Milling and Grinding an Autocollimator Mirror Sled for Inverted V-Ways

[@beansandtoast3433]

I searched brazing cast iron and you channel came up. Then I searched autocollimator and you channel came up haha. That’s a follow

[@dankolar6066]

And, after you have finished the project, you will have a spectacular paperweight. Cheers. Thank you for sharing.

[@TheStefanskoglund1]

It is a spectacular paper weight but also a very accurate sled which is really good to have the next time he needs something like that.

[@dankolar6066]

Stefan Skoglund - Agreed, but where better to store this artifact than atop your important papers-where you may find it again. As opposed to on the bottom shelf, at the back of some forgotten cabinet. We all have jigs stacked away that fit tools which we no longer own. It happens ....

[@trex283]

I'm a wood worker and learn so much from watching machinists. Thanks

[@alanmahaffey3265]

I am always impressed at the multiple steps and tools needed to get a truly precision machine set up and working. As someone who has no experience in a machine shop I also enjoy the set-up of the various machine tools and the thought process of how you decide which one to use in a given situation.

[@lucianonougueiradevasconce1367]

I have learned more watching your videos than in other sources, that I want to thank you. I have the same kind of old machine and I've been searching information how to recondition it in my own workshop but no one knows in my country, is very sad. Now with I learned from you I'll start, I thank you so much.

[@steveweckel6279]

Awesome video...your patience and descriptions of the processes were most welcome.

[@fiorevitola880]

Great class on how to make tools for a particular operation of the measure on the ways. As always it's a pleasure watching you come along with the plainer project.

[@ccswede]

Watched the cast iron piece made at foundry. Amazing process for a person familiar with woodworking. Recycled auto brakes

[@jerrycoleman2610]

Keith, I like the idea of using the sled to mirror the ways. I’m looking forward to the next step thanks for sharing.!.!.!.

[@yambo59]

Your patience in rebuilding these machines is extroardinary, this will really look and work good in your shop.

[@saschaoswald480]

If I took that to my local foundry and asked for a one off, they'd look at me as if I had two heads! Then they'd quote me a "go-away" price, and then I would go away;-) Really looking forward to seeing the autocollimation of the ways, as I'm planning something similar with my milling machine. Great video as always!

[@MaturePatriot]

Challenging, but made simpler by having the proper machine tools. Great work.

[@GeorgeWMays]

Ultra-cool. Super spiffy. A ton of fun to watch. Thank you very much for sharing.

[@wi11y1960]

I always loved milling. Something so calming about milling.

[@gagasmancave8859]

Keith hope you and the family are safe were seeing all about those storms chap

[@larryshaw6517]

Very interesting Keith, now I understand what you were talking about earlier. Thanks so much for clarifying.

[@SteveSummers]

Thanks Keith👍😎

[@piotrlenarczyk5803]

Thank you for video. To my best knowledge most economical is direct use of stone (rock), but it requiers separate tools or even whole machine park. Moreover it is cheaper and more usable, than modern concrete composite (fiber glass; carbides; silicon loams; et cetera - mostly below 50um/0.002inch), and provides better mechanical parameters (but still a lot worse than steel). Cast iron requiers specialized formation - above mentioned materials could be prepared in low temps. Especially first few generations of prototype could be made from concrete composite with welded reinforcement and some plywood box. Cast iron possess it's own advantages:)

[@WillyBemis]

Thank you Keith!

[@mikesmathers5752]

Nice Work, Keith. Maybe I am being influenced by ABOM79 too much, but roughing that in sure did look like a job for a shaper! Keep up the good work! It is nice to see the big K&T in action!

[@donmittlestaedt1117]

Thank you Keith. That was interesting.

[@cavemansmancave9025]

Nice piece, Keith. As I watched this, I was thinking of other ways to make that sled. None were clearly better. For future such casting work, tabs or bosses could be added to the casting design to provide clamping locations for workholding. Not necessarily needed for this piece but nice features to include for machining. Thanks, John

[@jrb_sland5066]

He could also add various tapped holes on the sides, top and ends for similar reasons. No need to do it now, he can wait until some obvious reason appears [or follows him home!]. Perhaps some tee-slots?

[@ROBRENZ]

Enjoyed Keith! ATB, Robin

[@brambruijnzeel]

Again a nice one Keith, thank you and greetings from the Netherlands, Bram

[@forrestaddy9644]

From what you've shown on the video, you're only guessing the sled has full bearing in the V and the V's are synnetrical, have the same orientation, and are parallel. Check the sled bearing by applying a little blue to the bed V etc. Check the top with the level just for info, and do the same for the other V. You can correct the sled's bearing in the V by scraping. Autocollimator checks are fussy work. You don't want wobble on the sled to influence linearity readings. I realize this is a century old planer and you have an autocollimator you want to put to use. A planer bed is a perfect application for two-axis autocollimator linearity checks but your nice old New Haven planer is a bit too lightly built and limber for a serious metrology campaign. However, it is a good place to sharpen your optical tooling skills. Go for it even though the results may not be perfect. You (and we) will learn some valuable lessons along the way. Incidentally, have you found a way to video through the autocollimatot's optics? And, by the way, an autocollimator won't test parallelism and planarity without special set-up. Parallelism is better tested with the Kingway. Here's a hard fact: no one test for machine tool grade level, planarity, parallelism, circularity, cylindricity, concentricity, etc exists, not even laser interferometry. Optical, level, mechanical tests all require multiple means of testing to prove all bearing features in a way bearing system are flat, linear, parallell, perpendicular etc.

[@forrestaddy9644]

@chris0tube I have limited experience with autocollimators but I have seen them in use by techs who knew what they were doing in 1973. They roped off quite an area in an open shop so their lines of sight were clear and undisturbed. Space heaters were shut off etc. They had a whole array of fancy mirrors, prisms etc to support setting a very large planer's bedways in plane to support a coming project requiring certificated machine tools to do the work. They were careful and exacting, using repeat zeros, mulitple checks and cross-checks. There was no doubt a second crew following behind using another brand of apparatus would validate the first crew's settings. We were instructed to not bother them but for a 32 year old machinist two machines over got quite a education just by watching them, far beyond what I learned in my two month optical tooling rotation when I was an apprentice. I suspect Keith is using this autocollimator project to introduce himself and us to its use to validate linearity in his planer ways. Not the best test example for this application but good for training as there will be several influences like temperature, floor deflection, etc to account for besides tweaking the jacks to wring the best possible linearity from the bedways. It's a worthy endeavor and probably shouldn't be scoffed at given the educational benefits that hopefully accrue. As for the Kingway apparatus, yes, there is more usable geometric data to be gleaned from this simple collection of apparatus for the axis by axis inspection of way systems than any other system short of laser interferometry. However its sensitivity is hampered by its 10 arc second spirit levels. Higher resolution levels will provide greater sensitivity at the cost of far longer settling time. Too bad LVDT pendulum level technology can't be adapted but my undestanding is the mass of the pendulum bob is a critical factor. The Kingway system would therefore have to be redesigned if, say, 1 arc second resolution was a requirement. Imagine the parading placards: "More significant digits!" "Less cost to determine them!" Slogans not suited for a street chant by unruly protesters but they encapsulate our ever-elusive goal as we chivvy and prod yesteryear's sow's ear machine tools to silk purse geometrical perfection to meet coming manufacturing challenges.

[@akcender]

yes, i was thinking at minimum he would have to relieve the center of the v so it would be bearing on the wide and narrow end even if the angle was a bit off

[@lazyh-online4839]

@@forrestaddy9644 hey man, ive seen you on so many forums, great to see you posting stuff on here too! Always loving the great info you provide 👍

[@fabioth283]

autocollimator is very good for check slide like this.also have one other one collimator,with a steel wire.For use a autocollimator like that on V,need just to be sure the leveling is ok,with step by 200mm.Also,for me,if i need to do a work like that,for start i scraping for correct the leveling,and check by level,and later when the bed is ok with leveling i check with autocollimator the straightness and parallelism by the V

[@RagsdaleCreek]

Nice job Keith!👍

[@Larry1942Will]

I've often thought that there would be stone loss during grinding so things couldn't come out really accurate. I do profile grinding of HSS knives and know that there is loss of wheel diameter but the wheels are very narrow to work into the shapes. A final pass is made after dressing the wheel and changing the angle of the knife slightly so only a very small amount of steel is being removed.

[@jlg4880]

Pity it didn't have "RUCKER" cast into it--might be worthwhile to have some appliques generated by a 3D printer so they're ready to apply. Now, all that little cast iron sled needs is a matching nice little wooden case for storage.

[@incubatork]

3D printing takes a lot more time and knowledge to be able to draw in say fusion 360 or tinkercad then printing something that size will take hours, then you have to finish the printed parts to take out lines, get the draft angles correct, with wood (which Keith is used to working)its far quicker and easier to do with a saw, a few nails, plain and a bit of sandpaper, by the time the 3d drawing is done it could be made and finished in wood. you can get more detail in a 3d print like name etc. but If desired he could just have printed his name a few thou tall and glue to the wood.

[@jlg4880]

@@incubatork My idea was to make lettered appliques that could be glued to a wooden pattern, which was pretty much a standard practice when patterns were predominately made by hand.

[@katelights]

for a part that he is not going to sell, such detail work only serves to make the casting process more difficult.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Nice piece. Came out great.

[@michaelclark1717]

You should do a shop tour soon.

[@elsdp-4560]

THANK YOU...for sharing. Watched and very much enjoyed.

[@MattysWorkshop]

Great job as always Kieth, thank you. Matty

[@jessefoulk]

At the surface grinder view of the video 12:18 Whats that belt/pulley project in the background there?

[@roberthamilton9730]

Keith Rucker for President 2020

[@KnifemakerKinetic]

I am excited to see what the Autocollimator tells you!

[@JaapGrootveld]

Tank,s Keith, for this nice video. I whis I had a caster neer by.

[@sandrammer]

Nice casting. You're right to take it easy on the first cuts. Deep in the rough surfaces of a casting may hide some sand or carbides that could harm the cutting edges of your cutters. In addition, the surfaces of castings have the smallest grains and therefor the hardest grains to cut through (unless of course the casting was heat treated or normalized to rework the grain size through out the casting).

[@tedmckay]

Nice work! I see an old sliding gap-bed lath in the back ground, are we going to see an episode about that?

[@DomManInT1]

As long as the slots in your table run parallel to the travel, you can use pins in the slots to get parallel surfaces.

[@PittsS2C1]

As always, very interesting. Question: Since you will use the sled to prove the ways during scraping, should you also scrape the sled surfaces prior?

[@SuperAWaC]

if the grinding is precise enough, it's not needed. precision ground surfaces do not require scraping, though they are usually flaked to give oil a place to run in.

[@JCisHere778]

The piece should be stiff enough to not be deformed considerably while on the magnet, so it should be quite accurate. But he should definately check the fit and in the v-way of the planer. Matching the angles by scraping might be a good Idea (If he wants to use a level to get twist out of the v-way. That would also make it a better master for spotting)

[@jonka1]

@chris0tube We've been here before. Keith has a new toy and needs to use it.

[@BaseballNut719]

@chris0tube He's can do a much better job than you, that's for certain!

[@ypop417]

I would thinka matched pair would be helpful Keiith.

[@homeryoung7436]

Thanks Keith

[@1969Kakashi]

Make sure you put your makers mark on that for the guy that finds and needs it in a hundred years, Keith!

[@woodywoodworkerfuller9921]

Show making the pattern out of wood. Throw a little woodworkin in there. Love your channel, excellent videos & content !! Love Ya !!

[@woodywoodworkerfuller9921]

I was a tad bit hasty. You did at least show the piece. I’d imagine the core of your viewers would be bored with more woodworkin than you showed. Nice job.

[@donaldshulman6771]

Keith -Interesting video, especially the way you clamped down all the parts. How many projects are you working on now? I have lost count !! Also, when will you have an updated shop tour?

[@perolovson1715]

Just for fun it would be interesting to compare the result of the collimator test with the machines iron sledge v. the wooden pattern. If in a hurry, is the pattern a “good enough” part to use? Great video and all ways informative. You might end the video with some metrology to show the accuracy of the part.

[@incubatork]

Another Interesting bit of gear, would it not have been easier to true up a square bar on all sides, surface grind 2 sides to be the V then flatten one of the corners down to the width/hight needed? quicker machining at least? I'm not looking for faults, i like to know the reasoning for doing things one way rather than another, here to learn sort of speak. thanks for sharing.

[@strongspeed]

is there another video showing the collimator measurement?

[@patricknowak8292]

For a part like this that is being used in precision work, do you need to have the casting stress relieved or aged before you make the sled? I recall hearing that years ago casting like angle plates were left to age for a few years before being machined.

[@windyhillfoundry5940]

This was stress relieved at 1375° soaked for 2.5 hrs and cooled at a rate of 100° per hour

[@WatchWesWork]

Why not attach the mirror to your King Way?

[@jamesschrum8924]

When keith puts the table back in the V ways sit in the V's he is working on with this tool he just made. The fit is better at this point to give a better cut when the table moves back and forth. For most of us whom just goof around it is good enough, but for Keith if it is not exact he will do it right. Thanks Keith for the great videos, great work.

[@deathk26]

He covered that in a previous video. One side of the King Way rides on a ball and it's not as stable as he'd like. The way the King Way is set up it's not ideal for a double V-way.

[@mrblack61]

Just what i was thinking.

[@deathk26]

You need to go back and watch the previous video again. The repeatability was poor with the King Way sliding along the double v-way. The ball is made to rest on a flat, not in a v-way. In this case the King Way is most definitely not "more stable and affirmative" than the sled he made which sits tightly in the v-way.

[@mrblack61]

@@deathk26 Just had a look at the previous video, Keith doesnt have it set up well to measure a double V. Loading the tube side of KW so its sat firmly in the V with the levels and or a suitable weight. Ideally you also want the ball set on one face of the opposing V, A little lube with spindle oil/mineral spirits this gives you a smooth repeatable setup. Rather than make the sled id turn a collared bar to replace the tube of the KW, 10" centres makes the rise fall numbers easy with collars being around .5" - 75" in width, his beds 11' long iirc so 12 point to point measurements is more than enough to get the global picture vertical and horizontally. I like the way Keith measured out from the center, I like this method as you can locate the AC directly on the bed which reduces the opportunity for error. Rather than making the sled as hes done, i think a pattern scrapped to fit in both Vs would be more useful, not 100% necessary but makes keeping an eye on the individual surfaces relative to each other much easier. Cheers D

[@railfan439]

Keith: Like on a sine bar, I would have thought that the bearing surfaces on this would have been minimized, even rounded with hardened dowel rods, for more accuracy. Thanks for the video, and see you at the Bar-Z. Jon

[@Broken_Yugo]

I guess since it's going to measure a scraped surface it needs large contact point to average the surface.

[@otm646]

@@Broken_Yugo Plus that average surface is what the carriage is going to ride on. Pins give you a more granular measurement but that does not mean much for real world use.

[@csours]

Would there be any reason to NOT clean these up on a belt sander before milling? Just a waste of an extra step? I'm thinking of how hard and possibly dirty the outside of a casting can be.

[@robertharker]

What is the new tool with the lether belt you can see in the background in the grinding part of the video?

[@bobvines00]

Keith, thank you for this video. I'm looking forward to you using your autocollimator on the planer. A couple of questions though: 1.) What is the average "casting skin" thickness on cast iron. 2.) How much does the light first cut(s) dull your inserts? I've always heard that it's best to cut the "skin" completely off at the first pass to maximize the life of the cutter. I.e., cut deep enough to cut under the skin.

[@mtraven23]

I cannot speak to the exact skin depth, but generally it is harder & deeper with smaller castings. While back I machined a set of (30) 5 lbs weight plates, all sorts of different manufacturers and even within 5 lbs, some were way harder than others. I used brazed carbide on the lathe rather than inserts, and chipping was way more a concern than long term tool wear. Getting under that skin is the better way to do it (assuming you have enough material to do so), my lathe is a bit under powered for this so in some cases I just started grinding that skin off with angle grinder...works but messy & slow. If I were keith, I would have dropped that face mill in 50-100k and then maybe a spring pass to clean it up for the grinder. I also might have done a bit more work on the casting shape to include some better work holding features and a bit more meat @ the btm so I could be sure I had enough to remove all the skin.

[@bcbloc02]

Better get to work on that thing on the surface plate to get it all as dead on as possible or you will need to be certain to not move the mirror any on the sled during every use or your measurements will have compounding errors. Easy to go down the rabbit hole when doing tight tolerances over long distances.

[@DieselDahl]

And I thought the sled season was over now... 🎅🏻

[@jacobpoucher]

What part of the world are you from? It is very much sled season in the usa

[@windyhillfoundry5940]

Looks great👌

[@markpeterson5479]

Keith, If I heard you right - and inferred right - you said at the end of the video that you would move the sled, check through the eye piece, move the sled, check through the eye piece, move the sled, check through the eye piece, ... What about drilling and tapping each end of the sled for an eye bolt, tie on a cotton clothes line through a pulley and just sit looking through the lens while you pulled the sled back and forth without having to get up for each point?

[@lazyh-online4839]

You need to know where it's at when you're checking, maybe I'm wrong but in my mind it'd be easier to just move it to a known location and check instead of trying to finesse it with a string.

[@angelarichards1911]

What about a nice powder coat? What a finish it would be.

[@unclespicey42]

you should have made 2 of them as a matched pair......not too late to order another. Just a question, how close do the angles match? It looks like you have about 2" flats on the 45s. you can calculate the error they may introduce, likely not significant, but good to know.

[@rsemrad2]

Keith, will you be selling this raw casting?

[@EngineersWorkshop]

I think a K&E borescope would be better for this. Reads location of the target deviation from optical axis directly, no math. But you do need a fixture to hold the borescope parallel to the V-way, or lay it in the V-way directly. If I remember they have a 2.2500 or 2.5000 diameter.

[@dans_Learning_Curve]

You learned a lot working at that machine shop! All OJT?

[@TheStefanskoglund1]

Would brass work for something like this ? The casting could in that case easily (somewhat) be done basically by hand.

[@otm646]

Because it needs to be ground to a finish brass is not an easy material to work with. If you could get the surface good enough with a single point fly cut brass may work. I don't know why he's so fixated on using durabar for this application. I made one just like this out of 4130 PH, worked out great for a machine refurb. Cheap and easy material to work with.

[@coconutpie333]

give the doggy a meet and greet

[@bartdeboer8495]

Did you get another lathe whitout telling us? (Background surfesgrinder)

[@richardlathrop61]

Looks like a gap bed lathe

[@JuanAdam12]

“We can use some mathematical calculations or whatever...” I wish I had that confidence.

[@michaelkenefick]

In your opinion, how does Clark's pricing compare to Cattail's?

[@tonyvancampen-noaafederal2640]

Is this the sort of tool, jig, widget, that could be 'perfected' by scraping? or is grinding sufficient to the needed accuracy?

[@TheStefanskoglund1]

If you don't have a grinding machine like that, yes.

[@littleworkshopofhorrors2395]

Not wishing to seem a troll but I am surprised that you have your quill extended so far while using a relatively large face mill.

[@littleworkshopofhorrors2395]

@chris0tube indeed, greater contact area of quill has to be more rigid. And spline life must be improved too if full contact is maintained, depending on machine design.

[@SuperAWaC]

he's grinding in the final dimensions so it doesn't really matter. it's not going to affect the machine unless that is all it does every day for 30 years.

[@littleworkshopofhorrors2395]

@@SuperAWaCSome would say that it is just not "best practice" and it's the principle that matters as others less experienced might follow thinking it is normal.

[@littleworkshopofhorrors2395]

@chris0tube very true, but i also believe one should try bending "the rules" just to see if there is a better way. For progress to occur the junior should always try to exceed the master, not just follow him.

[@jacobpoucher]

Not surprised, old rucker isn't the sharpest but he gets it done.

[@craigtate5930]

How much did the 1 off casting cost to manufacture?

[@AndrewBuchen]

How did you level the piece prior to milling?

[@Pamudder]

When using the surface grinder, I assume that the wheel gradually wears down. How do you compensate for that?

[@ThAtGuY-u9d]

John Kailua when the wheel wears it wears on a tapered angle. Front side does most of the cutting so by the time the material is getting to the back side of the wheel it is removing so little that the wear is basically non existent. When taking heavy cuts it could wear all the way across but your constantly dressing the wheel to make it flat again so it doesn’t matter much. You always have to take light cuts to finish a part so there’s almost no wear at that point and you can hold size all the way across the full width of the chuck.

[@grzegorzbielski8262]

Tony has an answer for your question... kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKHck6mejL6eosU

[@cyrex686]

The wheel is an inch wide. Only the leading edge grinds, when it is grinding at the front of the wheel it is freshly dressed, as you see the sparks from the middle of the wheel it is half done, when the sparks come from the back of the wheel, it is time to redress the wheel. The thicker the wheel, the more you can grind before you need to dress.

[@firearmsstudent]

Could you put the foundry's contact information in the dooblidoo?

[@boubaros]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGGVo6qGnaueZqM

[@Coffreek]

Next episode, Keith builds an attachment for his surface grinder, so he can use a wider wheel.

[@otm646]

Nah, the part he was working is sized just fine for the working area of the machine. A wider wheel is more forces on the column, bearings, ect when cutting.

[@fengelman]

won't you need tow of these? one for the mirror, and another for the "telescope" part?

[@hairyfro]

Just one - the autocollimator sits in a stationary position during measurements. As long as its stable it doesn't really matter where it is as long as it's lined up with the mirror. You can see in Keith's other video that he has the autocollimator on a hydraulic table cart so he can raise it to the right height, and roll it into a position that gets it lined up with the mirror.

[@johngormley2192]

I just noticed, what are the four pins , 2 each way, in the ends of the way for?I don’t remember them from the tear down videos.

[@bcbloc02]

They used them for measuring points for the way grinding process.

[@ron827]

Oh no, he forgot to scrape in the sled! :-)

[@dmitrydima7072]

10 из 10

[@barkleygentry2504]

This is why I ain't no machinist. I can't even say or spell otto-columntater! 😁

[@sighpocket5]

Nice!!!

[@somebodyelse6673]

Kinda weird that a casting costs less than bar stock. I'll have to see if there's a short order foundry in my area.

[@roncartwright8125]

Are you going to scrape it in before you use it

[@vettepicking]

I would

[@donaldasayers]

I am slightly worried that you have over constrained the sled, in that unless the angle of the V exactly matches the angle in the Veeways then it will be able to wobble side to side, if only slightly. I have been wracking my brains though to think of a combination of spherical and cylindrical surfaces that isn't over constrained and still measures what you want it too. It could also be the case that the wobble I am concerned about will have no effect on the collimator.

[@dans_Learning_Curve]

Following

[@celebtee]

There's no cylindrical / spherical solution, all spheres/cylinders will have two contacts in the V.

[@donaldasayers]

@@celebtee You need 5 points of contact, to leave the one degree of freedom that allows it to slide. You are assuming that a ball has to touch both sides, but it does not have to do so.

[@RGSneaker]

Maybe you'll make a nice wooden box for it :-)

[@willi-fg2dh]

you are presenting a restoration of a complicated piece of machinery that requires a high degree of precision (if you intend to do it right) . . . don't apologize for also showing how to make a tool required to do the job . . . that little sled is as much a part of the project as any other required part or piece or tool. as a matter of fact, i'd bet that a lot of your viewers would like to see how to calculate the sled dimensions and the math and measurements involved in the entire leveling process . . . not all geeks use only computers . . . there are tool geeks too!

[@dolvaran]

Perdy !

[@crockteerden4023]

Hopefully you locked the saddle, not the table

[@LerrySanders]

First time ive been this early

[@MortimerKadaver]

Very nice dog! Is dangerous? ;-)

[@markpeterson5479]

Every time I see the dog, I wonder if it ever gets its feet cut on the metal shavings.

[@MortimerKadaver]

@@markpeterson5479 This doog needs special shoes :P

[@Paul-pl4vy]

That’s what the bishop said to the actress

[@HotelPapa100]

If your milling machine has the necessary power, DON'T do that initial scraping pass. Cast skin is very hard on your cutting edges, and having the tips of your inserts subject to that wears your tools down prematurely. Better have the skin cut somewhere along the edge of the insert.

[@Th3Su8]

Even though I know Keith has said it before that cast iron is "self lubricating" and he knows what he is doing when it comes to his machines and how to use them, it still bothers me a little seeing machining done without any lubrication. I am not sure why it does. Maybe it is that I think the cutting tools will be getting hot and possibly damaged. I don't know. I'll just shut up now and watch the video. After all, I'm just an electrician, not a machinist.

[@tsw199756]

I think your vertical mill spindle speed is too fast for milling cast iron. Whenever I see an excessive dust cloud rising up (there will always be some but proper rpm makes it minimal) and more importantly dust instead of a defined chip then its rotating too fast. I'm a journeyman machinist that has machined thousands of cast iron projects in my lifetime (probably more cast than anything else). I always maximized the chip over dust creation to if nothing else save my lungs.

[@tsw199756]

@chris0tube that's very true also. I look at it as if I'm doing it and I don't want to breathe all the dust. I guess I've machined too much CI and don't really care to anymore. If I do it comes with a premium price.

[@perolovson1715]

Keith should ask “This Old Tony” if he might use the time machine and descale the part in the planer that is currently in restoration. Abom79 has a shaper perfect for rescaling...

[@mmworks83]

Always machine cast iron dry. I thought it was a rule.

[@eliduttman315]

Definitely no cutting oil, but the water cooling on the grinder seems OK. Oil mixes with cast iron dust to form an abrasive paste. BTW, "white" cast iron is too hard to machine and must be ground. Keith was working with common "gray" iron. White and gray refer to the appearance of a fracture.

[@SuperAWaC]

you can usually machine it dry but you don't have to. coolant also helps flush the chips away.

[@fatihdurmaz9826]

3:20 dude that's not how you feed your Z

[@kenprovus9195]

I'M CURIOUS, WHEN THESE MACHINES WERE EARNING THEIR KEEP IN A SHOP, HOW OFTEN WERE CHECKED FOR LEVEL, WEAR ETC>

[@lwilton]

It depended on your shop. Who owned it, the kind of work they did. In some shops, like the one this planer came from, probably never. It was (hopefully) leveled when originally installed and if it was ever moved around the shop. After that, probably never. In a shop doing certified aircraft work, there are probably rules or laws about certified machine accuracy. I'd expect machines to be inspected and if necessary aligned at least once a year, or any time the machine was seriously crashed or it was suspected that it was out of alignment.

[@kenprovus9195]

@@lwilton THANK YOU!

[@hillorystanton6209]

I do not know why these people can’t say thousandth of a inch.

[@bobvines00]

Keith, thank you for this video. I'm looking forward to you using your autocollimator on the planer. A couple of questions though: 1.) What is the average "casting skin" thickness on cast iron. 2.) How much does the light first cut(s) dull your inserts? I've always heard that it's best to cut the "skin" completely off at the first pass to maximize the life of the cutter. I.e., cut deep enough to cut under the skin.

[@speedonz]

Good advice