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brand new to metalworking

Very good day,

I am the new owner of a tree 2uvrc, and this is my first piece of metalworking equipment. I intend to use this in my factory, where we produce textile products. I have purchased hundreds of industrial sewing machines from factories that have gone out of business around us, and intend on modifying these machines for custom styles of stitching. A lot of these machines are solid cast iron made anywhere form the early 1920's up until about the 1960's. Please direct me to where I can find additional information on working with cast iron.

I have been lurking here for about 6 months and want to thank you all for the information that you provide. One foreseeable problem that I will have is working with very irregular cast iron shapes that might not fit easily into a vise. Please let me know if there is any information. Here are some images of the shapes I will need to work with, many of the mods deal directly with the main castings.

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Please also let me know where in the north west area I can purchase small amounts of stock to get me started.

Jason

Reply to
deja
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A couple of interesting things to think about. One of the primary tools of any machinist for clamping irregular shapes is a clamping set such as

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Many pieces are too big or awkward to easily stick in a vise. A clamping kit contains bolts and nuts to fit in the t-slots on the table of your machine, and special bars called strap clamps. The strap clamps fit over the bolts and hold the piece with one end. The other end has serations on it to mesh with a step block which supports the clamp. This should take care of your clamping issues. Be inventive. Fixturing and setup are 98% of machining time. Secondly, tooling is an issue. I don't know what came with your machine, but you will probably need to acquire (buy new/beg/borrow/buy surplus) equipment such as collets to hold tooling and tooling such as end mills in different sizes and types, as well as basic drills and other tools. Also precision measuring tools such as calipers and micrometers may be necessary, depending on the type of work you are planning to do. I can't really comment on cast iron machining but I do know that it requires specic tecniques to machine well. I'm sure other members of this group will be able to fill in this info. Hope this info is helpful. woodworker88

Reply to
woodworker88

Hi, Jason. I think you have a very good plan.

I took up the hobby of metalworking in the early 1990s. Then in 2000 bought into an electronic assembly service. The hobby turned into a necessity! Lots of machine repairs, tooling and fixtures to be made and modified. Also am able to do some production machine work we would have had to send out to local shops. Means the money stays right here!

You will find the cast iron used in sewing machines is the finest cast iron ever made. I have salvaged several to use in projects and have never found any voids or hard spots in the iron. Its nothing compared to window sash weights! Many of the bearing surfaces are cast iron and steel with a little oil for lubrication. I have only seen the personal sewing machines, not the commercial type, but they can't be anything but better quality.

The cast iron will produce a lot of dust, as mentioned, but no sharp edged swarf. The dust is heavy and doesn't float in the air for long.

In all but a very few cases, I have used aluminum for fixturing. You will need to find a ready source for aluminum and steel cutoffs. Check with your local machine shops. I got most of mine at garage sales and auction sales.

You will probably want to use carbide tooling.

Good luck with the projects!

Paul Drahn Jodeco, Inc. Redmond, OR

Reply to
pdrahn

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