Aussie Mike's machine shop

[stephen low]

Oh but great to hear you've refocussed young Jedi on the important thing - the cobra

Perfect work for a rainy Melbourne weekend - lol

The Flash

[Aussie Mike]

Been working interstate but came home for the weekend so got a little done in the shed.

The mist cooling system that was fitted to the mill was junk. It created a cloud of coolant and you couldn't stand too close to the machine without breathing it in. Not pleasant or good for the health.

It was also a devil of a thing to get going. To get the coolant flowing you needed to turn the air pressure right up to get it started and then back it off once it was running. It used the vacuum created by the venturi to draw the coolant out of the reservoir. A pain if you wanted to turn the coolant off between tool changes as. If the bottle was too low it wouldn't draw. If I set the reservoir up high the coolant would siphon out of the bottle after shutting the thing off.

I spent more time fiddling with it trying to get it to work than actually machining. It also used way more coolant than you needed and that left the mill table / vice in a sticky oily mess once the water evaporated out of it.

I bought a Fog buster coolant system to replace it and it arrived the other day. This one uses a pressurized reservoir of coolant that's delivered to the nozzle along with the air supply. There is a needle valve in the nozzle to meter the flow of coolant and the nozzle precisely directs a jet of air and coolant droplets exactly where you want it. A regulator on the reservoir adjust both air and coolant pressure (both arrive at the nozzle at the same pressure). There is a check valve in the coolant line to stop it siphoning out or draining back to the reservoir and an air switch on the side of the mill to turn it on and off. Coolant restarts after tool changes are very quick to get going again. Really happy with how it works so far.

Here's the new nozzle installed.




Here's the coolant reservoir on the wall behind the mill.



I also rearranged some of the air plumbing. The regulator/oiler for the air draw bar was on the side of the mill but I figured it'd be tidier on the wall. Manifolding the two regulators together on the wall also cleaned up a lot of the airlines. I can now more easily get to the spindle brake and on/off switch.

Here's a link to the fog buster system if anyone is interested: http://www.fogbuster.com/

Cheers

[boxhead]

Back to the car Mike, Back to the car.

Summer is rolling past and you have 2 dismantled roadsters in the shed.

[Aussie Mike]

Cobra is progressing. Just havent had anything interesting to take pictures of. Lots of interstate and international work travel has cramped my style lately too.

[Aussie Mike]

Another machine shop update and some Cobra progress

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAoteb-nVP0[/ame]

Cheers

[DaveW]

Great video Mike, your a natural, very fluent.
Used up my monthly satellite data allowance in one hit, so don't post part 2 til after 1st April.

Dave

[Clois Harlan]

Good for you Mike, I am doing the same thing the end of June or July. But to be honest I am more than ready. Jumping through hurdles have became common place in my industry and it's time to let the younger guys and gals do the jumping. I have spent the better part of 40 years in the oil and gas business and it has been bitter sweet but it has afforded me the opportunity to put my three children through college, watch them get married, and the best of the best is enjoy my seven grand children. Now I will be able to actually finish projects and teach my grandchildren all about Cobra's and Coupes.

Hopefully, I can instill some pride (in doing a job right) into their digital world of games and make believe.

Post some pictures of your T56 shifter if you have the time.

Clois Harlan

[Modena]

Awesome

[Shootnride]

Nice work Mike

Ted

[stephen low]

Nice work Mike.

Keep at it , I only took nine years, what's your count now?

[albanycobra]

Love it Mate....sensational update....well done. The bar has been set now....Thank you.

[750hp]

I have none of the skills that you're referencing in the video, but if dry chips make you happy, I'm happy

Seriously though Mike, great stuff. It's interesting to watch.

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by stephen low

Nice work Mike.

Keep at it , I only took nine years, what's your count now?

Stopped counting, I don't care anymore. I just enjoy tinkering with it.

Cheers

[Tengu]

Great stuff Mike

[Jaydee]

I have spent 25 years on and of building a hovercraft. Life seems to get in the way of your goals.
JD

[leroy17]

Just awesome. From someone who sits behind a desk all day, I never get tired of these.

My work with a hacksaw, a file, a drill and a milk crate 'workbench' comes a very very distant second, or perhaps third, or forth.

Your 'journey' is being well documented, and whenever it's on the road, this will be great to look back on at all the things that you have accomplished.

Awesome.

[Zedn]

Nice work.
Will the handbrake lever move around much with the engine revving?

[Cobra72]

Great video Mike, look forward to the next installment!��������

[Aussie Mike]

I'm glad some folks are finding this interesting. It's hard to know if it's going to be a boring video.

I'm loving your Arntz rebuild Leroy. Waiting for the next installment.

Zedn, Yes the handbrake lever will move but it's pretty close to the axis the whole thing rotates around so won't move much.

Cheers

[gjkrv8]

Keep those videos coming Mike. I learn how much more that I don't know each time. Very interesting.