Nifty CNC Machining

Nifty CNC Machining custom parts design and manufacture using a Hitachi Seiki CNC HiCell CA20 turn/mill Lathe with full conversational control of all 4 axis XYZC

custom parts design and manufacture using a Hitachi Seiki CNC HiCell CA20 Lathe with 4 axis XYZC

Nifty's tip of the day....never, I repeat never do anything mechanical related on a long weekend, especially a Saturday ...
04/04/2026

Nifty's tip of the day....never, I repeat never do anything mechanical related on a long weekend, especially a Saturday afternoon of Easter break. You know what can and will go wrong and then some. So, you decide to complete a simple oil change. You pull oil sump plug only to find the last Muppet has stripped all the threads off and just used a roll of thread tape and a few extra ugga duggas and it's no longer his problem. People like that are the worst. Now, all you can do is watch your oil drain into the pan sit there and sigh, why me? Contemplate life, curse alot, then remember you have this awesome mate that is doing nothing, just sitting there sucking down beers, whilst waiting for you to call up and ask for a favour. No, he's not.

These are for his newly acquired hino truck, I best do them as I hate to see him have any excuse to not work, the tax man needs him busy, much like myself.

Whilst your at it, can I get a couple for my Ford Rangers? Of course I can.

Don't worry, he's not getting off scott free, I'll have to think up a return favour when he least expects it.

Another blast from the past. I thought these would not be repeated again, but here we are.Norton motorcycle head stud sp...
21/03/2026

Another blast from the past. I thought these would not be repeated again, but here we are.
Norton motorcycle head stud spacers machined from stainless steel. They are supplied in sets, 2 smaller ones to 5 larger. Hopefully this batch gets a few more project builds moving forward.

A recent job, repeat of course. #316 stainless steel gland spacers. The cost of stainless steel material has gone stupi...
19/03/2026

A recent job, repeat of course. #316 stainless steel gland spacers. The cost of stainless steel material has gone stupid on hollow bar, so I chose to drill and bore a solid billet on these. A little more machine time, but dropped the price per part but a couple hundred $.

Sometimes it's nice to just slip in a nice quick easy job between bigger ones. When the Hitachi Seiki machines 1st came ...
19/03/2026

Sometimes it's nice to just slip in a nice quick easy job between bigger ones. When the Hitachi Seiki machines 1st came out with conversational control built in, they fairly belted the competition. It was a completely stand alone all in one unit, hence the name "HiCell". You can pre program your next job whilst still Machining the previous job. You can edit, background check, etc. You can even modify the tooling file without affecting continous operation. It's like having 3 machines in one box. Absolutely amazing technology for a 1993 build, and still impresses me today. What was your machine doing that day and can.it still do all that without an external source today? Does it function without a PC or network? If not, learn to, you may need to one day. I use a PC to label, title and store programs for the future repeat use, but all the generation is done in machine. I will often edit the life out of a program or even hand type it, depending what it is. Simple jobs are faster this way. These spacers are a quick fill in for a customer that lost them. OD = 20mm, ID = 8.5mm, Length =2mm for nylon, 6mm for mild steel. Job turnaround in a couple of hours to the customer.

This small fill in job was machined from 6061-T6 aluminium. They are wheel centre caps for drag racing front wheels. Cop...
17/03/2026

This small fill in job was machined from 6061-T6 aluminium. They are wheel centre caps for drag racing front wheels. Copied from a sample supplied by customer. The reason being, they are no longer available. This scenario is becoming common.

Yesterday I had the privilege of a visit from an old guy who turned up on a Norton Motorcycle. I had never met him until...
15/03/2026

Yesterday I had the privilege of a visit from an old guy who turned up on a Norton Motorcycle. I had never met him until now. He had hunted me down through old contacts, in search of a job that I have done for over 37 years. I have no idea how many I have ever done; it would be in the hundreds. I would have to go back through my old text book diary paper records, it was pre computers. The original customer ran a bike shop for Nortons, Triumphs, BSA, etc. He has long since retired, so sourcing parts for old bikes has become a big problem if you are into building and restoring motorcycles. Over the decades, I machined many reproduction parts for these old bikes, which I still retain all the hand sketched drawings with dimensions, all the CNC program codes, gauges, jigs, etc. Again, it was pre computers, so no fancy CAD/CAM back then. It was all worked out using this ancient and obsolete concept called “AI” (actual intelligence). It was in abundance once upon a time. So, doing yet another batch of these Norton Commando cylinder head stub repair bronze helicoils was a walk in the park. I never thought I'd be doing them again, but here we are. There must be a few old Nortons being resurrected. I enjoy doing these sorts of jobs because I know they will end up on some old bike project out there somewhere and once that guy enjoys his 1st post build ride, that smile will be priceless. Building and riding my own is where most of this work began. These are machined from standard grade LG2 Bronze, they are for repairing the aluminium casting where the exhaust port thread has worn away. The cylinder head is mounted in a jig and the old thread bored and threaded to suit these new bronze inserts. I do not do the heads, only these bronze inserts. The threads are 14tpi external and internal 180 degrees opposed to create a very thin wall section. This job had me reflecting on the many years I machined parts for old Muzz and hope he is doing well in retirement.

Another job completed, K1045 mild steel bosses. Nice, simple job. The only interesting fact about this job is that the c...
12/03/2026

Another job completed, K1045 mild steel bosses. Nice, simple job. The only interesting fact about this job is that the customer supplied a written description and this pic was sent to them less than 90 minutes later. I do not always keep exact materials in stock, but this time i was fortunate enough to have the exact piece in the material rack ready to go for a repeat job. Fast turnaround is where it's at. OD = 92mm, ID = 51.2mm, Length = 38mm with 3mm x 45deg. Chamfers on all corners.

If you ask 5 machinists how to go about a job, you will get 18 answers from them. The best way to go about the job is of...
12/03/2026

If you ask 5 machinists how to go about a job, you will get 18 answers from them. The best way to go about the job is often a case of personal preference, how comfortable you feel doing it, based on past experiences. Factor in the machine, tooling, etc. This job is fraught with danger if you do not tread carefully. Approach it with caution, slow and steady will get it done.

These are a simple mild steel spacer. Easy enough, on a suitable machine. This would be up there at the top end of the biggest parting off job I've ever done on this machine. The chuck is only 200mm, the bar stock is 152mm, so not alot of workholding choices. Hard jaws it is then. A whole grip length of 12mm. Not ideal with 150mm of steel billet hanging out of the chuck. Way too long. I've seen what happens when things let go. Chuck is destroyed, spindle bent, tooling just gone. Soooo...a new plan is needed. Gently face off, small OD cuts, drill and bore. Then insert the small.live centre tailstock and part off almost to the bore. ID = 26mm, part off to Dia. 27mm. Leaving 0.5mm to break off the job, ready for the next one. Part off tool is a seco high speed steel blade, standout is 62mm, not ideal, since only clamped with 2 screws, plus that standout with 152mm bar, means only 15mm of available X axis travel to the job. Using the tailstock as support proved a wise choice. It parted very well with very little vibration or instability. Another successful job completed.

09/03/2026

A bit rough on the video skills, but this is the angled slot milling on the PETP plastic bearing using only Y & Z axis

It's been many years since I've had to machine this particular grade of plastic. It looks like a nylon or acetal but is ...
09/03/2026

It's been many years since I've had to machine this particular grade of plastic. It looks like a nylon or acetal but is much heavier, no a glass filled Teflon either. It is PETP Sustadur Thermoplastic Polyester Polypropylene Terepthalate. Try saying that after a beer or 5.

These are a split spherical bearing for a driveshaft. Copied direct from the sample supplied. Cable tied it so as not to lose the sample. The Hicell has a Y axis for milling angles like this. It is actually possible to just use the C axis, rotate the chuck whilst moving along Z axis, but I went with Y axis, just for a change. Writing the G code program by hand is way faster to setup than any other method.

A smaller top up batch of these stainless steel mounting discs done and dusted.
05/03/2026

A smaller top up batch of these stainless steel mounting discs done and dusted.

Work has kept me busy lately, so I've not had the time to post jobs here. Many never make the cut anyway for various rea...
28/02/2026

Work has kept me busy lately, so I've not had the time to post jobs here. Many never make the cut anyway for various reasons. It could be R&D, patents, intellectual property rights, just plain uninteresting or I simply forgot to take pics. This job is one of the biggest and longest run time batches I've done in a very long time. The pic of the raw material supplied doesn’t look much but there’s a lot of jobs machined from it. Nearly 4 weeks work according to the customer. I did it just a little quicker. I've done these for about 8 years now.

These are simply a stainless steel spring clip pin assembly. A few years ago, the customer had a new batch of springs made and found they were catching or hanging in the aluminium and riding up on the pin. They left it to me to find a solution. I decided to bore the aluminium instead of just drilling, to achieve a smoother finish and maintain more accurate size. I reduced the clearance between the pin and Ali keeper bush to keep better alignment. Also increased the pin diameter to provide more surface area for the spring to seat square.

Problem solved !

They are a relatively simple design but just take time to produce. The 1st part is an aluminium keeper bush to be welded in place. It contains a spring and the 2nd part being the stainless steel pin. Quite simply a quick pull release for safety equipment. The stainless pin is only 6.30mm in diameter and 31mm long with a spigot dia. 4.30mm x 20mm and a 2mm cross hole for the ring pull. Machining stainless is difficult enough but when you need such small sizes the bar tends to break or push away whilst machining. Try doing it with the bar protruded far enough from the chuck to allow clearance for the live tooling and take a cut and watch the bar deform and snap. So I develop new techniques to overcome it. Keeping close tolerances is not so easy.

The aluminium keeper bush is 13.65mm x 18.6mm, counter bored 6.60mm x 15mm, to 4.50mm.

All components are odd sizes. Often this is done to prevent interchanging or copying easily.

No prizes for guessing the final quantities 1840 off aluminium & 1240 off stainless steel.

Another job completed and delivered.

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Bullsbrook
Perth, WA
6084

Telephone

+61407087816

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