Making The Eccentric Rods

Disaster Recovery

Eccentric Rod Part 2

Disaster Recovery

After drilling and breaking through the side of the Eccentric Rod a disaster recovery plan was needed.

So I soldered a piece of flat brass to the eccentric rod, filed it to shape and all was well.

Drilling the Eccentric Rod

Making sure that the work piece was secure in the jig I drilled the bolt holes.

Technically these bolts are not required if the Eccentric Rod is a good fit on the Eccentric.

Or if you still want to split the eccentric rod for adjustment only one bolt is required on that side.

I've used two bolts as I think it looks better.

The Eccentric Rod drilled and Bored

The eccentric Rod has been drilled and bored, now awaiting the making of a countersink for the bolt holes.

Mill owners can use a Milling cutter for this operation if done carefully.

Making a Countersink Tool

Soften one end of a piece of tool steel by heating to cherry red and allowing to cool slowly.

Turn the diameter to the desired width - jut a little more than the head of a retaining bolt.

Drill the centre to take a pin, if you drill exactly the same size hole as the pin it should give you a tight interference fit and you can just tap the pin in.

Cutting the Teeth on the Countersink

Treat the countersink teeth as if they were the cutting edges of a drill.

So you have the cutting edge going clockwise, and the metal behind the cutting edge is relieved or cut away the same as a drill.

Only file the metal behind the cutting edge enough just to allow the teeth to cut, you may have to experiment with this, the tool will cut brass before it is hardened.

If it cuts OK you can harden it by heating to a Cherry Red then quenching in water, then heating to a dull red and quenching in vegetable oil.

Using the Countersink

Use the countersink to cut clearance for the nuts and bolts used.

Adding the Adjustment Slitting

The Eccentric Rod can be split on one side to allow for adjusting the size and fit onto the Eccentric Driver.

A slitting saw may be used, or a small hacksaw may be used to carefully cut through the metal.

Something Else to Polish

Something Else to make Shiny

The eccentric rod posing with a number of polishing sticks, being good quality brass is does polish up well.

I tend to use different polishing sticks for brass as it's much softer.

Eccentric Rod complete

Nice and shiny, waiting for the next stage.