I was thinking about that Geof but every time I was thinking to do it that way it seemed to be a fair bit of work and my lazy gene kept kicking in and saying there must be an easier way
The only other issue is that the ID of the part I will be grabbing is only 1.5" so the end diameter is going to be pretty small, meaning max OD on said ring would be 1.5 and maybe... 1" ID (I'll need some meat left on the jaws to make them hold tight enough to machine) - That's only 1/4" of material to hold the jaws so I'd be looking at doing it from steel, I'd think... and all my tooling is for aluminum pretty much. If I just clamped down on a 1/2" rod for example and bored my diameter, is it a big no-no given I am maching on ID clamping but I will use the jaws in OD clamping? If the difference is small I may do it that way but if it's important to bore while they are under opening pressure then I'll try the ring idea and see how I do.
Hey while I am at it, and since you know just about everything Geof
how in the hell are you supposed to use those boring stars/cam things? Like these...
http://cgi.ebay.com/4pc-STEEL-CAMS-S...QQcmdZViewItem
If the link doesnt work look at item #290173657214 on eBay. I got a set but I am stymied! Near as I can figure I put it against the chuck and then install the jaws after it's in place.... then... rotate it so that the jaws touch it before they close? Problem is because it's rounded, as the jaws start to close on it, it just rotates and doesn't stop the jaw movement. There is a slot in the center - is it designed to be braced somehow to prevent rotation? There were no instructions and I haven't seen anything online about how to use them, so I'm guessing here