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Patron Series 3 - Constructing a Dial Indicator (Making The Wheels, Arbors & Pinions)

🕑 Added 2021-12-03 05:51:01 +0000 UTC

Comments

John S Dilsaver

Just re-watching this, I'm really enoying this. I'd like to try to make a gear at some point.

Clickspring

As always, work continues - Cheers :)

Dustin Graybill

What happened to this project?

David Paterson

Some of my mates use a small 2-flute milling cutter. You can use a broken/used one as it only needs to be sharpened with a single face.

Borislav

As for the small boring bar, I have used a parting tool and ground it down until it became a small boring bar, It works great!

Clickspring

So pleased to hear that Mike :) If I scale the cuts down to match the size of the machine it really does a great job, even on harder steels like the pivot steel. Its easy to forget tho, and go a little too hard on the cuts! - Cheers :)

Mike oliver

I love watching you make parts for projects. How hard is cutting harder steels on the jewelers lathe?

Clickspring

Hello mate, Yes the Antikythera reconstruction continues as a long term project - Cheers :)

Liebel Schlesinger

Hi Chris, good to hear from you again. Are you still going to finish the antikithera mechanism?

Clickspring

Thank you mate :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate, so pleased you are enjoying it :)

Clickspring

Hi Evan, yes the train is indeed lightly preloaded as you suggest. A small hairspring provides the backlash compensation - Cheers :)

Duncan Luddite

Nice to see that Charles Frodsham & Co. are now one of your Top Tier supporters :) Good on you Guys.

Rickwest Sampaio

BEST 1$ I ever spent. This project inspired me so much. Thanks chris for the amazing content.

Evan

I always imagined that these things would have internally preloaded gear trains. Is it just that with such fine teeth and tight lashing, the backlash is small relative to a dial increment?

Clickspring

Glad you enjoyed it Christopher. The Antikythera project continues - Cheers :)

Christopher I Lehrich

Love the video! Just hoping that progress on this doesn't mean that the Antikythera project has been scrapped....

Christopher I Lehrich

Tryally Tools makes a quick-change toolpost that can work as a substitute. It's a wonderful tool, not too expensive, and they're great about customer service.

David Few

Thanks Mate, amazing project!

Clickspring

Hard temper engravers brass - Cheers :)

David Few

What brass are you using for the wheals Chris?

Paul Devey

Did you foreshadow different projects when you said this project is a gateway to smaller ones?

Clickspring

Yes it is, in the meantime there is a little more detail on the casting setup here: https://youtu.be/8nU0rEGo-wU - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate, yes a fun set of side projects will parallel this build - Cheers :)

Ben Manthey

At least three times more accurate and preferable ten times more accurate.

Paul Readel

This is awesome! Great to see Clickspring taking on a project at the watchmaking scale. Very interested to see how that case is cast, my amateur eye tells me it won’t be a traditional sand cast with the undrafted surfaces. Is investment casting in a home shop going to make a debut?

naota3k

I cannot imagine how small the margin of error is when you're making a tool that literally measures margins of error.

Paul Devey

This video was worth the wait! I can see in my "minds-eye" more videos, tooling, details, and capabilities as you progress from here. Great job. I hope Mrs. Clicksrping (your better 3/4?) is going well.

Clickspring

The pivot file/burnisher in the video are store bought ( https://www.hswalsh.com/categories/pivot-file-burnisher ) They are a combination #8 cut file and burnisher, with a parallelogram profile that permits action into the 'corner' of a pivot shoulder. The tool is approx 3mm x 6mm x 180mm, with the working surfaces about 70mm on each end. The burnisher could be made from an existing file as you suggest, taking off the teeth and then a careful grind to establish the profile, or from scratch with gauge plate - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Yes, brass is used in commercial dial indicator gears - Cheers :)

Brian Lenz

The burnishers you used, are they shopmade or bought? Are they simply files with teeth ground off?

Brad Thayer

When I see dial indicators in use, they take a certain amount of abuse, with the plunger sometimes rapidly thrust in and out. Will brass gears hold up to that, or are you expecting the user to be more gentle? Perhaps the real question is, is brass used in commercial dial indicator gears?

Clickspring

Terrific to hear that mate :)

Clickspring

So pleased you enjoyed it mate :)

Clickspring

Yes, slow work!! Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

True, but that little gadget is really just to spoil me! The CNC divider isn't at all essential to any wheel cutting project; lathe spindle division can be done with something as simple as a bit of wood and tape measure, or perhaps a little more presentably with a division plate and a detent, both of which can be shop made for the cost of the plate material - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Hello mate, I have accumulated the collets individually over time, you can get them from Sherline here, as well as a box to hold them: https://www.sherline.com/product/individual-ww-collets-copy/ The toolpost looks to be no longer available for purchase. I have it down on the to-do project list! Cheers :)

Glenn Trewitt

And, just sayin'... I doubt that a jeweler's staker (?) is any more expensive than your gear-cutting setup. :-)

Glenn Trewitt

Hey Chris, I appreciate the video, most featuring the Sherline lathe (which is what I have at the moment.). Could you post what you have for the quick-change toolpost and collet set? (Your link is just for a single collet.) Thanks!

Clayton Mellington

I doubt I'll get the chance to build one for a long time yet but I'm super excited to watch this intricate device come to life! Cheers from Victoria

Andrew Webster

Thanks for the simple explanations. I'm not an engineer or machinist, so a Dial Indicator always seemed to be witchcraft to me. This had me go, "Well, that would just work then!" Love how such precision seems so simple and so hard at the same time.

Dan

Absolute delight to watch, Chris! Must have been some fun, grinding out that minuscule boring bar :)

Clickspring

Yes, the finding has significant implications for the rest of the build - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Cheers James :)

Clickspring

Cheers Thomas!

Clickspring

Thanks Mike!

Clickspring

Cheers :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate!

Clickspring

Cheers Roberto!

Justus Dehegovit

Excellent video as always, Chris. Really needed this after the last few weeks. Thank you.

James Korman

BRAVO! And thanks for the plans. It's nice having those to look at as you're progressing through the build.

Thomas McGinnis

Yay! ... Looking forward to the next vid!!!!

Mike Michelizzi

Outstanding work all around as usual!

Sean Kirby

Have the research results in your paper brought about a mid-project design mod? (Not a problem, just curious.)

Sean Kirby

Ahh, I needed that after a rough week. Ta. :-)

LeoMakes

Funny you mention cycloidal vs involute gearing profiles. I was just designing and 3d printing some gears for a future video and learned about the relative benefits of involute profiles the hard way. As in, I picked the wrong option and things simply won't run smoothly unless you set distances *just right* :) As you say, involute is much more forgiving. Great video, as always!

Roberto Di Martino

Thank you Chris...Another informative and enriching video!!

Clickspring

Thank you Stefan!

Stefan

The size of the parts insane and the tiny boring bar is almost comical! Astonishing work as always, Chris!

Clickspring

Thank you mate!

Clickspring

Sweet little machine for the price.

Clickspring

Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Yes lots of casting in this project :)

Clickspring

Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Maybe just a quick peek... :)

rolf redford

So fun video!

chris grainge

Holy hell... that is beautiful... wondering how to get my hands on a sherline lathe...

Andrew Smith

Is it OK to watch this during daughter's ballet recital ?

Matt Waite

Loving the art deco theme

Clickspring

I complete the prototype, all drawings and process flows etc before shooting any video. Then I shoot the videos one after another, and as soon as each one is finished they get posted here - Cheers :)

Damian Sutter

Love this project! Less intimidating than a füll clock build, yet we get to learn more techniques. I assume the case of the indicator is cast?

SA Sampson

.... I was just watching Kurtis - at Cutting Edge Engineering (also on the upsidedown part of the planet) make a boring bar just last month 🤔... albeit a slightly larger one 😎 ... Very much been looking forward to this series!!