24 Hours ago...

The garage was just cool enough to allow me to do a little machining and mockup. I'm a little disappointed that the belt drive cog I have was too small to allow hobbing splines to suit the XJ550 output sprocket, but I made it work anyway.
https://youtube.com/shorts/nMH57y2aIC0
The new "shorts" Youtube url won't embed...annoying.
Please ignore the bearing noise. The Jackshaft for the belt tensioner is a little old

I got the fit right were I wanted it. Just enough slop to allow for bearing retaining compound (I want to be able to take that apart, and drilling the output sprocket for a grub screw is not on the table at this time).

Why not a press fit though?
Aluminum and steel, and a touch of laziness on my part.
(Yes, I need to clean the ways again. They feel smooth though, and don't look bad for having been in a storage unit without climate control for almost two years).

The mockup works as I hoped it would (the driven sprocket is temporarily glued to a worn output sprocket which sets on top of my first attempt at machining the aluminim belt cog (which ended up undersized , beacuse making a video is more important than watching the dial...right...right?)).


I'm debating about using a good peice of Oak for the clock body, or just making it all be able to mount to pegboard without having a fixed body,
Another idea I'm running through my head is using a swingarm, but then I'd want to also cut a slice of of a ruined engine to complete the look, and that would get tto be a little spendy (and heavy).

The driven sprocket will be the clock face, with numbers either etched into it or number tags hung from it (like the brass tags that were used before time clocks were common).

As I suspected the smaller stepper motors that I have are not torquey enough to drive the assembly. Thankfuly I have a few of these that I salvaged from broken printers a long while ago.


The appropriate driver will arrive Saturday, so I won't be able to make any progress until then.

I still have to work out which bearings I'll be using, machining the appropriate shafts, and eventually working out adding a real time clock daughterboard and position sensor so I don't have to set the clock after a power outage.

 

The new (but old-school) driver arrived a bit ago. It's going to work fine.
In addition to just seeing if it actually would work I did try it on the mockup. There's more than enough torque to spin everything, but I need to change the pully to suit the belt that I have. I'm hoping for an actual in-situ test run of the mockup by the middle of next week if not sooner.

https://youtube.com/shorts/kpUtKzuBkx0?feature=share

 

I swapped out the pulley to the correct type, and.....
https://youtube.com/shorts/BRl2Sg8QgeQ?feature=share

On to bearings and final layout.
I've decided for my own sake to just mount it to a nice piece of oak, or maybe square steel tubing if I can find anything suitable at the scrap yard.

 

So…you know how one thing leads to another?

I want as clean if a look as I can possibly manage, and that means machining the ID of the drive sprocket so I can fit the bearings that are the closest match.

Easy-peasy you say, he has a lathe.
Well, sprockets are hardened. Not so easy to cut, even with tungsten carbide it’s slow going.

So what’s a fella to do?
Anneal the sprocket. Which actually is easy-peasy.

Except

My DYI kiln/forge had to be left behind during the move to Ohio.

So….

New project so I can finish this project

I gathered the materials today for a small kiln and a hot enough propane fired Venturi burner.
I’ll start the mould making process and pour the kiln tomorrow.

I really do love having learned how to make things. Despite the rocky relationship I had with my father, he did me right.

 

Well....the pouring is on hold.
I had an idea.
Bigger an better, but payday has to come first.

 

MAP gas around the current ID will not anneal enough? How much needs to be removed?

 

I used my MAP torch (which in the U.S. hasn't been real MAPP gas for about a decade) and didn't get anywhere near the bright orange needed to anneal the splines.
I need to remove about 20 thou, and spent 1/2 hour removing less than 1 thou.

Besides, having a smelting kiln isn't a bad thing.

 

Another update on my slow project.
I've found time to cobble together a wonderfully hot propane burner to fire the kiln with (as a bonus it doubles as a large torch). Hopefully this weekend I can find the time to do the fabrication for the kiln body, and maybe even pour the refractory cement into it.
It'll be nice to be able to do proper metal work again.

 

Oh....no video of the torch until the wife is out of the house.
I'm on a bit of thin ice as it is due to other "dangerous acts of recklessness"

 

Here she is. I decided to grab an adapter so I could run her off of a 1lb cylinder.
She's running on MAP+ gas in the video, but will be fired on propane for longer burns (25 pound tank).

https://youtube.com/shorts/F2-gBWpgQ2o?feature=share

The torch is putting out enough heat that I'm going to try for the anneal this weekend. I'll still finish the kiln, because I really want to get back into doing some casting. I'm really excited about lost PLA casting. The artistic surface finishes that can be achieved are truly amazing.

 

Nice black iron torch.

 

Thanks. I didn't bother to figure out how many BTU she puts out, but at full-bore it can empty a 1 pound tank in about 7 minutes. I'm still impressed at how easy it is to build this type of torch, and at how effective they are while being just barely sketchy.

 

Home version of this:

 

Sort of. Weed torches diffuse the flame quite a bit.

 

Apologies for no pics or video. He phone needed charging, and I needed to get the work done in what little spare time I have.

The kiln turned out great. I got the gear to a nice bright orange, and was able to cool it slowly enough to be annealed. She cut like butter on the lathe using carbide. The bearing fits nicely. I'll try to get video of the kiln in action tomorrow when I reharden the gear. It won't be as hard as it was from the factory, but it really doesn't need to be that hard anymore anyway.

This project is taking a lot longer than I had planned, but now I can get rid of my scrap by making ingots and turning it into useful stuff.

 

Videos as promised.
Please note that any kiln has to be made either from fire brick, or refractory cement. Using common building cement will end with you or someone else up in either the hospital or the morgue.

 

What temperature does the kiln operate at?

 

I haven’t done a full run to melt temps, but it’s no cooler than 2,000 F, as evidenced by the color of the hot side of the gear. Next payday I should be able to afford a crucible and see if she’ll melt steel (I strongly suspect that she will do so easily, even on propane). I still need to make a lid that has a hole for heat control. The one I have now is meant to slow the cooling after the flame is out.

 

It works well good work. Be good to see the clock when it's finished.

 

I have the same thoughts. This clock was supposed to have been done months ago