I wanted to make some lower/low profile machine skates. I started with 1” steel stock that was given to me a couple years ago. The reason for the build is 2 fold. I wanted my own machine skate because I’m tired of the Egyptian way & we needed to have the clearance to clear the doorway for the new compressor.
I cut the stock to rough size on the bandsaw in metal shop. Once in the rough size, I put them all on the Bridgeport & took the mill scale off, making them to final dimension in the square form. All 4 were machined to the same size.
I then created a round pocket in all 4 to allow there to be a pivot point on a ball bearing. This will allow the skates to be turned as well as there to be pivoting due to floors being un-level & etc.
The next step I took was machining the pegs that were square, soon to be round. I did have an “ohhh damn” moment during this. The first pieces of stock I was trying to start machining the bulk out of, it decided it no longer wanted to stay in the vice.
Moving on to the next interesting part of the build. I wanted to make this hole project from a single piece of billet. I picked up a boring head, not your normal boring head either. I used 3/4” boring bar in order to machine the squares round. I machined them to .5007-.5011 average diameter to allow for a press fit on the bearings. I originally designed them to be made with oil-light bushing material as a bushing material for the bearings. I did not like the static load characteristics of the material when I put pen to paper.
I ended going with roller needle bearings. WhenI ordered them, I was expecting them to be captive, however I was surprised to find that they were not. I decided to make retaining washers with 1 1/8 4140 steel using button head cap screws to retain it. I was going to use snap rings, however they would not hold to the load I wanted to see.
Well I did have a side project, To machine the 1 1/8” retainers, I used my 1 1/8” collet with a collet stop. Well I had to make the custom stops for it. It wasn’t perfect because the collet stop did slip while machining the angle on the retainers.
On the skates, I machined holes that are threaded on each side. This would allow me to attach 2 or even 3 together with threaded rod or similar. The threaded portions in the front will allow the turning of the skates pretty easily.
