Tool grinding jig

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Hi Adam,

It's very easy to make your own using a milling machine and a pointed lathe tool as an engraver.

Neil

[Adam HarrisParticipant @adamharris13683]

Hi Neil, I am afraid that I might be able to accurately place the graduation marks (I repeat might!) but I think engraving nice numbers is way beyond my flight range! I was thinking I could use the dividing attachment to place the graduations but I would never be able to draw nice numbers like you have done in that photo. Kind regards,

Adam

[Adam HarrisParticipant @adamharris13683]

The AMA-WEA arrived this morning within 24 hours which is very impressive. The vice feels nicely precise, as does the swivel, but the two tilts are rather loose fitting when unclamped, the paint job is awful (keeps coming off in your hands), and although there are graduation marks on both tilts and on the swivel, the marks are very feint and needless to say bear no resemblance at all to reality of actual degrees of movement. Typical chinese quality I suppose. Checking Alibaba I see this is a popular design made by a number of firms both in China and in India so maybe there are better examples out there. Anyway at £59 all in serves my purpose for sharpening cutting tools more accurately and comfortably than I could ever do by hand. Adam

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Adam. For setting angles apart from the swivle it will be easlier to use a wixey electronic angle gauge.

Stick on scales are available. I'm sure I saw a thread on another foum in the last week by somone finding such for his topslide angle setting . Just got to find it again.

Thanks Rod, might look into that.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

As to dividing a scale…
If stick on is acceptable. ..
Try wrap paper at least one turn round….score trough..you now have tape “exactly”.one turn long..now either divide..by tech drawing techniques or use cad…print ..stick down..lacquer. .

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

And if able to print revesed on clear film and stick down with lettering underneath.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

My numbers were stamped. i could have done better now with a simple stamp guide I have made.

If I was re-doing that job, I would use photo etching.

Note, I had to mark a flat piece of brass, bend it to size, then measure the elongation of the scale and use that to calculate sizes for the final one in order to get an accurate result.

Neil

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Thisis the other thread I mentioned

[Adam HarrisParticipant @adamharris13683]

Hi Bazyle, many thanks. That Wixey looks absolutely brilliant! Are they accurate? Certainly better than bending down and squinting at small engraved graduation marks with a bright torch however well etched.

[Adam HarrisParticipant @adamharris13683]

Jason, Many thanks. Adam

[Adam HarrisParticipant @adamharris13683]

Neil, Many thanks, Adam

[Adam HarrisParticipant @adamharris13683]

John (Bogstandard2), that is a fantastically useful site for printing graduations of every sort adjustable to every scale. Perfect. Many thanks indeed. Adam

[Adam HarrisParticipant @adamharris13683]

Hi Bazyle, just bought a Wixey now on ebay for £22.50 incl postage – looks like the best value gadget I've bought in years! Says it is accurate to 0.1 degree and has magnetic base and zeros to set to reference level. Many thanks again, Adam

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I tested my wixey against the sine bar and it was correct. Remember that readings to 0.1 mean it is in the range 0.1 to 0.19 so it has a range of 0.1 not spot on. Easily good enough for tool girnding and far better than you can do with a plain degree scale and equal to one with a vernier. You can more confidently undo a set-up and go back again

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

For those that missed Neil's post mentioning a cheaper version of these gauges here is the link.
I suspect that these are exactly the same design. Note they are in the "Big spring sale" leaflet so this price is only valid until 18/4/14

Les.

Edited By Les Jones 1 on 19/03/2014 08:46:13

[robjon44Participant @robjon44]

Bazyle, may I suggest with regard to your quest for a small angle plate that you search the site of WDS Components, they do Cast Iron flat, round, angle, channel & tee sections in various sizes, I'm sorry that I cant tell you their pricing, but when I worked in a toolroom these were incorporated into all manner of jigs & fixtures, there were of course offcuts all over the show so I pigged out in those days. Have made the raising block that Mr. Warco sold for his lathe/ mills out of a piece that was exactly the same size & added the tee slots & plain/ tapped holes as & when, there is the off chance you may be able to "aquire" some the same way. robjon44

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

interesting site Rob but EEEEEEK if I need some gold plated cast iron I know where to go. I'm assuming the gold plate from the price being 4x the axminster price.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

The Duratool one has an adjustable physical level built in (more accurate than the electronic level) for accurate zero setting and an absolute/relative function.

One application I haven't seen mentioned is sticking one to a chuck jaw for non-critical dividing, such as drilling cylinder cover studs.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 19/03/2014 16:06:41

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Neil,
I have the "Wixey" version and I use it almost in the way you describe. The only difference is I fix it to the spindle pulley with a piece of angle. I have ordered two of them today. One to use and one to see how difficult it is to convert it to a shaft input like the version that Machine DRO used to sell. I also plan to try to hack the communications protocol between the two boards in the unit. It would be interesting to buid a remote display. One problem I have seen with the Wixey one I have is if it snaps down to hard on a metal surface it looses its calibration. I do not know if the is a fault on the one I have or if they all have this problem.

Les.

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

I have just started to investigate other possible uses for these angle gauges. So far it looks like it should be possible to connect to them mechanically to measure shaft rotation. Also the display board is separate from the encoder part and connected by a 6 pin connector. I may be possible to extend this connection with a length of cable if the impedance of the signals is low enough. If anyone is interested I will start a thread and post more information as I find it.

Les

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

> One problem I have seen with the Wixey one I have is if it snaps down to hard on a metal surface it looses its calibration

Mine takes a while to settle down if this happens. I imagine it's the accelerometer chip going beyond its design limits.

Neil

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Neil,
They don't use an accelerometer chip like smart phones and tablet PCs do. It uses a pendulum with eddy current damping. I think the position is read in the same way as digital calipers. I think there is a circular version of the PCB that is inserted in to the bar of calipers. I think there are 18 radial fingers of track on the rotating PCB wheel.

This is the pendulum.

The pendulum seems to be made of copper and the 8 disks you can see inserted into the back cover are magnets. (Just like the 3 in the base.) There are some more pictures in my photo album. I have higher resolution photos than in the album and some notes with what I have found out so far about the communications protocol between the two boards. If you are interested in this information let me know and I will email it to you. (I still have your email address.)

Les.

Edited By Les Jones 1 on 22/03/2014 17:17:30

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Les Jones 1 on 22/03/2014 11:45:12:

I have just started to investigate other possible uses for these angle gauges. So far it looks like it should be possible to connect to them mechanically to measure shaft rotation. Also the display board is separate from the encoder part and connected by a 6 pin connector. I may be possible to extend this connection with a length of cable if the impedance of the signals is low enough. If anyone is interested I will start a thread and post more information as I find it.

Les

.

Yes Please, Les

MichaelG.

[Adam HarrisParticipant @adamharris13683]

Yes please from me also. Adam

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Very interesting Les. I'll let you quietly destroy yours and keep mine in one piece

Neil

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