Very good day,

I am the new owner of a tree 2uvrc, and this is my first piece of
metalworking equipment. I intend to use this in my factory, where we
produce textile products. I have purchased hundreds of industrial
sewing machines from factories that have gone out of business around
us, and intend on modifying these machines for custom styles of
stitching. A lot of these machines are solid cast iron made anywhere
form the early 1920's up until about the 1960's. Please direct me
to where I can find additional information on working with cast iron.

I have been lurking here for about 6 months and want to thank you all
for the information that you provide. One foreseeable problem that I
will have is working with very irregular cast iron shapes that might
not fit easily into a vise. Please let me know if there is any
information. Here are some images of the shapes I will need to work
with, many of the mods deal directly with the main castings.

http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollect...ges/image1.htm

http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollect...es/image54.htm

Please also let me know where in the north west area I can purchase
small amounts of stock to get me started.

Jason

A couple of interesting things to think about.
One of the primary tools of any machinist for clamping irregular shapes
is a clamping set such as
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/pro...ProductID=1144.
Many pieces are too big or awkward to easily stick in a vise. A
clamping kit contains bolts and nuts to fit in the t-slots on the table
of your machine, and special bars called strap clamps. The strap
clamps fit over the bolts and hold the piece with one end. The other
end has serations on it to mesh with a step block which supports the
clamp. This should take care of your clamping issues. Be inventive.
Fixturing and setup are 98% of machining time.
Secondly, tooling is an issue. I don't know what came with your
machine, but you will probably need to acquire (buy new/beg/borrow/buy
surplus) equipment such as collets to hold tooling and tooling such as
end mills in different sizes and types, as well as basic drills and
other tools. Also precision measuring tools such as calipers and
micrometers may be necessary, depending on the type of work you are
planning to do.
I can't really comment on cast iron machining but I do know that it
requires specic tecniques to machine well. I'm sure other members of
this group will be able to fill in this info.
Hope this info is helpful.
woodworker88

wrote:
I am the new owner of a tree 2uvrc, and this is my first piece of
metalworking equipment. I intend to use this in my factory, where we
produce textile products. I have purchased hundreds of industrial
sewing machines from factories that have gone out of business around
us, and intend on modifying these machines for custom styles of
stitching. A lot of these machines are solid cast iron made anywhere
form the early 1920's up until about the 1960's. Please direct me
to where I can find additional information on working with cast iron.

Cast iron is a nice material to machine, although it's a little dirty.
You may find it necessary to rig a shop vac nozzle to follow the cutter.

I have been lurking here for about 6 months and want to thank you all
for the information that you provide. One foreseeable problem that I
will have is working with very irregular cast iron shapes that might
not fit easily into a vise. Please let me know if there is any
information. Here are some images of the shapes I will need to work
with, many of the mods deal directly with the main castings.

If you do the same operation to several identical machines, or at least
machines which share the same basic casting, you will find it useful to
make fixtures & jigs custom to fit your castings. You would probably
make these from aluminum, though hardwood may be a good option.

If you do the same operation to several identical machines, or at least
machines which share the same basic casting, you will find it useful to
make fixtures & jigs custom to fit your castings. You would probably
make these from aluminum, though hardwood may be a good option.

Thank you both for your help, I have been picking up measuring tools
when I see good deals on them. In regards to the jigs and fixtures,
because of the weight of these machines aluminum would be the best.

Thanks

Jason

Hi, Jason.
I think you have a very good plan.

I took up the hobby of metalworking in the early 1990s. Then in 2000
bought into an electronic assembly service. The hobby turned into a
necessity! Lots of machine repairs, tooling and fixtures to be made
and modified. Also am able to do some production machine work we would
have had to send out to local shops. Means the money stays right here!

You will find the cast iron used in sewing machines is the finest cast
iron ever made. I have salvaged several to use in projects and have
never found any voids or hard spots in the iron. Its nothing compared
to window sash weights! Many of the bearing surfaces are cast iron and
steel with a little oil for lubrication. I have only seen the personal
sewing machines, not the commercial type, but they can't be anything
but better quality.

The cast iron will produce a lot of dust, as mentioned, but no sharp
edged swarf. The dust is heavy and doesn't float in the air for long.

In all but a very few cases, I have used aluminum for fixturing. You
will need to find a ready source for aluminum and steel cutoffs. Check
with your local machine shops. I got most of mine at garage sales and
auction sales.

You will probably want to use carbide tooling.

Good luck with the projects!

Paul Drahn
Jodeco, Inc.
Redmond, OR

wrote:

... working with very irregular cast iron shapes that might
not fit easily into a vise. ...

For highly irregular shapes, one of the very low melting point alloys
can be used. These alloys melt around 170F. So, you melt some in a
cask, sit the part in it, and let it harden. The cast can be held in a
vise, or clamped down. When you're done, melt the alloy off in hot
water. Google or eBay Search "Cerrobend". It's $15-$20 / lb, but
reusable. Here's some for $12/lb Buy It Now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Low-Temp-Alloy-F...temZ7600068112

Bob

Very Cool! Thank you all for the information!

I am sure I will be posting some more.

Many thanks and regards,

Jason