Machine Shop Talk with Paul DeBolt - Repairing Tractor Parts!

Tractor rim with wallered out bolt holes ends up in Paul DeBolt's hands, which is a good thing! Paul and I discuss machining strategies, tooling, quoting job shop work, European sports cars, sunk costs, insourcing, and the importance of machining mentors. Come talk shop with us!

00:00 Paul DeBolt the Machining Mentor
00:30 Loose Wheel Wallers Out Tractor Rim Bolt Holes
01:11 Counterbalance Holes
02:18 Tapered Center Size & Honing with Emery
03:00 Paul's Austin-Healey: You Can't Just Replace Wheels
08:17 Replace or Repair?
09:27 Indicating/Locating Holes
10:09 Probing Cast Parts & Machinery's Handbook
11:42 What is a Heli-coil?
12:20 Tooling: Heli-coil Tap
13:58 Keenserts
16:12 How to Quote Job Shop Work
19:42 Rigid Tapping or Hand Tapping
20:59 Using Gage Pins & Form Tapping
22:02 Everything is Carbide!
23:07 Machinist's Evolution Mind Set
23:33 Threadmilling on Heidenhain with Conversational Programming
24:05 More About Quoting Machining Jobs
25:29 Supply Chain Issues Means Insourcing!
26:39 CASE Final Drive Story
29:11 Motorcycle Gas Tank Drain Valve
30:05 Triple Lead Threads
32:37 The Emotional Toll of Sunk Cost
33:15 Paul Hot Wires a CNC Machine In A Pinch
37:13 Hitachi Seiki & Heidenhain Control
37:53 Threadmilling VS Pressure Knurling
39:19 1045 Steel Nuts & DT Center
40:00 The Importance of Machining Mentorships

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Links for this video

How to Quote Job Shop Work

How to Knurl on a CNC Mill

CNC Training at Saunders Machine Works New Facility
@Abom79

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Reach us / CNC Info:

[Peter-V_]

Paul DeBolt is just terrific, the man is fountain of wisdom and logic.

[life.is.to.short]

Love it when youtubers get together. Learns something all the time

[mabmachine]

Paul is great, I always enjoy your visits to DeBolt. -Mike

[jasonarnold]

Paul can talk the leg off a chair. Love it! You can learn so much from people like Paul

[chrisyboy]

MASSIVE RESPECT JOHN YOUR A CLEVER MAN AND A BRILLIANT ENTREPRENEUR……IT TAKES 5 YEAR TO JUST TO AN APPRENTICE A MACHINIST… CANT DO IT IN A FEW CLASSES

[astro]

Really enjoy listening to Paul talk his trade. I often go back to watch the speeds and feeds video you made with him. Fantastic information.

[logmegadeth]

I'm not a machinist myself just a mechanical engineer but there is so much useful insight packed in here! Even outside of my job, there's a lot of lessons you can take away from this, the "sunk cost" fallacy that you bring up is a good one. Easy to fall into the trap of "oh it's just another 100 dollars to fix this" etc...

[bcbloc]

That hub uses 2 split wedges that lock it to the axle. It is not a counterweight that bolts there. The wheel itself may have a weight bolted to it but it is strictly to add weight it has no balance function. Those 9 bolt hubs were problematic to begin with as power and weight went up. They went to 10 bolt hubs and a bigger diameter bolt pattern in a few years to prevent the coming loose failure. I always never seize those wedge tapers and never had one come loose. Main deal is be sure the jack bolts aren't touching the wedges after you torque them in. Last one of those hubs and wheels I fixed I split the holes and just put the pattern in double. The rim holes were too damaged for it to ever hold using the original ones.

[JHorvathCinema]

Love these “niche” shop tours, expertise and competence like crazy. I wonder if Kibbetech would make for a good shop tour, killer high end truck suspension parts and fab work. They just got a bunch of new machines too

[kxmap]

Excellent video!! more story telling!!!

[AMS-dxwo]

Helicoil and Recoil are brand names for STI (steel thread inserts). STI taps are made to industry specs, allowing different brand inserts/taps to be mixed if needed. Quality STI taps can be purchased from other sources at lower cost than the Helicoil brand.

[JanMuell]

My only complain about this video: it was only 42 minutes. I could have watched a few more hours!

[ratdude]

It's common in the welding industry to helicoil aluminum and copper threads when parts (jig pieces, resistance welding buss bars) are originally made. For thread strength more than anything.

[COdrummaCO]

I use to have a guy like Paul.
Unfortunately he passed.
Almost everybody I know who was a mentor in machining has passed since covid.

[komoru]

What book are you referring to @11:27 when you say "Put it by your bedside"

[IsaiahSchmitmeyer]

At Honda if we didn't have MTS or manufacturing technical services none the plants could run basically what we do is make parts to fix the automation Machining lines and all the other stuff in the plant

[nraynaud]

I would guess the helicoil tap has the same pitch as the hole you are fixing, and it's also the (inverse) diameter of the wire?

[stevelavalette]

Does Paul have his own youtube channel?

[weldmachine]

First question to ask when a customer brings you a part for Repair is ?
Can you buy this part ?

This will save A Lot of stressing out and trying to compete with a Replacement Part Price.
It's not to say you can charge what ever you want ???
It's a way of knowing can I Repair this part for my going Shop Rate.

3 Hours was mentioned for Repairing the Tractor Hub.
Which is about what I consider it would take me to Repair it, Not including any items that might need to be purchased for the Repair.

IF your lucky and you take on a job like this.
It's rare you will make profit from doing the Repair ??
Meaning ??
It will generally take longer than 3 hours.
But, you write off what time you didn't get paid for and be happy to get a paid job in the shop today.

Unfortunate reality in a Repair Shop.
It's rare you will get paid for total time spent ???

[jakewadsworth]

can he just upgrade or put more memory in that drill tap machine? surely its just a computer?