My very own grapples!

[Tymmerr]

That is some seriously beautiful work, and to think, I can't even find time to use the tractor....I've been trying to mount a light on the back for 2 weeks...
I'm so jealous !! keep it coming !

 

[Mrs3RRL]

Does this mean we can look forward to a new thread about 'the new and improved hydraulically controlled dishwasher'. Knowing Rob's 'Incredible Talent' (there, I redeemed myself ), I forsee a minature set of grapple arms loading the new and improved dishwasher.

Don

what a GREAT idea, Don! Rob, dear, when do you think you could make me one of those?

 

[Mrs3RRL]

thats an understatement! I always like seeing how much more trouble I can get into with the guise of saving myself some money.

What, you guys don't know that we wives totally understand that the way you select your projects is that you need a new tool in order to do it??

 

[Mrs3RRL]

Loretta-
That picture of Rob looks like he's helping you with the TAXES!

Ha! you think he helps with the taxes??? Why do you think I've been so busy?? He thinks it's an even trade - he pays the bills, I do the taxes....

 

[RobJ]

WOW nice job. Amazing what talent and the right machine can turn out. I would love to have a mill like that. My mill consists of a HF bench top DP and a cutting torch.

Rob, when you are boring holes, you are basically just drilling them? A little bigger each time? I'm guessing that these are not your average drill bits? And you drill them dry? Wouldn't the heat destroy them? Or is the answer back to those expensive bits.

Really sweet!

 

[Mrs3RRL]

There's a funny story about when it was horizontal and the functions were opposite of what she wanted, but there's a change to it coming.

OK - I guess I can see I'll have to tell the story.

When the handle was horizontal, it confused me to no end. Up was down and down was up. Every time I wanted to move the loader, I had to stop and actually think "I want the loader to go up, so I move the handle down".

I thought it was sooooo odd. I asked Rob about it and he said all tractors were that way.... that you pull back to raise the loader and push forward to lower the loader. But it just didn't make sense to me. With a horizontal handle, I just couldn't make my brain wrap itself around doing everything the opposite.

So, I was really excited to have a vertical handle. Now, that I could mentally translate to forward = down and backwards = up.

Once the vertical handle was mounted, Rob realized that with the valve mounted the way it was mounted, it was now backwards - forward was up and backwards was down. That made perfect sense to me ... until Rob told me why the handles that way. He said to imagine a string attached to the handle, and the string pulls the bucket up.... pull back and the string pulls the bucket up.

oh.

now I get it.

and now, I can't imagine it any other way.... not to mention that if either one of us tries to drive the other's tractor, we'll be totally screwed up.

So, now Rob gets to make another bracket for the valve and handle

 

[3RRL]

So, now Rob gets to make another bracket for the valve and handle
Oh, great!

Thanks guys for looking at Loretta's project. We are having a lot of fun getting her tractor in shape.

Rob J.
In boring holes, I use a boring head like a Criterion for example. The bits are carbide tipped single lip cutters sort of like a lathe bit. These are round shanks though and you put them into the boring head. You move out the boring head a little at a time to bore the hole larger with each pass. It's very accurate and keeps the hole dead on center of your quill.

I do dry cut and drill a lot. I use air which blows a constant stream onto the tip of my cutters. Cutting oil is the most preferred or coolant, but it makes a bit of a mess. So I use air. I can also shoot the chips into a direction away from me too. If you control the speeds and feeds, the good quality cutters and drills last a long time too. I always resharpen my own bits before each job though, so I know they are sharp to begin with.

 

[RobJ]

So, now Rob gets to make another bracket for the valve and handle
Oh, great!

Thanks guys for looking at Loretta's project. We are having a lot of fun getting her tractor in shape.

Rob J.
In boring holes, I use a boring head like a Criterion for example. The bits are carbide tipped single lip cutters sort of like a lathe bit. These are round shanks though and you put them into the boring head. You move out the boring head a little at a time to bore the hole larger with each pass. It's very accurate and keeps the hole dead on center of your quill.

I do dry cut and drill a lot. I use air which blows a constant stream onto the tip of my cutters. Cutting oil is the most preferred or coolant, but it makes a bit of a mess. So I use air. I can also shoot the chips into a direction away from me too. If you control the speeds and feeds, the good quality cutters and drills last a long time too. I always resharpen my own bits before each job though, so I know they are sharp to begin with.

Hope you don't mind but I'm going to get specific...since I don't know anything about a milling machine. In the pic I see what looks like a drill bit. So the boring head (IE or drill bit thingy) moves in a circle and cuts from the side of the bit? I know it's one of those things if I saw it in action I'd understand. But my simple mind can take longer to grasp new stuff sometimes.

 

[RobJ]

OK I think I see some in action on youtube. I'm guessing the large bit was to chamfer the edges of the bored holes??

Thanks,
Rob

 

[Tom_H]

Somehow, in this thread, the only pics showing up on my screen are the cars in posts #44 & #48. Is anybody else having this problem? I am dying to see these grapples, but can't.