I had some fun at the machine shop today.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PBramble

Let's Eat
Special Hen
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
2,836
Reaction score
3,734
Location
OKC
The surfaces are so flat and smooth that the air gets squeezed out as you slide them together and it is hard for the air to get back in!

Kinda like a suction thing (vacuum) in my opinion!
Surface tension, but yeah. It's the way crowns fit in your mouth. Think of sticking a glass on another glass. It's like that.
 

Shadowrider

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
21,557
Reaction score
9,386
Location
Tornado Alley
So what is y'all's explanation for being able to "wring" precision blocks? Suction? Molecular attraction? Magnetism?

This has just amazed me for years.

Edited to correct spelling of wring.
What OHJEEZE said. They make blocks out of ceramic too for the really precise stuff. It's not magnetism at all that does it.

Fun fact. Last shop I worked at bought a Mori Seiki CNC jig boring machine that was a factory modified into a 5 axis. It was simply one of their standard models that they added two rotary axes to. The customer spec'd Leica optical scales for feedback to the CNC control on every axis. Leica was and probably still is the best of the best in the world at uber precision movements. They also had cooling AND heating units on the hydraulic, coolant and spindle fluids. They had a warm up program that the customer had to run for 45 minutes to get everything on the machine stabilized to run the parts they were running. The code was still in the control when we received it. I was bored one Saturday and was reading the manuals and shocked at the precision it would do and repeat. Even having been around 5 axis CNC aerospace stuff for years this was mind blowing. The customer that ordered this machine? Boeing Satellite Division. That's who we bought it from.

We used it to drill and bore a crapton of locating holes in the engine nozzle rings for all sorts things that attached including the steering brackets that went on the reworked ICBM that was part of the missile defense program. They ended up at ATK in Utah. Our customer was right up Imperial Highway in City of Industry, CA. That place was cool to go visit. Inside the main foyer was a display shelf that wrapped around the room. On that shelf was all sorts of items, some all burnt up, off of the Apollo lunar landing modules. They built a lot of items related to the engine nozzles of about every rocket we've ever used.

Sometimes I miss that work, but most times I don't...
 

OHJEEZE

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
1,689
Reaction score
2,402
Location
Not in Oklahoma!
Surface tension, but yeah. It's the way crowns fit in your mouth. Think of sticking a glass on another glass. It's like that.
I know nothing about crowns in my mouth unless it is broccoli crowns!

But I do know how to make some stuff outa metal

Reminds me of a time in my early years, I had to mill a 13" square through pocket in a mold base 6" thick, and the boss told me he wanted a gage block fit!

Sometime while I was working at that place I answered a ad (before the internet) for some tools from a Tool & Die retiree.

Picked up a bunch of his stuff.

Amongst that was some off sized "123" blocks.

Later on at a different shop I took the off sized 123 blocks that was heavy on the 1" sides and took them down to 1 inch, then I lapped them together with some diamond polishing compound, swapping and mixing sides.

My 123's will wring together now!

Wringing Gage Blocks

Ps:
I always wiped gage blocks on my wrists to clean the mating surfaces

@Burney, I wish you the best my friend!

I always used the shop's machines for my projects, and neglected getting my own!

Now I am not working at no shop and need to get my machines! ☹️
 
Last edited:

Snattlerake

Conservitum Americum
Special Hen
Joined
Jan 19, 2019
Messages
20,735
Reaction score
32,358
Location
OKC
The surfaces are so flat and smooth that the air gets squeezed out as you slide them together and it is hard for the air to get back in!

Kinda like a suction thing (vacuum) in my opinion!
My theory was molecular attraction. I would love to see the surface of the blocks on an ECM.
 

Snattlerake

Conservitum Americum
Special Hen
Joined
Jan 19, 2019
Messages
20,735
Reaction score
32,358
Location
OKC
What to do with swarf? Hmmmm.

1643201273672.png


A little degreaser, a little rinse, a little tumble dry and a little epoxy and viola, a counter top.

http://www.renewedmaterials.com/alkemi-polyester
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom