Project: Gravely Custom

arcam8123 · Jan 28, 2011

That's a nice little shop you have there.

tiretrx · Jan 29, 2011

Cat385B said:
In the first pic, way in the back, there is room for my cot. :fing32:

Actually, if you look really close you'll see a steering wheel in that back corner in front of that replaced cement block section. I have 6 or 7 tractors stored over there.................including the Bungartz!

tracktortag · Jan 29, 2011

What a treat seeing all of these old machines. Not that I would have the slightest idea of what to do with any of them. I still appreciate the way in which they were all so overbuilt. I also have to wonder about their collective histories. Thanks for posting them.

Fla Don · Jan 29, 2011

Seeing the Van Norman brought back memories too. As far as I know, I was the last one to use ours before it was gotten rid of and maybe the last to operate the Monarch. When I left, they didn't hire anyone with machining skills.

Thanks for sharing tiretx. Sniffle.

beaner2u · Jan 29, 2011

Tiretrx,

A very impressive shop, it was a walk down memory lane for me. I operated number 3 and 4 Warner & Swasey turret lathes back in the late fifties, early sixties. I remember the Warner & Swasey factory at 55th and Euclid Ave in Cleveland, OH.

Dittos on your incrediable workmanship, you make every job look sooo easy.

Another admirer, Roger Beno

eveled · Jan 29, 2011

:not_worth Wow! Nice shop. :thThumbsU

Mickeymotormount · Jan 29, 2011

Ellis, great looking shop with a fantastic array of machines. I wish I knew how to operate even one of them. That was always a lifelong wish of mine. To have a great bunch of machines and be able to know all their functions and uses and know each one like the back of my hand. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.

tiretrx · Jan 29, 2011

Thanks everyone. Not only for the compliments, but for letting me share my passion for machining and these mechanical works of art. I find most folks don't have much interest in this stuff. I enjoy seeing machines like Ed's and hearing Don and Roger sharing their experiences very much.

I cut my teeth on a 1987 Mazak CNC lathe. I had never even seen a CNC before. But the then owner gave me the incredible opportunity to learn, no constraints. I made half the money I did at my previous job, which was justified, because I didn't know a thing. But every day was like going to Disney World for me. Every machine was like a ride I had never been on before. My early years machining were the most rewarding of my life. I'm still amazed watching a material blank transformed into something on a sketch or a blueprint.

Ok, gotta shut it down before you guys start running for the door like everybody else when I start talking about this stuff :Stop: Besides I have to get working on those front spindles. Hopefully, I'll have some pics tonite:thThumbsU Thanks again!

tiretrx · Jan 29, 2011

By my standards today was a productive one. I wanted to have the front spindles and hubs finished. Mission accomplished. Originally I was going to make new spindles from scratch, but after some thought I decided to just spruce up the old ones. The spindles in their original state had welding slag and blobs on them. There were also voids in the weld. I wasn't thrilled with the open window the brace created either. This is what I started with.

I cut a piece of 1/4" plate and welded it in. Then I put some new weld in and washed out some of the old to get a cleaner look.

On to the hubs. I finished doing the bearing pockets on each end of the housings.

Next was the bolting flanges. I turned the outside face first.

I wanted a little detail to the flange back, so I decided to go with a gradual taper. 78 degrees is what I settled on. I roughed it out with a "step" process which you can see in the first pic, followed by a finish pass.

Tapped out the bolt hole circle and welded together. I put a good size bead on the backs and I fuse welded the fronts just to close them up.

Pressed in the bearings and slid it on the spindle. Spins free and tracks true. A good day.

Fla Don · Jan 29, 2011

tiretrx said:
By my standards today was a productive one. I wanted to have the front spindles and hubs finished. Mission accomplished. Originally I was going to make new spindles from scratch, but after some thought I decided to just spruce up the old ones. The spindles in their original state had welding slag and blobs on them. There were also voids in the weld. I wasn't thrilled with the open window the brace created either. This is what I started with.
....

:fing20:You goofed. You're 1 bolt hole short of a full load. It you used the Gravely 6 bolt rims you could have mounted anything from a 4.00/4.80-8 up to a monster 20X10-8 tire on the front.

:trink39:

tiretrx · Jan 30, 2011

Fla Don said:
:fing20:You goofed. You're 1 bolt hole short of a full load. It you used the Gravely 6 bolt rims you could have mounted ...................up to a monster 20X10-8 tire on the front.
:trink39:

Close.......................:thThumbsU

Cat385B · Jan 30, 2011

Fla Don said:
:fing20:You goofed. You're 1 bolt hole short of a full load. It you used the Gravely 6 bolt rims you could have mounted anything from a 4.00/4.80-8 up to a monster 20X10-8 tire on the front.
:trink39:

????????????? Cragar SS rims don't mount on a 6 bolt hub..................:thThumbsU

coldone · Jan 30, 2011

tiretrx said:
On to the hubs. I finished doing the bearing pockets on each end of the housings.

Tapped out the bolt hole circle and welded together. I put a good size bead on the backs and I fuse welded the fronts just to close them up.

I always wanted to know, how much bigger the pocket has to be for the bearing?

Whats a fuse welding? Looks different in the pics.

Dont stop with the stories, we all have some and like to hear others.

tiretrx · Jan 30, 2011

coldone said:
I always wanted to know, how much bigger the pocket has to be for the bearing?

I went for a very "light" press fit on these. On the stock set up, the bearings slid in and out. I machined the pockets to be at the same size to .0005" below the OD of the bearing. There was very slight resistance pressing them in. I just wanted to be able to get them out easily if needed. In high speed/stress apps I would follow established standards.

Whats a fuse welding? Looks different in the pics.

Honestly, that's my term for it. I didn't introduce any new material, they were basically melted together. With a steady hand, it comes out very smooth. I didn't want a buildup there. I plan on smoothing some bondo over it for a clean look. I learned welding on my own, so I have no idea what the technical term is, if there is one.

Ingersoll444 · Jan 30, 2011

tiretrx said:
Thanks everyone. Not only for the compliments, but for letting me share my passion for machining and these mechanical works of art. I find most folks don't have much interest in this stuff. I enjoy seeing machines like Ed's and hearing Don and Roger sharing their experiences very much.

I cut my teeth on a 1987 Mazak CNC lathe. I had never even seen a CNC before. But the then owner gave me the incredible opportunity to learn, no constraints. I made half the money I did at my previous job, which was justified, because I didn't know a thing. But every day was like going to Disney World for me. Every machine was like a ride I had never been on before. My early years machining were the most rewarding of my life. I'm still amazed watching a material blank transformed into something on a sketch or a blueprint.

Ok, gotta shut it down before you guys start running for the door like everybody else when I start talking about this stuff :Stop: Besides I have to get working on those front spindles. Hopefully, I'll have some pics tonite:thThumbsU Thanks again!

I think I speak for a lot of the guys by saying that we are more then happy to hear about the shop, and machines!!!! Those are some nice peices of art there!!!!

Back in the day after I figured out that I realy did not want to spend my days working on other peoples cars, I got into drafting and machine work. I thought with my tech background, I would be a shoe in for a job as a draftsman, or machineist in the auto, or in indrstry somewere... Well that was in the 80's when a lot of machine jobs were drying up in the northeast... in the 90's I went back to school, and shortly after they closed out the program. Like you, I feel it would have been a real enjoyable job... I guess I was born about 20 years too late. I would LOVE to get back into it... but there is just no future in it at this time in my area. :banghead3

tiretrx · Jan 31, 2011

Ingersoll444 said:
Back in the day after I figured out that I realy did not want to spend my days working on other peoples cars, I got into drafting and machine work. I thought with my tech background, I would be a shoe in for a job as a draftsman, or machineist in the auto, or in indrstry somewere... Well that was in the 80's when a lot of machine jobs were drying up in the northeast... in the 90's I went back to school, and shortly after they closed out the program. Like you, I feel it would have been a real enjoyable job... I guess I was born about 20 years too late. I would LOVE to get back into it... but there is just no future in it at this time in my area. :banghead3

I can certainly understand your sentiments Paul. Long Island has seen a tremendous decrease in aerospace related machining jobs. Actually, manufacturing in general has greatly suffered. Overhead is a huge factor here. And with the fear of this becoming political in nature, I'll simply say that I think we are all well aware of other "outside" influences in our manufacturing landscape.

I also think another factor with great impact is advanced technology. My output in 20 years has more than doubled, while my workforce of 15 has remained steady. The advent and proliferation of CNC(computer numerical control) machines has had a great impact on workforce numbers in many venues. The days of one machine, one skilled man, are largely gone. When I broke in, a CNC machine was a luxury in some cases, or the crucible containing foresight and expansion. Now, simply put, they are necessities to compete in what is many times a global arena. That is my case.

tiretrx · Feb 5, 2011

It's been a quiet week progress wise. Life got in the way :banghead3 Add in that what I have accomplished lately really hasn't given me anything visually tangible. So I decided to mock things up again and take a little different tack. All my new hubs were complete. Plus, I changed gears on what size/type tire was going up front. As I was looking at the fronts on my '49 Cub for inspiration, I noticed the rears on a parter Bolens 800 sitting close by. Did some measurements and decided to try them out. This is more in line with what Paul had suggested earlier in the build. Meatier and more aggressive. These tires won't be going on the finished machine, as they are severely cracked, but similar ones will. These pics take you through today's progress.

Mounted the rear hubs/extensions. The stock hubs have a ton of run out. The bolt hole circle is concentric, but I guess I thought Gravely would not let something like that slide. If you look at the right side in the second photo you can see what I mean.

Mounted up the rears.

Installed the front hubs.

And mounted the .......dun-da-da-dahhhh.........new choice of front tires!

Connected up the steering arms and liked the amount of turning radius.

Threw everything back together and this is what I wound up with.........

If you look close you'll see a slight smile. Today re-energized me. I really like the feeling and fit I have in the seat. The hood stretches out in front of you. And the new fronts really leveled up the frame to just a slight downward pitch, while the hood gives it the raked look I wanted. On to doing the steering linkage next. After that, I'm going to get a little trick with the forward/reverse control........let's just say I really don't like the stock location. I'm sure this will be enough of a hint for jrd to know what I'm up to:thThumbsU

tracktor312 · Feb 6, 2011

Looking great I would be smiling too !! :fing32:

tracktortag · Feb 6, 2011

The wheels, tires, stance, and hood slope all look great!

DJ in WV · Feb 6, 2011

That looks really good Ellis. I like the stance too. Looks tough. :fing32:

Project: Gravely Custom

arcam8123

tiretrx

tracktortag

Fla Don

beaner2u

eveled

Mickeymotormount

tiretrx

tiretrx

Fla Don

tiretrx

Cat385B

coldone

tiretrx

Ingersoll444

tiretrx

tiretrx

tracktor312

tracktortag

DJ in WV

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