[Ken]

If you want a good selection of quality tools far outside what the usual hardware store offers. Check out KBC Tools & Machinery located at 6200 Kennedy Rd Unit #1, Mississauga, ON. L5T 2Z1. (905) 564-6600. Open 8am until 5pm Monday to Friday.

I’m like a kid in a candy store when I walk in the door. “I’ll take one of everything, thanks!”.

However. Unlike Home Depot or Canadian Tire. They have too much industrial grade stock to put it out on display. You need to sit at one of the tables where they have half a dozen 300-page catalogues to look at. Then fill out an order form with the part number of what you want, and wait for them to pick the order. They may not be able to recommend which drill bit, tap, or reamer is best for what you want to do. They are industrial order takers. Not machinists. If they have them in stock, you can get a free catalogue to take home and dream… I mean look at.

They also sell small, medium, and large lathes, mills, saws, etc… Many are on display.

If you like industrial tools? This is the place.

Topic

[Ken]

My very first chassis, a 49 Ford Tudor, was made on a $15,000 milling machine with a $2,000 digital read-out. The very same day my relationship with the guy that owned the milling machine dissolved. All good things usually come to an end for some reason or another. But that was a bit too fast.

I wasn’t all that upset since the chassis was untested. It was only an idea.

Once the car started to do better than expected. I was bent on figuring out how to repeat the success. But this time without an expensive milling machine. Instead, it would need to be made in my basement on the cheapest drill press money could buy. This is what you get for $59.95. Necessity is the mother of invention. I made many great performing chassis on this little machine including the Rover BRM.

But I am a machinist without a proper machine. I have always wanted a milling machine for work. But always had to use other peoples equipment because of the huge cost. Not to mention most milling machines require a 600-volt 3-phase power supply.

King Canada just came out with a small milling machine offered through KBC tools. It uses standard 110 volt power and weighs 135-pounds. A remote digital read out for both X and Y-axis makes it accurate to 0.001″ of an inch for wheelbases, etc…

The accuracy of making aluminum slot car chassis’s will soon go through the roof. It can also turn scrap aluminum or brass into shiny new pods, etc… An education and background in machining may be required. The slot car machine shop will soon be open for business. I patiently await delivery.

 

[MiA]

Congratulations Ken!! Nice looking unit. :yahoo: If your chassis’ get any faster we’ll really be just that much further behind!! :wacko:

Readout for table X & Y only?? What is scale for Z axis? Does it have an interchangeable chuck?? :unsure:

Looks like the spindle speed is controlled by the rotary dial on the head of the unit. Is the readout on the side of the head for spidle speed/ Nice looking setup, much nicer than having to change belts on pulley’s. You’re going to love it!!

Do you already have tooling?

[Ken]

Hi MiA. Thank you very kindly for asking.

X axis = left or right movement. Y = forward or back. Z = up or down. I already have 2, but still debating the need for the 3rd axis. The mill comes with a built-in depth dial that allows plunge milling by increments of 0.001″ inch. A digital readout for Z-axis would be spoiling myself.

Here’s what the remote readouts look like. They work exactly like digital calipers.

The mill comes with an R8 collet for a drill chuck or end mills. I have spare chucks, collets, and a few end mills.

Since the first chassis. I have been making drawings based on using a milling machine. Every drawing has a zero point at the bottom left corner.

To make sure every chassis starts out at the same spot. You slide the work piece up to a block that’s being held tight across the jaws. Using an edge-finder to perfectly locate the corner. You can zero the readouts to the corner across both axis. Then make next 100 chassis’s knowing that zero is the same spot for every one. No more scribed lines. Measurements as perfect as the digital readouts can produce. Super fast, and super precise.

I also bought a rotary table. It will allow fancy stuff like milling 5-holes in heavy wheels, evenly spaced every 72-degrees.

Parallels are required to hold and support work material in the vise. They come in various sizes.

Last but not least. You can’t put a 135-pound mill on a simple wooden workbench. In for a penny, in for a pound. Here’s a proper mill stand to catch all the metal shavings, and prevent the bench from collapsing. It’s worth 25% of the price of the darn mill. Anyone want a really precise aluminum chassis? I need to start paying for this equipment somehow.

The idea behind this was precise repeatablility. Every chassis thereafter will be as good as the first one. No duds allowed.

[Ken]

I forgot to add that a Proxxon XY-axis compound table will likely be coming up for sale shortly. I wonder what those are good for?

[Arthur]

Now we’re talking!!! :good: Can’t wait to see what chassis come out of this new master plan! :yahoo:

The Happy Canadian Scale Modeler!

[Ken]

King Canada is late in shipping the mill. It was supposed to arrive Nov 15.

I have been in contact with KBC several times to get more supplies. They have a sale on compound tables. I was fortunate to be offered a further discount on top of the sale price. After measuring the different sizes. One table happened to fit the digital readout system perfectly. So I could not resist.

It barely fits under the large drill press. But it brings the accuracy of drilling holes to plus/minus .001″ of an inch.

The readouts work like digital calipers. The XY-axis can be reset to the zero point of the drawing. Just crank the handles until the numbers match the drawing and start drilling. No more marking or scribing lines. No more doing things by eye.

Aluminum chassis accuracy just got upgraded in a big way even though the mill hasn’t arrived yet. :yahoo:

[Ken]

A mill vise differs from a drill press vise in size and accuracy. The jaws are so precise that they look like one block of metal when closed. Mill vises also pivot for angle cuts, etc…

My old end mills are dull and need sharpening. I think KBC is losing their minds. I got this full set of 10 cutters for the price of sharpening a few of the old ones. 3-new collets are needed to hold end mills properly. It’s highly recommended to never put an end mill in a drill chuck. The vibration of cutting will quickly destroy the chuck.

A dial indicator (on the left) is used to true the vise. You install the indicator in the drill chuck. Lower the assembly until the little round ball is even with the vise face. Then slowly move the table until the indicator ball touches the back of the vise face. Then run the table back and forth allowing the indicator ball to slide back and forth across the face. Keep adjusting the vise until you get zero devation in the dial indicator while going across the entire vise surface. It can take a while to do properly. But it only needs to be done once at the very beginning.

Once the vise is true. Move to the next step. The small round bar on the right is called an “edge finder”. You install it in the drill chuck (or collet if you’re really fussy). Then bring the ckuck down until the small end of the edge finder is a bit lower than the top surface of the vise. Very slowly move the table so the edge finder eventually touches the back (fixed jaw) of the vise. The edge finder lights up when it touches the vise. It’s now exactly 0.100″ of an inch from the vise. Reset the digital readout to zero. Then remove the edge finder and move the table 0.100″ of an inch foward and re-zero. Do the exact same for the the side of the vise and you now have zero/zero from the center of the drill chuck, to one corner of the vise.

Edge finders are accurate to 0.0005″ of an inch.

Truing a vise to a chuck is one of the early lessons in the machinist handbook.

Poetry in motion. :yahoo:

[Ken]

The mill came in today. It has a new home. Now to set it up for slot cars.

The first chassis’s to be built on it won’t even be mine. These belong to a customer. I’m very thankful.

[Arthur]

Glad to see that the mill has arrived and that things are progressing very well! Your enthusiasm for the hobby is second to none Ken! Keep machining on! :good:

The Happy Canadian Scale Modeler!

[Ken]

Art. Thank you very kindly. I am very optimistic.

The original vise was far too big for the mill, and had to be exchanged.

The digital readouts were not easy to install on this little machine. I am not fond of drilling and tapping into a new piece of equipment before the warranty is up. But in for a penny, in for a pound.

The vise is trued to the head, and the head is aligned with the vise. That took a while to do. Depends on how fussy you are. Time invested in properly setting up equipment always comes back to you in spades.

The remote senders for the readouts are very cool. They attach to the slide table on both axis. Available from Busy Bee Tools.

6-inch readout = $54.00

12-inch readout = $60.00

Drill/mill vise = $70.00

The first chassis to be made on it will be for a Triumph Herald.

[MiA]

What a lucky little Triumph!! So fitting that it ‘Herald’s a new era in aluminum chassis’!!

Sweet setup! It will be a joy to use.

Do you use aluminum cutting paste on your tools?

[Ken]

I don’t have any paste at the moment. Possibly some Chroma-Tap cutting oil or something similar.

You sure know your details MiA. Were you a machinist in another life?

[MiA]

Engineer by profession, manufacturing technologist by training, carpenter by trade, barnyard mechanic at heart!! :wacko:

On a football team I would have been considered a triple threat man, end, guard and tackle!! :scratch:

[MiA]

We used to use something like this when doing any machining operations with aluminum. Applied directly to the tool straight from the tube it seemed to reduce chatter and material build on the face of the machining tool. Much better than machining dry and much less messy and more convenient than a cutting fluid. It was about $20 a tube as best I recall. Available at most industrial supply shops. If you haven’t used it, it might be worth a try.

[Ken]

I forgot to say… The “Herald” pun is pretty funny. I never would have thought of it. :yahoo:

[MiA]

Glad you appreciated it!

[Ken]

Thank you very kindly, MIA.

I have used it many times. You can’t cut through aluminum bar-stock on a cut-off or chop-saw without it. The carbide blade clogs immediately without using paste. One touch of paste to the blade, and dry aluminum chips fly everywhere instead of clogging. :good:

I used to be a part-time machinist/floor sweeper/garbologist/gopher/engine rebuilder/stereo sales person/packaging and labelling expert in another life. I like changing things up a little.

On a football team, I would probably be the third string water-boy… just to end up dating the newest cheerleader. So it’s all good. :yahoo:

[Ken]

One of the more labour intensive processes to do on an aluminum chassis is to make the crown-gear relief. It typically had to be done after the scrap was removed from the top of the chassis to make room for a hand file. It also used to take 20-minutes. Now it’s one of the easiest things to do. There’s an old saying “The right tool for the right job”.

It took from Monday morning until Monday midnight to get the mill fully operational. I took a day off to catch up on life. I roughed out 2-chassis late Wednesday after supper and 5-more yesterday. The guide area and rear body post areas need to be cleaned up. But the snowflake has finally hit the mountain top, and the avalanche has started. DB is soon going to be receiving the most accurate aluminum chassis’s to date. These will be completed today after work. Thank you very kindly, Dave! :good:

Now I look at the fleet of cars I’ve built and wonder… Should I replace all the old chassis’s? :wacko:

[DB]

They are looking good Ken. Curious what is the chassis with the twin crown relief?

:good:

[Ken]

Thank you for your kind words, Dave.

One chassis has an optional opposite crown drive system for oval-track racing, and minor weight reduction.

Actually… The old way required the excess to be cut off first to be able to fit a hand file to complete the job. I’m used to marking that side of the chassis. It was my error in not flipping the part on the drawing before cutting the slot. So I moved the cutter over and put relief on the other side. It won’t affect the chassis in any way. It fits the Herald. It was the very first chassis made, and the first learning curve.

It looks interesting with accurately matching reliefs. It will be the only one like it.

I can remake the chassis if you feel it’s unacceptable with an extra relief?

I promised myself I would not make a chassis for myself until yours were completed. The 7th chassis in the mix is one of mine that got made right after yours. Races are coming up very quickly.

Ken

[DB]

Ken dual relief cuts in the Herald sounds fine to me.  :good:

[Ken]

Dave. Thank you. You are very kind. Just don’t show anyone, and we’ll keep it a secret. 🙂

The chassis in the middle with the angle cuts at the front is for the light-weight DArts Auto Union Type C. It’s recommended to use a 24T crown, and doesn’t require a relief.

[Ken]

These were picked up earlier today. Dave, thanks a million! 🙂

[Author]

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