I'm a manufacturing engineer and have 25 yrs in aerospace machining. I also have a degree in machine tool tech. This was a nice lesson in setup. This really is becoming a lost art. Thanks for sharing
@@kularace7351 - Not at all, it shows how different training and experience allows people to perform different jobs. - You do yours I will do mine and we all work well together. (Experts appreciate a good lesson in setup.) The real thing is, most trades people don't really have much of an idea what an Engineers job is supposed to be (yes we know most engineers end up in marketing, sales or management, not real engineering) - it isn't figuring out the practicalities of how to set up a machining process (or perform such bad-ass technical welding), that is why we have skilled trades people, lets not tread on each other's toes in the workplace.
The only thing that irks me in this video is Steve chasing the spark plug holes by hand and with a tap. A thread chaser sure but not a tap. I know he’s a pro but that surprised me.
$100 an hour is a bargain for that attention to detail and quality, and pride in workmanship! I’m am blown away every time I see a video like this from Steve! I’m not a machinist, but have always been interested and intrigued by the processes. Thank you so much Steve for taking time from your busy schedule to bring us along with you! Favorite channel on RUclips for me by far!
I miss doing manual work like this. Prototyping and manual machining is something I could do all day every day and never get bored. Bambi vs Motorcycle = wheelchair life now. Can't get a wrench on the top of a bridgeport any more sadly. This was a fun trip down memory lane. Nicely done on the setup, a lot of shops seemed to be afraid of "losing square" on their vertical mills rather than using the machine's full capabilities. Your status in my head just went from "Engine Builder/Machinist" to "Tool & Die Maker" that likes to build engines and race for a living. Your humility in light of this show of competence is a testament to your character.
Worked at a Steele mill, and the welder would weld the shaft that drove our stacker. He could cut plate steel with a torch like a plasma table. He even put a hole the size you require for a bolt or whatever. Respect given for good welders.
As a welder. That is an extremely hard weld to pull off. And it is very well done. You can tell by how wide it is the tradesman beveled and preped it correctly. That Plus the amount of machine work. I'm curious on how much these heads are worth. Well done to all parties involved in the repair. Epic work
Mine used were $1500 and had seat damage on one hole, have reciepts on them with port work, titanium intake, inconel exhaust valves and O rings installed 7yrs ago were $5965
how to spot a engineer on video's like this.. they all start there comment "as a engineer"... amazing work Steve! always fun seeing a channel that takes pride in there work and customer service.
I am stunned by the quality of that tig welding, absolutely wonderful! I gotta wonder how this amount of damage was done though. Your videos like this are an example to the wood ducks on why it cost so much to get your stuff machined. It is the detailed setup work that costs, as you say, the actual machining is relatively quick.
Tough crowd! He clearly explained the most efficient way of fixing this head and he did it. As a 30 year machinist I see he did that! Keep on keepin on Steve!!
Worked at a engine shop for years as a machinist. Worked on lots of big dog and large bore space heads and blocks. Welded and fixed lots of heads along the way. (Boost is real) It’s good to see that some people can elevate the skill and ingenuity involved to fix things.
$400 is more than fair for 4 hours of your time. Spent my working years machine and programming. Very satisfying work. Thanks for your time. I enjoyed watching and hearing you explain it.
This was very very interesting. Reminds me of my Boss that passed away 2 years ago. Older gentleman was teaching me how to do this stuff on even older equipment. Thanks for sharing this!
Customer Service A+ ... so many builders / manufacturers would have passed on helping out a customer - Not Steve Morris - You are the man! sure he paid for the labor ( a reasonable fee too), and we got a lesson (or in the case for many of us a refresher) - Good Stuff - I wear your merch proudly and use your parts - thanks
Very smart Steve you really know your stuff. Before I did my boilermaker trade I did engine reconditioning trade I did 2 years and got screwed over. I started on head work then moved onto grinding crankshafts now that was a great experience I loved it. I definitely made more money as a Boilermaker welder intermediate Rigger 🙏👨🏭🇦🇺 love your channel mate.
Forty years as a manual Toolmaker/ development engineer here. I love Bridgeport's, great machines. A lot of this stuff is a lost art now. I learned from old boys who were coming up for retirement as I was doing my apprenticeship. 80,000+ hours on machines teaches you a lot, but one of the best parts of the job is that you can never know everything and that keeps it interesting.
That’s why SM is different ..most bosses couldn’t hang a picture in the office and ole Steve 100% did this as right as possible for a quick and dirty! From a card holding tool&die maker who does this stuff 60hrs a week you got much respect from us working guys.
Steve does not run the business by himself, he has a business manager to take care of " boss " type stuff. Basically , Steve is a highly skilled employee .
@@bobroberts2371be interested in your source on that, all I've seen points otherwise. Besides, the SM motto seems too dedicated to seem like a "boss" run operation as opposed to expertise and passion. Sure maybe he got an editor 😂
@@wesley8599 In a vid from about a year ago, Steve introduced someone as the business manager. A business manager runs the day to day operations like paying bills, deciding if the company can afford new equipment, looking ahead for new business opportunities and such. With the size of Steve's business, it is impossible for him to build engines and operate the generic nuts and bolts of the business.
I think I would have made a 6~8 inch mandrill to thread into the spark plug hole. That way you could run the quilt up and down with an indicator and zero in the angles in a jiffy. But hey theres more than one way to skin a cat. And job done in the end! Earned a subscription from me!
Hey Steve. Great explaination of a repair job and why it costs what it does. I have a small hobby sized machine shop and do a bunch of " hey can you make this right?" projects for people. The guys that hang out and watch ( yup price goes up for that) are always amazed on what goes into the proper setup especially for multistep repairs. You'd be surprised how many bearing race locations for bicycle pedals I have to bush and weld.
Thank you for showing that. I used to work at a high performance motorcycle machine shop. We made cranks, rods, clutch baskets, alk kinds of stuff. Most peopke have no clue what it takes to do this stuff!
he started it straight with the mill for almost 1/2" meaning if he continues tapping it goes straight or straight enough . if it would go in under a angle those threads would get recut and change shape but its a spark-plug hole in a safe'd welded up head bet his result is well within spec. keep in mind every extra setup cost extra time , finishing cutting a thread for a spark-plug this way is good enough if you can recut a buggered up spark-plug tread by hand without any setup i don't think the thread is to critical nor is the tread the sealing part its only to hold the spark-plug the gasket seals it so all is fine no need for a follower which wouldn't fit in the back of the ratchet in the first place .
Fascinating. That weld job is amazing, and the customer is lucky to have such an accommodating and skilled engine builder. I would have been inclined to make a little spark plug piece like you did, but just make the diameter to fit a collet and adjust the head until the piece slid into the collet. I think that would certainly get you close enough.
I've literally seen guys stack two tilt tables to get an angle simply to avoid the inherent spindle bearing droop caused by angling the Bridgeport head. 😂 Yeah a compound tilt table or a couple of them can save your life and sanity here. I've always been taught never to use the head tilt on a Bridgeport. Goes back to ww2 when alot of the equipment was worn out but parts still needed to be made.
Steve, this is why you are where you are, amazing attention to detail, customer service, sharing your knowledge and at the same time being modest! Well done Sir!
5 axis CNC with a probe will find that vector angle easy using your round fixture. Then it’s pretty easy to spin it for x-y location. All down hill after that. But on a manual mill theres way more satisfaction😊
Hey, if you don't know of Abom79 on RUclips, you'd probably like his content. Dudes got a American Pacemaker lathe, wanna say about 18ft bed and 54" total swing? In his home shop.. He must do some mining refurb type stuff as a day job, he has made a 6" I'd or thereabouts AN hydraulic fitting from scratch. He's definitely got the technique of "yeah, I know technically it CAN BE DONE, but seeing someone Just knock out a manual machined custom AN fitting, dude.... it's one of my favorite channels to vibe out to, when car content is lacking." Plus, Abom79 has some gorgeous old school hand tooling, like a dang near 3ft long rap wrench, for tapping 3inch something threads. Shop is immaculate and organized too. God it's so dang mesmerizing. Oh, and AvE is great on RUclips, if you are more of the "grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't." Type.
I am very surprised you guys do not have a set of Gage pins. Grab the largest pin that fits snug in the spark plug hole (put a small zip tie on the pin to keep it from sliding down) and just zero off that. You could have also ran the indicator up and down the pin using the quill to quickly check squareness and verify your vector.
Wouldn't running it up and down a pin to check for squareness require you to be exactly on the centreline of the pin, which would be difficult. Looks easier the way he did it to me.
@r1learner178 the indicator should move within the Indicol (or whatever he's using). Just physically move the indicator to the high point of the pins radius, run the quill up and down. Then turn the spindle 90 degrees, physically move the indicator to the high point of the pin and run the quill up and down again. It's very quick and easy to do. The centerline of the machine spindle axis and the centerline of the pin axis can literally be inches apart (or offset) from each other and it will still tell you if the vectors are in line. The pin just needs checked in two 90 degree quadrants is all that matters
@@harryjohnson2 So when you run it down the pin to you still have to check it is on the high point of the pin at the bottom? Somehow I don't think it was as easy getting it just right as he made out, there would have been a bit of backwards and forwards about it.
@r1learner178 the indicator tip only needs to be close to the high point on pin, u just eyeball that. I was basically stating he could have saved the time it took to turn that little piece in the lathe and just grabbed a precision pin instead. The process I would use is, Find a pin that fits snug, get the spindle and pin close to inline, tram up and down pin, turn spindle 90 degrees and tram up and down pin again. That will determine if your set up is good. At that point you move the mill table X & Y to get the pin and spindle concentric to each other. That is your 'zero'. It actually goes pretty quick.
People don't understand that machinist and fabricators were and always will be the backbone of this country. I have challenged people to name an object, any object that they have laid their hands on from the time they got up in the morning, that didn't start out with a machining procedure done by a machinist or fabricator. To this day no one has met that challenge. That was a great video Steve, keep them coming.
No kidding there has to be a hell of a story behind that. unless by breaking he means someone forgot to drain the water and it froze and cracked but i can’t see that much damage that way
As I watched you run the tap out of the new hole I noticed that you had a tool to center the mill head all the time . The 14 mm tap is more accurate than the tool you made and you would not have to spend any time making a tool . Hindsight is always 20/20 .
I worked at a automotive stamping plant as their first CNC machinist at that location. HUGE company! Anyway, we had to change the head angle on our mills constantly when doing manual work. And THEN … had to indicate it back to zero! Over and Over! Fun stuff! 😁
*Steve Morris and his son Kyle Morris are extremely talented and smart! They'd be the first people I would be looking for if I wanted any type of engine, not just an SMX!*
I thought that this was an old April Fools Day video. Is this the last AFR Ford head in existence with life enhancing sentimental value? I am surprised the head wouldn’t be replaced rather than repaired. Awesome skills to repair it nonetheless!
I'm a manual machinist. Spent many years in a job shop and now I'm machining at a nuke plant, as well as my own personal shop. Videos like this are great for the trade. Not everything is done on a CNC like a lot of people assume. A lot of the time for one off repairs or quick fixes manual is king. Takes a certain person to do this work.
In his defense he was making a pretty basic dowel so why over complicate things? Additionally, the people who master a manual lathe are on a whole different level. I grew up in a machine shop and later became employed in that shop along with a couple others. The guys (and one gal) that ran manual machines were artists. Always perfectionists that I admired. A true dying breed.
You can make a simple dowel without machining into the jaws of the chuck. RIP that chuck. :-( I’d also want to indicate the part in in adjustable 3 jaw or 4 jaw Chuck when I flipped it over. And then I’d avoid flipping it more times than I needed to because of that.
Reminds me of when we used to machine injection mold side actions in manual machines. You have to think a few steps ahead. Ever use a tooling ball? The endmill in the drill chuck was always a favorite trick to see.
Dumb question, could you thread a tap into the other spark plug hole, then tighten the chuck of the Bridgeport onto it, set up your head up at that angle, set your 0,0,0, unthread the tap while it’s still locked into the chuck by hand then move over the bore spacing at that point for your drilling. Basically use a tap to find your start point reference
Great job Steve. I use same style bushing, except I drill through it and use drill rod or pilot to visually set angle and mearsure between holes. I can also check with co-axial indicator for center and alignment. Next time I video it for my channel. Thanks again.
Steve, the degree and depth of the knowledge that you have is something that has taken you years of experience to acquire. It takes a certian type of problem solving mind to be able to come to these conclusions and create the solution that you have created. I'm sure hope that the customer appreciates the time, effort, energy and brain power, along with all the tools to achieve it! As Always, May God Bless you and yours! 😇
Very nice presentation...I remember those days of working through a setup...Not a simple operation to do something correctly...I used to have to explain why this sort of process justifies the cost...What you did was phenomenal and hopefully your client shows their gratitude for a job done correctly and cost effectively!
Bhj has a nice rollover fixture for a Bridgeport. I've found on making locating pins on the lathe it's best to do all the turning in one operation to maintain concentricity easily. Also put a 3/4" stub om it so it just goes in a collet on the mill and you can use the pin like a go no go pin then you're ready to indicate usually gets you within a few thousands and .5 degree for a faster hole location pickup.
Cool seeing a Bridgeport machine used again. So many machines are being sold to private shop owners only to collect dust. I worked on one in the late 60's making aircraft parts for the F-11 fighter jets. Those machines were the start of our modern CNC programs.
My first "good job" at 18 was in a machine shop. Its FUN doing low volume stuff. Started on the sander then drill press, radial arm drill, bridgeport, vertical and horizontal mills, then to CNC 3 and 4 axis. Learned a lot and went into CAD/CAM from there. Very interesting work if you have the aptitude.
As a civilian I have no idea what you listed . But good on you my guy I'm sure you had a satisfaction everytime you seen a product knowing you machined that product
Would love to see a picture of what that head looked like b4 the repairs! I’m trying to figure out if it torched it all the way across or if it cracked the head across that corner! A video clip of the engine coming apart would be a bonus as well!
Steve showing why he is who he is. Man that was so amazing to watch. I think $100 in an hour is a steal to have YEARS of experience just make this seem like it was another day. love this
That was cool. Like the precision work. Brought head back to life. And myself. Don’t no much about welding. That looked amazing. How that could even be fixed is something.
Thinking a 14-1.25 bolt with the head cut off and indicating / sweeping off the shank in x,y, and z, would have been my choice, but, your job - your shop. Nice work all the same. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah but bolts and unthreaded shanks and threads aren’t always perfectly concentric. But I get what you mean. I was thinking a little stub like he made but single point the threads onto it to fit into the spark plug hole. But I would have actually bored the hole after center drilling it so it was more precise (the hole in the little stub). Then setup the mill head like he did and throw a collet in the Bridgeport with a piece of drill rod or some other precision ground stock or a dowel pin whatever I had around that matched the size hole bored in the stub piece (actually you’d take a couple thou of one or the other piece cause of the next step). The you could play with you angle adjustments and table x and y till when lowering the quill it just slid in. Also could have used same method to get initial setting close by positioning it on either side of the stub screwed into spark plug hole and watched how it lay against it. But Steve was just doing the same thing “picking up” the angles and center of his stub piece with the dti! Kind of how you can pick up an existing taper on something you have chucked in the lathe and adjust your compound to match that taper. Same concept!
23:00 Use a tap bit to cut new threads, and a thread chaser bit to clean established threads. There is a difference and using a cutter tap can weaken established threads.
*_REALLY_* good Welder, right there! I was watching the swarf come off the drill & it looked *CLEAN* like it was billet material... I used to work on Bridgeport machines like the one in the video, plus these old *DECKEL* milling machines! A Facebook friend asked me a couple of years back if he should buy a Lathe or Milling machine. He went with Lathe, even though I suggested a Mill - he's regretting it now. ✌
Well done... you're attention to detail is why you're successful & customers sing your praises. What's w/ the 4 exhaust flange bolt holes per port? Never seen the like.
Steve your skills as a machinist never cease to amaze me! You must be a mathematician or a savant to be able to work out the math of all the different angles like you do!
Nice video, I should run it as a loop for my pia customers One of the reason I don't allow walk ins. They all seem to start with: "Just throw it in the machine and push the button..." Setup , dbl or triple checking what you plan on doing takes time, because if you rush the setup and dial in, your probably worse off than you when you started, or worse loose the part Great showing what happens when your geometry wont allow you to just raise the knee after your initial dial in Simple little plugs made to fit in a known diameter location are easier to make than struggling thru a bumpy hole
Years ago I worked for NAPA in the rebuilder head department. One of my job was to straighten the heads because they are all warped because of heat. Did a lot of honing to lol.
As a cnc programmer and a manual machinist into trying to run a company in my free time out of manufacturing firearms i absolutely love this it’s an incredible video with an awesome amount of knowledge and experience
I work at Ruger and wish we did manual stuff like this I think we have one milling machine that isn't automatic and it's just used to make work fixtures
When you are trying to indicate a hole the term iis Tram or Blake . Check out Blake indicators there a must !. Also two angles are called compounded angle. Love the show Steve. Robert Russell (retired aerospace machinist.
Nice work and also thanks for giving people some idea of the amount of work that goes into some of these things. I'm also a machinist and my pet peeve is when someone brings in something with a broken bolt stuck in it and says can you just drill this out for me real quick. Can I drill it out? Yep. Will it be real quick? Probably not, unless you want it completely fucked
Loved the video..! Maybe not this one but , if the welding crossed the fire ring line.. I was always told no weld will be as hard as the heat treatment on the head. . So the soft area will move and the gasket will fail ..in the weld area.....love to hear Steve's expert opinion on this ...
Well done... you're attention to detail is why you're successful & have customers singin' your praises. What's w/ the 4 exhaust flange bolt holes per port? Never seen the like.
Wee challenge for the day! By the way there is a way you can use a finger clock and see it all way round. Get yourself a piece of silver steel that is a good fit on the wee dovetail clamp that comes with the set. Now bend the silver steel hot to about 75 degrees. If you keep the leg the clamp attaches to it short, it allows small dia clock ups or longer leg bigger dia. You can make variations to keep them compact and not loose height(quill travel) When installed properly you should be looking down on clock face if your spindle axis is vertical. So what your making is like a broken cigarette. Be careful you have full size silver steel or else when you clamp the wee dovetail to your clock nose it will crush it before getting tight on silver steel. Sorry description is tricky. Have a play and you will get the idea.
An easy way to get it really close is to make a threaded plug similar to what you indicated off of. Thread it in the plug hole and unthreaded portion can be chucked in a 3 jaw or collet. Basically let the head hang from the threaded stud while chucked in the quill. Then you can bump it around till it sits flat on the bed and clamp down. Use the plug you made and get it dialed.
This was a cool one, and really made me think about my grandfather that was a tool and die man for Dodge then GM right after he was B17 Tail-gunner during WWII (flew 13 missions from England, went down over English Channel returning on the 13th, parachuted into a tree breaking leg…total BAMF👍👊🇺🇸🤘). Thanks for sharing!!
This is the difference between production machinist and a master machinist! I understand the basic principles but am unable after my brain damage, borderline beforehand, but no chance now! Love the video Steve the how and why’s awesome!
Tilting the head on a Bridgeport accurately is a major PITA. You have to tighten it down fully after each change. It does take a long time. Then another hour to re zero it before the next job.
Good Video showing this. Also being a machinist that started on Manual and now run mostly CNC stuff, the only part you didn't talk about is the hour it takes to realign the head to the table and then indicate the vise in. That is the part that you never get paid for, but you have to do every time you turn the head.
Precision grind blocks that fit in the t slots for the vice, so you can shove on the vice to seat it against them, tighten your bolts, and your vice is square
@@josephschaefer9163 I do agree that works, dowel pins work well too. Most of my equipment is old and there is always some fine tuning to get everything perfect. Plus, most of my setups I'm always moving the vise all over as most my work is one off custom stuff. Thanks for the input!
Ran across your video searching for videos to remove a broken injector hold down bolt in a 6.7 ford diesel. Kit cost over $500 and you have to remove the valve cover. Some people take the head to the machine shop. Me? I bought 2 long shaft lefty drill bits, 2 extractors, and a tap. Took 3 hrs to get the old bolt out, and rethread. Then installed the injector and continued putting it back together. Made me wonder why people buy the $500 kit when it cost me less than $25 and 3 hrs labor. It would've taken 3 hrs just to get the valve cover off and use the $500 tool. I asked the diesel shop where I bought the fuel system from and they didn't really have an answer other than take the valve cover off. I feel like shops are going the long route to drive cost up and make more money. My thought? Get it done as quickly as I can to get to the next vehicle/job. The same companies always have something that need fixed. I'm sure at times the only option is to remove the head but why if you don't have to. 3 hrs removing a broken stud is time/money well worth it.
Forgive me if I am incorrect, but I do believe this is a video in the practical application of dead reckoning. Y'know, that old "I'd locate it off of this, but that's missing, the thing needs a metric die not tap, I have X size endmills no Y size ones, so I'm gonna make the thing, to measure the thing, to extrapolate that out to a true location to finally lock the part down, then ginger carefulling not rush the actual final machine work, otherwise we get to do it all over again." I find myself wishing I had just a dang clapped out Bridgeport at home in the garage, or a tiny little toolroom lathe, cuz sometimes boy, welding and grinding only gets ya so close. Truly, Steve, you are a master of masters, it shows in the speed and dexterity of thought you display when working through a particular problem. Car guys, gun guys, computer builders/programmers, were all the same sort of intense person. After all, can you really ever claim you truly own something until you BREAK it break it, fabricobble it together to get through the trip or to get home, then really pull your hair out doing sometimes insanely meticulous hand work, the stuff where if you miss half a thousandth, Shew, it may just not survive anyhow. Either way, that weld 8s gorgeous, I wonder if that was some big old tombstone welder? Nah. Couldn't be, right? Cuz the aluminum? I get to just crank a 1960s era Lincoln up to about 400amps(if ever needed) where I work, and it'll weld, it won't be super pretty, but the dang thing is about 4.5ft tall! Hums like it's really just shorting the 3 phase power to ground, I like that welder. It can damn near weld wood to steel, I swear. We keep it next to the harbor freight bench belt sander, the harbor freight air tool graveyard, and kitty corner to the ancient 1950s era Bridgeport, what with the custom worn in 180thou per .010" travel, and it swaps directions and amounts when traversing the table back. It's uh.... accurate when it's locked in place. Can't do too much accurate milling these days, not unless you can spare about . 090" give or take. Beleive it or not, we make aerospace grade twist drills, carbide tipped and everything. Just, don't really have the super accurate machines to replicate work like this here. Indicating a piece into machine is one of my favorite things to do. Setups are fun, unless indicating fixtures and whatnot drive ya insane. Anyhow, what was I saying? Oh yeah, similar type of high functioning stubborn mixed with knowledge tempered by a couple decades of time into wisdom. Just knowing exactly what tool to grab or where the indicators/dial indicators are and which are still accurate, that saves so much time.... Give a man a welder and 5 degrees of freedom and he will weld-a-chine your dreams to life, I guarantee it.
I use a bushing in the thread to hold a valve guide pilot to indicate for proper angle and position. If you want a killer rollover fixture, check out the cp motorworks fixture.
In High school, I would get in trouble for doing mechanical drawing in say english class, and wasn't allow to have a straight edge and protractor on the desk. So I got mad, did each degree in rise over run trig functions to find it was already in the back of the math book, memorized it, and with two sheets of graph paper I could accurately draw my intake manifold idea and not get in trouble, all so I would then get kicked out of class where I could draw in peace. The angle-rise over run thing reminded me of that, good memory. Thanks for the info and video!
Nothing better than seeing the man with his name on the building getting it done. 👊🏻🤘🏻
Gotta love it
🤙
Facts
FACTS. That's the reason why in first place his name is on the building 💯
Hell yeah. Customer must be happy to see that, on top of whoever did the mint weld repair.
As a manual machinist, I absolutely love this video. Haha. I wish I could come and work for you. Industrial manufacturing has gotten boring lately.
I assume no pun intended. “Boring”. 😊
@@ckane510 😂😂😁
As I’m reading this I’m running a batch of a thousand parts. I’d love to work on parts like this
I subcontract all my CNC cutting. All of my machines are manual and fun to run.
@Luckieoutdoors as I'm reading this I'm scratching my head wondering where TF all of my programs went between last night and this morning... -_-
I'm a manufacturing engineer and have 25 yrs in aerospace machining. I also have a degree in machine tool tech. This was a nice lesson in setup. This really is becoming a lost art. Thanks for sharing
Steve is dang sharp. HS Education.
goes to show how useful a degree is when it comes to practical execution huh
@@kularace7351 - Not at all, it shows how different training and experience allows people to perform different jobs. - You do yours I will do mine and we all work well together. (Experts appreciate a good lesson in setup.)
The real thing is, most trades people don't really have much of an idea what an Engineers job is supposed to be (yes we know most engineers end up in marketing, sales or management, not real engineering) - it isn't figuring out the practicalities of how to set up a machining process (or perform such bad-ass technical welding), that is why we have skilled trades people, lets not tread on each other's toes in the workplace.
The only thing that irks me in this video is Steve chasing the spark plug holes by hand and with a tap. A thread chaser sure but not a tap. I know he’s a pro but that surprised me.
I am a manual machinist working on dirt bike engines. This doesn't seem intimidating at all. Need to get a milling machine home soon.
$100 an hour is a bargain for that attention to detail and quality, and pride in workmanship! I’m am blown away every time I see a video like this from Steve! I’m not a machinist, but have always been interested and intrigued by the processes.
Thank you so much Steve for taking time from your busy schedule to bring us along with you! Favorite channel on RUclips for me by far!
You'll pay more than that at the average repair shop for routine work on your daily driver if you can't do it yourself
@@joemuncie9187 shop labor around here is $125/hr and its no telling if you get a technician or a parts changer
I miss doing manual work like this. Prototyping and manual machining is something I could do all day every day and never get bored. Bambi vs Motorcycle = wheelchair life now. Can't get a wrench on the top of a bridgeport any more sadly. This was a fun trip down memory lane. Nicely done on the setup, a lot of shops seemed to be afraid of "losing square" on their vertical mills rather than using the machine's full capabilities. Your status in my head just went from "Engine Builder/Machinist" to "Tool & Die Maker" that likes to build engines and race for a living. Your humility in light of this show of competence is a testament to your character.
Worked at a Steele mill, and the welder would weld the shaft that drove our stacker. He could cut plate steel with a torch like a plasma table. He even put a hole the size you require for a bolt or whatever.
Respect given for good welders.
Good Welders are becoming extinct.
That weld.... Wow!! Nice machining too, would love to see the whole job
Steve, the fact that you can do this is insane, the fact that you will do it to help a customer is far beyond!!!
I mean he is getting paid to do it lol
@@Jschwanger89 insane people do stuff to make money!!! 😂
As a welder. That is an extremely hard weld to pull off. And it is very well done. You can tell by how wide it is the tradesman beveled and preped it correctly. That Plus the amount of machine work. I'm curious on how much these heads are worth. Well done to all parties involved in the repair. Epic work
If I recall 2500-3000 pair..before port work.
Mine used were $1500 and had seat damage on one hole, have reciepts on them with port work, titanium intake, inconel exhaust valves and O rings installed 7yrs ago were $5965
@@young11984 wow. No wonder they went for the repair.
how to spot a engineer on video's like this.. they all start there comment "as a engineer"... amazing work Steve! always fun seeing a channel that takes pride in there work and customer service.
I am stunned by the quality of that tig welding, absolutely wonderful! I gotta wonder how this amount of damage was done though. Your videos like this are an example to the wood ducks on why it cost so much to get your stuff machined. It is the detailed setup work that costs, as you say, the actual machining is relatively quick.
Tough crowd! He clearly explained the most efficient way of fixing this head and he did it. As a 30 year machinist I see he did that! Keep on keepin on Steve!!
Worked at a engine shop for years as a machinist. Worked on lots of big dog and large bore space heads and blocks. Welded and fixed lots of heads along the way. (Boost is real) It’s good to see that some people can elevate the skill and ingenuity involved to fix things.
$400 is more than fair for 4 hours of your time. Spent my working years machine and programming. Very satisfying work. Thanks for your time. I enjoyed watching and hearing you explain it.
$400 for the work and the subject for a RUclips video. Maybe it was definitely worth the time.
400 to pay the bills he said, not pay for his expertise. That's where we come in ;)
Great job Steve. Glad to see someone else still uses a Bridgeport. These machines were used to build the modern machines.
This was very very interesting. Reminds me of my Boss that passed away 2 years ago. Older gentleman was teaching me how to do this stuff on even older equipment. Thanks for sharing this!
If anyone has ever deserved 500k subscribers its you Steve thanks as always God Bless you and the Gang and Dewy : )
Pretty good machinist problem solving skills right there. Sometimes you have to make other things to do a job properly. 👍🏻
Thanks for making it happen for me guys. Give me a follow for the full rundown on what happned and why we stuck with these heads.
Sub'd
When do you plan on posting about the heads?? Sub’d
@@Hoosier81 week or two once I get them and the block back and start putting it back together
Afr 220’s? Nice cylinder head 😎
Customer Service A+ ... so many builders / manufacturers would have passed on helping out a customer - Not Steve Morris - You are the man! sure he paid for the labor ( a reasonable fee too), and we got a lesson (or in the case for many of us a refresher) - Good Stuff - I wear your merch proudly and use your parts - thanks
Very smart Steve you really know your stuff. Before I did my boilermaker trade I did engine reconditioning trade I did 2 years and got screwed over. I started on head work then moved onto grinding crankshafts now that was a great experience I loved it. I definitely made more money as a Boilermaker welder intermediate Rigger 🙏👨🏭🇦🇺 love your channel mate.
Forty years as a manual Toolmaker/ development engineer here.
I love Bridgeport's, great machines.
A lot of this stuff is a lost art now. I learned from old boys who were coming up for retirement as I was doing my apprenticeship.
80,000+ hours on machines teaches you a lot, but one of the best parts of the job is that you can never know everything and that keeps it interesting.
That’s why SM is different ..most bosses couldn’t hang a picture in the office and ole Steve 100% did this as right as possible for a quick and dirty! From a card holding tool&die maker who does this stuff 60hrs a week you got much respect from us working guys.
Steve does not run the business by himself, he has a business manager to take care of " boss " type stuff. Basically , Steve is a highly skilled employee .
@@bobroberts2371be interested in your source on that, all I've seen points otherwise. Besides, the SM motto seems too dedicated to seem like a "boss" run operation as opposed to expertise and passion. Sure maybe he got an editor 😂
@@wesley8599 In a vid from about a year ago, Steve introduced someone as the business manager. A business manager runs the day to day operations like paying bills, deciding if the company can afford new equipment, looking ahead for new business opportunities and such.
With the size of Steve's business, it is impossible for him to build engines and operate the generic nuts and bolts of the business.
I think I would have made a 6~8 inch mandrill to thread into the spark plug hole. That way you could run the quilt up and down with an indicator and zero in the angles in a jiffy.
But hey theres more than one way to skin a cat. And job done in the end!
Earned a subscription from me!
Hey Steve. Great explaination of a repair job and why it costs what it does. I have a small hobby sized machine shop and do a bunch of " hey can you make this right?" projects for people. The guys that hang out and watch ( yup price goes up for that) are always amazed on what goes into the proper setup especially for multistep repairs. You'd be surprised how many bearing race locations for bicycle pedals I have to bush and weld.
Thank you for showing that. I used to work at a high performance motorcycle machine shop. We made cranks, rods, clutch baskets, alk kinds of stuff. Most peopke have no clue what it takes to do this stuff!
Where did you work, Falicon?
For tapping straight use a point pin that you put in the chuck and push against the center drill of the tap
Accu guide. Spring loaded centering pin with a reverse able male and female pin.
he started it straight with the mill for almost 1/2" meaning if he continues tapping it goes straight or straight enough .
if it would go in under a angle those threads would get recut and change shape but its a spark-plug hole in a safe'd welded up head bet his result is well within spec.
keep in mind every extra setup cost extra time , finishing cutting a thread for a spark-plug this way is good enough if you can recut a buggered up spark-plug tread by hand without any setup i don't think the thread is to critical nor is the tread the sealing part its only to hold the spark-plug the gasket seals it so all is fine no need for a follower which wouldn't fit in the back of the ratchet in the first place .
Fascinating. That weld job is amazing, and the customer is lucky to have such an accommodating and skilled engine builder.
I would have been inclined to make a little spark plug piece like you did, but just make the diameter to fit a collet and adjust the head until the piece slid into the collet. I think that would certainly get you close enough.
I agree thats a good idea.
Steve. Get yourself a tilt table for your mill. I have one in my engine shop. It's a real time-saver for those difficult compound angles.
I've literally seen guys stack two tilt tables to get an angle simply to avoid the inherent spindle bearing droop caused by angling the Bridgeport head. 😂 Yeah a compound tilt table or a couple of them can save your life and sanity here. I've always been taught never to use the head tilt on a Bridgeport. Goes back to ww2 when alot of the equipment was worn out but parts still needed to be made.
Steve, this is why you are where you are, amazing attention to detail, customer service, sharing your knowledge and at the same time being modest! Well done Sir!
5 axis CNC with a probe will find that vector angle easy using your round fixture. Then it’s pretty easy to spin it for x-y location. All down hill after that. But on a manual mill theres way more satisfaction😊
It’s always nice when an artist respects the work of another artist and is humbled from it.
As a manual machinist, i love this kind of content, keep it up
Hey, if you don't know of Abom79 on RUclips, you'd probably like his content.
Dudes got a American Pacemaker lathe, wanna say about 18ft bed and 54" total swing?
In his home shop..
He must do some mining refurb type stuff as a day job, he has made a 6" I'd or thereabouts AN hydraulic fitting from scratch.
He's definitely got the technique of "yeah, I know technically it CAN BE DONE, but seeing someone Just knock out a manual machined custom AN fitting, dude.... it's one of my favorite channels to vibe out to, when car content is lacking."
Plus, Abom79 has some gorgeous old school hand tooling, like a dang near 3ft long rap wrench, for tapping 3inch something threads.
Shop is immaculate and organized too. God it's so dang mesmerizing.
Oh, and AvE is great on RUclips, if you are more of the "grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't." Type.
One off- has a nice ring to it....
there are machinist channels that don't show as much content as you do. Thanks Steve PTL
I am very surprised you guys do not have a set of Gage pins. Grab the largest pin that fits snug in the spark plug hole (put a small zip tie on the pin to keep it from sliding down) and just zero off that. You could have also ran the indicator up and down the pin using the quill to quickly check squareness and verify your vector.
Totally
Wouldn't running it up and down a pin to check for squareness require you to be exactly on the centreline of the pin, which would be difficult. Looks easier the way he did it to me.
@r1learner178 the indicator should move within the Indicol (or whatever he's using). Just physically move the indicator to the high point of the pins radius, run the quill up and down. Then turn the spindle 90 degrees, physically move the indicator to the high point of the pin and run the quill up and down again. It's very quick and easy to do. The centerline of the machine spindle axis and the centerline of the pin axis can literally be inches apart (or offset) from each other and it will still tell you if the vectors are in line. The pin just needs checked in two 90 degree quadrants is all that matters
@@harryjohnson2 So when you run it down the pin to you still have to check it is on the high point of the pin at the bottom? Somehow I don't think it was as easy getting it just right as he made out, there would have been a bit of backwards and forwards about it.
@r1learner178 the indicator tip only needs to be close to the high point on pin, u just eyeball that. I was basically stating he could have saved the time it took to turn that little piece in the lathe and just grabbed a precision pin instead. The process I would use is, Find a pin that fits snug, get the spindle and pin close to inline, tram up and down pin, turn spindle 90 degrees and tram up and down pin again. That will determine if your set up is good. At that point you move the mill table X & Y to get the pin and spindle concentric to each other. That is your 'zero'. It actually goes pretty quick.
People don't understand that machinist and fabricators were and always will be the backbone of this country. I have challenged people to name an object, any object that they have laid their hands on from the time they got up in the morning, that didn't start out with a machining procedure done by a machinist or fabricator. To this day no one has met that challenge. That was a great video Steve, keep them coming.
Wow Steve. A lot of patience. Awesome to watch. And I’m sure im not the only one, how did that head break? Thanks
No kidding there has to be a hell of a story behind that. unless by breaking he means someone forgot to drain the water and it froze and cracked but i can’t see that much damage that way
As I watched you run the tap out of the new hole I noticed that you had a tool to center the mill head all the time . The 14 mm tap is more accurate than the tool you made and you would not have to spend any time making a tool . Hindsight is always 20/20 .
I worked at a automotive stamping plant as their first CNC machinist at that location. HUGE company! Anyway, we had to change the head angle on our mills constantly when doing manual work. And THEN … had to indicate it back to zero! Over and Over! Fun stuff! 😁
*Steve Morris and his son Kyle Morris are extremely talented and smart! They'd be the first people I would be looking for if I wanted any type of engine, not just an SMX!*
I thought that this was an old April Fools Day video. Is this the last AFR Ford head in existence with life enhancing sentimental value? I am surprised the head wouldn’t be replaced rather than repaired. Awesome skills to repair it nonetheless!
AFR heads are not easily procured. Supply issues.
@@beckyumphrey2626 Summit has a lot of AFR SBF heads in stock. Many, many configurations. I would imagine that other places do to.
I'm a manual machinist. Spent many years in a job shop and now I'm machining at a nuke plant, as well as my own personal shop. Videos like this are great for the trade. Not everything is done on a CNC like a lot of people assume. A lot of the time for one off repairs or quick fixes manual is king. Takes a certain person to do this work.
Fixing something is often much harder than building from scratch, especially if you have no manual, drawings, etc.
@@TricksterJ97 Yes, I agree. That's 90% of what I do, make repairs and/or reverse engineer from scratch without prints.
Do you need a lathe guy? I did nothing but holler at you the whole time. 😁
In his defense he was making a pretty basic dowel so why over complicate things? Additionally, the people who master a manual lathe are on a whole different level. I grew up in a machine shop and later became employed in that shop along with a couple others. The guys (and one gal) that ran manual machines were artists. Always perfectionists that I admired. A true dying breed.
You can make a simple dowel without machining into the jaws of the chuck. RIP that chuck. :-(
I’d also want to indicate the part in in adjustable 3 jaw or 4 jaw Chuck when I flipped it over. And then I’d avoid flipping it more times than I needed to because of that.
I cringed when he was pulling on those chips bare handed !!😮😮😮😮😮
That is a lot of work. Steve is the man. Helping customers out.
Try liquid WD-40 as coolant/cutting oil. It prevent aluminum to stick on tool tips and end mills. And it smell good to lol.
IPA is better suited for this type of machining and leaves no residue.
Reminds me of when we used to machine injection mold side actions in manual machines. You have to think a few steps ahead. Ever use a tooling ball? The endmill in the drill chuck was always a favorite trick to see.
Dumb question, could you thread a tap into the other spark plug hole, then tighten the chuck of the Bridgeport onto it, set up your head up at that angle, set your 0,0,0, unthread the tap while it’s still locked into the chuck by hand then move over the bore spacing at that point for your drilling. Basically use a tap to find your start point reference
Great job Steve. I use same style bushing, except I drill through it and use drill rod or pilot to visually set angle and mearsure between holes. I can also check with co-axial indicator for center and alignment. Next time I video it for my channel. Thanks again.
Steve, the degree and depth of the knowledge that you have is something that has taken you years of experience to acquire. It takes a certian type of problem solving mind to be able to come to these conclusions and create the solution that you have created. I'm sure hope that the customer appreciates the time, effort, energy and brain power, along with all the tools to achieve it! As Always, May God Bless you and yours! 😇
Very nice presentation...I remember those days of working through a setup...Not a simple operation to do something correctly...I used to have to explain why this sort of process justifies the cost...What you did was phenomenal and hopefully your client shows their gratitude for a job done correctly and cost effectively!
Love watchin this kind of stuff. Steve is so down to earth and describes things so easily.
Bhj has a nice rollover fixture for a Bridgeport. I've found on making locating pins on the lathe it's best to do all the turning in one operation to maintain concentricity easily. Also put a 3/4" stub om it so it just goes in a collet on the mill and you can use the pin like a go no go pin then you're ready to indicate usually gets you within a few thousands and .5 degree for a faster hole location pickup.
I love this stuff. I used a Bridgeport back at Manley Performance when i was employed from 2001-2006. Love watching this
Great set up! I’ve been a manual machinist for 28 years and I still love it, that looked like a fun one
Cool seeing a Bridgeport machine used again. So many machines are being sold to private shop owners only to collect dust. I worked on one in the late 60's making aircraft parts for the F-11 fighter jets. Those machines were the start of our modern CNC programs.
My first "good job" at 18 was in a machine shop. Its FUN doing low volume stuff. Started on the sander then drill press, radial arm drill, bridgeport, vertical and horizontal mills, then to CNC 3 and 4 axis. Learned a lot and went into CAD/CAM from there. Very interesting work if you have the aptitude.
As a civilian I have no idea what you listed .
But good on you my guy
I'm sure you had a satisfaction everytime you seen a product knowing you machined that product
Would love to see a picture of what that head looked like b4 the repairs! I’m trying to figure out if it torched it all the way across or if it cracked the head across that corner! A video clip of the engine coming apart would be a bonus as well!
Everyone of these videos I’m blown away by the problem solving skills. Absolutely brilliant.
Steve showing why he is who he is. Man that was so amazing to watch. I think $100 in an hour is a steal to have YEARS of experience just make this seem like it was another day. love this
That was cool.
Like the precision work. Brought head back to life.
And myself. Don’t no much about welding. That looked amazing. How that could even be fixed is something.
Thinking a 14-1.25 bolt with the head cut off and indicating / sweeping off the shank in x,y, and z, would have been my choice, but, your job - your shop. Nice work all the same.
Thanks for sharing.
Yeah but bolts and unthreaded shanks and threads aren’t always perfectly concentric. But I get what you mean.
I was thinking a little stub like he made but single point the threads onto it to fit into the spark plug hole. But I would have actually bored the hole after center drilling it so it was more precise (the hole in the little stub). Then setup the mill head like he did and throw a collet in the Bridgeport with a piece of drill rod or some other precision ground stock or a dowel pin whatever I had around that matched the size hole bored in the stub piece (actually you’d take a couple thou of one or the other piece cause of the next step). The you could play with you angle adjustments and table x and y till when lowering the quill it just slid in. Also could have used same method to get initial setting close by positioning it on either side of the stub screwed into spark plug hole and watched how it lay against it.
But Steve was just doing the same thing “picking up” the angles and center of his stub piece with the dti!
Kind of how you can pick up an existing taper on something you have chucked in the lathe and adjust your compound to match that taper. Same concept!
The beauty of machine shop work. Many ways to ring the bell. :)
23:00 Use a tap bit to cut new threads, and a thread chaser bit to clean established threads. There is a difference and using a cutter tap can weaken established threads.
*_REALLY_* good Welder, right there! I was watching the swarf come off the drill & it looked *CLEAN* like it was billet material...
I used to work on Bridgeport machines like the one in the video, plus these old *DECKEL* milling machines!
A Facebook friend asked me a couple of years back if he should buy a Lathe or Milling machine. He went with Lathe, even though I suggested a Mill - he's regretting it now. ✌
its gonna be a milli soon steve. keep rockin man you run a good program
Well done... you're attention to detail is why you're successful & customers sing your praises.
What's w/ the 4 exhaust flange bolt holes per port? Never seen the like.
Steve your skills as a machinist never cease to amaze me! You must be a mathematician or a savant to be able to work out the math of all the different angles like you do!
Fascinating.. thanks Steve.. you have a great day mate
Nice video, I should run it as a loop for my pia customers
One of the reason I don't allow walk ins. They all seem to start with: "Just throw it in the machine and push the button..."
Setup , dbl or triple checking what you plan on doing takes time, because if you rush the setup and dial in, your probably worse off than you when you started, or worse loose the part
Great showing what happens when your geometry wont allow you to just raise the knee after your initial dial in
Simple little plugs made to fit in a known diameter location are easier to make than struggling thru a bumpy hole
Years ago I worked for NAPA in the rebuilder head department. One of my job was to straighten the heads because they are all warped because of heat. Did a lot of honing to lol.
As a cnc programmer and a manual machinist into trying to run a company in my free time out of manufacturing firearms i absolutely love this it’s an incredible video with an awesome amount of knowledge and experience
I work at Ruger and wish we did manual stuff like this I think we have one milling machine that isn't automatic and it's just used to make work fixtures
When you are trying to indicate a hole the term iis Tram or Blake . Check out Blake indicators there a must !. Also two angles are called compounded angle. Love the show Steve. Robert Russell (retired aerospace machinist.
Great video Steve. Thank you for taking the time to record and share.
Nice work and also thanks for giving people some idea of the amount of work that goes into some of these things. I'm also a machinist and my pet peeve is when someone brings in something with a broken bolt stuck in it and says can you just drill this out for me real quick.
Can I drill it out? Yep. Will it be real quick? Probably not, unless you want it completely fucked
As a tool and die maker myself people really don't get what it takes to a setup creating your own. Great job 👍
Thank you Steve. Old school Vertical Mill and Lathe work. Very cool.
Dude. I like your chill presentation. Honest and to the point. Good man. Good man.
Cool stuff to watch Steve. Dad and grandad were machinists and always fascinated with it. Took to mechanic work myself though.
Do they not produce this head anymore?
New or refurbished?
As apposed to the welding and everything else that goes along with it.
Correct. Older casting they don't produce anymore
Loved the video..!
Maybe not this one but , if the welding crossed the fire ring line.. I was always told no weld will be as hard as the heat treatment on the head. . So the soft area will move and the gasket will fail ..in the weld area.....love to hear Steve's expert opinion on this ...
Well done... you're attention to detail is why you're successful & have customers singin' your praises.
What's w/ the 4 exhaust flange bolt holes per port? Never seen the like.
When the aluminum started singing in the lathe It reminded me of that scene in the movie chain reaction with Keanu Reeves. Good movie!.
Great video. Its awesome how you use these moments to teach us something. The setup details were great. Thanks for bringing us along!! 👍
Wee challenge for the day! By the way there is a way you can use a finger clock and see it all way round. Get yourself a piece of silver steel that is a good fit on the wee dovetail clamp that comes with the set. Now bend the silver steel hot to about 75 degrees. If you keep the leg the clamp attaches to it short, it allows small dia clock ups or longer leg bigger dia. You can make variations to keep them compact and not loose height(quill travel) When installed properly you should be looking down on clock face if your spindle axis is vertical. So what your making is like a broken cigarette. Be careful you have full size silver steel or else when you clamp the wee dovetail to your clock nose it will crush it before getting tight on silver steel. Sorry description is tricky. Have a play and you will get the idea.
Love your videos Steve! I could watch machining stuff all day. I love how much info and detail you go into. Great job!!!
An easy way to get it really close is to make a threaded plug similar to what you indicated off of. Thread it in the plug hole and unthreaded portion can be chucked in a 3 jaw or collet. Basically let the head hang from the threaded stud while chucked in the quill. Then you can bump it around till it sits flat on the bed and clamp down. Use the plug you made and get it dialed.
This was a cool one, and really made me think about my grandfather that was a tool and die man for Dodge then GM right after he was B17 Tail-gunner during WWII (flew 13 missions from England, went down over English Channel returning on the 13th, parachuted into a tree breaking leg…total BAMF👍👊🇺🇸🤘). Thanks for sharing!!
Another great video teaching us of what you do. Thanks for all the work and drive videos you do.
This is the difference between production machinist and a master machinist! I understand the basic principles but am unable after my brain damage, borderline beforehand, but no chance now! Love the video Steve the how and why’s awesome!
Tilting the head on a Bridgeport accurately is a major PITA. You have to tighten it down fully after each change. It does take a long time.
Then another hour to re zero it before the next job.
Awesome work Steve. Setup work is a lost art. 💪💪💪
Good Video showing this. Also being a machinist that started on Manual and now run mostly CNC stuff, the only part you didn't talk about is the hour it takes to realign the head to the table and then indicate the vise in. That is the part that you never get paid for, but you have to do every time you turn the head.
Precision grind blocks that fit in the t slots for the vice, so you can shove on the vice to seat it against them, tighten your bolts, and your vice is square
@@josephschaefer9163 I do agree that works, dowel pins work well too. Most of my equipment is old and there is always some fine tuning to get everything perfect. Plus, most of my setups I'm always moving the vise all over as most my work is one off custom stuff. Thanks for the input!
Ran across your video searching for videos to remove a broken injector hold down bolt in a 6.7 ford diesel. Kit cost over $500 and you have to remove the valve cover. Some people take the head to the machine shop. Me? I bought 2 long shaft lefty drill bits, 2 extractors, and a tap. Took 3 hrs to get the old bolt out, and rethread. Then installed the injector and continued putting it back together. Made me wonder why people buy the $500 kit when it cost me less than $25 and 3 hrs labor. It would've taken 3 hrs just to get the valve cover off and use the $500 tool.
I asked the diesel shop where I bought the fuel system from and they didn't really have an answer other than take the valve cover off. I feel like shops are going the long route to drive cost up and make more money. My thought? Get it done as quickly as I can to get to the next vehicle/job. The same companies always have something that need fixed.
I'm sure at times the only option is to remove the head but why if you don't have to. 3 hrs removing a broken stud is time/money well worth it.
Funny thing is I can weld that good but want to build more engines ha ha ha, nice job Steve thanks for sharing
Forgive me if I am incorrect, but I do believe this is a video in the practical application of dead reckoning.
Y'know, that old "I'd locate it off of this, but that's missing, the thing needs a metric die not tap, I have X size endmills no Y size ones, so I'm gonna make the thing, to measure the thing, to extrapolate that out to a true location to finally lock the part down, then ginger carefulling not rush the actual final machine work, otherwise we get to do it all over again."
I find myself wishing I had just a dang clapped out Bridgeport at home in the garage, or a tiny little toolroom lathe, cuz sometimes boy, welding and grinding only gets ya so close.
Truly, Steve, you are a master of masters, it shows in the speed and dexterity of thought you display when working through a particular problem.
Car guys, gun guys, computer builders/programmers, were all the same sort of intense person.
After all, can you really ever claim you truly own something until you BREAK it break it, fabricobble it together to get through the trip or to get home, then really pull your hair out doing sometimes insanely meticulous hand work, the stuff where if you miss half a thousandth, Shew, it may just not survive anyhow.
Either way, that weld 8s gorgeous, I wonder if that was some big old tombstone welder? Nah. Couldn't be, right? Cuz the aluminum?
I get to just crank a 1960s era Lincoln up to about 400amps(if ever needed) where I work, and it'll weld, it won't be super pretty, but the dang thing is about 4.5ft tall!
Hums like it's really just shorting the 3 phase power to ground, I like that welder.
It can damn near weld wood to steel, I swear.
We keep it next to the harbor freight bench belt sander, the harbor freight air tool graveyard, and kitty corner to the ancient 1950s era Bridgeport, what with the custom worn in 180thou per .010" travel, and it swaps directions and amounts when traversing the table back.
It's uh.... accurate when it's locked in place.
Can't do too much accurate milling these days, not unless you can spare about . 090" give or take.
Beleive it or not, we make aerospace grade twist drills, carbide tipped and everything.
Just, don't really have the super accurate machines to replicate work like this here.
Indicating a piece into machine is one of my favorite things to do. Setups are fun, unless indicating fixtures and whatnot drive ya insane.
Anyhow, what was I saying? Oh yeah, similar type of high functioning stubborn mixed with knowledge tempered by a couple decades of time into wisdom.
Just knowing exactly what tool to grab or where the indicators/dial indicators are and which are still accurate, that saves so much time....
Give a man a welder and 5 degrees of freedom and he will weld-a-chine your dreams to life, I guarantee it.
I use a bushing in the thread to hold a valve guide pilot to indicate for proper angle and position. If you want a killer rollover fixture, check out the cp motorworks fixture.
In High school, I would get in trouble for doing mechanical drawing in say english class, and wasn't allow to have a straight edge and protractor on the desk. So I got mad, did each degree in rise over run trig functions to find it was already in the back of the math book, memorized it, and with two sheets of graph paper I could accurately draw my intake manifold idea and not get in trouble, all so I would then get kicked out of class where I could draw in peace. The angle-rise over run thing reminded me of that, good memory. Thanks for the info and video!
Thanks!
Enjoyed that! As a hobby lathe/mill enthusiast I liked the back to basics approach to get the job done.
Great show Steve OLD SCHOOL again. You have never forgotten your roots. You will make it to 500000 .
Some real ole school hot rodding happening right there! 😁👍