Month: April 2020

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Schaublin starwheel tailstock with toolchanger

I wanted a starwheel tailstock for a long time – and finally got one on a company liquidation. It was not in a good shape, but I like a lot to refurbish this kind of tools.

  • The item how it was presented at the auction
  • Disassembled parts of the gray tailstock

The toolchanger is mounted on a W20-collet and had some problems: it was sloppy and had some broken parts (which I don’t know how they are named officially).

It’s the part where the tool/toolholder is clamped. The clamping force is obtained by thightening the screw on the top of the part. Two of those screws had ruined threads, one was broken off completely! I think this happened to somebody, who didn’t know about the function of this clamp – but I have to admit, that I’ve also never seen this kind of clamping by pushing a rod upwards…

After disassembling and cleaning the whole tool, the same old steps again: sanding off the old paint, priming, filling, sanding and painting again. This time without the indulgence of a sandblaster (really a lot of handwork).

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Ikea hack for the belt grinder

I like to work in a «styled workshop» – funny, isn’t it? 🙂

For the new Batko belt grinder a small and mobile surface would ideal. You can place it where you need it, and where the dust won’t bother. Some of my older workbenches are from the IKEA-kitchen-line «Bekväm». They sturdy, stable (some mods required)  and as you’ll see: highly customizable. With a touch of paint (bottom in a dark gray and the table varnished with parquet lacquer) a pair of new wheels it will get a irreplacable tool in the workshop.

The Batko belt grinder in vertical and horizontal position

The frequency drive and the control panel were placetdin the bottom part, right below the plate. Luckily, the VFD has just the right width. The panel was cut with the Tormach PCNC440 and inset on the front part. To be honest: the wiring was a little PITA. The manual isn’t a quality product (e.g. resistance not readable) – as in most of these products. Well, but when you get it to work, you really enjoy it even more…

Control panel and the hidden VFD

Tilting the machine needs an extra: the motor needs it’s place! So you need to lift the whole machine for about 80 mm. I fixed this with a wooden block and some supports turned on the Schaublin 102VM. The support on the handle needed to be extended – the drilled holes on the base plate (normaly used to fix the machine) were used, to place the standoffs. Aiming not to scratch the plate and stop up vibrations: some cork feets (as attempt).

The image on the right side shows the reason why the machine needs to be lifted a little bit…