Metal Planer Restoration 48: Making a Flat Gib for the Clapper Box Cross Slide 

Looks like Keith's hammer is up for a new casting session. :)

Just made 8 small dovetail slides out of grey cast using the same old 4 set screws for the gib method . Basically a copy of a SETCO guide . One detail I think you missed is that that spot facing should be “ flat bottom “ and at 90 degrees to the grub screw . Doesn’t make much difference but anyway a you’ve done a wonderful job . Thanks for sharing

Good work Keith... take care

Holy gosh dang! i can see the double sided banana bow in that pice with my eyes! I would have put a jack under the ends while milling!

Using shim stock on a surface grinder will help in getting items flat. Place various size shim stock to take up space grind and flip it over and grind the other side and will usually end up with a flat part.

I think the half moon you got after center punching, was from the top edge of the center punch. They are intended for flat transfer, on an angle like the gib was at, I was surprised the point hit at all.

This has been a great series Keith, looking forward to seeing some big chips soon. Thanks for sharing, Cheers

I thought I saw something change when that facemill came off the part! Surprised it didn't chatter like crazy on the first pass. Thanks for sharing!

Nice and Enjoyed that!... Many thanks for sharing!!!

To those new to machining and watching this, some words of advice. I know this is not a how-to, but people that are new, watch this and copy the person they are watching. Good habits and the bad habits. 1. Always deburr your part when you remove it from the vise and flip it over (smooth file!). Those burrs will nearly always find themselves under the part and between your parallels pushing it up at an angle. 2. You also want to actually clean your chips off of the parallels, the chips that fall onto the parallels when you removed the part. Chips have thickness, even cast iron dust. 3. Before you clamp your part, make sure your parallels are standing up straight and not cocked at an angle. Parallels at an angle have cosine error and will stand your part taller than a flat parallel. It might not seem like much but a 2"H parallel with a 0.005" chip under one corner or cocked at an angle will raise your part up a considerable amount. Tapping it with a mallet after its clamped will NOT flatten the parallel out since its now in a bind. It will only hammer a groove into your finish all the while making your new cut no longer parallel as you intended it to be.

Mr. Rucker Your hammer stills works great ! thank you for showing how to make the Gib

Nice work 👍👍

You are a madman. "I took this over to the surface plate and scraped it in"

With the surface grinder try placing shims under the "curved part every inch or two. Block the part in on the left side with material that has been ground flat and smooth. Turn on the electromagnetic chuck then turn the chuck off and grind using residual magnetism. Residual is not always strong enough with parts that are rough which is why it is important to use the ground blocking. The flater and smoother the blocking the better it will be able to grip the chuck.

Nice job Keith. Worked out great. Thank you.

It's nice to see your cat feeling so confident and comfortable in your shop, even amidst the loud, growly machines.

THANK YOU...for sharing. Watched and enjoyed.

Looking good.

For a dog point set screw you need to set the gib up at the dovetail angle and put your dimples in with an end mill so the dog point has a flat surface to press against. Going in against a drill bit dimple will force the gib down and cause it to drag on the surface of the carriage. I wonder if those screws are original- I can't imaging being able to maintain the adjustment without a jam nut to keep them from backing out.

Love to watch your channel. My brother and I both worked at Wells Index in 70/80’s. He worked in scrapping dept I was in special assembly, where electrical and electronics was installed. Thanks for the memories

When you were using the transfer punch to mark the holes, I was wondering to myself if the angle of the gib was great enough that the edge of the punch would touch the gib before the center point of the punch. I believe that may be the half moon mark you saw on the gib. Thanks for the videos, I have really enjoyed this rebuild.

Nice job

Most people uploading a how to video probably would have edited out the part where your face mill came apart causing a mistake. I believe you kept it in for several reasons because accidents happen to even the best and personally I think mistakes teach us just as much as our successes

By placing a bowed nonflat part on parallels then tapping it down with your lead hammer you bend the part into compliance with your parallels. Then you milled it flat ?, when you release the vice your part will bow back. The best approach to this would have been to check the part on your surface plate and determine the bow that would have rested on the ends of your parallels then place the piece on your parallels in your vice in this position. Do not tap it down- you do not want to bend your part. Take light milling cuts to flatten this side. Recheck this milled side on your surface plate to see if it came out flat, if it is flip the part over on the parallels and you can now tap the part down to your parallels. This would have avoided chasing your tail getting the bow out. You have a great site and I love what you do, I just wanted to point something out.

I would put a shim under the middle to keep the magnet from deforming the part. Given the upward force of the dovetail cutter, the third clamp probably is necessary in this thin part to prevent upward deflection in the center. If you turn the rounded side of your flat washers toward your clamps, the washers will not mar your clamps.

As always i enjoyed your video

Keith, the elephant you spoke of at the beginning of the project is down to a few small bites. Can’t wait to see the chips. What’s next? I’d like to see more of the new K and T.

Never really seen a metal planer in action, will be fun to watch how it functions!

Really effective close up video, especially on the dovetail milling. Perfect level of detail.

Love it when a plan comes together!

That is the greatest hammer I've ever seen. So well used, haha.

Good show Keith.

I thought I seen the cutter drop. I really enjoy your vidioes Tom from Nebraska

Interesting you put it in the surface grinder as you did. With wood I'd have put it so the curve was up in the middle and shimmed it so the magnet didn't pull it down. Then you could grind the curve out of it without risk of putting spring into it. Maybe it's different with metal.

Well Done I like the plate in the vise might have to make one of those.

Wow Keith your lead hammer needs a TLC remelt. Great job on your mill enjoyed watching.

Shim up under the bow to make things flat. You can flip it 10 times and still be warped! Machining 101!

I saw the face mill drop on the first pass and thought "What the heck was that?". Nice to see even Keith can drop a ball from time to time. :)

Hi Keith, after the scraper is running and finished, you could use some new lead hammers, and take a look around the shop for tools in need of up-keep, we all have them. I got a bunch of drills that need emergency TLC!

How are your shop kitties doing? I hope they're as precocious as ever.

Awesome videos bright and early!!🛠

Put a stack of feeler gages under the spring areas of the part and than grind it and you will get rid of the spring

That is a very interesting looking hammer you are tapping down the flat bar with. It looks like a cave man made it.

I liked the part when you realized you screwed up and then owned it. Not editing that out made your error educational and I thank and applaud that! In wood working, Id had taken that bowed piece to the jointer and flattened out the bow, why did you not do something similar if the idea of thousands of dollars of tools and equipment results in bowed parts? I know the question sounds like im being an ass but Im really just asking a question and looking to understand the thought process used.

Cool project.

A couple of comments in one - Firstly, I note on the vertical operations you keep moving the quill down - removing rigidity to the setup - rather than raising the table - which would have been the better option and may be nearer a better working height for you ! Secondly, you mention about the benefit of the 'palette' for mounting the work - well I'm not seeing anything there that you couldn't do mounting directly to the table.

Keith, please add machine oil to the sliding Gibb upon final assembly. Thank you for all you do for us!

What a sad lead hammer, time for a refresh.

Machinist jacks under the unsupported ends when milling? Yea, needed shims under the bow while grinding to eliminate problem. You will never get it out otherwise.

Hurrah! This vid didnt put me to sleep.

I "kinda" enjoy all of Keith's videos.

No worries about the slight boo, boo. Even the best machinist make an error now and then. We've all been there and done that...

GREAT JOB, GREAT VIDEO, PAT THE SHOP CAT ON THE HEAD FOR MY... ( NOW LET'S GO TO WORK )

"just tapping it with a lead hammer" or what's left of one! That tool's definitely seen some use :O

Transfer punching down the adjustment holes - depends what the ends of the adjusting screws are like - fine if they have really pointed ends but if the ends are relatively blunt, you need a similarly blunt transfer punch so that you know the vertical offset of where the dimples need to be to hold the gib from sliding out !

Gib adjusting screws, - well if you're going to have to make 1, make 4 and make them long enough to take a locknut. First time I've seen gib screws without a locknut ! OK, so that's not how it was but I rate this change as a 'permitted improvement' ! It could have been done back in the day.

I think you were right the first time. The Iron was still in a plastic state when it was extruded the the die to give it the shape it solidified in.

Hiya Keith

I notice your 'indents' for the gib screws were drilled square to the world. Some of the gibs on some of my machines are a 1/2 moon shape as they were milled (as opposed to drilled) at the angle of the gib. In your case that would be 45 degrees. It seems a minor detail but the bottom or pressure end of the screws would be resting on a flat surface. Was the original you had a simple dimpled like the one you made? And, does it matter either way in your opinion?

When you first started cutting with that face mill I thought it sounded like something was loose; I was thinking an insert before it dropped, but then you found that center bolt had let the whole assembly come down.

Nice!!

When machining flat plate I would take a skim cut then flip it over and skim the other side, then continue machining and then flip it over and finish to size.

If you're going to mess up, do it early, so there's still enough material to recover!

Hey Keith 3 x morse pizza boxes in background 🎉 party on sir! 😂

Looks like Keith must have hit a sale on bandsaw blades. :-)

I get that the total length isn't THAT critical, but after all of that machining you free hand cut the length on a band saw! That would send my OCD into overdrive.

I'm sure you've seen this old school trick. If you have a questionable thickness section (such as "wavy") use a piece of thin cardboard between the movable jaw and the workpiece. Makes for better clamping and less strain on the vise.

Man I can’t wait to see this thing make chips!

Keith, keep saying 'extruded' as you're still grammatically right. To extruded is to 'force out', the material is forced out under pressure from the molten material surely? Love the channel, love your enthusiasm, even if I'm completely lost on the American imperial measurements! 😄👍

I can't wait for the next exciting episode! (do we get decoder rings?)

I tried to holler at you when the face mill fell off the end but ya didn't hear me lol. But it turned out ok . Thanks

I'm surprised you didn't put a mill jack on the ends to keep them from bouncing.

You need to have Mr Pete make you a renewed lead hammer.

I'd think that thinning out that material would be a perfect job for a shaper.

Keith, have you thought about spot facing the gib where the adjustment screws contact it? I noticed when rebuilding the turret on my Hardinge DSM the straight gib has this feature. I don’t think Hardinge would have done it if it wasn’t beneficial. Just a thought.

Looks like your hammer has been around the block a few times :)

Keith, you are using Duracast. I'm not familiar with this material. Is it completely stress free? Otherwise I would machine it symmetrical to the centerline. And I also would use some machinist jacks to support the ends. Or buy a longer piece for support on the bed directly. Deburring before you flip the part wouldn't hurt either. And skimming before grinding is also a good idea. It won't matter when squeezed down at it's final place because it seams to be flexible enough to swing to the right place when tightening up the guide screws. Dear Keith sorry about being picky but this episode looks somehow sloppy to me compared to your other work. I hope it's not a motivation problem ;-) Thank you for all your wonderful uploads; I really enjoy watching them (maybe a small tip on the side; don't put your microphone under your nose. I should lose some weight, just as you, but the panting sometimes scares me...) Thank you Keith! Love your work and I'm only trying to improve it a little bit. Best, Job

thats so irritating when stuff like that happens. i was machining a B&S #9 adapter today for a boring head and somehow when boring the internal taper i screwed up. i should've had .030" more to bore, but i was over by a few thousandths somehow. that would've wasted a lot of time, but i rescued it by sleeving it and boring it out again.

Good morning from St John Parish, Louisiana, 30 Nov 20.

In the first milling operation, could the chatter be reduced by cutting at the edge of the end mill, rather than the centre? That should send the majority of the cutting forces along the axis of the part, rather than across it where the forces are trying to bend the part.

I don't see how flipping the part would help in any way to eliminate the spring. Wouldn't you need to flatten one side while the piece is in it's curved state to actually remove the curve?

I am curious as to why you didn't support the ends with a couple of jacks, when you were grinding it was bowing like mad, so did it get flat?

I wonder if the old gib broke from the repeated impacts of the cutter tool focusing the force on one gib screw tip. I am still mid video but I would make that gib as tight a fit as I could without the screws to give it the best chance of survival and the tightest fit for the Clapper box. Using the gib screws to keep it in position not to adjust the dovetail lash

I was wondering if I could use longer parallels or precision ground flat stock that was longer so that I would get a more precision cut and less chatter on the setup that you showed versus using machinist jacks

4:36 What does your existing shop cat think of the new kittens?

Face mill problems, i had the same one arbor and two facemills, i put it on meaning to tighten it when i had it in the mill but forgot ha ha

4:34 Shop Assistant

Great video. Especially extruded vs continuous casting. Is there anything other than checking during machine start up that will keep the gib set screws tight?

Keith I love your channel and enjoy your posts. But hope you don't mind me saying this is not how you grind a bow out. By continuously flip flopping the part you are just transferring the bow from one side to the other by the forces of the mag chuck. You need to grind a face measure the bow then shim. Grind out the bow then flip and grind to that face. Then you will get flat. Hope you don't mind the comment

I think he should have scraped the beveled edge of the gib and slather in in way oil. Ron W4BIN

Is this an example of the stress being relieved from the material when one side is machined ?

Do you have a job planed for that metal planer when it is completed. i would love to see it run.

Tomato, tomahto. According to Dura-Bar's web site, "Dura-Bar's® continuous casting process begins with a water-cooled graphite die that is machined to form the shape of the bar. The die is mounted on a bar machine crucible. As the bar is pulled horizontally from the crucible, the head pressure feeds molten iron into the die, producing a fine-grained cast iron bar. Since the bar is being pulled from the bottom of the holding crucible, dross, slag and other impurities float to the top, away from the opening of the die. The Dura-Bar® process enables the microstructure to be free from shrinkage, gas holes and other tool-wearing inclusions." So, technically it is an extrusion as the metal is being forced through a die under pressure to form the desired shape.

Could cutting on direction loosen the fastener as opposed to cutting in the other direction?

Can shims be used on the surface grinder to help get the bow out of parts? Also could you use a magnetic chuck on the milling machine if you had another one?

Typically, the last 10 percent of the work takes 90 percent of the time. It will get done soon enough. Can't wait to see it cut something.

14:13 When you switch off the mag, the left hand end of the workpiece visibly lifts off the table.

Regular cast iron ("grey" cast iron) is way too brittle to extrude, as it would break apart and crumble if you tried. There is a form of cast iron called "Malleable" cast iron that can deform somewhat under pressure, though I am not sure that it could handle a true extrusion attempt. Interestingly, from what I have read, Malleable cast ion is made in a very non-intuitive way: You first quench harden "chill" the iron so that it is almost entirely cementite/martensite all the way through and EXTREMELY BRITTLE "white" cast iron. Then you reheat it at a sequence of tempering/annealing reheats to soften that back to the regular cast iron form, but now the crystal structure is such that some ductile ferrite exists in the metal, enough so that it can deform somewhat. Cast iron is strange stuff...

Your lead hammer looks like it could do with a re-casting

Hi Keith, what stops the set screws working loose during operation? Keep up the good work