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Baldor Miter Gauge

3/27/2019

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I purchased a "bargain" Baldor 500 Carbide grinder on eBay. It looked great in pics, but it went cheap as there was something in description about it not working correctly. I took a gamble and found out that the motor was toast - the windings in the field coils were shorted (it looked like a manufacturing error as this couldn't have seen much use. Also one of the end castings was broken. 

Not to be deterred - I found a place in L.A. that would rewind the motor for $300 and I was able to weld the casting back together. So I ended up with a pretty nice unit. 

BUT - I still wanted a miter gauge. I started to look for one, but they run $145+ used on eBay! No way! Here's a pic of the PB-547. It's about 1" tall by 3" wide. 
Picture
So what's a person to do? Make your own of course. I made it out of some scrap I had around. The fence part was done on my CNC and I used Fusion 360 for the CAD/CAM. Took about a day to get it done. Here's my version, I think it turned out OK and I know I'll use it.
Picture
Here's a bit of detail
Bottom - coulda been a bit smoother
The bits
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1975 Norton - Engine Rebuild

3/26/2019

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This is a long story. I originally sent my engine parts off for machining, but due to unfortunate circumstances, the work never got done and I got my engine back after many months. I let it sit for another 3/4 of a year and tried again. This time, with more success, but it still took 6 months to get everything back. It was worth the wait - Jim Comstock in Colorado does amazing work and everything came back like jewelry. 
Parts arrived!
It's like Christmas
Balanced and ground
New valves, set up for ARP fasteners
Bored 40 over
Comstock breather mod
Starting with the crank and rods, then setting up the end play, add some sealant and bolt 'er up. To set up the end play, I used an old set of main bearings that I ground the OD and ID such that they just slip on. That way I could try various shims without having to heat up the cases each time. For final assembly I, of course, heated the cases to install the new bearings. 
Checking clearances
Rods mounted
Measuring end play
Adding a shim
Heating for bearing
Bearings in!
Case assembled
Next was the timing chain. Along with that was torquing the crank and cam nuts with a cut away cover in place. 
Matching pinion marks
New Heavy Duty chain
Torque crank and cam nuts
Next up was the pistons and cylinders. I used the "Comstock Method" to compress the rings and assemble the pistons and cylinders. (See www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/installing-barrels-with-two-hands-and-no-ring-compressor.24859/) Worked great!
Checking pistons
Check ring gap
Install Rings, Note: no red/green overlap
Pistons installed in cylinders
3/8 Sockets
Lower pistons onto rods
Bolt up bottom
I had an oil pump around that looked pretty good and I rebuilt it. I noticed, however, it was for an older style outlet with the smaller diameter output flange. I had to file a bit more of it flat to get the flange to sit square. 
Cleaned up
File output flange area
Flange sits square
I then installed a Comstock cam chain tensioner, checked the cam lobe timing and put together the rockers. (See norton-rocker-spindle-fix.html for more rocker fun!)
Check cam lobe timing
Rockers in!
Picture
Mostly together (the head is not fastened - I'll do that after I get the block in the frame.
How is that BIG engine going to get in that small bike?
Magic!
Picture
It's starting to look like something!
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1975 Norton - Rocker Spindle Fix

3/23/2019

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I was in the process of reassembling my long disassembled '75 Norton 850 and found that one of the rocker spindles was a sliding fit in the ol' RH4 head.  Another one was almost as loose. They're supposed to be more of an interference fit to the point you need to heat the head to get them installed. Among the host of issues that loose spindles can cause is allowing the spindle to rotate (it's supposed to be held in position by an absolutely poorly designed stop plate) and will allow a lot more oil to enter the rocker cavity. This, in turn, swamps the valve guides allowing oil to get sucked in and burned which results in massive amounts of smoke and plug fouling. 

One of the better fixes is sold by RGM in England (https://www.rgmnorton.co.uk/buy/one-piece-rocker-spindle-locating-plate_4062.htm). It solves two problems actually, it'll keep the spindle from rotating, and it allows you to really lock it in place with the grub screw which should help keep it much more stable over the long run. 

Since I am impatient, had some stainless bar and a CNC mill, I decided to whip up my own version of these. I think they came out pretty good.  ​
Mill profile out of stainless bar stock
Saw off
Clean up the backside
Ready for finishing
All cleaned up, ready to install
And here's the final result. I think they're going to work very well. 
Picture
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