When I was 10,my father told me, "son, with a mill and a lathe, if you got the will, THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY!" I've used that tidbit of knowledge my whole life, and got to apply it to HAMBANDYs coulmn drop. Here's a photo of one of the blueprints I drew in AutoCad. I added a hinge to it, but you'll see that soon enough. The problem with having a manual mill vs a CNC, is cutting radius's when you don't have a rotary table. Autocad could tell me where to bore a hole, creating a radius to transition from the round to the angled, and I could have bored holes every 5 degrees and filed it into a round shape, but I wanted this thing to look sweet, not looking like it was cut out with a butcher knife NO BUTCHERS (logo from Prestige mold and die) After that, I roughed in the round by 45'ing the corners off and roughed in the angles, then established the radii in the center; Once both sides were finished, I bored 2 holes (3/8"dia.) 5/8" apart, on center. Then I had to "find a way" to cut the 3"outside dia, and a way to blend the angles into the radius that flows into the 3"dia. My solution was simple, make a rotory table! I used a plate of 1/2" alum clamped in the mill vise, and didn't remove it til I was finished with both sides of the drop I used the lathe to turn up a "bearing" for the drop to spin on, put 1/2" shoulder bolts in exact positions to act as "stops" that held the drop at the required angle, so I could finish cut the angles. I bolted a lever onto the drop, put my cutter in the right location and SLOWLY pulled it around to cut the 3" dia.(makes a groovy pattern) Then I clamped it down while against the stops, and cut the angles.
At this time, I found out I made the coulmn hole 1/8" too big in Dia. No problem, just spin up a shouldered coller to fill the gap. I slit it so it will collapse onto the column and theres (2) 10/32" set screws that hold it in place/clamp it. Then I cut the drop into 2 pieces to create the hinge. Milled out the center of 1 half, the outside edges of the other. I cut a 3/8" shoulder bolts head and threads off to use as the hinge pin. A set screw holds it locked in place. Did some clearancing and put it together. another view; I also added a hole for a key switch. Here's where I did the work; check out the tunnel ram thats going on my 351C motor!!!!!! A big thanks to Jason of Bear Metal Kustoms for letting me build this on his equiptment All told I prob. spent 75 man hours designing, machining and resting on the couch at the shop between doses of pain killers, but I got it done It was the most satisfying job I've ever machined, because I had to improvise, and think of solutions to problems that arose, but mostly cause it kept me on my feet toughing it out, instead of laying on the couch all day going "WAH, MY BACK HURTS" I did all this for you Andy, cause I wanted to contribute to your first car, in the same way as your strength and courage has contributed to mine. Since I started this project a couple months ago, I've not stopped "toughing it out", now that I have my little buddy HAMBANDY helping to keep me on my feet, nothings gonna stop me now! Hang in there buddy, you'll be driving that tudor in no time Eric
Nice job improvising without a rotary table. I have a rotary table and I have to say there are definitely worth the money.
I would now take off those sharp corners and hand finish it, but thats me .......great effort ...its nice to see machinery and handmade parts, love it.....more?
Nice job, and nice improvising to cut those outside curves. I have access to an old Bridgeport mill at work, but the rotary table weighs about 150 pounds and I'm too lazy to move it, so if I have to make a part like that, I scribe the curve I want on the face and rough it to shape on the mill or on a bandsaw to within about 1/16" of the line and use a big belt sander to cut the rest of it away until I'm right up to the scribed line, then use a deburring wheel to smooth away the rough sanding marks. For inside curves though, I have to resort to big files (half round or big rat tail files). Your method is a lot more elegant though! Pretty clever idea. Thanks.
Yeah, it looks really nice like it is if you're going for the modern high tech look, but if you're trying to make it look more traditional like an old cast aluminum part, you could round over all the sharp corners and sand it smooth and buff it out. That recessed area might look cool painted the color of the dash. You could probably replace those allen head cap screws with some set screws so they would disappear. It doesn't take much pinch to hold the column steady, so set screws would be fine. Really nice work! It's sure satisfying work making a part like that from scratch. That's something you can be proud of!
That is a killer piece, a one of a kind! Awsome simply awsome. Andy was pumped to hear about all the parts for his car (during hospital visit Sat nite), and he can not wait to be able show you guys his car. Thanks so much for making a truely a one of a kind drop, it is awsome. Leon
I askd Eric about the sanding, rounding etc... He was going to let the builders do what they want with it...Once they figure mounting etc... they could decide how to do the final finish so it fits in with other parts of the car... Jason.
I've done large rads that way,calculating the hole positions with Trig every few degrees.Since the design was symmetrical, I only need to calculate the locations on one half,then use the same numbers on the other half. Using a larger diameter cutter,and more holes,makes a smoother surface,which needs less filing.I spent less than 1 minute with a file to make them look perfect. A digital readout makes the process MUCH easier.
And i'll help I can hardly pick up my junk, but I'd help move a rotary table Thanks for the kind words fellas, it means a lot to me. The (2) S.H.C.S.'s need to be set screws, I just didn't have any at the time. The finish is like Jason (BMK) said, up to Andy to decide on. I didn't want to give him something that looked m*** produced and perfect, like some goldchainers purchased billet part, so I left some machining marks in it. I would've made it out of copper, but I couldn't afford the 1"x4"x9" piece that it took to build it. Plus I already had this piece of 6061 T-6 aluminum on hand, so I went with it, like any resourceful hot rodder from ANY era would have. I used what I had and turned it into something cool for Andy. Yes. a digital readout would have made this go a little bit faster, but I don't have that on the mill at Bear Metal Kustoms........YET!
It was a pleasure to build this drop, so much so that I might build myself one too! I'll have to change a few things to make it fit my car, and to keep andys unique, but it'll be *****in!
Guys, I'm just getting started! I'm starting the build of my dream car, that I've owned for 3 years but haven't been healthy enough physically to build it. I was heavy into rock crawling before I hurt my back; (I drove it out of this parking spot ) Now that I have to take it easy, I've gotten more into hotrods. I've always been into them, but couldn't afford both, and I chose 4 wheeling/camping. A bad spine doesn't mix well with rock crawling, so now it's street cars. This is the body I've got to start with; This is how it'll look when finished, maybe???? There will be dozens of hand machined parts, and I'll do tech on ALL of them. So yes, there will be more!
Great! I am just getting started with a lathe and mill in my garage, I'd love to see more automotive-related machining how-to.
since were on the subject of rotary tables, I picked up a spin index and have been using it a lot. The wheel is degreed 0 to 360 and you can make some neat stuff. These are on e-bay and are not too expensive.
Richard, if you have ANY questions on how to machine ANYTHING, I'd love to help. I'm a great teacher, and could prob learn a thing or two from you as well. Lets share some skills GREAT looking pedal, did you make it on the spin index-er? Do they come with a 3 or 4 jaw chuck, or just a collet? How's the quality of the chinese made product? Good enough to be within a few thousands? Your input is greatly appreciated Eric
Yes, I made the pedal using the spin index. the quality seems ok, I have never measured to the thousandths....since I am using it for simple parts like you see here. It comes with a 5c collet, but I bought the 3 jaw chuck you see in the pic to hold my round stock. Since we are dealing with degrees I dont think the 1000th's are important. The handle on the back of the index seems to be the only cheesy part, I never use it, I grab the degree wheel and spin it directly to the point I need.
Way to go!! There is nothing like being able to make your own parts with machine tools. My Bridgeport is equipted with a readout and power table and they do save some time. I've got a small rotary table that's invaluable and large one that takes a couple good men to hoist it on the Bridgeport so it doesn't get used a whole lot. I've been looking for one of those hydraulic die carts to store it on but there haven't been any auctions around her for awhile. I agree with your decision to leave it mill finished for now and let the final appearance be determined by the overall theme of the car. Andy is going to have one neat ride when the smoke clears and it's ready to drive. Frank
Thanks. I am just putting the finishing touches on a 9" Southbend restoration project, almost ready to use it to finish my hot rod! Before: After: I should be finished ***embling it tonight.
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