The "Colossus" project

[Stormin 9,981]

 The two main things in welding IMO are preparation and not rushing.

[ebinmaine 67,464]

8 hours ago, troutbum63 said:

I have quite a collection of drill bits because of my inability to resharpen them, another reason I miss my dad as he kept my drill bits,mower blades, chain saw chains sharp.

Look into the "drill doctor".

I don't have one but seen them in videos.

 

I've only tried to sharpen my drills a few times and had mixed results.

I've used only a small grinding wheel.

It's a skill I believe I could get to a usable level with more practice.

It takes a certain "twist english" to get it just right.

 

Chain saw chains I tried a few different ways over the years.

Trina and I are using more firewood every year so it's time to learn the best way.....

Last year went to a good old fashioned hand file WITH A HOLDER. I live in the most heavily forested state in the nation. Logging IS Maine. I asked a few pros. I was amazed at how many did NOT use anything but a hand file.

 

 

@Lee1977

The closest trade or community college to us over an hour away.

As much as I LOVE the idea of a class it just isn't practical with our work and life schedule.

 

I do have the advantage of knowing several decent welders and a couple pros who are phenomenal.

When the weather warms up a bit I'm thinking of asking for a private lesson or 2...

 

@Stormin Norm I remember seeing somewhere that welding and painting go hand in hand with prep.

One of the websites said that welding as a career is about 80-90% NOT welding.

 

[cafoose 3,355]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

Look into the "drill doctor"

I got one and I love it!

 

 

[Tractorhead 9,064]

@ebinmaine

my father also was perfect in drillsharping, he has a good eye to do that simply on a grinder.

 

i have also mixed results, but i remember his advice 60deg. Shall be the best angle for mixed usung.

but the importanst thing he told me is the behind grinding, i have no good eye for.

 

but also this is just practice, practice, practice.

 

to get an better penetration of welding i learned to phase the welding area.

a good conduction ( cleaning of ground and welding area) in the half rent.

 

the rest is just exercise and as before mentioned,

use some scrap metal and try.

After that cut the welded area in half and look at it.

even if you no experienced that much, you will be able to see where the penetration is better or not.

 

when you welded few things together, give it a riptest, to see how good it lasts.

so you get more and more trust to your weldings and get a feeling if it‘s last or not.

 

👍

[troutbum70 857]

My father only had a bench grinder, which I now have. And he done them free hand no rest. And he done saw chains free hand as well, round one for the teeth and flat one for the guides. I remember watching my father's father sitting at a big wet Stone which he pedaled sharpening sythe blades, lawn mower blades and knife blades off the horse drawn mowing machine.

[pfrederi 17,738]

Drill Doctor use to have an ad.  Showed a coffee can full of drill bits  Caption was "Do you think resting them makes them sharper??"  I think that was my fathers opinion, drilling steel with his drill bits was an exercise in patience.

[Pullstart 62,849]

I used to be a cleaning kid at a too” and die shop.  If you’re really good at sweeping floors and changing mill coolant, they teach you how to sharpen drill bits.  Yeah, I used to be good at cleaning!  Maybe one of these days I’ll try to do a video on sharpening drills.  It’s pretty simple... but as mentioned, practice and practice and more practice!

[ebinmaine 67,464]

2 minutes ago, pullstart said:

I used to be a cleaning kid at a too” and die shop.  If you’re really good at sweeping floors and changing mill coolant, they teach you how to sharpen drill bits.  Yeah, I used to be good at cleaning!  Maybe one of these days I’ll try to do a video on sharpening drills.  It’s pretty simple... but as mentioned, practice and practice and more practice!

I'd like to see that Kev.

 

[Stormin 9,981]

  I served my apprenticeship in a toolroom. Drill sharpening became second nature. Took plenty of practice though. Though I have an electric sharpener, I mostly do mine on my bench grinder.

  Chainsaw blades I do by hand. Secret with those is a little and often. Don't let them get to dull.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

9 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Look into the "drill doctor".

I don't have one but seen them in videos.

 

I've only tried to sharpen my drills a few times and had mixed results.

I've used only a small grinding wheel.

It's a skill I believe I could get to a usable level with more practice.

It takes a certain "twist english" to get it just right.

 

https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Sharpen-Used-and-Dull-Drill-Bits-By-Hand/... I work in the Tool and Die industry and hand grind worn drill bits another thing to know is different materials require a different angle but yes 135° split tip is the go to for most steels.

[ebinmaine 67,464]

@WVHillbilly520H

Thanks for posting that

[ebinmaine 67,464]

Boy did we get a bunch done on the project today.

We spent pert near 8 hours.

Trina was disassembling, grinding and painting like a disassembling, grinding and painting madwoman.

 

All to appease Mr. Norman @Stormin

 

Here's proof of how much priming and painting she did today. Note the interesting sunburn like color tone of her arm. That's paint. Washed right off.

She even had red hair for a little while this afternoon.

 

 

 

I rebuilt the transmission... and helped her here and there moving things etc.

 

I want to say thank you to @stevasaurus Steve for making your transmission videos.

 

Here's a few pics of the transmission:

 

Empty. Carrier and wheel bearings removed. Cleaned up and ready for reassembly.

 

Gears all cleaned up and waiting to be reinstalled.

I did have to grind about .002 off the side of a woodruff key so I would have the right size.

Took me two attempts but the second one worked great.

 

 

These next two pics show how I was able to remove the carrier bearing. I experimented with the bad one to make sure it would work before I screwed up a good one. I owe Lincoln at A to Z tractor I thank you for this idea. @A-Z Tractor

 

 

 

 

Carrier installed. Wheel bearing installed. Ready for reassembly.

 

 

Good to have extra parts laying around. When I got this bugger disassembled I discovered that this reverse idler gear has seen better days. It would have worked okay but I had another one in the shed that was in better condition.

 

 

Here is all of the internal system reassembled. Ready to drop the top case half in place.

Note the super long axle...

 

Fully assembled and ready to be wire brushed.

 

 

Part way through the priming stage.

 

 

And here it sits on the bench happily drying overnight.

 

 

 

 

And... here we have another Wheelhorse mobile hanging with paint drying.

Note the copper dash plate. The pictures of this just can't do it justice. It looks fantastic.

The two pieces on the outside are the reinforcement brackets for the frame. Trina painted those a hammered bronze color to keep with the theme.

 

If this steering shaft looks a little long to anybody it's because it has a 1.5 inch extension welded into it. my little perfectionist wasn't happy with the roughness of the welds so she took some time to grind it a little smoother. I mentioned to her that we wouldn't be able to see it. Her response. "It's awful. It needs to be fixed." 

 

 

These next two shots show the steps and the bottom of the steering column support from a couple different positions.

Really nice bright red. Hubs have been primed.

 

 

Here's a better shot of the copper dash panel that Trina took specifically to try to bring out the color.

 

 

 

 

 

[lynnmor 7,305]

I have Black Diamond drill grinders in my shop for a precise regrind.  I have over half a century in the machine shop/tool & die business and have sharpened thousands of drills by hand.  The video posted is OK, but I do it the opposite way starting at the cutting edge and dropping the outboard end down.  That way I can get better control of the angle and cutting edge length.  Most bits that a homeowner might have are probably 118 degrees, so draw a line on the tool rest at 59 degrees to give you some guidance.  Practice on a larger drill of 3/8" to 1/2" as they are easier.  Just saw your photos, when are you going into full-time production of tractors?

[ebinmaine 67,464]

33 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

when are you going into full-time production of tractors?

As soon as I figure out how to sell them for $4 to $6,000 each...

 

[Pullstart 62,849]

Where’s all your snow EB?  Nice work to you and BBT!

[Cvans 1,009]

Your project is coming along nicely. Looking forward to seeing it completed. Where would we be without wire hooks to hang things on while painting? 

Been hand sharpening bits for most my life but now that the eyes aren't so good it's getting really hard to sharpen the little ones. Don't know what a drill doctor costs but I suspect that a bunch of small bits can be purchased for the price. Going to look into it though. 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Cvans

[Stormin 9,981]

8 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Boy did we get a bunch done on the project today.

We spent pert near 8 hours.

Trina was disassembling, grinding and painting like a disassembling, grinding and painting madwoman. 

 

 Well done Trina.

 

Quote

 

Note the super long axle...

 

Fully assembled and ready to be wire brushed.

 

 

Just a thought on those longer axles, Eric. How about sliding some tight fitting tube over them for added strength.?

 

 Surprising what you can get done in 8hrs when you try. Well done Trina. Keep  and  Be finished by the end of the month.

Edited March 16, 2020 by Stormin

[ebinmaine 67,464]

@Stormin

 

[ebinmaine 67,464]

5 hours ago, pullstart said:

Where’s all your snow EB?  Nice work to you and BBT!

Haven't had much this year and I'm ok with it.

I don't believe we're running low on moisture content because of rain.

 

Ironic thing.... In the last week of January remember I went and bought that nice brand new high quality snowblower?

 

Used it what? Twice since?

 

Meh.... It's all good 

It'll be there next year......

 

 

[Mows4three 826]

You guys really kicked butt this weekend on the project tractor.  I’m impressed!

 

Dave

[Pullstart 62,849]

20 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Sharpen-Used-and-Dull-Drill-Bits-By-Hand/... I work in the Tool and Die industry and hand grind worn drill bits another thing to know is different materials require a different angle but yes 135° split tip is the go to for most steels.

 

Funny how industry standards might change from place to place.  I was taught to never move either hand but only to spin the drill as I sharpen.  I’ll have to work on a way to record my method to compare the two.  I’m not saying what Jeff posted is wrong, the drills look like they’ll cut just fine.  I just haven’t done it that way myself 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

26 minutes ago, pullstart said:

 

Funny how industry standards might change from place to place.  I was taught to never move either hand but only to spin the drill as I sharpen.  I’ll have to work on a way to record my method to compare the two.  I’m not saying what Jeff posted is wrong, the drills look like they’ll cut just fine.  I just haven’t done it that way myself 

It was just one the first I come across on the 'net like I said in my post that angles and relief are proportional to the material being drilled so it's basically all trial and error till you get what works... After that it's spindle speed and feed (pressure) to go through what you are using hand drill/drill press. And you are right I moved from one factory to another and not much of what I done for the last 13+ years is correlating to what I'm doing now.

[Pullstart 62,849]

53 minutes ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

It was just one the first I come across on the 'net like I said in my post that angles and relief are proportional to the material being drilled so it's basically all trial and error till you get what works... After that it's spindle speed and feed (pressure) to go through what you are using hand drill/drill press. And you are right I moved from one factory to another and not much of what I done for the last 13+ years is correlating to what I'm doing now.

 

And brass... that likes a negative angle on the cutting edge!  We did a lot of wear plates on the dies and those were always drilled and counter bored with a funky set of drills.  No coolant and that negative angle drill!

[lynnmor 7,305]

13 minutes ago, pullstart said:

 

And brass... that likes a negative angle on the cutting edge!  We did a lot of wear plates on the dies and those were always drilled and counter bored with a funky set of drills.  No coolant and that negative angle drill!

 

With brass, the drill will corkscrew right into the material, especially if there is a pilot hole already drilled.  Also, when braking out it happens quick.  Just grind a slight angle on the front of the cutting edge.

[ebinmaine 67,464]

Trina's doing a little painting so's you folks don't get impatient.