Woodsplitter build #2

[6sunset6]

Now I know my double 55 gal drum stove will heat my shop at 15d F outside.
Burns a lot of wood though. Good thing the top of the box wedge splits off big pieces. I don't usually work out there from Dec 15 to March 1 but this year is different. I know you guys want progress. While waiting for plumbing , due tomorrow the last hoses and the relief valve, I have been scrounging around my scrap pile looking for pieces for the log lift cylinder anchor. I want to bolt it on using the same bolts that hold the hinge bracket , Hinge bracket on the near side and anchor on the far side. It is a lot easier to take the one step back with bolts than welds.
Here is todays story. I needed to extend the cylinder for the lifter to see where it sort of wanted to go. Since putting oil in it at this point would be very messy I decided air would be good. I have a 4way air valve and started plumbing. First thing , since the cylinder is surplus I guess it was used. The teflon tape boogy man was present in the threads. I stopped and picked them all out. There was a lot. It's good there are a lot of comments here about teflon tape in the threads being the issue. So fired up the compressor and flipped the valve. Nothing. Eventually I realized the whole thing ,lifter and cylinder was still hooked to the overhead hoist and I was either trying to raise the building or pull it down. I forget which. After I got that straightened out the cylinder extended very nicely. More sawing and tacking and drilling.
I think I am done with 1" diameter holes. Actually 1 1/32 is what I use for 1" pins. I bought a special drill for that. My drill press does not like anything over 3/4 so all those big holes have to go on the mill. Sometimes the vise and sometimes clamped to the table. It's a bigger deal than just jumping on the drill press. So 4 hours today. I have more time in the lifter than I have in the beam and ram. Feels like it anyway. I was tacking and something got around the hood and around my safety glasses and hit the corner of my eye. Never had that happen before. If I tell my wife she will make me go to the eye DR. Not yet it's way off in the corner , I will see what it's like tomorrow. Besides I still got the drops from the last time I got something in my eye, which was the end of the bottle of eye drops. go figure. I will try for pictures tomorrow.

 

[Scooby074]

Too bad about the eye. Happens to me alot. So much i can actually touch my eyeball now with my finger without flinching.

Try a cuetip. pull out your eyelid and look north, south, east and west and see if you can see the culprit. If you do, grab it with the cuetip. Polysporin drops will prevent infection.

 

[6sunset6]

Thanks Seems to be ok now lots of eye drops and a hot shower.

 

[6sunset6]

pictures today maybe 4 steps forward and 1 step back. Soon I will own stock in DHH.
First picture all the hoses on the beam. the 1/4 are just folded over. They go to the lifter. The main cylinder hoses are probably 6 " to short . IF they leak I will get ones 12" longer.
Second picture relief valve for the power supply. This was an engineering change so of course I am placing the 3rd fitting order .
3rd picture The space I cannot spin the valve in. I guess I could have taken the cartridge out of the housing but then I would have to put a perfectly good valve back together. I always make this mistake, think I am going to get exactly the fittings need, then get fed up and get extra, then trip over the extra , they are never right for the next job anyway, then I get extra again. Most of the time to get to DHH $20 min.
4th picture Finally found the right spot for the cylinder anchor. lifter down
last picture lifter up.
Lot of give in the cylinder anchor with 80psi on the 3.5 " diam cylinder . Used up an inch of travel before the lifter started to move. Of coarse it is clamped mostly. I still want to bolt it in and it is pretty impossible to drill any more holes in the beam now. Well not impossible but ugly. I could weld clips to the beam and bolt to them. I sort of have that started but I don't like it. I need a rest. Tomorrow is an all day volunteer job. Handrail posts on an Appalacian trail boardwalk. last last picture

 

[Scooby074]

Looks good Bob. Close now. Must be getting excited.

I know all about plumbing/engineering changes.. i had a few too It Gets expensive at $10 a fitting :laughing:

 

[6sunset6]

Starting to think about 15 gal of hydraulic oil. The anchor for the lift cylinder is not clean. I have to think about it for a bit yet. Then there is the out rack, but that should be easy, just work. Lots of welding yet. I used up 7# of 5/32 6011 rod. I have a lot of 1/8 well 8# . The lifter and outrack I can probably do with 1/8 and I still have some 5/32 6013 to finish up the wedge and it's anchor. Way over budget on this puppy but way way under $13k.

 

[arrow]

Bob are you using any more amps to weld with than the standard recommendations for the rod size? Also, I've found I tore up any log tables I made if they did not protrude far enough into the beam area. Short of getting in the way of any log lifts, (although your set up is non conventional so you probably wouldn't have that problem) I had more success when the table protrudes almost half way down the beam and notched to clear any log over hangs.

Lou

 

[6sunset6]

Bob are you using any more amps to weld with than the standard recommendations for the rod size?

Lou

No 90A for 1/8 and 145A for 5/32
My welder is a 40 year old Lincoln tombstone AC only it has a fixed rotary amp selector. Looks like I bought it yesterday. Paid $100 for it new.

 

[6sunset6]

Big step forward yesterday. The log lifter works with air. I took a movie. Lets see if I can load it. My Son in law did the last one. While I am trying to figure that out 15 gal of hydraulic fluid and 40ft of 3/4 pipe for the out rack. Got 10ft a week ago. Finally changed the blade on my bandsaw. I have never had a pile of metal chips this big. Second photo is the cylinder mount for the log lift.
I finally sat down and made drawings of each part. I put the pieces in the mill and put the 1/2 bolt holes in on a grid. So I could move the pieces around to make adjustments and have all the bolt holes line up. Took a couple of hours and it was worth it. I moved them twice to get it where it is in the movie. You can see that I have way more lift than I need so I am going move the cylinder back 1 hole so it will not go so high. OF course it will go lower then but I can put a collar stop on the shaft. I also want to get the hose fittings on the back side. That may require some rework in some of the plates or maybe just 1 plate. The main vertical is just tacked in .
Sorry about the focus. New camera it wants 1/2 down on the shutter button for , I guess 1/2 second before pushing all the way down.
Log Lifter - YouTube

 

[Scooby074]

Lifter looks good. I think you may have a bit more travel than you need however. I go just to slightly above the horizontal with mine. If you move the base of the cylinder more horizontal, not only will you reduce the vertical travel, but you'll gain some leverage for the lift. Its going to be quite a push as its set up now.

For layout, i do all my designs in Solidworks. It sure helps getting angles and positions right. You can simulate all the range of motion.

If you might want to give 3d modeling a try, have a look at Sketchup. Its free.