Making and Aluminum Way Cover - Part 2 Video: Machining the part on the Mill

Part 2 of this series where I cast a copy of an original part and then machine it to fit. In this video, I feature using my Wells-Index Vertical Mill and my Kearney & Trecker horizontal mill. We use an interesting setup using an angle plate to machine the bottom of the piece.

[@raincoast2396]

The cobblers children go shoe less. The carpenters stairs are broken. The mechanics hinges squeak. Same story down through time. Just too busy! We eventually get around to those small jobs that keep falling lower on our priority list. Speaking of which, that bit of painting needs to be done! Thanks Keith for the "push" to get going! Cheers.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Check out my latest video, Shop Space? Randy

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Love the cover Keith. I need to get a casting setup going. Thanks Randy

[@grosseileracingteam]

***** I always get asked by women-why do you need all of those tools-answer-to make tools to make machines to make ALL OF YOUR SHOES,BELTS AND PURSES!! WINNING!!

[@xmachine7003]

Hey Randy. Good to see you here.

[@JohnBare747]

Good job Keith even if it is a little cosmetically lacking it keeps chips out and that's all it has to do. Sometimes good enough is just that.

[@kg2nc]

The cover came out great Keith and I like the Aluminum color better. Keep up the good work you doing over there man. Love the video's. Thank's for sharing.

[@prinzeugenvansovoyen732]

you could use a needle gun and a angle grinder to flatten out rough spots on the casting then sandblast or beadblast it and get it a coat of coolant and oil resistant 2 component laquer

[@pierresgarage2687]

Hi Keith, Just got myself a copper enameling oven, the temp gets to about 2000 deg.F, that's plenty for aluminum, just wondering if the fact there is no combustion gas to shield the molten metal would cause problems... If you have infos about it and want to share, it will be appreciated... Now winter is coming, time to start a little foundry. Very interesting process, looking forward for more. Thanks for sharing, Pierre

[@kenzpenz]

From molten metal to a functional machine part. Great project for a Sunday morning. Thanks and keep em coming.

[@bcbloc02]

A little auto body filler and some paint and you could make it perfect. I understand that Monarch used a bunch of the stuff to fill and form the castings before painting so the machines would look super smooth. It is amazing to me that they used to take so much pride in their product that they wanted it to even look fantastic. Most modern machines are sheet metal and welded steel, nothing pretty about one of them.

[@IceManTX69]

I get so excited when I see you've posted a new video. They're quite addictive!

[@toolguybak]

Very nice--thanks for posting Keith! I find it interesting that the original had those thin vertical walls with sharp corners. It doesn't make it easy for casting, but maybe it was intended to double as a tool tray.

[@MikeDittmanmachining]

Another great one Keith, I know what you are saying. Often my shop upgrades are the last on my list to get to. It feels like I'm always playing catch up. Thanks, Mike

[@juanrivero8]

What a lovely set of videos (part 1 and part 2). I have a lot of comments but they are really offline stuff so eventually I may e-mail you (I am currently moving). I have already (I think) mentioned Myfordboy's channel. But I do want to mention Dave Gingery (R.I.P.). He wanted a machine shop. He couldn't afford one. He was in small-town Missouri, back in the 1980s. He might be of interest to your viewers. He built a whole machine shop out of aluminum scrap. He used nothing but a homemade table saw, a hand-held power drill, a set of feeler gauges and a grinder. He build a charcoal-fired furnace with a hair drier as a tuyere. Then he wrote a series of books. If you search for "GIngery lathe" you are there. Anybody that thinks they can't afford a machine shop should read these books.

[@outsidescrewball]

Enjoyed...nice repair and explanation

[@SteveMcQuillin]

Love your commitment to be as close to original as practically possible and your attention to detail Keith. Really appreciate seeing you use both of the mills - before watching your videos didn't have a real appreciation for the capabilities and advantages of the horizontal mill for certain applications. Thanks for sharing!

[@jusb1066]

logically a plywood one would have been far less work, but far less entertaining :}

[@jusb1066]

***** poly varnish? would probably sort that aspect?

[@grosseileracingteam]

jusb1066 Stick to your wood lathe kid!!

[@BillyTpower]

great video, i really enjoy seeing a horizontal mill working and your chanel often provides that opportunity for me. thanks

[@swarfrat311]

Keith, Another in a continuing series of super great videos! That cover is great and will keep all the crap off your cross slide lead screw. Thanks for sharing. Have a good one! Dave

[@McFingal]

Looks good, and it works. That's what it's supposed to do, so what more could you ask for?

[@cameronmccreary4758]

I made a cover for my Lagun Milling machine and I used a piece of 6063 and just excavated the part in it's entirety. Nice work Keith.

[@jamescrombie2320]

Keith - I worked on a Lodge and Shipley Lathe for over a decade and loved it. 2516 model with 28" swing and 96" between centers. You mentioned that the original cover for your lathe was cast iron. Mine was a later model (1980) and the cover was cast aluminum. It was in an aircraft engine overhaul facility so most of the work was done in fixtures on a 25" faceplate. But all of those fixtures I made on there as well in an 18" 4jaw of 15" 3jaw :-) Really loved the 2 speed tailstock, saved a lot of time and effort. James

[@johnstrange6799]

I'm happy to have an opportunity to check out some of your past uploads - Very enjoyable.

[@VintageMachinery]

+John Strange Glad that you are exploring some of the older material as well. Enjoy!

[@atbglenn]

+John Strange Same here John. I joined 2 weeks ago. I have a lot of catching up to do on Keith's channel. Every video I've watched so far has me glued to my computer screen. I love them all.

[@BigMjolnir]

Keith, nice job with the casting and the milling. Looks like problem solved. Just curious, but would it have been possible to mill the part from a plate, rather than casting it? I know that would probably cost more for the plate, just wondering how much trouble the machining would be for something like that. Especially if you started with steel or iron plate material. Thanks for the instruction! The more I see of horizontal mills, the more I wonder why verticals got popular...especially with that vertical head on some horizontals. Looks like the best of both worlds. -- Mike

[@Mr572u]

We had a foundry in metal shop in high school. After applying parting compound, we put the first layer of dirt through a screen wire sifter. That makes the surface of the new piece much smoother.

[@geneelliott3230]

Keith, a temp measure is a great way to not over heat your melt. The brass casting is a good example of loosing zinc due to improper temp. I suggested plugging the burner hole to prevent secondary air infiltration, that would have increased temperature and shorten melt time so the loss would have been less over all. I think you used too much parting powder on both castings as the surfaces near the pattern seemed to be dry. From the red color of your petrobond it appears that sand hasn't been used much? You can improve the green strength by adding a small amount of alcohol (Heet gas antifreeze) and a bit of 2 cycle smokeless engine oil then mull or blend the sand. Easy for me to judge from my arm chair say's me! Keep up the great video's I learn a lot about things from what you do! Cheers

[@simoncrabb]

Spot the editing mistake at 11:40 :-) Cutter continuity error. We forgive you though, a nice neat job.

[@johnflorian6745]

Really probably didn't need anything more than a scrap of plywood but poor Keith is a machinist and that means perfection is always the goal, but the real world always exacts a tolerance. I love that he tries even when it does matter because that's how you grow to do ever more complex things. Add a little youtube and we all grow.

[@jeffryblackmon4846]

Random Thought- Perhaps a pointed tool would work better than a finger when you are talking about small part details. (6:40 - 8:10 or so)

[@achmadosman9807]

When I use original parts to pour aluminium, I dip the part in molten wax to get an oversized cast. It is easy to mill the new part down to the correct specs.

[@arisaka9963]

Looks like you could have just started with some plate and machined it net. Cn you tell us why you decided to cast it?

[@m93sek]

Wouldn't it be easier, quicker and better to use wrought aluminium plate

[@oldcatmech]

Have your friend make you a plastic pattern and cast another one, that will take out the wavy spots, and you can have it wider as well!

[@BillyDocWalker]

Da ! We use a build up of foil and strapping for the shrinkage and magnets to lift the pattern and you can use plaster of Paris to smooth the intire pattern

[@k5at]

Very nice Keith! Thanks for Sharing.

[@colt4667]

Just cover up the ways with duck tape. (Just kiddin)

[@Shidaharaca]

Hey Keith, that is very awesome man...super duper.......hugs from Aruba. Nice video. I think if you had sandblasted the cast iron plate and painted it...maybe it would have worked out better...just saying. Anyway it turned out beautiful. Vale!

[@Shidaharaca]

Okay....no question about that....have nice evening my friend...hugs from a very hot Aruba. Keep good and take care. Vale.

[@bulletproofpepper2]

***** yup if you make one part look great the rest of it looks worse!!!

[@StreuB1]

Its so refreshing to see this "field to fork" mindset still in place today. This is how I was taught in the early 90's back when you had machine shop/welding/foundry class in HS. Sadly today all we are producing are dotcom kids in HS and not artisans. We now rely on China and other countries to carry on these old world trades FOR us which in my eyes was one of our death blows decades ago.

[@CraigHollabaugh]

StreuB1, you can help with education process by supporting and evangelizing your local makerspace.

[@jordanweimer788]

+Brian Streufert, if that were true, then running a machine shop would be highly profitable in the US. The problem isn't a lack of workers. Rather, it is the high cost of paying workers in the US compared to nations where people can survive off of pennies a day. They're just as smart as us and the tech isn't that complex so we'd bettered get good at programming because we only have a slight technological advancement in that otherwise they'll have those jobs too.

[@davidmasters9793]

still using your hand as a hammer : Just saying

[@Mr572u]

Magnets don’t stick to cast iron, so there’s that…

[@horneygeorgeforge7079]

I've been told to find a good Auto mechanic look at his personal car, if it is in disrepair that means hes too busy working on others.. Looks like your doing good there Keith.. I learn a lot by watching others. thank you for sharing!

[@jusb1066]

in my experience, bad mechanics also have bad cars too!

[@horneygeorgeforge7079]

***** Please note, I said I was told that,, oh, I nave haven"t post any pics of my shop, for the same reason, I call them honey do jabs.. I do totally understand ! thank you all for sharing!

[@grosseileracingteam]

***** Amen Brother-Preach'n to the choir!

[@RichardHeadGaming]

Nice repair part, well done.

[@m93sek]

what about milling down a wrought iron plate?

[@1959Berre]

I'm so happy over here in Europe we have the metric system. :)

[@MaturePatriot]

It all depends on what you grew up on. I have always hated the metric system, and I hate that things made overseas come to us in metric. I am sure you feel the same way about the Imperial system. On another note, how long before Farsi becomes the official language of the EU.

[@scottpecora371]

Ouch!

[@mikeking7470]

@@scottpecora371 Next thing ya' know we'll have to adopt Arabic numbers.

[@loisbernardes7940]

very blah blah, and less action

[@premierd8988]

A hump going down ........ roflmao .......

[@tomoakhill8825]

I just saw this. I do woodworking as a hobby. I am in the shop practically every weekend. I always start with a hour or two of maintenance. I learned that habit 50 years ago when I spent four years on the shop floor of the GM Oldsmobile Press Metal factory. We shaped cold sheets of steel into car parts. I worked the Night Shift. We worked 5:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Sometimes I would hang around after work and watch the Machine Repair and the Die Makers work. They were high-paid skilled trades. Every single day they spent the 5 hours between when I got done and when the Day Shift started working on machine maintenance. I learned that those giant *heavy* machines needed _constant_ maintenance. I also learned to *ALWAYS* wear eye and ear protection. The table saw can screech as I cut wood, and throw splinters. BTW, all work after midnight was time and ½ ! So every 8 hour shift I got paid for 9 hours, a 12.5% increase in pay,over the entire shift. Yeah! Same for the Skilled Trades, the got 11 hours pay for 8 hours work, a 37.5% increase. Compensation for their shift starting at midnight.

[@grosseileracingteam]

Gr8 vids! When i was learning the trade NO CAD/CAM thank goodness! Have you checked out Mr Pete 222? He's AWESOME!

[@stanwooddave9758]

Cover looks great. Thanks for sharing. And now for the smart Alex remark: USE A MAGNET next time. ;-) Was laughing out loud {LOL} when you put that up on the screen. I didn't think of using a magnet. Please keep up the great work you do out there.

[@JoeBee999]

Ha ha, your comment about using magnets was exactly what I was thinking when watching part one. Imagine, I was sitting in front of my TV and almost yelling to it: "Use a magnet, or mag bases, form a handle with magnets, come on,..!" Thanks for all your videos!

[@chemech]

Keith, A stray thought - while the casting has the same shape as the factory original, would there be any benefit to having the cover made from a magnetic material? I use magnet base trays to hold stuff in place all the time... Then again, in my shop I also use plywood and MDF to make stray flat surfaces, just to have a place to put things down... Cheers, Eric

[@chemech]

Actually, I was thinking that some heavy gage sheet metal could be formed up on a brake to fit the lathe as a tray...

[@johndoe-xy4xq]

Good job. I like your videos.

[@markgrevatt4867]

Hi Keith thankyou for all the great videos enjoyed all your restorations. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and new year to you & your family. All the very best..

[@bulletproofpepper2]

nice video and work.

[@shawnmrfixitlee6478]

That worked out very well Keith .. Good job man !!

[@shawnmrfixitlee6478]

Thank you for the vid !!

[@paul9813]

If you place a piece of tissue between your work piece and your cutter(wetting it makes it stick.) you can "touch off" without marking up your work piece. cigarette papers are about .001". as soon as you cut the paper your there. Aluminum can be a pain to machine because of the rate of linear expansion due to heat. you machine it and everything is great until it cools. probably where that little bow came from, or deflection.

[@kagi95]

Paul smith I was about to go on a search quest to find out how to do exactly what you've described, thanks! I don't have a lathe or a mill, and in my high schools there were no classes for these. So I'm gathering knowledge for the future when I get the chance to buy these tools and hopefully work on them.

[@MaturePatriot]

Was there a bit of a warp in the pattern part? It "looks" good, being in aluminum. If painted, no one could tell. Good job overall.

[@AnthonyFDeLeo]

Keith, Great program, I enjoy your comments and humor as well. Tony Port Hadlock, WA

[@badazrod]

Thanks Keith! You answered some questions I had with my little mini foundry/forge and aluminum casting. Great Video! :)

[@pieterteakezn4377]

Great to watch this. Keith, I'm from your age, doing things you do. A generation of technicians is fading away, still not retired do I see it happening everywhere. I'm enjoying your movies.

[@hphma]

Another enjoyable video, I always look foreword to more. I enjoy your friendly easygoing way that you present your projects, thank you :) John

[@jonmitchell9019]

I wish I could of found you years ago. You inspire me. With something I am really interested in. Thank you.

[@donhalley5622]

Some great lessons here. To a novice, the setup (alignment and clamping) is practically black magic, although it probably comes to you as second nature by now. This also points out that you can't measure too many times, as one last check saved you a ton of grief. Your craftsman's eye is naturally drawn to the small flaws in your casting but to me, it came out looking amazing! This was a fun project and I feel as if I have kind of participated. Thank you.

[@binks166]

Kieth, thanks for making your videos. I will keep watching and learning from them ! Harvey

[@nathanfletcher5982]

how much flunks did you use

[@imysteryman]

Nice job Kieth and I like you choice in the tunes you play in your videos

[@VintageMachinery]

+imystery man Thanks!

[@goliathmann3286]

nice work on that piece I which I could do that type of of work again. I was doing that from 1990 to 1996.

[@khalifahbhai]

nice work (Y)

[@AndrewMcLaughlinAM]

I can't help but wonder how it would have come out of you had started with a solid block of aluminum and milled a new cover plate instead of the casting/mill shown here.

[@jaimevega4370]

I think the casting and machining look outstanding and serve the purpose just fine. Thanks for sharing it.

[@vza423]

As usual... clear, concise and detailed execution. Thank you.

[@framefu]

great, clean and awesome job. Congrats Keith :) :)

[@ammagato]

Non avevo dubbi, sei molto bravo.

[@jordanweimer788]

This is what my Grandfather did for a living. It's cool to learn the trade a bit.

[@VintageMachinery]

+Jordan Weimer Glad that you enjoyed and got a look into what he might have been doing back in the day...

[@mikewiggins3460]

Another great video Keith, A nice break from the Falcons game.

[@mikewiggins3460]

Yep I was thinking the same thing

[@SkylersRants]

With all the machining you had to do at the end, it’s a wonder you didn’t just machine the whole thing rather than cast it.

[@buddynewman8949]

Great job as usual.

[@fig8man]

do you save your milling shavings for recycling?

[@ClaytonwFirth]

Is the K&T moving to your new shop or staying at the museum.?

[@VintageMachinery]

To be determined. I would like to find a larger horizontal mill for the home shop, but it is likely to get moved at some point if for no other reason to clear out some room at the museum.

[@tinkermouse-scottrussell3738]

Well done Keith.

[@mills27989]

Pulling cast iron from a mold = magnets :)

[@latmask00]

Great work. Wish I had a shop like yours.

[@robertkutz9540]

keith nice job

[@hdoug5]

nice job :)

[@calraines6931]

Nice bit of work there. New subscriber. Spent 35 years at Dresser-Rand, mostly running NCL/NTL and CNC lathes. Been retired now 6 years and find I miss cutting metal so I'll settle for watching you work. All best.

[@VintageMachinery]

+cal raines Thanks for subscribing! Glad to have you hanging out with me in the shop!

[@davidsmith-kh8cs]

2% shrinkage on cast aluminum

[@VintageMachinery]

+david smith It depends on the exact alloy you are using. Most of the pattern making books that I have list aluminum at 1.0 to 1.3% or 1/8" to 5/32" per foot. When making patterns for aluminum, I typically go with 1/8" per foot as a shrink factor.

[@jmhannnon]

Keith, Did you fill the groove in the pattern with something when making the mold? Maybe I missed that.

[@VintageMachinery]

+Jim Hannon Yes, I believe I used some silicone to fill in the area that was machined away.

[@Raggi2013]

using magnets :-P nice video^^

[@brettb.7425]

Just subscribed to your channel. I love the work you do and appreciate the time you put into it. I grew up in NW Florida so probably not too far from you. Maybe I could even visit your shop someday when back home. God bless!!

[@VintageMachinery]

Let me know when you are in the area and if I am around, you are welcome to visit.

[@jimclark576]

Always enjoy your videos!

[@VintageMachinery]

+Jim Clark Thanks!

[@api1859]

Much work and love remaking that part is a hard way. Well, a germ ingenieur thats what I am, respect to you, Keith Rucker.

[@VintageMachinery]

ababa bababab Thank you so much!

[@krazziee2000]

nice work , thanks for the video

[@1musicsearcher]

I've been going back too and checking out some of your previous videos. Good job on that cover. Sure looks like you could use a moulding table.

[@VintageMachinery]

+1musicsearcher I need a lot of foundry tools....

[@tonyc4981]

cool

[@andymandyandsheba4571]

nice little project keith turned out ok

[@andymandyandsheba4571]

it will that keith

[@angeloogden9102]

Great video, maybe in the future you could use magnets to help extract iron parts like that from the molds.

[@Mr572u]

Magnets don’t stick to cast iron.

[@imscuba]

Watched both vids. Still no idea what a 'Way Cover' is

[@VintageMachinery]

It is a cover that protects the ways on the lathe. The ways are the machined dovetails that the cross slide slides on.

[@imscuba]

AHH ok cool.! Heh thanks for the info :)

[@alphacompany6741]

It still makes me nervous every time a machinist says "close enough." LOL

[@VintageMachinery]

Alpha Company Sometimes machinist spend too much time getting something just perfect when close enough will do. It is all about what an acceptable tolerance is. I can remember trying to explain to an engineer one time who sent me drawings for some shafts to be made - he had his standard tolerance of +/- 0.010" on the length of a 4' long piece of shafting. Truth was, it would not matter if it was +/- 1"! I told him we would be glad to make the parts to that tolerance but he could choose to pay for the tight tolerance or give us 1/4" and we could just cut the shaft off to length on the band saw and let it ride. When I told him the price difference for his unnecessary tolerance, his eyes about popped out and he learned a very valuable lesson in design. Point being, "close enough" is often all that you need. A good machinist knows when to spend his time hitting an important tolerance or when close enough is good enough and move on....

[@brightjulius3461]

I'm very happy to have an opportunity to watch out some of your past uploads- very good.

[@VintageMachinery]

+bright julius Thanks for watching - I hope that you enjoy!

[@WhateverYuotuber]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍

[@KnolltopFarms]

Pretty slick work man! I'd be so scared of working on cast aluminum...whew, it was a clincher thinking about you milling it, then the music hit and it became a pleasant country cruise :) Thanks for the share, Aloha...Chuck

[@KnolltopFarms]

I think the poor quality castings I've broken on car parts like water-pump housings, and gearboxes on dirtbikes must have something to do with it? Not sure, I guess it just seemed fragile and my lack of experience with casting set my imagination to work, LOL! I now have no such fear as it isn't an unknown...Thanks for that, I would get into it but believe I still have too many other things to learn 1st on the lathe :)

[@KnolltopFarms]

I'll wager you're right excepting the high dollar Yamaha gear case I broke a hole into "dirt"biking on a rock trail...I was so mad at my friend for taking me on that trail There wasn't a stretch of dirt longer than ten feet, and those were filled with water to slick up your tires before the hill climbs up the granite boulders. Albeit led to an admittedly beautiful lake. But I like to ride on the dirt...hence the name dirt biking, LOL! That aluminum casting was North of $500 bucks to replace, and that was doing the repair myself. Pressing in the bearings and gear-shaft were a real learning experience, and where I learned the trick of using stacks of big sockets and washers to brace the case while press fitting in the parts. I had been certain I would snap the whole side to bits before figuring that out on my own and thinking I was a genius. Only to find out later that it was a tried and true method :)