Power Steering

[Aussie Mike]

Got a bit more done on the power steering setup.

Before attacking a $40 lump of aluminum I thought It's be a good idea to make sure my serpentine pulley machining was up to snuff. I had to make a new alternator pulley as I'm going to drive it with a 4PK belt of it's own. I grabbed a piece of 60mm diameter billet and started machining. As you can see I've had a couple of goes to get it right.



The tool steel is ground at a 40 degree angle and I've cut the grooves at a 3.56mm pitch. Numbers I got from the belt specs on the Gates web page.

Here I'm trial fitting the pulley to check the alignment with a neat tool I picked at a swap meet years ago. It's a lazer alignment tool for V belts and multi rib belts. It aligns from the grooves in one pulley and shoots a beam at the other that you can line against. It's one of those tool that you don't use very often but when you do it makes the job so much easier.



Happy with the alignment. now I can clean it up and make it look nice.



With the serpentine machining set up working I could get back to the big lump of aluminum. There's a huge pile of swarf on the lathe now because like any complex shape you machine you have to start with a big piece of material and remove an awful lot of it. I reckon more than 2/3 of the original material has been machined off to reveal this pulley. A heap more material came out after this pic.



The back of the pulley is the important stuff. It has to run true and it also sets up the belt alignment. The shaft on the pump is 3/4" diameter but I've machine the hole .002" undersize for a press fit.


The front side is all about making it look nice. I've machined a center cap to cover the retaining bolt and then turned the whole thing as one piece.



Trial fitting and checking the alignment and how true it runs.



Pulleys all finished. Just measuring up to order some belts. Might have to machine up a new water pump pulley too as it's looking a bit scruffy next to it's fancy new friends.



Cheers

[stiffy]

So Mike,

To be able to do all great stuff you do all I need is better tools


IF ONLY.......


STIFFY

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by stiffy

So Mike,

To be able to do all great stuff you do all I need is better tools


IF ONLY.......


STIFFY

Yep, exactly.

I've got no formal training on any of this stuff. I only did one year of metal work at high school and we never even touched any machine tools. A few years back I just bought an old lathe and started having a go. There's a ton of info out there these days. Videos on youtube that show you all the techniques etc. I reckon it's a heap of fun making stuff on the lathe.

You can pick up a half decent Lathe for $1500 and with a bit of patience and thought you would be surprised what you can make.

Cheers

[PeterAllen]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

...I've got no formal training on any of this stuff....

In which case I'll make a suggestion I hesitated to make before. I'm not sure about the alternator 'twin' pulley you show in the lathe and the 'single' one mounted to the alternator but it is useful to roll a thin piece of aluminium (or similar softish material) of uniform thickness around any delicate shape (e.g. threads) you are holding in the chuck jaws to minimise damage to the item being held.

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by PeterAllen

In which case I'll make a suggestion I hesitated to make before. I'm not sure about the alternator 'twin' pulley you show in the lathe and the 'single' one mounted to the alternator but it is useful to roll a thin piece of aluminium (or similar softish material) of uniform thickness around any delicate shape (e.g. threads) you are holding in the chuck jaws to minimise damage to the item being held.

It's a very good suggestion Peter. You can see the marks from the jaws on the roughed out pulley. Most of the time I try to do the bulk of my machining while gripping the part on a section that will be machined off later. The twin pulley pictured was a failed attempt on one end and I just flipped the material around and machined the pulley out of the other end.

Depending on what I'm machining and how tightly it needs to be gripped I use strips of aluminium sheet between the jaws and the work piece. If I just need to take a light skim on something I'll often just grip it not so tight. Just don't make big cuts as you don't want the work piece to spin in the chuck.

Cheers

[PeterAllen]

Mike

You can sometimes get by wrapping delicate items in a strip of emery paper - coarse side on the item, BUT, don't use coolant as it will soften the paper.