Can’t wait to get this up and running!
Wow, that’s impressive! And definitely heavy-duty. I also like your ideas for new paddles.
Hadn’t you made your own vise, too? By now then you’ve almost made your own WEPS 
.
Nice job! Thanks for posting.
Nice! If you go with a magnet you would be able swap out stones with just a few blanks.
<p style=“text-align: center;”></p>
<p style=“text-align: center;”>Thanks guys! Any ideas on what material to use for the blocks? I think Tom and I were discussing ABS a while back…</p>
<p style=“text-align: center;”>[quote quote=29816]Wow, that’s impressive! And definitely heavy-duty. I also like your ideas for new paddles. Hadn’t you made your own vise, too? By now then you’ve almost made your own WEPS 
. [/quote]</p>
<p style=“text-align: center;”>Yeah ?ways tweaking for the next level of performance!</p>
<p style=“text-align: center;”>
[quote quote=29819]Nice! If you go with a magnet you would be able swap out stones with just a few blanks. [/quote]</p>
<p style=“text-align: center;”>Yeah I’m thinking I will still just have paddles with the current design - 2 grits per paddle. But I go through stones about 2 times a year or so it would save time just to pop off the used stone and stick the new one on with no adhesive issues hehe.
</p>
Clay mentioned to me once that WE was considering a design with a single set of precision paddles with interchangeable stones. Maybe they’ll come around to selling the platens separately. That would surely reduce the cost of replacing stones.
Thanks Josh, great video. For something like that a video is much better than just photos.
In that case you don’t want any ideas from me… I was thinking: plastic
How do you guys say “Thank you”? Do I miss something obvious or am I forbidden to say this?
The mod should know this?! ;p jk. Next to the “quote” and “reply” buttons is a “thanks” button…see it?
Ah, it’s there! It’s just that in my case it is in between 8 other buttons. (Still easy to accidentally press “Trash”. But now there’s a safeguard: you have to press it twice.)
How stoked are you right about now? Thanks for sharing the jig design. That bore looked spot on when you showed the end view!
I had a local wood worker make me some blank paddles out of hard wood. I gave him the dimensions and bore diameter and impressed on him how important having the hole centered was. He gave me 4 sets of paddles that were unusable. Looks like he tried to drill it free hand while holding in the other. Booo
Hi Josh: Lookin’ good! Using shims to compensate for differences in block dimensions is what drove me to using the VSTA’s, but your setup is clearly better for finding true centers. Maybe your buddy can come up with a jig to perfect the block dimensions too - then you wouldn’t have to change shims.
I think longer bushings would help to keep your bores more accurate - you can buy longer drill bits from McMaster so you wouldn’t have to drill from both ends. Certainly, the 0.375 bit will drill truer than the 0.250, making that more practical. I couldn’t get the 0.250" to stay on true center for the full length.
Bill is this the stuff? It looks great and not really all that expensive. These guys will even cut it into strips for a few bucks more. Verrrry interesting!
http://www.eplastics.com/ACTLBLK1-00012X12
Cliff, on small quantity raw material stock such as Delrin, since both of us have to pay the “paradise” tax penalty, shipping is nearly same for both of us, I normally go Amazon Prime.
If you are interested in thermoplastic, beside Delrin, another alternative is UHMW. It has great attributes as well - But…in light of the grit environment…I personally would make and use replaceable press fit precision machined PH wear bushing at both ends of paddle.
Further, if that is the route chosen, I would personally much prefer, for durability in terms of more dimensional stability/wear factor, I would choose T6 along with PB machined bushings at both ends.
Just a for instance, checked against local metal outlets and the web, this dimensional correct and stable T6 from Amazon with free Prime Shipping:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H9JI66/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I bought two, one as an extra tool arm and the one, top shelf, way in the background will be used for future custom cabinet frame mount tool post holder:
Future two sets of tool holder for both vertical:
And..horizontal position:
So, if skill set and money is not the object…basically, sky is the only limit…
Thanks for sharing Victor! That looks like good stuff and you are very ingenious to be able to build that!!
The reason I chose not to go w/ bushings is because I sharpen a variety of blades and some are very long. Even though I have extra long rods I think in certain situations the paddle will come off of the end of the rod and then when you bring it down again it will bump into the inside of the bushing. This way should be really smooth.
Thanks for the input Tom. Yes I may explore the idea of longer bushings at some point. I had to play around w/ a couple drill bits to find the one that would chuck into my hand drill w/ out much wobble (norseman hss bits, good stuff). It’s amazing how much variation there is bit to bit, I imagine it would be impossible to get a bit w/ out any wobble unless it were out of carbide! So even w/ this set up I would have a little ledge about the midway point on some of them, this could be due to the slight wobble in the bit or the bushings were too short. I noticed some play when the bit was in the bushings, not much so I just tried to center it when drilling. All this can be changed around thankfully! I think I will get some new bushings, undersize and polish/ream the inside a hair at a time until I get the perfect tolerances that are extremely smooth. For now, I needed function asap as my current stones are wearing out hehe
Josh,
Your friend that made your custom rod used commercial available “drill rod”?
Your custom rod’s threaded portion, appears to have used separate threaded stud…after drill rod’s end drilled/taped…short length stud threaded into end?
Standard commercial precision oil quenched tool steel drill rod comes in 3’ length, so…in essence…your limit to rod length as well as paddle stroke to avoid bump hiccup is 3’…
However, there is work involved in making two end bushing to remain concentric…if your friend is a Machinist, then, should be a piece of cake, since Journeyman Machinist are rarely self taught…certainly is a bit more involve to pursue precision…
Your response to “tcmeyer” regarding variation in drill bit runout among bits…If I may…sometimes, problem lays within the drill chuck
If hand drill drill motor is not of high quality or was misused at some point in time, jaws within chuck will not engage drill bit properly…in that event, it helps to rotate drill bit shank slightly to re-position, hand tight, recheck several times till satisfied, before using chuck key…
Josh: I don’t think “wobble” is the main problem with drilling long holes. In a hand drill, any wobble is taken up by movement in the hand drill. Variability in the material is what tends to drive the drill bit off course.
I did a little video-watching on “gun drilling” which is the science of drilling deep holes. Gun drills are actually very different. For one, they are not twist drills. They are held stationary while the stock is turned in the chuck of a lathe. The drill has a hole drilled thru its center, thru which lubricant is pumped to drive out chips, which are pushed out along a full length V-groove. The tip is an offset carbide cutter. The real key though, is that immediately behind the tip is a section that fits tight in the bore. This guides the tip, holding it on course.
Did you ever try that “tight tolerance” rod material from McMaster? My bushings haven’t been a problem at all since I went to it. My rods are 14" long now and the bushings never slip off the rod end, although I don’t do any real long knives.
I was interested enough to try the 3/8" rod trick, but everything I needed added up to about $75, so I set it aside. If I had a problem I’d be more inclined to try it. BTW, I would have bought the 3/8" ball joint coupling, then epoxied in a 1/4-28 set screw with a section of bushing to make up the rest of the fit. I don’t have access to a lathe to turn the 1/4-28 threads on a 3/8" rod.