The Curmudgeon's Non-Comic Random Thread

I think most everybody saw my post in Ditch Fahrenheit's Journal, and since so many showed an interest in machinery, I'm going to share what I was doing last week.
My machine has had an internal leak for some time now, and has been in need of some attention. And due to the downturn in the petroleum industry, I now have a little time to do some much needed repair work.
The machine has what's known as a rotary union which allows for the use of "through tool cooling." This rotary union is ceramic and quite fragile, if not handled properly it can be easily damaged. It's $400 for a new one.
Here is the damaged one. Note the chips in edges.


The old one and the new one.

I forgot to take pictures of the disassembly, but here are some shots of it going back together.
Here is the upper shaft extracted from the draw-bar and cleaned. It was pretty nasty due to the fact my employer put a precision machine in a welding shop.


Removing the upper union. Left hand threads.


Yuck! Pretty nasty in there.


Don't forget to lube your o-rings and seals.


Careful with that pick, it's sharp.


Ready for insertion.

Installing the upper shaft.

Hook up the hoses and GENTLY place the draw-bar mechanism back in place. This part is critical, it must be absolutely level when it makes contact otherwise the union could be damaged.



Don't forget to torque these.

Here's a look at what I used to do.

This one was kinda fun, it was a half done project that was dropped off to us. I had to drop the fuel tank down and fabricate a new tunnel. Hand shaped and fabricated the molded-in oil tank.
Fabricated front and rear fenders to match the angular elements of the tank.
I made the sissy bar from square stock and had some fairly complicated lines to follow, then the customer wanted a twist on the end of it. The devil's tail is hand carved from a steel billet.