Sorry I've been a bit remis in posting on this. The project does continue and I have lots of pics. Just uploaded 44 pics. I'll try and limit it to the high points. (my photobucket folder is open for public view if you want to pop over there and look through them)
When last we left off I had started on grinding a tool to plunge cut into the end of the round stock making the end cap. I'll be carving a cone here so things get a little "jiggy". Honestly, I didn't know if it was possible with Grade 5 Ti. Ok, here we go, next step was to grind the tool into a roughly correct angle. (note: the tool blank is HSS with 10% cobalt)
Next was to start putting the outside "curve" on the tool. I actually did this by grinding a couple of reducing angles. The pics didn't come out so good but you can at least see the facets reflecting the light.
Then a trip over the the little mill to put the inside curve.
I then gave it a try and it didn't work so good. I was seriously questioning if I would be able to do this. I had cut the tool a bit on the long side and that was intentional. It's easy to cut off some, but a real pain in the tail to try and re-do all the grinding to make it longer. Soooo, I took off about 3/8ths inch.
And it worked!!
It was slow cutting but slow and assuredly, it got deeper
and deeper
Then it was time to cut the cone. I really screwed up here. I decided to grind a tool to carve the cone. I carved it totally wrong with the leading edge knifing into the work. Scratch that, try again. Wouldn't fit in the groove that was cut - how'd I make THAT mistake. Anyhow, after two days of dinking around I just used the same tool I used to do the plunge cutting.
The finish was not very good, but it got the job done.
Then it was time to cut the final I.D. I could get a real boring bar in now and the finish was really nice.
The last step was to turn the peace around, mounted into a threaded tube, so I could use a boring bar and cut the final I.D. of the bore.
Now here's a question for those that know more than I. During the boring process the endcap kept unscrewing. Not a lot, but it was noticeable and I had to re tighten it several times. I've never had this happen before. Normally the cutting action (which is done in a counter-clockwise rotation) makes the endcap get tighter, not loosen. Does anyone know why this could happen?
And the finished product:
Here you can really see the roughness of the finish on the cone.
Ok, I've started on my first K-baffle but it is not yet finished, so this is probably a good place to stop. I'm also taking a bit of a break while I consider a couple of options. I'm not set yet on the profile inside the plate of the K-baffle and I'm thinking that with a bit of modification here and there, I can fit another cone baffle up front for a total of 3 cones, and 4 K-baffles.
Please stay tuned, and any suggestions would be most appreciated.