FP4NC at work

AlfaGTA · Aug 29, 2017

Ok this is in the manner of a test..
Since my loss of a hosting service (Photobucket) by their change in use policy, i wanted to see if i have gotten the posting of photos that are hosted within this forum...
So thought some might enjoy seeing some of the work going on here..
Subject is turning some heat treated stock (4x4) into connecting rods for a 1913 Mercer (perhaps the first real sports car...big motor light chassis)

Running FP4NC with 3" inserted face mill...Depth of cut .100" Feeding at 8.5 " /min Material is heat treated 4142 at aprox. RC 32plus....
Material is rough 4"x4" and 16" long.....
Doing 4 of these....With the potential to make another 4 rod set....

Note use of twin vises.

Not earth shattering stuff here, but for our shop this is bordering on "Industrial".....

Bit more to follow if this works........
Cheers Ross

AlfaGTA · Aug 29, 2017

OK so the photos work...
So here are a few shots of the finished parts:

Finished rods...(the one not shown is in the machine.....Note bearing shells as well...Bronze with cast Babbitt finished to size and grooved for oil...

Some details:
Rod Length 12.5" c/c
Big end width of rod (without shell) 2 7/8"
Made to fit 2" rod journal (approx.)
Wrist Pin 1.110" with bronze bush.
Big End Bolts: ARP 3/8 24 special rod bolt.

Note figure "8" grooving in the Babbitt bearings...Groove done by an ancient hand operated machine...
"Nikles High Speed Groover"

Cheers Ross

rklopp · Aug 29, 2017

Way cool! I want to see the steps between the rectangles and the rods. What is the RPM and loading on the spindle motor with that facemill and cutting conditions? I have managed to stall my FP2NC spindle with a 2.5" high-positive facemill for aluminum, but probably spinning 4X or 5X faster than you were. Are the chips beyond blue or short of blue? I tend to think of blue steel chips as the sweet spot. Don't let those chips go down your collar or get behind your safety glasses - I have a nice mark on my neck as proof.

Mud · Aug 29, 2017

Beautiful cars. Would love to see photos of any other parts you have of it.

bryan_machine · Aug 29, 2017

Ross - the original's would have been forged, yes? Closed die forging by 1913? (Aren't we glad we have CNC so don't we have to rebuild forging tools or casting patterns to make 4 of something....)

Colt45 · Aug 29, 2017

Curious-how did you measure, draw and program?
Honed bores on the Berco?
Cool project, nice work!

Panza · Aug 30, 2017

Thanks for posting. Very interesting!
What I wonder is how you held the rods for machining of the back side.

AlfaGTA · Aug 30, 2017

Bit more information:

Connecting rod modeled in Solid Works.
CAM: SurfCam

Rods roughed out, caps fitted using ring dowels at all 4 bolts.
Rods sent out to be Shot Peened for stress relief. Assembled with setup Allen bolts.

Finished on big end and small end at one setting to get boeres parallel and to hold center to center length.

Big end bored using Sandvik "Capto" fine boring setup (love this tool)

Small end bored using UPA3 "Wally" head and brazed carbide tool.

Once the bores are finished the faces of the big ends are faced using the "Wally"...Makes them flat , cap and rod matched ...

Detail work after boring: chamfering bores. Finishing bevel on edges of bolt bosses etc.....

This is a "splash" fed rod and that is the reason for the cutouts ...that provide an exit for the oil to promote flow across the journal.

Final finish on the big end bores done by "dusting" the surface using a Sunnen hone...only reason to do this is that it gives a better finish smoothness
and hence better teat transfer for the bearing shells...

Other detail work" Fitting thin walled Bronze bushings to teh small end and fitting dowels to the cap to locate the shells.
Cheers Ross

AlfaGTA · Aug 30, 2017

Panza:
2and side machined using simple fixture:

Pocket for edge clamps...
Cheers Ross

Martin P · Aug 30, 2017

That groover is amazing!
Who would recognize that thing at a garage sale.

AlfaGTA · Aug 30, 2017

Martin is spot on....That groover is flat out ingenious.....simple direct and just works.

Cheers Ross

Mud · Aug 30, 2017

Martin P said:
That groover is amazing!
Who would recognize that thing at a garage sale.

+1. I've seen a lot of old auto machine and mechanic equipment, have never seen one of them.

Ross - Where did you get the ring dowels? I've been looking for a source with no luck.

triumph406 · Aug 30, 2017

Mud said:
I've been looking for a source with no luck.

I make mine on the lathe, but then I don't use that many

AlfaGTA · Aug 31, 2017

Mud said:
Ross - Where did you get the ring dowels? I've been looking for a source with no luck.

John:
I got the dowels form Carrillo... Won't find them on their web page...got to call them up.
CP-Carrillo
Cheers Ross

Mud · Aug 31, 2017

AlfaGTA said:
John:
I got the dowels form Carrillo... Won't find them on their web page...got to call them up.
CP-Carrillo
Cheers Ross

Thanks, that's what I've been finding. There are those used in certain applications in certain sizes, I have to bump into one that the size I want,find out who is using it and buy it from them. I can't buy them from a manufacturer without ordering a truckload and only need a hundred or so at a time.

morsetaper2 · Aug 31, 2017

Another source for ring dowels is your local Yamaha dealer. Lots of them used for alignment/assembling of the engine cases.

kustomizingkid · Aug 31, 2017

AlfaGTA said:
John:
I got the dowels form Carrillo... Won't find them on their web page...got to call them up.
CP-Carrillo
Cheers Ross

Speaking of Carrillo why didn't you just have them make the rods? Are these just too low production/oddball for them? Also could you speak a little about tolerancing/sizing and positioning when using ring dowels?

Beautiful work as always Ross.

AlfaGTA · Sep 1, 2017

Carrilo will make a short run of rods....Sure....But these were way outside the size range for their tooling and such...

Mostly folks like this don't want to even look at something this far out of their normal, just too much chance to loose money.
Hard to convince them that the cost is pretty open , just need the parts...in the end we often just do the work ourselves....better control, and we get exactly what we need.

As to the ring dowels: I try to hold position of both sides pretty close. (bore the holes, don't profile them) Program position within a tenth (CNC)
I make the one side at about net fit to a few tenths interference.....
Mating bore i give .001 (+) clearance.
With 4 dowels so close to each other there will be some tightness owing to slight position shifts.
Parts will tend to loosen up a bit with several cycles of being assembled.
Cheers Ross

SIP6A · Sep 1, 2017

AlfaGTA,

As others have said just beautiful work. How many hours do you have in the four rods?

rimcanyon · Sep 15, 2017

Ross, I noticed that you used a piece of ground stock between the workpiece and the rear vise jaws, spanning both vises. What is the purpose of that?

Amazing work...

Dave

FP4NC at work

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Hot Rolled

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