The Misadventures of Mad Machinist

[Mad Machinist]

Some of this may not seems prospecting related but it is. I separated myself from my company for a little while to get back to my roots and try and make this fun again.

My oldest one had the "mine truck" last February and ended up rolling it over 75' down an embankment, side to side and end to end. He walked away with just bumps and bruises thankfully. Truck was trashed and I have been using my Jeep to fill in. Well, the Jeep took a beating and is at the end of it's life. So the search continues for another truck. I have my eye on few now.

Some pics to keep ya all busy in the mean time.

Truck:

 

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[Mad Machinist]

I know it's a mine truck, who cares about some dents. Here's why I scrapped the truck. Cab integrity was compromised. You can see how far the steel hoop in the cab structure was pushed.

 

[Jeff95531]

What No video from the dash cam Boy are we spoiled. Good luck on a replacement!

 

[Mad Machinist]

What No video from the dash cam Boy are we spoiled. Good luck on a replacement!

You don't want dash cam footage of me driving off road. Makes most people sea sick.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Been awhile since I updated. Now that the legal issues concerning my company have been settled, I can get back to basics. I moved from 2400 square feet to 480 so bare with me here. Lots of pics coming.

Since every garage needs a mascot. Here's one on them. She thinks she is a lot bigger than she is and sitting on my chest while wrenching on my back helps.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Found my truck. Ressurecting an old friend. Pics soon.

 

[Mad Machinist]

So the wife and I go into town today and this follows me home.

 

[Mad Machinist]

And this old war horse is being rebuilt. Wife says it's kinda fitting, since I am rebuilding from scratch basically, that the truck I started with is getting rebuilt to prowl the deserts again.

It's a 1973 Chevy half ton with a 1981 front end. I picked up a '76 two wheel drive for body parts.

 

[Vance in AK]

Love then parts n pieces projects!
Nice welder!

 

[Mad Machinist]

Love then parts n pieces projects!
Nice welder!

Thank you. One thing a lot of people don't know is that Hobart and Miller are both built by Illinois Tool Works right here in the good old USA. Miller and Hobart even share most of the same parts.

Hobart was the King of the Hill back in the day until it was bought out by ITW. Now Hobart is geared more towards the "weekend" user and Miller trends more towards the industrial side. Both are excellent welders.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I elected to take some time off and finally get my shoulder fixed right. Still need a few weeks to get back up to full speed.

Got the engine just about done for the truck. 383 stroker. Plenty of low end torque for pulling the trailer back and forth from the claim.

 

[Mad Machinist]

There may or may not be a break in the posting here. I am at a point where I need to build a few things that require quite a bit if fabrication that doesn't exactly pertain to mining. But they will be used to make stuff for mining, like my ball mill idea.

Anybody interested in those things or just the mining stuff? Kinda like I say in my sig, rebuilding from the ground up.

 

[Hefty1]

What tranny you putting on that 383 ?

 

[bobw53]

I'm a pissed off machinist... Mad went by the wayside about 6 weeks ago... I enjoy seeing what others are doing and how they are doing it.... Even better if its something
fun, a fancy part that nobody has a clue what it does, doesn't excite me...

Here's some stuff I've done... Motivate me.

Wash clothe holder for my better half.

Blower manifolds. A casting adventure.

Scrabble tiles.

a few tractors.

Fancy dancy toilet flusher...

And some of the stuff that isn't any fun... But pays the bills.... In theory, if nobody steals it.

I'm interested...

 

[KevinInColorado]

Way cool work!

...and yes, I'm interested MM

 

[Mad Machinist]

I'm a pissed off machinist... Mad went by the wayside about 6 weeks ago... I enjoy seeing what others are doing and how they are doing it.... Even better if its something
fun, a fancy part that nobody has a clue what it does, doesn't excite me...

Here's some stuff I've done... Motivate me.

Wash clothe holder for my better half.

Blower manifolds. A casting adventure.

Scrabble tiles.

a few tractors.

Fancy dancy toilet flusher...

And some of the stuff that isn't any fun... But pays the bills.... In theory, if nobody steals it.

I'm interested...

Damn, now I'm the one that is jealous.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Way cool work!

...and yes, I'm interested MM

Okay, I'll post them up.

Right now, I am getting all the drawings done to put together a 6'x12' CNC plasma cutter. Going to need it for some of the projects I have coming. I just about have all the design work done on a trailer mounted portable hard rock plant. It is designed for small deposits and will not be cost effective for larger deposits due to "maintenance" issues. I could solve the "maintenance" issues but it would drive the cost up to the point that it would not be possible for a "little guy" to build or maintain due to the cost of the parts. You wouldn't believe the cost of a piece of manganese steel.

I'll try and get some pics of the plasma drawings up later.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Would have got these up earlier, but I had to re-engineer the drive on the washing machine for the wife. And I do mean re-engineer.

Anyway here are a few pics to whet everyone's appetite. Main frame is 2"x2"x1/4" wall tubing. Mainly because it is what I have here and the 1/4" wall will sufficient to drill and tap for mounting the gear rack and the cold rolled rails for the gantry carriages to ride on. Cold rolled steel is dimensionally accurate within .002" so it will work just fine for this application.

The carriages and most of the necessary mechanical parts will come from here: CNCRouterParts

I will also be using servo motors instead of stepper motors due to the fact that servo motors use an encoder wheel on the rear of the motor so positioning is extremely accurate.

Not sure on the make of the plasma cutter yet. Most of that decision will depend on the software used to control the machine as some of the have the programming to remotely control the amperage of the plasma cutter.

More later as my shoulder heals and this progresses.

 

[releventchair]

I know it's a mine truck, who cares about some dents. Here's why I scrapped the truck. Cab integrity was compromised. You can see how far the steel hoop in the cab structure was pushed.

Rolled a 76 GMC a couple times .Think there was a near endo in there as well. Roof was lower yet.
Leg pressed it up. Slap hammered it till it looked like a mob hit from the inside, then wrestled doors and cab and hinges till they closed, mostly if slammed just right.
A half inch socket that had been loose on the floor fell out of the roof when hammerin. Stuff that was not mine came out of the defroster. l.o.l..
A plastic champagne cork was reamed to hold tranny shifter shaft for a while as original piece was in the ditch or forest after crashing.
Truck had a heart of gold though. Drove it a while after. Hauled a 68 Mascot travel trailer I restored to lots of blackpowder shoots with her. Put one ton springs on it ,they were available when springs were needed.
Acquired another cab,quarters, and saddle but had to sell it and get out.
A tranny line up front near frame, brake line too, can catch debris and corrode. Wire run to rear along frame can take a rock or stone hit and short a light .
Nice tough trucks though.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Yea, these old Chevys are a tough nut. Had one I sold that I rebuilt from the ground up that I still kick my self for selling before I moved out here. It was titled as an '87 1 ton Crew Cab but had parts from '73 to '87 on it. Had a 12V 6BT Cummins in it too and it is getting damn hard to find a those old school crew cab short beds anymore.

I got a line on a 9' utility box to throw on the '76 frame for a trailer. I think I might be able to fit a 9'x7' dome tent on top of it if I try. Time will tell.