MODIFY BRUSH HOG SOME MORE

[3RRL]

Hey Larry,
I got the FedEx packages today and I'm super excited. Man, you must have spent hours wrapping each piece individually like it was a wine glass! They look great too. Here is a picture of the pieces he sent.



Not only that, but Larry sent me a surprise also. Here are 4 cartons of my favorite Pall Malls and a giant Zippo lighter and flints!!! Hooo eeee! Geez Larry, you must have spent a fortune on that stuff.



What can I say ... thank you sooo much for the freebie plasma cutting and all that steel and the super nice gifts too. I will owe you for life, I'm sure.
thanks thanks thanks thanks....

 

[GuglioLS]

Larry,
Great video's. That CNC plasma table is too cool. If I were rich I would have to have one of those. I know that you get special deals, barter or what ever, but what do they normally charge for that service. It is so fast that if it is an hourly rate it must be pretty high.
Great work, keep it coming. There are a lot of us out here who like to read and not say much. We appreciate the effort.
Thanks
Doug

Doug,

I see this is your very first post! Welcome to TBN, thanks for your positive comments on Robs project and your interest in asking about plasma cutting.

"what do they normally charge for that service. It is so fast that if it is an hourly rate it must be pretty high."

Surprisingly it's not as much as you might think. The key to saving $ on plasma cutting is having the drawing ready to import directly into their software. Since Rob did all his own design work and supplied the file, it was easy as pie, so that saved a bundle. They would normally charge 60.00 / hour for design services and the same rate to get the drawings into the software and ready to cut. The sequence of cuts are set manually by selecting the order of what gets cut and when. As an example - you set the starting point (on each part) for the initial plasma burn through, then cut all the internal holes or slots, then cut the outline of the part.

On this project, the 3/8" steel cost $60. Getting Robs file into the software and setting the cut sequence took another 30 minutes (which they did not charge me for) labor (watching it cut) was 1/2 hour @ 60 / hour. After the parts were cut, the slag on the bottom side needed to be chipped away, which I did myself to save a little more, that took another 30 minutes.

So total actual cost for material, labor & taxes for all those parts was a mere 99.99

To make money on their 10K machine, they pretty much run it all day every day. So their profit is in volume. You would be surprised how many average "Jane's" & "Joe's" (like me) walk in to get parts cut. Along with artists wanting Geckos & Kokopelli's, those things were laying all over the place.


Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

Rob,
I'm glad all the parts arrived in one piece.

That lighter is not giant, in Robs hands it looks normal. Enjoy your "trick" lighter, maybe use it as a camp lighter? or mount in on your tractor in a handy spot.

"I will owe you for life, I'm sure"

Well just don't smoke em all at once so you will owe me for a long, long time.
I'm pleased you find the parts acceptable. I hope to see you machining and assembling ever thing soon.

Larry

 

[AMP762]

Not only that, but Larry sent me a surprise also. Here are 4 cartons of my favorite Pall Malls and a giant Zippo lighter and flints!!!

Oh I can't believe you posted that. The smoking Nazis will get you.

 

[john_bud]

I'm sure they were the (wink) candy cigarettes we all used to get at Halloween ! (wink wink)

jb

 

[3RRL]

Now that I got my sugar fix, I got some more work done on my project.
Not as much as I wanted to get done by now, but I've made some progress. Most of it is pretty boring though. Larry had warned me that the plasma cuts would have taper on them and they sure do. It is perfectly acceptable for the perimeter shapes, in fact they are great. But the holes need to be bored out to fit the pins and bushings.
Like boring out the 1" diameter holes for the pins and the 1.375 diameter holes for the bushings.



I ran out of scrap leader pins and bushings and found another set a little larger. So I decided to make the top pivots using the larger pins and bushings. Here is how the 1.250 diameter pins and also the 1.625 diameter bushings fit the bores. I only have one more set of holes to bore out now. That one where the bushing is sitting on the plates.



One last little video of how the bores are about a half thou over for a really good perfect slip fit. It is probably way to close once I start welding. But I wanted a kind of tight pivot with no slop, since that will be the weak link in the assembly. You can see how good the fit is... if this pin is not lined up, it's not gonna go in.

 

[3RRL]

I also have a little more steel slitting to do to make enough pieces from the scrap tubes I had. I've most of it slitted in half and also milled to length. Man, there are a lot of pieces after all. I better get busy with the rest of the machining. I have to cut and grind the hardened bushings and leader pins to length yet. I will do that on my surface grinder with a thin cut off wheel.
Look at all this steel now.



I also got the other wheel in from Howse yesterday. I will have to make tubular sleeve and a frame for it so it's like the one I got. Howse lost my order the first time and so I emailed them. They said they didn't get the order? Then they said they did but no one took care of it. So I called them and talked to a guy who said he would personally ship the wheel. He also said he would send it next day air and not charge me anything for shipping because I had been waiting 2 weeks for it. Ground alone was about $30!! So air was probably a lot more. I thought it was swell of them to send it like that without charging me.

The last thing I'm waiting for is the 3/8 BSP fitting I need for the DPOCV. I will make up that hard line like I did for my backhoe cylinders and then take all this stuff up to camp. I'm not sure I will have everything ready before I leave for the 1 week vacation? Hope those fittings get here tomorrow.

 

[GuglioLS]

I've made some progress. Most of it is pretty boring though. LOL

Rob,
You have made good progress, the machining looks great too. Installing the hardened bushings is a change of plans? No doubt it will last much longer that way.
Two days after you posted this update, I'm surprised no one else has made any comments Did slicing all those tubes in half take quite a while? Did those fittings you ordered show up?

If we don't speak before you leave for camp, You & Loretta have a great time on vacation up at your 3R property. I would imagine your both pretty psyched getting ready to watch the logs being placed for your log cabin home.

Have a great weekend and vacation,

Larry

 

[john_bud]

Two days after you posted this update, I'm surprised no one else has made any comments Did slicing all those tubes in half take quite a while? Did those fittings you ordered show up?

LOL

Larry

Well, I'm a bit let down, so didn't post. Was expecting a full independently reactive, electro-hydraulic, 4 point mounted, laser interferometry based system able to maintain an exact cutting height (+/- 1 micron) no matter what the tractor did, ran over or how fast it was traveling --> with bluetooth GPS feedback to a heads up display driver information system that displays a calculated optimum path for minimum deck disturbance with maximum mowing productivity.

This is just the normal stunning stellar dead on perfect machining of an amazing modification that we have all come to expect from you two.

Yawn!



just kidding.

jb

 

[Grrrr]

Well, I'm a bit let down, so didn't post. Was expecting a full independently reactive, electro-hydraulic, 4 point mounted, laser interferometry based system able to maintain an exact cutting height (+/- 1 micron) no matter what the tractor did, ran over or how fast it was traveling --> with bluetooth GPS feedback to a heads up display driver information system that displays a calculated optimum path for minimum deck disturbance with maximum mowing productivity.

LOL

You should write sales literature jb

Looks like a great project Rob. I wish I had the skill that you have