I was working on the TMAX today and these steering nuts needed to come off. I could do what I do with the small scooters to remove them and just use a screwdriver and mallet. The problem is that the lower nut is supposed to be torqued to a spec for reinstall. Yamaha sells a sort of wrench with a spot for a ratchet to attach so it can be used with a torque wrench. I didn't really want to order that and I'm sure it's expensive for what it is.
I had a piece of black iron pipe lying around that matched the OD of the steering nuts well, so I thought I could try to make a tool out of it.
I cut off roughly 2.5" of pipe with a hacksaw and made a really lousy cut that was nowhere near straight.
I was thinking, "I bet the lathe would make it easier to straighten the pipe out". I didn't have any cutting tools though, so I planned to use a grinder. As I was trying to get a piece of tape straight on the pipe as a guide for grinding, the mail lady pulled up and dropped these off.
One box was a quick change tool setup.
Another contained some cutters.
The last had a book about machining, an assortment of metals to work with, and a cutter and adapter of some sort.
v
The book even came marked at the lathe section.
I installed the quick change tool post in place of the stock piece. It seems to work pretty well.
I put a cutter into one quick change tool. I should probably either get some longer bolts or set screws or use larger cutters, I guess. The set screws go way in and prob only have a few threads on each that are in use. Felt secure though.
I chucked the bit of pipe up and set the lathe up to try to straighten out my terrible cut. I didn't butt the pipe up against the chuck because I don't think either side is straight, so I just installed it as straight as I could get it. I'm sure there should be lots of setup time there for precision, but I didn't really see the need for everything to be perfect for what I wanted to do. TBH, I prob didn't even set the tool up right for facing. Probably should have watched a video or checked the book or something, but I went with it as shown and it worked pretty well with me moving it from the center to the outside then moving toward the chuck more and repeating.
It turned out alright. I spent quite a while on it, but I wasn't sure how much pressure it could/should take. I made dust more than chips or squiggly bits.
Once I did that side, I flipped the pipe around and butted it up to the chuck to do the other side as well.
The one thing that annoyed the heck out of me the whole time I was doing that was the chuck guard. It must be down for the lathe to run, but if it sits all the way down it gets hit by the chuck. I had to hold the guard while working or the chuck hit it and it bounced up and shut the lathe off.
I took the cover off and ground a step in it that would sit on a ledge. That allowed the guard to sit high enough that the jaws of the chuck didn't hit it, but low enough for the safety to not switch off, and without me having the hold onto it. Everything was much less frustrating after that.
The ID of the pipe was smaller than the OD of the indentations in the steering nuts, so it wouldn't work as-is.
I cut the inside of the pipe to enlarge it to what I figured would be a suitable size.
I marked the end so I knew where the pipe needed to be cut away and then used a hacksaw to make the first cuts.
I stuck it back in the lathe and smoothed out the end after slipping with the hacksaw numerous times.
Then I used a grinder to do rough cuts.
I filed till I got a good fit with one of the steering nuts.
Great, now I have an interface for the steering nuts, but I have to be able to use it with a torque wrench or it's pointless. I found a washer that was somewhere around 3/16" - 1/4" thick that fit over the end of the pipe.
I put the chuck in the tailstock and used the lathe to enlarge the hole in the washer to 1/2".
I made markings for a 1/2" square and then used a square file to make a 1/2" drive fit snugly into the washer.
Then I welded the washer onto the pipe.
One complete steering nut socket made only from 2.5" of black iron pipe and a washer.
It works!
I could have got this done without the lathe, but it sure was nice to have. This thing is pretty cool.
Once again, thanks to
190mech,
ryan_ott,
spaz12,
moofus02, and
oldgeek!
