Todays Project - What did you do today?

[chucketn]

(07-28-2013, 08:03 AM)dallen Wrote: use hardened dowel pins I normally when wanting good ones buy them at Fastenal.

if you use one of the ole Monkey Wrench's you can put them in either the end of the jaws or the side, with a cresent wrench you only have one option thats the side.

another trick is to drill a hole in the top jaw of a pair of channel lock pliers and drive in a dowel pin now you have and adjustable hook spanner.

Thanks, I have a local Fastenal.

Chuck

[EdK]

(07-27-2013, 11:36 PM)Mayhem Wrote: ...
Blackened by heating and dunking in old motor oil:

Darren,

That blackening worked out very nicely. Can you tell me what the process is?

Thanks,
Ed

[Mayhem]

Sure Ed. Heat the parts up until they turn dark red and then drop them into old engine oil. Leave them in there for a bit and then fish them out and let them drain off. Finally give them a wipe over with a rag. I did these with a small propane torch. I also did some larger bolts for a friend by placing them in a steel pot I made for melting small amounts of aluminium in and put them in the forge I made.

I've had pretty good results doing this and the larger the item the larger the container of oil should be. Big parts can really boil the oil and the smoke can catch on fire at the surface but goes out pretty quickly. Those M4 screws were dropped into a 1/4 of a beer can (beer consumed and replaced with oil). For larger parts I have a 4L steel olive oil tin that I cut the top off.

[EdK]

Darren,

Heating up the screws didn't affect the properties of the steel at all?

Ed

[Mayhem]

I wouldn't think so - they are only mild steel.

[TomG]

Nice job on the screws Darren.

I use that blackening process myself, if you burn the oil off after dipping it makes the finish even more durable.

Ed: Steel has to have at least .3% carbon before it can be heat treated, so heating a piece of 1018 for instance, which is only .18% carbon will have no effect on it's hardness.

Tom

[stevec]

How's the rust resistance of that blackened oil finish?
I used some 5/16-24 hex socket capscrews from Fastenal (out of my inventory) to mount my hydraulic pump to the engine on my new splitter and, although I keep it covered when not in use, the capscrews are starting to glow red with rust (very humid conditions of late).

[TomG]

Not that good Steve, it's more for appearance than protection. It's pretty much the same for any black oxide type finish on steel, they rely on oil for protection against moisture, the finish just helps keep the oil in place. Gun bluing is the same, unless it's kept oiled rust will form.

Tom

[aametalmaster]

Made a 5-40 grip screw from scrap brass for a guy i work with. I took the scrap brass from something he tossed away. Thought that would be a good eyeopener making it from his scrap part since he is always teasing me for dumpster diving. Pics suck but i tried.

pic one the scrap part with brass guts.
pic 2 the brass shaft to be used.
pic 3 turned down and getting ready to thread the 5-40 end
pic 4 threaded, made a little long for trimming
pic 5 using 1/8" collet to cut the excess and trim for the head
pic 6 using ships under my tool block to cut the slot using the cross slide. Tool is on center and shims added or removed for the width.
pic 7 Done just need his gun to try them out on. Enjoy.
Off to the lake...Bob

[EdK]

Nice save on that chunk of brass Bob. No way would I throw out a piece of brass like that.

Ed