What's new
What's new

storm vulcan 280

26sutphen

Plastic
Joined
May 23, 2021
Hello, I am looking for the best way to upgrade my current cutter to achieve a better finish on a cast iron head for a mls gasket. I currently have carbide cutters (15) on a 16" wheel, the spindle rpm is roughly 80rpm and the feed speed is set by my motor rpm (860) driving the ball screw. If i go from a 3 5/8 drive pulley to a 6" i can get my spindle speed up to 132 rpm, Will this be enough to get me a fine mirror like finish with my current carbide cutters? or am i better off fitting a few cbn cutters on there and would my rpm be enough to cut smooth? Maybe somebody has already done this, very limited info on the 280 machine out there. Thank you for any replies guys.

Edit: so i dont screw up my cutters experimenting, what would the max rpm i could try with my current setup on a cast iron head? thank you
 
Last edited:
cbn cutter ! but 80 rpm ain't going to cut it and 132 won't so its new machine or copper coat spray on the gasket
 
You need 600 rpm and you could get it to work on that diameter. You only need one round cbn ith sharp edges , rounded ones wont work good , need too much depth of cut


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thank you for the replies, not sure i can slow down the head feed, the lead screw locks and a ball screw directly powered by the drive motor pulls the cutter head across the work. If i eliminate a set of pulleys and go direct drive i could get my speed up to 439 rpm, or i could get a smaller diameter cutter, most of the heads i work on aren't 16" wide. turbowerks recommended 600 rpm with a cbn, I think thats 2512 ft per minute, is that the minimum recommended ft per minute for a cbn? If I ad cutters does that number reduce or is that the speed needed for the cbn to work? If i can get this machine to do the job that would be cool, i like this old tank heavy and heavy duty...thank you again for the help.
 
Come on dude, this has been done 1000 times. VFD on the feed. Slows down the feed some to far surpass the requirements for MLS gaskets. I'll try to find a pix of mine. Easy Peasy
 
110 volt Motor with variable speed. Anybody that sell automotive machine shop equipment can help you with this.

IMG_0825.jpg
 
110 volt Motor with variable speed. Anybody that sell automotive machine shop equipment can help you with this.

View attachment 321752

there was a co. that was marketing one of them drive [not as nice as yours it looks to be bullet proof nice job]mite have been goodson . funny thing about that machine it was org made by a co. here in san diego called carlson and baloye and they sold it to storm . just like the storm lifter regrinding machine was made org by a co. called web they made some nice shop presses . owell that's life . and one more time thanks for showing us the greet job you did on that feed drive
 
79431D3D-CEEF-47D5-B80B-F6080F4A43B6.jpg IMG_0994.jpg

I did see the aftermarket feed motor to slow down the feed, mine is setup direct drive off the head, the screw stays still and a ball screw pulls the head across, i have no problem slowing down the feed but there no way to do it with the head in gear... There's not very much info or even a good picture of the 280 on the internet..i have a 6" pulley coming to speed it up, i just didn't want to screw up the cutters was why i was asking.. It leaves a decent finish was just looking for better. Thanks guys
 
Wow- 1st one of those I've run across- same head and cutter setup as a blockmaster or headmaster, except motion is linear rather than an arc. Regardless, All these out of the factory used a drive belt from the spindle to run the feed, giving only 1 feed rate. That pic above with the "VFD" is not a VFD but a DC motor with an integral gearbox and speed controller retrofit for the original factory drive belt. Pretty easy to rig up with a little thought to get the output speed you need.
 
I've never seen one either. The CBN conversion on Storm 85's has been talked to death on automotive machinist forums and I don't know of anyone who has successfully done it. IMO the bearings would not support the spindle rpm that CBN requires. Another thing I've never ever seen is a heavy machine on casters??!!
 
Those casters were from moving it from the warehouse it was in, only temporary.. i got it back to the shop, cleaned it up and did a test cut on the head to see what it had, ill have it in place and leveled in short order... Casters worked great for loading. I did get a 6" pulley and gained 50rpm and the head moves 4" in 1 minute, If i could turn the lead screw backwards it would cut the rpm of the ball screw... That cant be shut off or disconnected, I see 2" per minute recommended. That will be my goal, if anybody has a link for a power feed that hooks directly to the lead screw i would appreciate it. Thanks again for the replies
 
The casters are temporary, That's how i rescued it from the warehouse... i cleaned it up and made that test cut on a scrap head. I got the 6" pulley and picked up 50 rpm. i also measured feed rate and its at 4" per minute, i see recommended is 2" per minute or less.. ill try for that, i cant disconnect my feed motor but if i turn lead screw slow it would slow everything down (its locked while the head moves), any links to a motor that will work on my machine would be great. Ill have those casters off soon and it will be in its final resting place and leveled. Thanks for the replies
 








 
Back
Top