rustproof a precision vice

Karl, I am a fan of LPS-3. It works quite well.

Bob

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Unka' George (George McDuffee) .............................. Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be "too clever by half." The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters.

John Major (b. 1943), British Conservative politician, prime minister. Quoted in: Observer (London, 7 July 1991).

_Pure_ water doesn't make things rust. Water helps oxygen attack metal. Pure distilled water, itself, won't attack metals rapidly (except for the more active metals like magnesium and aluminum).

We used to (literally) wash our Techtronix 545 oscilloscopes in a 55 gallon barrel with distilled water and Kodak Photoflo solution, then give them a rinse in distilled water, then a rinse in 95% isopropyl alcohol and an air-dry.

No damage, ever. That was back when people smoked in the workplace. Tar residue would screw up the calibration and linearity of the 'scopes faster than any other abuse the lab folks could muster because it was hygroscopic and slightly conductive.

Mind you, we pulled the power supplies, because there were paper capacitors in them. The rest of the scope was all ceramic, glass, metal, and mylar components.

LLoyd

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message news:DMfbh.5253$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...

You could try hard chrome or electroless nickel. Both are very rust resistant. Chrome is less than .001" thick and improves the abrasion resistance of the surface. The nickel is thicker, but deposits uniformly on all surfaces.

This firm does both and might have some recommendations if you describe your problem to them.

Greetings Karl, I have not done this myself even though I have the kit, but Caswell sells electroless nickel solution for a good price considering the quantity. I have had many precision parts plated with EN by plating companies. The coating thickness has always been very uniform with less than .0001" variation. I used to make aluminum chucks for holding silicon wafers. These were vacuum chucks and had to be very flat. Less than .0001" out of flatness over a 4 inch diameter. The chucks were plated with EN after I made them. They all came back to the shop for final inspection after plating. None were rejected for uneven plating. Some were rejected for plating that didn't adhere but these were obvious to the naked eye. ERS

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message news:DMfbh.5253$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...

Keep it in a lidded coffee can of WD-40 or such.

I think I'll start by doing something like this.

GLOAT:

I gave the wire EDM its first run today. It cuts a line 0.015 wide, leaves a finish like its been milled. This is one kewl machine. I'll slice up several pieces tommorrow just to get the feel of it.

Karl

Before your steel vise rusts too much, use the wire EDM to cut one from stainless ;)

Okay, now I want one too. :-) Too bad it only cuts metal...think of the amazing carving one could do with it. Sort of like a CNC scroll saw, but tiltable in real time.

Karl Townsend wrote:

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I'll probably not do the vice. At $30 a pop, I'll just toss one if I can't buff the rust out. The second one will get nickel chromed. But to the larger subject of making tooling, yes; this machine will be like all others. I'll use it mostly to make tooling for it so I can use it better. Never ending cycle. This is my SO's main point, I never actually DO anything.

Karl

If you want real accuracy, plan on taking a couple of passes. Your wire will bend and deflect while roughing, and often you will relieve stress in the material that will cause it to move slightly, so your next pass will be more accurate.

Here's a couple of fun projects.

Take a small precision vice, and cut some .25" radii on the bottom that are about 180 deg. each, and 5" apart. Now you have a sine vice. If you wanted, you could take another piece of metal, and make a plate that mates with it so you could clamp the vice in position.

We make injection molds. These molds have "hollow dowels" that are 3/4" in diameter. They can be difficult to remove. We took a good pair of vice grips, and cut a 3/4" hole in the jaws. Now they grip those dowels very well.

No SO to bitch at me, but I do actually make non-shop stuff from time to time.

One of the last items was a wine rack. I decided I needed one and went shopping for one or an idea for one. Finally found one I liked at Crate & Barrel. Didn't like the $160 price tag. Took a mental picture and went home and fired up TurboCAD. 15 Min later I had a print to work from. Went out to the shop and pulled a few sticks off the stock rack. Measure, mark and cut. Clamp up on the bench and weld. A little grinding and cleanup followed by a couple coats of primer and a couple coats of bronze hammer tone paint. Two birch ply shelves with some Poly shades and the whole thing was complete for about $20 in materials and a weekend day of shop time.

Pete C.

On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 12:02:26 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Karl Townsend" quickly quoth:

Maybe Gunner can tell us if gun blueing would work to limit the rusting.

-snip-

Our lives -define- Yak Shaving.

- DANCING: The vertical frustration of a horizontal desire.

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Yes gun blueing is a good idea.

Also I've been hearing about this gun "oil" (perhaps it's not oil at all) that is supposed to be phenomenal at rust prevention. Dang I can't think of the name of it right now but "Rust" is the first part of the name and I believe it comes in a small, dark blue bottle. All the good gun shops carry it I've heard.

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message news:kpqbh.4641$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread4.news.pas.earthlink.net...

Let me know when you are ready to sell time. I have some HSS knife blanks

Not really. Vises get scratched..ie the bluing gets scratched and rust forms in the scratches. Id think that an EDM vise wouldnt rust much under the dialectric fluid though.

Gunner, pondering Parkerizing a vise...

Rule #35 "That which does not kill you, has made a huge tactical error"

LPS-3 is good, though a bit nasty.. Tri-Flow, Break Free are a good gun oils that inhibit rust, just to name a couple.

Gunner

Rule #35 "That which does not kill you, has made a huge tactical error"

Wire EDM's use water.

Parts coming off of them will rust in a matter of minutes.