360* Rotating Back Blade Project

[tlbuser]

Here is the plug I had to make for the hole I drilled all the way through the second side plate. It is "O" ringed so no leaks.

No grooving shots for the o-ring ?

WOW. Instead of setting up a shop at the new place maybe you should consider giving classes. I've got tree mills and leblond lathes and still picked up a couple of pointers from your work. Heck, when's the first class

 

[tlbuser]

I am so super pleased with the precision and speed your turning this out. WOW!
This is turning out pretty cool - huh?
Larry

Well beyond pretty cool. This project will be fantastic when you guys are done. Rob alluded to using this setup for other attachments, well what would those be?

 

[GuglioLS]

......" Rob alluded to using this setup for other attachments, well what would those be?

tlbuser,

Thanks for the compliments and question -
In addition to using it on the Back Blade, the Gear Box can be used on a Rock Rake, and as a PHD that's attached to the FEL, since it's powered by a hydraulic motor the auger rotation will be reversible.

Also under consideration is a Winch, Since the worm which drives the worm gear has a helical angle of 4°-16' it's a "self locking angle" (generally anything under 5°). So the worm gear will not rotate the worm, it's locked there until the motor starts to drive the worm again. This makes it a great candidate for a very powerful winch.

Larry

 

[3RRL]

Guys,
Thanks for the compliments on Larry's gear box project. When Larry asked me to post some of the machining involved I thought it might be boring to some. Most would want to see the finished product sitting on Larry's blade with a video of how he controls and scrapes with it ... I know I want to see that too. But he insisted on the machining pictures and I'm glad you guys got a kick out of them.

tlbuser,
Thank you.
I never thought of teaching a machine class, but I have trained hundreds of apprentices in the past. I just took it for granted that it was part of my job. When I started working out of my garage in 1978, I had to be resourceful in the set-ups because I did not have all the equipment a fully tooled shop had.
When I was a kid in the sixties, I worked at a 30 man tool and die shop that had all tree mills. They were the industry standard back then rivaling Bridgeports. They were very sturdy mills. Oh, and grooving for the "O" rings ... I thought that would put you to sleep.

Like Larry mentioned, I will be busy doing a bunch of other things for the rest of the week and going up to my camp. But after that, I will set all the spacers and finish the keyed shafts for both worm and worm gear. Last will be attaching the hydraulic motor to the shaft in a manner that Larry can take it on and off easily for maintenance and sealing the box. I'll post more next week.
Thanks again,

 

[scott_vt]

So I decided to throw the worm and worm gears in there on their shafts.
Here's what that looks like.



Bet that makes Larry happy.

Afternoon Rob,
Hhmmmm, looks very similar to the steering box on my Super A, except its not a round casting

Hey do you want to subcontract some of that milling work ? Ive got an Anilam 3200 controled Bridgeport that should be able to reduce that rotary work !

 

[3RRL]

Afternoon Rob,
Hey do you want to subcontract some of that milling work ? Ive got an Anilam 3200 controled Bridgeport that should be able to reduce that rotary work !

Scotty,
I would love to do that but you'll have to work for the same rate I get from Larry. Nice of you to offer though, thanks. I do have access to two large shops out here that are fully equipped, but I had the old rotary table so I just did it in the garage. At one time I even considered bolting them to the face plate and turning them on the lathe. I would like to get one of those Anilam controllers for one of my mills. It would certainly come in handy.
Rob-

 

[3RRL]

After getting Fergie all settled at her new home, I got to work on Larry's gear box some more. I needed to position the worm so it would be centered between the 2 thrust bearings and also be located at the exact tangent of the big worm gear. I had to re-assemble the sides of the box which holds the worm.
So first I clamped the thrust bearings into position by using jack screw technique.



Then I measured the space inside with gage blocks and feeler gages until I thought is was tight enough. That gave me the actual dimension between the thrust washers and I added .002" for pre-load.



Then I subtracted the length of the worm and ground the spacers equally to center the worm.



In order to assemble the sides with pre-load, the side plates cannot be bolted to the ends yet. They have to be clamped together and then the ends are bolted on and the box is tapped into the pocket in the bottom plate. Now it is tight in there.

 

[3RRL]

Then I had to do the same thing for the big worm gear. Except it is held in position by the top and bottom plates. I had to take apart the sides and bolt the sides into the top plate and then into the bottom plate because of the pockets in them. In this case, I took some preliminary measurements to get my gage block dimension close.



Then I bolted the top and bottom plates together on the side plates which will determine the distance between those thrust washers. I went through the same process to get my dimensions which will now position the big worm gear in the center of the box. I also added .002"pre-load to this dimension.

 

[3RRL]

Centering the big worm gear meant cutting off part of the hub projection. I am not wasting any time on sissy milling cuts anymore so I took a Ø3/4" corn cob mill and buried it 3/4" deep at full width cut. Then ground the height of the hub to the correct dimension. I also turned the spacer for the other side and ground it also.



Here is the big worm gear now captured and centered correctly between the top and bottom plates. Man, this gear box is really heavy with just the side plates and top and bottom plates. It still will have the shafts, worm and hydraulic motor on it before it is done. LOL ... It is going to weigh a ton with 10 quarts of oil in it!



Tomorrow I will start connecting the hollow splined shafts and start the shaft work for the worm and hydraulic motor. Larry's gear box is nearly complete now.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Rob & Larry,
Nice progress ! Im really enjoying this thread for a couple of reasons really !

1st its really interesting !

2nd I think its great that so many people are interested in machining ! When I got into the trade 35 years ago, people would say, so what trade are you in ? And I would tell them toolmaker/machinist, and they would say "ohhh you do that" Fast foward 35 years and somebody is actually interested in working metal

Keep the posts and pics coming, Im feeling important again !