T6
May 12th, 2009Rise of the Machine Tools
I’m the proud new owner of three chunks of T6 aluminum.
I kept hoping scrap metal would magically fall into my hands, the way my Genie Superlift did. But it was not to be. So today I rode over to C&R and asked if they had T6. I got three pieces, 2″ by 8″ in length. It cost almost fifty bucks! Unbelievable. It’s weird, how products made with metal cost less than the same amount of metal in bulk form. Somehow China is at the root of it. That much, I’m sure of.
They don’t sell leaded steel, so the aluminum was all I got. I have to find a place that sells the kind of steel I need. I love using the word “need” when I talk about this stuff. It’s like saying “I can’t” when what you really mean is “I can, but I won’t.” I don’t need metal. I need a diet and a haircut. Metal, I merely want.
Og and Virgil simultaneously informed me that I could use a file to fix the motor shaft. You run the motor and use the file to take the burrs off. That’s a good idea. I have lathe on the brain, so it never occurred to me to use ordinary doofus-grade tools. I guess the old motor is good enough to use to drive a belt grinder, so eventually I’ll take their advice and fix it up. Neither one of them had the presence of mind to mention the sine qua non of motor shaft filing: the Black and Decker Workmate. I guess they just assumed I’d read it in.
I don’t know why the motor quit making noise. Maybe there was a big hunk of rat crap on the windings, and it fell off.
I think I’ll go fire up the lathe and see what it does.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Have you no metal scrap yards in Miami? I pay $.80/# for aluminum, only $.20/# for steel, and $1.50/# for brass at our local scrap yard.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:12 PM
T6 is the temper, not the alloy. Various alloys come in T6 temper, such as 6061, 7075, etc. Try online metals, they stock all sorts of stuff, including leaded steel. They have no minimum order:
http://www.onlinemetals.com/
You can also use a hand stone to take burrs off shafts. Don’t get too carried away with the file when you run the motor, or your shaft will end up a little funny.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:50 PM
There are lots of places that buy scrap, but I haven’t been able to find a place that sells it. Another problem is that I can’t tell the good stuff from the bad.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Electric motors that have been sitting for a while have bad things happen to the bearings.
The grease can partially dry up, leaving solidish chunks.
It’s also possible for the bearings to rust.
Either phenomenon will cause the motor to “thunk” as it rotates, and either can go away after the motor’s been run for a while. If it’s the grease, the motor can give pretty good service. If it’s rust, fine particles have now been dispersed throughout the bearing and are wearing it out.
So yes, use it to drive a grinder or some other low-impact function where you can replace it easily if necessary.
Oh, and by the way — when cleaning up motor shafts on a lathe, you don’t chuck the whole rotor. You chuck the clean end of the shaft, and support the other end on a live center. Most motors have a dimple in the end of the shaft for just that purpose. That’s also how you do commutators and slip rings for those motors that have them.
Regards,
Ric
May 13th, 2009 at 11:49 AM
“They don’t sell leaded steel”
You can probably get that cheap from the Chinese too.
May 13th, 2009 at 11:52 AM
I think they sell steeled lead.