This week was really exciting as we got the stock for the ROV. We also started to manufacture the steady rest to help machine the tube. This week generally consisted of getting ready to start machining the ROV parts. After I finalized the design for the roller arms, Ben and Adam machined them.
These roller arms have 3 features: A tapped hole to allow a bearing to be bolted to the end of the arm, A clearance slot to allow the arm to be adjusted and tightened in its groove, and a counter-bore slot to keep the head of the adjustment bolt out of the way of the bearing.
After finalizing the design of the lathe bed interface, I got a piece of steel from metal fab to make it out of. I cut the part down on the horizontal band saw and used the fly cutter to take it to its outer dimensions. This part has 3 tapped through holes on its edge to allow the adjustment assembly to attach on both sides of the part. It also has a V-groove to align itself on the lathe bed. I plan to machine this groove by milling the part while it is at a 45 degrees angle.
I quickly modeled the main ring for the steady rest so that Adam could CNC it. After he finished the CAM tool paths I used hold down clamps blocks to hold it in place while it is machined. It needed to be lifted off of the bed to allow the center bore to be milled. This also required the blocks and hold down clamps to be on the edges of the part where they wouldn’t intersect with the grooves, bore, and mounting flats. Adam will begin the program when he returns on Monday.
The steel lathe chucks would mar the aluminum tube if they directly made contact. To prevent this I made copper soft jaws for the 4 jaw chuck. Mr. L had purchased an 1/8″ copper sheet to make soft jaws a long time ago. So I used this material to make the jaws. To make this I cut section of the sheet for each jaw, then tightened the jaws around the sheet to form the front. Then I used a hammer to shape the sheet around the rest. Then I cut tabs and bent them with the hammer to keep it in place. I then took off each jaw and adjusted the tolerances by smacking the side of it with a hammer. Now each jaw fits tightly, but can be removed without any tools.
