Khouse groove cutter - cheap & easy

[mgh Racing]

First off, I want to thank Khouse for the excellent axle grooving advice. I had been using a dremel with a cut-off wheel...with marginal results. This topic came up at Nationals, and they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...so here's my own take on his outstanding idea...

A mini hacksaw kit is less than $10 at Menards..

I drilled a 7/16" hole in the aluminum mitre box and a 3/8" hole in the block of wood, so I could use a 3/8" dowel as a pedestal. A 3/32" hole goes all the way through the dowel and block of wood. That's a standard 7" pinewood block...which gives some reference as to how small the 6" hacksaw & mitre box really is.

The axle is retained by the screw in the side of the block. The screw actually pushes against a small wood plug that makes contact with the axle, to avoid scratching the axle.

The axle is removed by pushing it up with a punch from below.

A 3/32" hole is also drilled into the right side (as pictured above) of the block, just in case the wood plug needs to be pushed back with a punch. Typically, the tapered bottom of the axle is enough to move the plug out of the way.

The results:

One more tip...the bottom of an old Sharpie makes a pretty decent (and cheap) axle pusher...

 

[Knotty Racing]

MGH,

Thanks for posting, looks just as I had imagined from your description at Nationals.

I have got to rig up something to keep me from making a K-house "Gouge" instead of a groove.

This looks like it works quite well.

 

[4wheeldrift]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

This was another particular reason we didn't get the street rod finished in time for the nationals was because in my haste I quickly went to groove the DFW axle only to slightly cut too deep with the dremel and essentially waste it. The sharpie is an excellent idea (miffed I didn't catch that since I had one on the bench too).

 

[mgh Racing]

No problem. Prior to seeing the information in the post by K-House, I ruined my fair share of axles trying to cut the slot using a Dremel cut off wheel, or ended up with slots that were difficult to turn with a screwdriver. I'm too cheap to buy a screw slot fixture...and too lazy to construct something with clamps and shims.. so once I saw the mini mitre box, I knew my days of using the Dremel were finally over.

 

[OTO Racing]

MGH,
My question is what saw blade do you use ??
The one that comes in the kit ....... Well it doesn't even
Scratch the axles I got from DD4H !

Thanks,
OTO

 

[Guest]

No problem. Prior to seeing the information in the post by K-House, I ruined my fair share of axles trying to cut the slot using a Dremel cut off wheel, or ended up with slots that were difficult to turn with a screwdriver. I'm too cheap to buy a screw slot fixture...and too lazy to construct something with clamps and shims.. so once I saw the mini mitre box, I knew my days of using the Dremel were finally over.

Take 2 pieces of 1/4" wood, like 2 scraps of basswood. Put one on either side of the axle body with the head resting against the top of the two pieces of wood. (looks like an axle sandwich now) Put it in the bench vise. Take a hacksaw blade, and belt sand the sides of the blade down to .025/.031 thick. (I use only a 3 or 4 inch length of blade.) Eyeball your center of the axle head and draw the blade over the head gently a couple of times to get a groove started, but do it with the backside of the teeth. You don't want to start the groove the actual way the blade is supposed to cut. If you do, chances are the blade will "skid" Once you have a small groove started by "drawing" the blade backwards, turn it around and start to cut, but do it slow and steady. Be careful to only get close to the shoulder of the head and don't cut through to the other side where the wheel rides.

 

[mgh Racing]

I use the standard blade that came with the kit, with no modifications. The DD4H axles are super hard, but if you start the groove by drawing the blade backwards as BSB described, you should be able to make short work of the axle head once you can start sawing normally.

 

[OTO Racing]

Thanks guys !!