Case/Davis trencher backhoe

[Harry]

I have a 120 volt craftsman and a Dremel electric die grinder. They are mostly for small stuff. Mostly used for cleaning up cylinder heads on cars back in the day of wrenching. Harry

[Eugen]

Ordered the corded die grinder, it's not the right time to go for the more expensive cordless version.

Today we got a break in the rain so I unrolled the 100 feet welder extension cable and finished one rod with E7018 on DCEP. Also finished the second eyelet on the lathe. The got the interior piece out of the stabilizer assembly on both sides. That needed some cutting disk action on account of a 5/8 pin that was not cooperative. A remaining foot on the stabilizer was held on by a very rusty 3/4 bolt. Luckily access to it was easy and after heating the nut it came undone without a lot of effort. Sorry, no pics today.

[thebuildist]

for things like cleaning out a bore, I like to use an improvised flap tool like this: https://www.instructables.com/Simple-DIY-Flap-Sander/

but instead of having the slot open-ended, I like to cut the slot so that it's contained within the rod, that the rod extends out past the slot.

It's harder to do that, so I take my 1/4" steel rod and cut an extra-deep slot in it by feeding one end into the benchtop bandsaw blade, and then simply weld closed the rod tip, about a 1/2" or so from the end, and clean up the welded end on the big sander.

Once it's made and mounted in the die grinder, you feed a piece of emery strip in that slot and the centrifugal force expands it out when the grinder is running.

simple, fast, cheap, effective.

The quad-fecta.


Because it has just the two flaps, they don't do a lot of stock removal. They're more of a fine finishing/honing tool, which is great on machined bores that you don't want to gouge or distort.

Bob

[DavidBarkey]

For the size Eugen is working on . Brake cylinder and Caliper hone work nicely.

[Eugen]

Thank Bob @thebuildist , I will make this, it's something I can use on other bores.

@DavidBarkey I do have a brake cylinder hone! Thanks for the idea, it did not cross my mind.

[Gordy]

for things like cleaning out a bore, I like to use an improvised flap tool like this: https://www.instructables.com/Simple-DIY-Flap-Sander/

but instead of having the slot open-ended, I like to cut the slot so that it's contained within the rod, that the rod extends out past the slot.

It's harder to do that, so I take my 1/4" steel rod and cut an extra-deep slot in it by feeding one end into the benchtop bandsaw blade, and then simply weld closed the rod tip, about a 1/2" or so from the end, and clean up the welded end on the big sander.

Once it's made and mounted in the die grinder, you feed a piece of emery strip in that slot and the centrifugal force expands it out when the grinder is running.

simple, fast, cheap, effective.

The quad-fecta.


Because it has just the two flaps, they don't do a lot of stock removal. They're more of a fine finishing/honing tool, which is great on machined bores that you don't want to gouge or distort.

Bob

I have made something similar, but used long cotter pins. Sometimes on small bores I needed to pound the loop end flat and the chuck pulls the split end closed when the sandpaper is in place.


Gordy

[Eugen]

Behold! And be amazed. The rods got made up.

[JSinMO]

Great job @Eugen !

[Eugen]

Thanks Jeff!

Had a productive day. The morning was spent with the boys, we went in town, then some grocery shopping and finally could start working on the backhoe around 2:30. After the welding I cleaned up that area a little with the grinder and spray painted the ends as you saw.

With the paint dry quickly on account of the nice weather it was time to assemble the cylinders. This is how the big nut gets tightened.

The assembly of the two cylinders went smooth as all seals were in and was prepared in advanced. Packed the space between the gland and cylinder with heavy duty grease before tightening the gland nut. Forgot to take pictures.


Then I pressure washed the main body frame of the backhoe, all nooks and crannies on the backhoe arms and inside the stabilizer posts.


Thought I'd end the night with drilling the end hole in the stabilizer cylinder 1" new rods. The machinist who did the other end, the thread, told me it's hardened and recommended to grind some of the surface before drilling. All measured and marked and that's what I did, ground some of the surface before drilling. I was surprised that my punch still got dull when I tried to mark the hole start. Not only but the drill bit just wouldn't go in. Tried the tungsten carbide bit and that went further but I pressed too hard on it and broke it.

Looked online for more info and noticed people saying the hardened exterior can be as much as 0.1" thick. So I ground more and got to softer steel. The drill bit then went in fine.

I'm stuck, however, because it seems I'm missing the 5/8 drill bit that I need for this hole. Oh well...

[Eugen]

The electric grinder arrived from Princess Auto, a store similar to Harbour Freight. Excitedly I open the box which seemed to be an opened box already, and the collet nut is missing. I'll stop by the store tomorrow and show it to them. Patience young grasshopper, patience...