homemade | LudemannEngineering

Time for a few miscellaneous updates.

Homemade lathe liquid coolant system

I was always dreading having to machine steel. I had to do it slowly to keep the temperature down and avoid chatter, even though I use carbide cutter inserts. Then I read somewhere that home hobbyists tend to be afraid to run the lathe & milling machine at high enough RPM to keep the cutting inserts happy, but if they do it will cause the insert to overheat and be cooked in two seconds. I figured I can find the cojones to run my equipment at maximum speed as well as the next guy…

So one day I was browsing at my new favorite store, Hardware House in Rayong, and I saw a gallon container of cutting coolant fluid for sale. I’d had no idea of how to find this stuff in Thailand, or even how to ask for it, so it was pure luck to stumble over it. Or you could call it diligence in going up and down every aisle in Hardware House looking for things I might need. They also had flexible fluid squirters and 12-volt water pumps, so I put together my own fluid cooling system, pictured above. I drive the pump with an automotive battery charger which allows me to reduce the voltage and amperage to get the correct flow, and it works like a charm! Now I can cut steel like I used to cut aluminum.

: I found a local place that builds custom radiators for less than I paid for a used one on Ebay in the US.

: Custom-built radiator, rear view

: Positioning the front upper A-arm mounts

: Positioning the rear upper A-arm mounts with jig

: Pressing the suspension rocker arm bearings into place with my homemade press

: Finished suspension rocker arm

Front shocks, shock mount, and rocker arms test fitted

I’ll be needing a press to insert the spherical bearings into the control arms and to insert the wheel bearings into the suspension uprights, so I took a couple of hours and built a simple hydraulic press. It’s just a strong steel frame that will give a small 5-ton hydraulic car jack something to push against. It’s taller than it is wide to be able to press items of different sizes by turning the frame on its’ side. Regarding painting, I’m finding that, with modern paints, I don’t need to use primer. I just clean the metal with a wire brush on a variable-speed angle grinder, clean it again with acetone and paper towels, then spray the topcoat on directly. This gives a thin, hard coat that sticks well.

: 4 x 2 x 1/4″ C-channel steel marked for cutting with the plasma cutter

: Plasma cutter makes short work of cutting this thick steel. Each cut would take more than 1/2 hour on a 12″ abrasive cutoff saw, but takes just seconds with the plasma cutter.