Attaching a sprocket to a round shaft

[montanaman]

I appreciate the offer. But I'm just gonna try grinding a slot
and if that doesn't work I'll weld the sprocket in place.
And fill the slot I ground while I'm at it.




If I could use an end mill in my drill press I could mill a slot in the shaft.
Or I could use an end mill to drill flat bottom holes that overlap.
Then I could mill a slot without too much lateral loading on the chuck.
I have done this in wood before using a router bit.
A 3/16 end mill with a 3/8 shank mite just work for this.
Naw, I'll just try grinding it.

Pooh Bear

I like your idea of just plunging the overlapping holes with an end mill. Think that would work well and you could adjust the press to stop just shy of the bottom depth and clean it all up with a small pass.

Ken

 

[Pooh_Bear]

One of the coolest tools I ever bought was an X-Y table for my drill press.
I put a small vice on it and it looks like a vertical milling machine.
Perfect for drilling precisely placed holes in stuff.

If I could put a collet in place of the chuck I would have
a light duty vertical milling machine.

Pooh Bear

 

[sandman2234]

Milling can be done with a chuck. I do it quite often. However, milling in a drill press, although it seems practical, is the wrong thing to do. The bearings in a drill press are made to absorb the load going straight down, and sideloading them will ruin them in short order. Guess that is why the bearings in my milling machine cost more than my cheap drill press did!
David from jax

 

[Soundguy]

I've seen add on collets that have a hex fititng one the other side for a check.. I'm sure it was for those of us who do milling on the cheap with a beater drillpress...

Soundguy

 

[montanaman]

I agree but I would think if this isn't something he is going to do every day and does 99% of the metal removal plunging, it would work.

There are times when we all use a tool for something other that what it was made for and it usually requires careful judgement!!

I find that I use my lathe and mill way less that I thought I would but when I need them, I usually don't have the right material :-(

There are just days like these!! Had my brother-in-law make three trips for me today to pick up a 4x8 sheet of steel. 1st trip, the guy that would be there all day wasn't there, 2nd trip, he picked it up, 3rd trip, he returned the 3x8 that I was told was a 4x8 because I need 40 3/8"!!! By this time, any place that would have had it is closed!

Ken

 

[bamatoolmaker]

If you are going to plunge cut with an endmill make sure it is center cutting or it wont work.

 

[3RRL]

You're better off center drilling and drilling out instead of plunging with the endmill. Center cutting end mill will still want to jump off center and your chuck is not built to take that. Center to center drill distance should be diameter of drill plus about .010" to .020" to leave a very thin web between holes. Otherwise your drill will walk on you and maybe break. Then take light passes with a smaller end mill than the key size because your chuck will let the endmill walk out. Finish mill the pocket to size and depth.

Do you have an indicator to find center of the shaft? You need to be bang on center or the keyway in the sprocket will not line up. You could make the pocket in the shaft slight larger to accommodate for this.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I don't have an indicator. I usually just eyeball it.
But usually I'm just drilling holes in dowel rods.

To mill a keyway I would have to take my mixer apart.
I really don't want to do that. I mite try that loctite stuff mentioned earlier.
Then if that don't work I will think about buying a mill cutter to cut a keyway.

Just welding the sprocket in place is looking better and better all the time.

Pooh Bear

 

[sandman2234]

Good thing you didn't run out and buy some QD taperlocks!!! I just looked at one of the spare gearboxes, and it has a keyway in the shaft. So I went and looked, and sure enough, the taperlock on the stumpgrinder has a key in it also! Duhhh, no wonder it hasn't slipped!.
You should have taken Bamatoolmaker up on that generous offer of his. A tool made the right way will outlast one done on the cheap...
David from jax

 

[Soundguy]

A tool made the right way will outlast one done on the cheap...
David from jax

It's a cost benefit ratio... If the cost outways the benefits of 'doing it right'.. then it may not be a possible choice.

I've got a set of cheap chinese wrenches that i torched to make stubbies and bendies... The set cost me a whopping 4.99 at the flea market. A SINGLE stubby or bent wrench from any o fthe big brands costs that much.

So far.. these 'cheap' 'wrong way' wrenches have worked fine for the very limited uses i intended them for. I.E. if I bend a wrench to use once in my lifetime.. then it just don't make sense to buy a 26$ craftsman.. when a 1$ jiang dong will do it...

( By the way.. that bent wrench is used to remove the relief valve from a belly pump on a ford N series tractor without disassembling the rear end and pulling the pto shaft. You just lay under the tractor, remove the right side inspection port, and reach in with the bent wrench.. the bend allows the wrench to clear the pto shaft that goes thru the pump, just above the relief valve. This cuts the job to about 15 minutes.. vs 4 hours, not to mention not having to replace about 6 gaskets in the process or drain 5 g's of oil.

I'll take the cheap approaches when they work as good as the expensive ones based on application and lifespan.

Would you use a ming vase to carry lighter fuel out to your burn pit to toss in to start your fire.. or would you use a dixie cup??

Soundguy