Aussie Mike's machine shop

[DaveW]

You'll be selling those tool holders from Bunnings soon, pumping them out
Looking great.

Is that waterline with the quick connects you're using for air ? Looks identical to the waterline i just plumbed the garage with.

cheers
Dave

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by DaveW

Is that waterline with the quick connects you're using for air ? Looks identical to the waterline i just plumbed the garage with.

cheers
Dave

It certainly is. It's rated to 200PSI and is dead easy to plumb in and connect together. What's more it requires no special tools to connect, the fittings just snap together. You do need a small plastic tool to release the fittings if you want to re arrange things but they are only a couple of dollars.

Cheers

[Tengu]

deleted post

[AaronW]

Mike please check messages. Thanks.

[stiffy]

Finish your car.




Stiffy

[stephen low]

Mike

What herr stiffness said x 2, and which is a repeat message of what I said way back on page 5 mate!

Focus young Jedi!

[Shootnride]

Don't pay any attention to those guys Mike. They're just jealous because they don't have a new CNC mill to play with

Ted

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by Shootnride

Don't pay any attention to those guys Mike. They're just jealous because they don't have a new CNC mill to play with

Ted

LOL. But they are right.

Big Cobra session planned for this weekend. The shell is going to a mates workshop for some bodywork while I sort out the engine wiring and some other jobs that are easier to do with the body off.

Cheers

[gjkrv8]

You've got plenty of time Mike at the moment.

As soon as Slowy (must be Greek for God of Rain) got his car back on the road it feels like it hasn't stopped raining in Melb :-(

cheers

Gregg

[Bernica]

Rain?
Isn't it supposed to be summer driving season there right now?

[Modena]

Originally Posted by Bernica

Rain?
Isn't it supposed to be summer driving season there right now?

yeah, so in Melbourne it's either 19C and raining, or 40C and too bloody hot!

[Aussie Mike]

Bernica, Melbourne is known for having 4 seasons in one day. For a few years now we have been getting some heavy summer rain storms. The heat this summer hasn't been so bad. We had a real scorcher of a day at 46C but the rest has been pretty nice. I do like the Summer rain as it makes a nice change from the heat. Also standing in our outdoor area (under roof) watching the rain and lightning is entertaining. Natures fireworks show.

Cheers

[Bernica]

It sounds like our "Monsoon" seasons during the summer in some of our parts.
Sunny and hot all day, then thunder clouds and a big dumper in late afternoon. I have seen it it Arizona and Colorado.

[stiffy]

Hey Bernica,

A question, does your wife have a sister, that likes to travel........

Melbourne is nice this time of year


Stiffy

[stephen low]

Ha tell me about it, the car is sitting idle in the garage bloody Melbourne weather.

Can't be me I'm no God perhaps just flash according to Stiff.

[stephen low]

Oh but great to hear you've refocussed young Jedi on the important thing - the cobra

Perfect work for a rainy Melbourne weekend - lol

The Flash

[Aussie Mike]

Been working interstate but came home for the weekend so got a little done in the shed.

The mist cooling system that was fitted to the mill was junk. It created a cloud of coolant and you couldn't stand too close to the machine without breathing it in. Not pleasant or good for the health.

It was also a devil of a thing to get going. To get the coolant flowing you needed to turn the air pressure right up to get it started and then back it off once it was running. It used the vacuum created by the venturi to draw the coolant out of the reservoir. A pain if you wanted to turn the coolant off between tool changes as. If the bottle was too low it wouldn't draw. If I set the reservoir up high the coolant would siphon out of the bottle after shutting the thing off.

I spent more time fiddling with it trying to get it to work than actually machining. It also used way more coolant than you needed and that left the mill table / vice in a sticky oily mess once the water evaporated out of it.

I bought a Fog buster coolant system to replace it and it arrived the other day. This one uses a pressurized reservoir of coolant that's delivered to the nozzle along with the air supply. There is a needle valve in the nozzle to meter the flow of coolant and the nozzle precisely directs a jet of air and coolant droplets exactly where you want it. A regulator on the reservoir adjust both air and coolant pressure (both arrive at the nozzle at the same pressure). There is a check valve in the coolant line to stop it siphoning out or draining back to the reservoir and an air switch on the side of the mill to turn it on and off. Coolant restarts after tool changes are very quick to get going again. Really happy with how it works so far.

Here's the new nozzle installed.




Here's the coolant reservoir on the wall behind the mill.



I also rearranged some of the air plumbing. The regulator/oiler for the air draw bar was on the side of the mill but I figured it'd be tidier on the wall. Manifolding the two regulators together on the wall also cleaned up a lot of the airlines. I can now more easily get to the spindle brake and on/off switch.

Here's a link to the fog buster system if anyone is interested: http://www.fogbuster.com/

Cheers

[boxhead]

Back to the car Mike, Back to the car.

Summer is rolling past and you have 2 dismantled roadsters in the shed.

[Aussie Mike]

Cobra is progressing. Just havent had anything interesting to take pictures of. Lots of interstate and international work travel has cramped my style lately too.

[Aussie Mike]

Another machine shop update and some Cobra progress

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAoteb-nVP0[/ame]

Cheers