Saving a 4" Thick Plate with a Bad Torch Cut Hole - Horizontal Boring Mill - Manual Machinist

[@johnsawyer2516]

Josh Topper to the rescue again. Your local community is very lucky to have such a talented man. One of the best channels on KZbin, no useless chat. Take care stay safe.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm just a guy doing what I like to do. I'm the one who is lucky to be able to do these jobs.

[@dennythomas8887]

I agree 100% about the useless chat. It's one thing to spend a few mins. explaining what you are doing but there are some channels where the creator just talks for 15 or 20 mins. explaining an operation that takes 2 mins. to preform. I think Josh has nailed the magic formula of talk vs machining.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

@@dennythomas8887 thank you. It really is a struggle to find that balance.

[@victoryfirst2878]

@@TopperMachineLLC I would bet that you would just love to find another person who could do what you do and just let him or her go to work on the manual machine. Wish you luck finding that person. They say good people are hard to find, which is an understatement these days. Good luck with you jobs fella.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

@@victoryfirst2878 tune in Saturday for the live stream. I have an announcement on the helper front.

[@MartinSBrown-tp9ji]

This man has ingenuity, talent, experience, knowledge and good machinery to do a fantastic job. HE IS WORTH HIS WEIGHT IN GOLD. He is one in 5 million.

[@klasandersson7522]

A machine like that is a money drain in most modert big industries and workshops, but in a small shop where there is a lot of one off´s it´s a lifesaver and moneymaker! Funny how something can be so outdated for one type of business and a goldmine for others! 😉

[@jimsvideos7201]

Kudos to the other shop for knowing when to stop and call for backup.

[@glennschemitsch8341]

Center drills are for what they are called, for lathe centers. There are spotting cutters for use with drills.

[@jacqueso8424]

Glenn yes 100 correct, though centre drill are meant for lathes, they have proven their worth to me on a mill as well. For what Josh has done to the lump of metal to get the hole centered, it turned out great. Josh's channel is now my extra go to channel for honing the skills as im for now a hobbyist machinist but have gained quite a bit of knowledge over the years thanx to a few great channels regarding metal work/ machining. Much greatful to those whom have helped me, plus the one on one assistance from toolmaker collegues over the years. Keep on bringing the great machining videos, Josh. Lovely machine shop as well😃👍

[@dennislarsson1723]

Hi Josh. Loved running DeVliegs and Lucas HBM's back in the day. Spent almost ten years running them. If I had the space there would be a Lucas HBM in my garage. Have to make do with a Bridgeport. Did a lot of machine elements and weldments. The job in this video is something I have done hundreds of times. Fabricator making the weldment "helps" by taking meat out and now I have to put the hole back on location. Love watching the old stuff still saving the day!

[@jackrichards1863]

Powerful smooth machine alright. Never figured to really see a man make an income boring thick steel plate. Pretty cool!

[@leonardhirtle3645]

Hello Josh. I worked at a small locally owned machine shop before I retired. We had 6 lathes and 2 milling machines. One lathe was a large vertical one and we had a decent sized horizontal lathe we used to sub-arc weld large blocks(rollers) for fishing vessels. I appreciate your skills. Thank you.

[@mikewilliams9715]

I worked at a steel shop that did processing. A general rule is 2" plate, less than 2" hole could cause trouble. Oxy-propylene is an easy way to get through, 90psi cut pressure. A good ramp up on your piercing valve will get it through. The other holes looked out of round and rough. Like the machine needs some work.

[@mikewilliams9715]

Nice work on the fix.

[@aerialrescuesolutions3277]

The Lucas machine is awesomely impressive. I like the rolling gantry too. Thank you.

[@davidsmith3725]

Thanks

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Thank you!

[@mikes7639]

Get a couple of holders for the camera , a magnetic one and a tripod makes for a steady view and lets you work with two hands

[@ThatMachiner_PlasmaGuy]

Mag drill and an annular cutter would be another solution for this. easier than going through shipping this to a shop to put a loose tolerance hole.

[@guillermocarrillo3959]

My thoughts also.

[@d.sparkes346]

Another great job. I’m pleased at your dedication to serving your customers in a timely manner. All the best!

[@donteeple6124]

Great job Josh, I was shocked and amazed at the total cob job that original shop made of torching those holes.....really looked like an apprentices 1st try.....Y YI YI...... I was quite surprised that you didnt experience any flame hardened hard spots from the torch job, or bubbled porosity voids......and pleased that you didnt.....definitely a great save, many here have NO idea how much of a save this actually was.....10 thumbs up !!!!!! Don

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Thanks. I did experience some hardening, but experience has taught me not to push it, just nice and slow and lots of oil. I charged handsomely, but they had no problem with it. Not sure how much the plate would cost to replace, but guessing I saved them a ton.

[@martinhow121]

"The standard 2 inch twist drill". Love it!

[@rayp.454]

Great video Josh, I used a Devlieg horizontal boring mill for years and it is a great machine for big and small jobs. Your Lucas really expands your capabilities. You saved the day again!

[@bryco32]

I started out machining in 1994 on a Gilbert a little bigger than this machine. My Dad even ran it from the late 60's when he started out. The Machine was with the company since the 40's We used it weekly up until last year and sadly it was decommissioned. Everything is about safety now in Big corps and we were under their umbrella. Open machines freak the higher up's out. The machine probably made a Billion dollars during it's life :). Glad to see another like it still making swarf..

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

What happened to it? Was she scrapped, if not is there a way to save here from scrapping, or worse... sent overseas? Frankly, I think a good non practical use for her, is a decorative peice in front of corporate HQ or some other company property. In my state we had several companies that are involved in geological resource extraction and refinement. While corporate HQ is elsewhere, sites have old equipment as a decorative peice near the gate or elsewhere where the public can see it without trespassing.

[@eaglewi]

The one machine that people got hurt with more here was the big radial drills. Usually something to do people trusting them or something

[@bryco32]

@@jed-henrywitkowski6470 It was eventually sent to a small job shop from what I can gather. The parent company unfortunately got rid of most of our manual machines.

[@erik_dk842]

@@bryco32 Outsourcing health and safety liabilities to subcontractors is the standard corporate way.

[@gnm109]

That Lucas is a very nice horizontal boring mill. Excellent video as well!

[@systemsrenegade9888]

If you watch when you started drilling with the 2 inch drill bit the cutting flutes are not at the same lvl so it will cause the drill to wander , you can tell by the fact they started cutting a different times by the cuttings being different lengths .

[@MyLilMule]

That hole you started with the end mill acted like a drill guide to keep it straight. Brilliant. Nicely done, Josh.

[@johnsmircic6650]

We have a 6” Lucas in our shop. 32” facing head, 46” x 84” table. Great machines.

[@beyondmiddleagedman7240]

Just found your channel. Nice to see knob twirlers still in business. We closed our shop as a business and just do hobby work now. Not anywhere near as equipped as yours. Just a Leblond Regal, big Lodge & Shipley lathes, Hendy #3 horz mill and Kent vert mill for machines. Decent weld shop and 4 X 8 CNC plasma system. (Our original product) We used to joke about building CNC systems on manual machines.

[@advanceddiesel7766]

Seems like maybe in the very beginning that a simple mag drill would have been the easiest tool for this job. Great job on the repair!

[@irondiver292]

That’s a monster hole, a monster annular cuter, and a LONG time to cut those. Torch is the money.

[@advanceddiesel7766]

@@irondiver292 We have annular cutters up to 3 inches. Cuts a hole in 1inch plate in about 1.5 minutes

[@johnbadell6190]

No shortage of stupidity in America !!

[@warrenm374]

Do you know what those bits cost?

[@byron7165]

It was 4" thick. A 4" depth 2" annular cutter is going to run you a minimum of $500.

[@Daleeather1975]

I love the older Style machinery. I used to work on Mackson laths and a Lucas Shafering machine. Always wanted to get another Mackson lathe later on down the track.

[@stuart6973]

I did a job like this a while back. Used my radial arm drill. I found it good to fill the rough in with mig weld as best I could, then drill it out. Keep up the great work. Here from the uk 🇬🇧

[@bertgrau3934]

I dint know much about doing machine work. I have a friend that does automotive machine work, and he has taught me a lot. This is different but just as interesting.

[@MWL4466]

Nice job sir. Always a little nerve-wracking fixing messes like that. Also i do a lot of boring mill work with flame cut material like that and they never leave me enough material when i'm squaring up these pieces so that i dont eat up my milling inserts. They think they're doing me a favor by only leaving a sixteenth per side but its not enough to get under that hard scaley crap. And we machinists know, theres nothing harder on inserts than rubbing on hard flame cut. But...oh well....i'm not paying for inserts. I guess i shouldn't care. But jeez...they dont listen ! Anyway.. thanks for another cool vid. Cheers from Canada.

[@hootinouts]

Awesome job sir. I never worked on big machine tools like you have here. The Bridgeport was my main machine so I am humbled in what I see here. Plunging in with that endmill was a smart move. A drill would have most likely began wobbling and walking if use to start the hole.

[@GardenTractorBoy]

I was impressed by the size of that plate and the size of the tooling you had to use

[@kevinsellsit5584]

Torque + Pressure = Awesome I'd have been nervous nelly with a temp gun the whole time. Cool calm collected makes you the pro and me the not pro.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Takes a lot of experience to get comfortable with this stuff. You will get there, practice makes perfect.

[@edsmachine93]

Awesome video Josh. I really like that Lucus HBM. It is a very versatile machine and a workhorse. Nice job. You have takin a disaster and turned it into a usable part. At the price of steel, a company could not afford to have a big piece of scrap. They should have had you put all of the holes in that plate. Thanks for sharing. Take care, Ed.

[@BrucePierson]

That was a very unusual job, but you had the machine to get it done. That oil can looks like it's as old as the horizontal boring machine. This old gear was really made to last! All the best from Queensland Australia, where we are just starting summer. Hope your winter won't be too severe this year and your bees survive the winter.

[@billdunlop8683]

Great job on fixing that previous "Hole".

[@ypaulbrown]

Love that Lucas and those b ig Morse Taper drills.....Bravo....cheers from Florida, Paul

[@alanm3438]

I am glad that you were able to save the part. Four inches is thick plate. I am so used to working with sheet meatal and it is hard for me to imagine cutting something thick. It is a good thing that you had the talent and equipment to do the job. That steel had to be very expensive and I am sure that you saved them time and money. Thanks for the video. 😃😃😃😃

[@gorillaau]

I am morbidly curious to know what the raw material costs. Thought suspect that it might be in the category of "You don't want to know"

[@Bobbywolf64]

@@gorillaau Just the plate itself with no work done to it would be around $2000. That is for a 2x2' 4" plate, and his appears larger than that. Lots of money in steel these days.

[@gorillaau]

​@@Bobbywolf64 Thanks for the reply. So perhaps this could have been a $5000 plate and is now a $10,000? I read your reply earlier but forgot to reply.

[@rexmundi8154]

Sometime over the years I picked up an ancient mag drill and a huge bucket of annular cutters. While I don’t use the mag drill much, it’s great for stuff like this. I use the annular cutters in the mill quite a bit. I love seeing these big old mills in use still.

[@bcbloc02]

Annular cutters that can cut more than 2" deep are pretty rare though.

[@rexmundi8154]

@@bcbloc02 True, I think I have some longer ones but most are pretty stubby. Given the loose tolerance, I think you could drill a pilot hole all the way thru and drill from both sides. I just wanted to point out that annular cutters exist really. It’s one of those things like trepanning in the lathe that I often wonder why more people don’t use.

[@nschelling6420]

Thumbs up! Keep the HBM projects coming! My luck I would have hit a hard spot in that torch goober and toasted a bit.

[@jed1947]

Many other shops I watch have fixed cranes. Your portable crane is a great alternative.

[@bigdave6447]

I understand sub scribed! When my kids were in error or needed guidance they got it immediately not at the end of the day! You know so much, you do it your way!!! You're like the old Maine farmer who said he would 'nt like it if it was better!!!

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Thank you. I only know a lot because I've seen a lot of screwed up stuff and had to fix it. Lol. We do the best we can in life and hopefully can pass on our knowledge before we go.

[@jackdawg4579]

Thanks for sharing that Josh - That lucas is a mighty machine.

[@BruceBoschek]

Thanks for the video. That Lucas boring mill is a real keeper. I'm always pleased when you use it. I remember you doing line boring with it. Cheers.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

It's been a great machine. I need to replace some bearings in the feed box as they have gotten really noisy, but that will have to wait for free time.

[@BruceBoschek]

@@TopperMachineLLC Free time, eh? 😂

[@alext8828]

Pretty decent camera work. Good clear and close pictures. Good explanations. Good channel.

[@shadymaint1]

I would have tried a mag drill on it. Given the generous clearance hole accuracy wold be ok. I don't have a mill to play with though and you did a great job.

[@einfelder8262]

I agree. Can't imagine why the shop that cut the plate wouldn't use a mag drill for the holes, especially if they frequently make such plates.

[@rexmundi8154]

My thoughts exactly. I’m surprised mag drills and annular cutters aren’t used more. I’ve worked in plenty of shops that didn’t have either. I use annular cutters in the mill and lathe quite frequently. I got a huge tub of them probably at an auction somewhere so I don’t need to buy them, which might make a difference.

[@bcbloc02]

@@einfelder8262 Time...... a burn table can put that 2" hole thru 4" of plate way faster than a mag drill even with a special annular cutter that could handle plate that thick.

[@einfelder8262]

@@bcbloc02 Yes, I can appreciate the time factor, and the expense of suitable mag drill and cutter. But how much time (and money) did the original shop save on this job? Perhaps it was just a screwup from a new employee? Also the stock 4" sheet that this piece was cut from may have another blank available on it, and they just cut another one while having this one fixed, to keep their customer happy.

[@gorak9000]

@@bcbloc02 Also, is a 4" deep annular cutter readily available? That might not exactly be a standard cutter.

[@edwardcarberry1095]

The reason I like small pilot drill bits. Several times I have used a chunk ?? 3/8" flat bar against some hole I have needed to put into place it worked with what I had at the time. Sure is nice to have the equipment!

[@kooldoozer]

I really need to make one of those Davis style draw keys for my spindle. Good video. ----Doozer

[@stephensarkany3577]

Doozer, I was just watching this after getting the piston grinder & was going to tell you about that block for your HBM.

[@kooldoozer]

@@stephensarkany3577 Block ?

[@stephensarkany3577]

@@kooldoozer For holding the Morse taper into the Lucas spindle

[@thomaschandler8036]

Good job. You can do things if you have the right tools, and it seems you have. Enjoyed.

[@jimpritz4169]

Nice save on that one JT. You sure do work on some gigantic projects. Your local community would be lost without Topper Machine. Thanks for another interesting video.

[@bostedtap8399]

Marking out a square for a round hole, gives perfect indication of accuracy 👌. There's also the double concentric circle method. Great work Josh, proper size stuff. Thanks for sharing.

[@bulletproofpepper2]

Wow that worked out awesome. I would have lost money on that bet, I would have bet hard as glass. Thanks for sharing.

[@RalfyCustoms]

Wonderful as always Josh, educational and entertaining too, great job buddy, thanks for sharing

[@KodyBear5605]

Hey Top! 9:36 mark: PLEASE pop for a Tri-Pod! Dude , you're makin me seasick. Great Videos.

[@atikovi1]

What is 4" plate used for? Can't imagine it's on the hull of a ship. What's it weigh and cost per sf?

[@MartinMacquire-sr9po]

What structural wor they do? Empire state building!? That's a huge chunk of steel!!

[@ponga782]

Such wonderful toys.. I could do this kind of work all day long..

[@Watchyn_Yarwood]

Excellent rescue! They should have come to you first!

[@johnwarwick4105]

Nice job. Lucky that 3/8 pilot didn’t snap looking at the hole. Makes you wonder if there was some slag rolled into the plate looking at where the oxy cut went 🤷‍♂️

[@Xtafa]

What a beautiful machine

[@austinadventure]

What a great save, very cool! thanks for taking us along

[@leopold7148]

simple operation, but satisfying to watch!

[@donalfinn4205]

No flim flam, no filler, no stories about stupid pets and no bullshit. Subbed.☘️👍

[@TopperMachineLLC]

I throw a little in occasionally, but I am here to work and get the job done. Thanks for the sub!

[@dieSpinnt]

I think I know what you mean. Well, but I am an adult. I can use the play controls if some "stupid pets" ... wait, you are right: The pets are put in for the only reason to annoy me!!! Oh and all videos are exclusively made for me. To make me happy! To entertain me. Me alone! Also I have learned media competence. I am able to decide what I watch, without thinking the satire I made in the last paragraph. And I can skip over parts I am not interested in, because I am not to stoooooopid to miss video chapters in the description or to be that arrogant to think a royalty free video made with love has to be that thing that fuels my embarrassing entitlement. Also I do not need vague hints like "bullshit", which is actually BS and may mean anything ... which I may decide tomorrow, that some style is and somehow fall into your back. Yeah, because of my unstable effing mood (or simply because interests change over time ... **FACEPALM** ). Our best wishes and homage... the greatest admiration these days seems to be expressed by belittling others? How disgusting! Hey, I am sorry. Maybe you have good intentions, but at the core you are just calling out others. Are you not grown up enough to figure out what you like? Or are you only able to define yourself (and your strange impression of "praise") by negative traits and calling those of others out? Just asking, because that looks like a really sad worldview and understanding of "entertainment".

[@donalfinn4205]

@@dieSpinnt I honestly don’t know what you are on about? Do I need to be on what you are on to be able to understand it?

[@colinmote846]

I am amazed no lubricant is used, I know it’s messy but surely would help the cut and prolong tool life ?

[@mftmachining]

Excellent job, Josh.👍

[@trentwong4437]

May want to try a hougen cutter, they are available in long lengths, and do well with these issues, and they size on the money and done in 1 pass.

[@dwilley3754]

I have a 1918 Lucas No. 43 HMB I’m fixing up to use. I’m having trouble finding tooling. Mine also has an MT6 spindle taper. Is there any way you could make a video showing how you made that draw key? That would be super helpful. Thanks. Keep up the great videos.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

I've had to make and modify so much tooling to get where I am. MT6 is getting harder to find.

[@TheKrighter]

Gonna bring this up to .008 per revolution. Gee, it's wandering a bit. ;-) Horizontal mills are cool.

[@mfc4591]

Good work. I always say to people, "what would you do without a forklift" ?

[@OFW]

Another great video! I really need to get a horizontal mill.

[@tiredoldmechanic1791]

I would have used my Jancy Slugger with a 2 inch annular cutter. I'm surprised you don't have annular cutters to use in that machine. They work well to alter incorrectly drilled holes too.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

I rarely do this kind of stuff. I think the last one was 3 years ago, so having expensive tooling for a rare job just isn't something I want to spend money on. Thanks for watching.

[@AL6S00740]

3 things : 1.Flood cool that endmill 2. get a noga arm or a body camera holder so you can have 2 hands free... too many tools in the sump .. 3. keep it up :D you have nice content :D

[@johnsmircic6650]

Great vid! Btw, it’s called a Davis key👍

[@terrycannon570]

Thanks Josh

[@kentuckytrapper780]

Great video Josh, love that Lucas gotta find me one. 👍👍👍👍

[@ClintsHobbiesDIY]

I enjoyed that. Lucas is a hoss. You got my sub.

[@michaelmcclure8673]

Boy you saved them a bunch of money and time. Hope they understand what you did for them. While in college we took a field trip to Shilen barrels. They where using machines made before the 1950s. And while drilling it moved all over. 😉🤔🤔

[@Spiegelradtransformation]

Chips are the master.

[@xXVintersorgXx]

I'm not a machinist but I'm surprised to see you cutting something this large without coolant or air to keep the end mill from over heating and to clear the chips. Is this how the machine is supposed up be run? Just curious. Looks like you got the job done just fine

[@raykrv6a]

Thanks for the cool video.

[@mikewhitley1183]

I was wondering what caused that void in the steel, was that a gas pocket ?

[@robertlevine2152]

I'd be interested to know what the plate is being used for. If it is going to be subject to any loading I'd be scared ....less that the poor quality of the flame cutting left all kinds of stress risers. Under load this plate has all sorts of places for a crack to start.

[@Joe___R]

Is there any reason you didn't use an annular cutter to make the hole instead of the drills & the endmill you did use? If you had the proper annular cutter, it would have been a one step process.

[@johnkries8189]

Whew, good way to snap off the drill tang. But cool heads prevailed.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

I've never snapped one off. Slow steady pressure, never forced.

[@johnkries8189]

@@TopperMachineLLC I did 55 years ago, never forgot it. We did a weld build up and machined the tang,

[@paulhammond7489]

Another nice save :)

[@carlkulyk366]

I Enjoyed this very much

[@notchback93]

1/8 inch clearance that’s crazy

[@rmorganii]

I am not a machinist and just asking why or why not but is it possible to have filled the blow out space with weld first before you drilled? Thanks ahead of time

[@TalRohan]

That looked ridiculously easy...I would say the biggest job was loading up the plate lol ....nice save

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Setup on the hbm is always the hardest part of any job.

[@noimagination99]

Nice work and what an amazing massive machine! This is the first video of yours I've seen, so forgive my ignorance... but why not just use a magnetic base drill and 'hole saw' (I'm assuming the hole saw does not need a pilot bit in the center, like a hand-held drill hole saw would). Maybe they don't make the bits to go 4"? I'll be checking out your other videos now!

[@leenonolee4629]

How could that set up wander. I've hand drilled things and had them wander such that the exit hole was not in line wit the entry point. I don't see how this could.

[@brianblithe2271]

Can i ask what brand drill bore bits you use and are they tungsten carbide ?

[@TheUncleRuckus]

Great video as always Josh! 👍👍

[@davidapp3730]

I use to run a Horizontal boring mill. The one I ran had a high speed spindle like yours and an outer boring head where the tool would cut like a boring head. That job would have been ideal for a core drill.

[@bcbloc02]

Tell em next time just send you the plate and you can knock the holes in it for em and they won't look terrible, need rework, and will be within tolerance. Your radial arm drill should make pretty quick work of that with flood coolant.

[@1982nsu]

14:56 Reminds me of the scene from the classic movie "Forbidden Planet" where the monster is about to break through the barrier.

[@KS-gf5zy]

how about using a misting lubrication system.....cheap and works well

[@ruperterskin2117]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

[@jeffery19677]

You need a magnetic mount for your camera. I am getting seasick from you moving back and forth all the time. LOL I am a welder. I could have cut that hole with a hand torch since it had 1/8" slop. LOL I hope to pick up a metal lathe to learn a new trick or three when I build my shop in the spring.

[@gregsappington9991]

Great job!!!

[@Rubbernecker]

Nice job!!

[@ronkruchten5867]

Hard to tell for sure, but it looked like those holes were cut either freehand or on a burn table of some type with either plasma or oxy-acetylene, etc. The method can work fine, but those holes were initially pierced at the EDGES of the holes. It's far better to make the initial piercing cut in the CENTER of the hole, work outward to the edge and then around the perimeter, after the base metal has had a chance to heat up and the back-pressure against the flame has been relieved with a through-hole at the center. Takes a couple more seconds per hole because you're making a slightly "longer" cut path, (by approximately half the hole diameter.) But the finished holes are usually much cleaner.