Ok guys, you are lucky that I have finished the E wheel so you don't have to wait for updates But I tried to post them a while back and for some reason my brain couldn't find its way out of my a$$ to get this posted. I am just going to copy and paste this so I don't have to type everything again.
Ok for 8 years or so I have been DIEING for an English Wheel. I've draw up CAD files of them and changed it here and there etc. Well today I happened to be at Oneal Steel and they had a 4' x 47" drop of 5/16 plate. So I got it at scrap prices and only paid $80.00 for it, WOW!! So I had a friend come help me load it on the table and while we were loading it there was a small booboo.... Thats a 1.5" gash in my hand. I had my friend handle the camer because I could pinch the skin and you can see everything in here. I thought it was kinda cool, Angela however does not. Anyway, so I start cutting the main part of teh E Wheel out. Here are a couple others when its done. layed out on the floor. This is 4' x 4', ok ok more like 47" x 47". Now that I have that and the 1/4" x 2" x 2" Steel tube all I need to do is weld it up and order my dies. I'll keep this updated.
Yep I have the nuts AND the rod to do the job! Ok so in between working on orders I got some more done on the English Wheel. I have to say though, this this is literally kicking my butt!! Late time I didn't yell scream or cuss, this time I did because it was a stupid mistake! Anyway! Back to the project. My thought was instead of cutting holes and welding flat plate in I will machine down some tube then connect all the tube together like an inner skeleton system. So I machined down a bunch of tube to be exactly 4 inches. This will do two things, help me keep it evenly spaced and help it be rigid. Then I cut a bunch of tubes and will mill them down to be the exact same length as well so all the tubes are evenly spaced. Here is what it will look like. Then I cut some 2" x 2" x .25" square long just to see where it will be going. I will pick the outer tube up tomorrow. Also you can see my 6" x 1" ACME thread with 2 nuts. That was the shortest length I could buy at $70!! So tomorrow if I have time I will finish fish mouthing all these tubes. The long tubes in the picture go to something else hehe.
Here are the pictures from Friday. I was originally going to put two tubes side by side between the horizontal tubes but I don't think its going to be needed. Opinions welcome, I can take constructive crit. Also that is a 4" gap between plates, I thought about just putting a 4" piece to box it in but now I'm thinking that if I put a 6" or 8" piece so there is an over lap that would be stronger, again, opinions welcome. Sorry for the sucky picture but this is what I'm talking about.
Well I got more done on the Wheel tonight. First I welded all the tubes together then I started plating the out side. I planned to plate it with 1/4" but I wussed out and had 3/16" and just used that. Enjoy
Ok I know, I suck! I haven't gotten any pictures. So far here is what I have gotten done. I cut my 4" tube down to 12 inches. Then I cut 4 plates on the CNC and 4 pieces of UHMW on the Bandsaw. After I did that I took the 4" tube over to the drill press and drilled 4 holes on the front and 2 holes on either side. I didn't think set screws where needed on the back but it would be hard to add them. I may go ahead and do it anyway. After the holes where drilled I tapped them. Then I cut out the bottom cap that I will weld to the underside to keep all but guts from falling out haha. On top I cut a flange and tapped it so I can take the top off and service the guts if I need to. Once I get all of that finished I will weld it into place.
Wow, I got a LOT done tonight. More than I thought I would get done. Can't find the camera but as soon as I do I'll post pictures. Last night I cut all my UHMW and my upper tool assembly, drilled and tapped the holes. Tonight I welded the bottom carrier of the upper tool assembly and sanded it down. Then I welded the upper part on that holds the 8 bolts and top. I also drilled holes and tapped the internal plates that hold the UHMW and bolted them together. I counter sunk the bolts in the UMHW so they do not hit the guild. Then I took my 1" fine thread and stuck it in the end mill and milled an eight inch flat spot on two sides. After I did that I took a piece of 2" cold rolled solid and machined it down. I put a 1 1/32 hole on the inside. Once down with that I put it in the mill and machined 2 more flat spots on the outside. I found teh center and drilled and tapped two 1/4" holes and put two set screws in it. Tomorrow I will cut my 2" tube to length and build the box to keep the bushing I just machined down and weld it to the 2 x 2 square. I have my upper wheel plates cut already and I will attach them to the tool post as well. Once that is down I will work on my lower arm.
Ok as I was saying before. This is the part that will house the part I machined down last night. I realized I need to machine another flat edge on it so it would fit hehe. BEFORE AFTER And this with the top on.
My Next goal was to work on the Handle that actually moves the shaft. As you have most likely guessed, with the part inside of the 2x2" square it can't spin. Most English wheels I see as you turn the adjuster wheel it moves up and down. I wanted my wheel to stay in place and just wanted the threaded rod to move. Here is how I plan on fixing that. First I took a piece of solid 4" cold rolled and machined down one side then bored a hole through the middle. Orginally as you can see the black sharpe marks I was going to machine down both ends. I changed my mind because I didn't really need to on the other end and I kinda changed plans through the 4 hours it took me to machine it done the way I wanted it.... Yes 4 hours total. I took one of the nuts I got for the threaded rod and machined it down until it was round. Then I machined down the fat part of the piece more then flippedit over and started boring it out with my boring bar. Once it was bored out enough for a very tight fit I pressed it in and welded it up. With a nut beside it. With a nut on top so you can see how it was going to be. I did go back and machine the tig weld down so it was smooth. Next I cut some square piece of UHMW traced a circle in it and started machining it down. I did two piece like this but one will have a MUCH larger hole. The bottom piece I did put a place for the machined down weld as it was raised a bit. Here is how the pieces go together.
Ok I got more done today. First here is a better picture of the raised edge I was talking about last night. You should be able to see how I made a pocket in the UHMW for it. Now I took a piece of 3" x 1/4" tube and machined it down to be exactly 2 7/8". Then i welded it to the upper plate assembly. By the way this piece Goes over this piece. Next I got another piece, yes I said ANOTHER piece of cold rolled solid and machined it down to fit over the smaller end of this part... Here is what it looks like. Then of course I drilled and tapped it in three places. Then I put two pices of tube and bend 180* in them then welded them together. I then went to the CNC machine and put out a piece that welds to the tube so it looks like a stearing wheel. Now you can see the complete assembly put on and working. Now I can turn the wheel and the threaded rod actually doesn't turn at all. It works even better than I thought it would.
Its getting CLOSER!!!! I so EXCITED!!! As you can really see in this picture I cut off the front part and made some plates to bolt it up with. Yes I know I have to put a small fill plate on the top and bottom. I just wasn't sure how much I needed to plate in until tonight =)
Just an update of what I did this weekend. I plan on doing more with the legs but just needed it up off the ground.
The Jalopy Journal
