder.
Bit sharpening the correct angle is achieved by using the tool holder. If 7/8" diam wheels are fitted as per the drawing and a roughly ground (30 degs.,) piece of 1/8x1/8 tool steel is clamped with 1/16" protruding from the bottom, then rolling the assy., to and fro on a diamond stone will give the correct angle.
A couple of points. Flatting the surfaces of the bars with a fine file prior to bolting together and broaching would seem advisable and and it would help with stability in the tool post, but you could of course start with thicker stock and mill it down but it would seem that 5/16" bar fills the bill.
If the axel hole is omitted from one of the parts then the slot could be extended to the mid clamping point and the inboard tool post bolt used to clamp the bit as in my prototype effort.
How well does it work? It performs just like in the videos. I was only surprised at how good it felt to slowly hand feed the tool and see the metal come off, what a good finish!

Monty Remon’s Power Feed Leadscrew Mod

I rarely use the drilling tail stock with the cross slide in place, so it's a case of swapping one component for the other. Anyone with the new power feed lathe will be aware of the problems of sliding the carriage back on the bed with the lead screw flailing about. For those that don't the lead screw is driven by the g/box via a spring and it is really floppy, its end locates in a pivoting block on the carriage assy., trying to line up these components several times per job is a pain. My solution to the problem was to limit the angular movement of the block to a few degrees by bolting a plate and a bit of 1/2x1/2 to the bottom of the carriage. I turned a bullet shaped guide out of brass to fit the end of the lead screw. How do you machine the end of 12 inches of 1/2" diam., lead screw in a Taig lathe? It will not go through the spindle and it is too long to mount in the chuck. I attacked the problem from a different direction. The drilling tail stock just happens to be great for clamping 1/2" lead screws if you remove the ram and lever first. A mill was colleted (?) and drill and tap was chucked in the head stock end and the work fed into these by sliding the tail stock in by hand. With the guide fitted the assy., was reconnected to the gear box and now the carriage can be slid onto the bed and the lead screw located blind with the minimum of fumbling. The other problem with the spring coupling is the lack of control with about 3/16" of axial play in the lead screw it feels like you are machining rubber! The way I tightened things up was to put a groove in the brass guide fitted on the end of the lead screw and make a sliding bolt assy., to engage in this to restrict axial movement. The whole thing clamps in the dovetails on the back of the bed in the same manner as the g/box mounting. It now feels as responsive as the older rack and pinion system.