Utah rebuilding and scraping class April 5-9, 2022

[Richard King]

Many of the students don't want to learn to use the Power scraper as they figure they will never be able to afford one. Matt the old PM Bridgeport forum moderator took the Kalamazoo class and he was one of the never Biax power scraper. He got 30 PPI by hand. Others who said they would never buy one, but have. You can find them on Ebay for $1800.00 and then sell them for that a year later for $1800.00 or more.

 

[Yan Wo]

Report Day 3

Another great day!

I accomplished my goal of hand scraping the practice piece. I achieved 29 ppi and 50% coverage. Poor, but a triumph for me. As usual, Alex was very generous in picking the square inches to check. He counts three separate areas and averages them. He could just as easily have found at least two areas with <5 ppi and <51% coverage. I found trying to eliminate a quarter size "hole" in the middle of the piece very difficult. But keep in mind that we're talking tenths!

I was then able to start on my first project: an old Starrett machinist level. It was never scraped (and probably didn't need to be) and had a pretty rough surface -- relatively speaking. It was high on both ends.

When I took my first scrape, I was amazed at how soft the metal was compared to the cast Dura-Bar I'd been practicing on. I had the fellow next to me scrape a little of it and he agreed it was softer than the Dura-Bar, but very similar to the Monarch 10EE cross slide he was scraping in.

Tomorrow I intend to finish the level and start working on my 12 x 18 surface plate. It's too heavy for me -- an old guy -- to lift by myself, but I'm sure there will be willing helpers.

PS: The Dura-Bar I worked on is about 1/16" less than 3/4" thick. I assume it was 3/4" originally. If so, at 0.0001 per scrape (or so) it's lived though at least 600 scrapes so far.

 

[Yan Wo]

Report Day 3 -- Addendum

I forgot to mention Alex's demo and explanation of his King-Way alignment tool. It's a very elegant and precise device. You can watch Richard using it on YouTube.

Alex said his grandfather invented it.

A major component of the instrument is an ultra-precision level. How precise? Well, we were in a circle around Alex as he demonstrated it. He had just meticulously centered its bubble and let it settle. Then someone moved up to get a closer look. That moved the bubble.

Some were skeptic that that movement could have been the cause of the change, so Alex had us all move to one side of the table. So roughly a change of 1000 pounds on a concrete garage floor five feet from the level was more than enough to move it!

Alex also demonstrated hand flaking. Not easy. One of the many things I learned that I hadn't heard before is where flaking should and should not be done.

On to more excitement today!

 

[Yan Wo]

Report Day 4

Finally! A beautiful Spring day -- with snow expected next week. Welcome to Spring time in the Rockies.

After about 6 hours of hand scraping -- told you I was slow -- my old Starrett level is now nearly flat. Not that it needs to be, but it was fun to mess around with it.

With Doug's help (he's the host) I got my very heavy 12 x 18 cast iron surface plate into the shop. Apparently, Doug didn't agree it was all that heavy as he hefted it with one hand. Thanks, Doug. Now I feel even more like an old man.

I stoned it and we printed it. To my surprise, the spots that appeared to be most rusted were actually high. We power rough scraped it a couple times and the three high areas are getting flat.

Tomorrow I'll spend an hour on the level then work on the plate all day. Maybe I can get it looking nice by the end of the day. We shall see.

Other folks are working on much more interesting projects: several straight edges, an angle plate, Monarch 10EE cross slide parts, and a large rotary table.

I expect some photos will show up here soon.

A few guys had to leave early and they'll be missed.

Alex continues to be a great help to everyone. I am amazed at his attitude and cheerfulness. Even after telling several of us for the n-th time, "Just break those up. Cut them in half. If you remove them completely, you'll end up with a hole," he never loses his patience. I'd be ready to shout, "How many time do I have to tell you!"

All for now.

 

[Richard King]

Thanks Yan. Jeremy one of the other students wrote a really nice one in Hobby Machinist. I hope it can be viewed here, if not Charles please delete it. I write in there why I could not teach the class because of some medical issues and a little history about Alex and My history. I will add some pictures that Alex sent me, in a few days, as I am still a bit tired. Rich

Thoughts on Richard King scraping and machine reconditioning class SLC April 2022 | The Hobby-Machinist

 

[Yan Wo]

Report Last Day

I'm sorry it's over -- and I'm glad it's over!

About 90% of the class is hands-on scraping, and for an old, weak guy like me, physically difficult. Most days I sit in front of my computer for hours on end, so being on my feet, bent over, for several hours at a time was painful.

I'll greatly miss the comradery, coaching, and actual scraping, but not the pain!

The highlight of today was a Zoom meeting with Richard. It was obvious to me in just a few minutes that he has a huge amount of very useful technical information stored away in his mind. I wish there were a way to download it all. Sample: know what the dots on precision bearings signify?

About 3:00 today, after more coaching and demonstrations by Alex and Doug, I now think I "get it." I know, I've said that twice before. My last project was the 12 x 18 cast iron surface plate. I managed to gouge it in several places as I relearned how to semi-tame the Biax. First mistake was to chose a short stiff blade. Alex switched me to a BL10 -- the light weight version -- and I chose a longer blade. That made it easier to handle.

However, the blade I'd chosen was ground for working dovetails and I unknowingly put it in upside down. Alex spotted that immediately when he started to show me the proper method of roughing. Later, Doug let me use his BL10 with a very flexible (relatively speaking) blade and I finally started being able to get the scraping to look the way it should.

I probably have to get a least 0.002" off the plate where I've gouged it, but it's about a half inch think, so there's plenty left to practice on.

I echo everything Jeremy said about the class! It was great! I'm convinced there's no way to learn scraping without expert hands-on coaching.

Thanks Alex and Doug for making it happen.

 

[Peetrock79]

Hey Yan!! I was the guy with the Monarch compound. I'd be thrilled to purchase some of your canode if you've still got it. Great daily reports by the way. Best

 

[Yan Wo]

Hey Yan!! I was the guy with the Monarch compound. I'd be thrilled to purchase some of your canode if you've still got it. Great daily reports by the way. Best

Thanks! PM sent.

 

[Connius]

Report Last Day

I'm sorry it's over -- and I'm glad it's over!

About 90% of the class is hands-on scraping, and for an old, weak guy like me, physically difficult. Most days I sit in front of my computer for hours on end, so being on my feet, bent over, for several hours at a time was painful.

I'll greatly miss the comradery, coaching, and actual scraping, but not the pain!

The highlight of today was a Zoom meeting with Richard. It was obvious to me in just a few minutes that he has a huge amount of very useful technical information stored away in his mind. I wish there were a way to download it all. Sample: know what the dots on precision bearings signify?

About 3:00 today, after more coaching and demonstrations by Alex and Doug, I now think I "get it." I know, I've said that twice before. My last project was the 12 x 18 cast iron surface plate. I managed to gouge it in several places as I relearned how to semi-tame the Biax. First mistake was to chose a short stiff blade. Alex switched me to a BL10 -- the light weight version -- and I chose a longer blade. That made it easier to handle.

However, the blade I'd chosen was ground for working dovetails and I unknowingly put it in upside down. Alex spotted that immediately when he started to show me the proper method of roughing. Later, Doug let me use his BL10 with a very flexible (relatively speaking) blade and I finally started being able to get the scraping to look the way it should.

I probably have to get a least 0.002" off the plate where I've gouged it, but it's about a half inch think, so there's plenty left to practice on.

I echo everything Jeremy said about the class! It was great! I'm convinced there's no way to learn scraping without expert hands-on coaching. Many people think that such a craft is quite simple, but I cannot agree. After all, there are professions that at first glance seem complex and important. For example, while studying First Amendment Essays in college https://edubirdie.com/examples/first-amendment/ I thought law school was very difficult. But as it turned out, you just need to remember large volumes of laws. And when you work with metal, wood or other materials, then in addition to knowledge, you need a lot of experience. And I'm glad that Alex and Doug pass on their experience to students.

Thanks Alex and Doug for making it happen.

It's great that Alex was able to immediately replace and correct the mistake. It is precisely because of such moments that I periodically take different courses. I try to learn on my own. But having an experienced mentor you can have a dialogue, and in my opinion this is the most important thing in the learning process.

 

[Richard King]

Alex is a smart man but not a lot of experience. As I say it is easy to learn to scrape, but knowing where and how much t take off is a trade. One can not learn to be a rebuilder in 5 days. I am now well and still teaching classes. Alex is now busy with bee keeping, He is now the head bee keeper for the MN State Fair Building. and drives for Amazon in the early AM. I am teaching classes in my home shop behind my house. I have one coming up in June that is full. One of the students is flying in from Saudi Arabia, one from Colorado, one from IL and a local MN guy. I am now advertising for a classes in July, Aug, Oct. 2 weeks ago, a PM member flew down from Canada. .