Grader Blade Repair Help

MikeyK

Member
Mornin',
I have an old 6' Blanton Plow Company grader blade with most of the angle selection holes wallowed out. I have a plan to repair it but I wanted to run it by you guys to make sure I'm doing it right.

I plan to weld a 1/2" plate to the current 1/4" selection plate, drill 1" holes at each selection location, and then weld top link bushings (1" OD, 3/4" ID) inside each hole in an effort to strengthen them and prevent future wallowing. I will use a new 3/4" hitch pin, that fits perfectly into the bushings, to set the angle of the blade.

Does that sound like a good plan? Will the bushings help as much as I think they will or am I wasting my time welding them in? I don't have a drill press but I was think about buying one for this project. Thanks for your input.

-Mike
 

I would probably forget the bushings and drill 3/4" holes. That 1/2" plate should last as long as you need it to. A drill press is a good idea. I've done stuff like that with a 1/2" hand held drill. NOT fun.
 
Thanks rustyfarmall, if the bushings won't help much then I'll save a lot of time and a little bit of money not using them.

-Mike
 
(quoted from post at 13:09:35 09/11/18) Thanks rustyfarmall, if the bushings won't help much then I'll save a lot of time and a little bit of money not using them.

-Mike

What about the other plate/hole?
And how much is accuracy of hole locations going to be?
 
DoubleO7,
There isn't a 2nd plate, the pin runs down through the center of the main 4"x4" square tube frame. I'm gonna try to get everything lined up as close as possible with as tight of tolerances as possible.

-Mike
 
If you buy a drill press make sure it has a slow-slow-slow speed ov not over a hunderd RPM for that size bits. Mine is a multi speed model and on slowest it is still way to fast for anything over a 1/2" and I never use any of the faster speeds as slowest is fast enough for any bit.
 
Leroy,
Not over 100 RPM? The slowest I've been able to find is 260 RPM on a 16-speed drill press. Do they even make drill presses that spin less than 100 RPM?

-Mike
 
I don't know anything about the new ones except my 20 some year old is way to fast fot anything over a half inch. I have seen the old units that could be used on a line drive that you about could count the revs of the bit. A friend has one of those but with the electric motor attached. If I want to drill anything with that big of a bit I go to my old hand crank unit that speed is controled by how fast you turn the crank. On a new one if it is too fast for the large bit if it has a 3600RPM motor you could replace with a 1750RPM motor but that is big costs. Mine came from TSC when I bought it and that company is now out of bussiness. The 3/8" belts to drive the bit are just not enough grip for the big bits but it came with a 5/8" chuck. The factorys seem to think fast is good but in use it is not. Get as slow as possible if you are going to use a big bit. I like to at times drill a hole for a 5/8" hitch pin that is 11/16" and my drill is way to fast for that size bit. I have never tried to check the speed of the motor on mine but it is probably the 3600RPM unit. Just look things over careful and be sure of what you are getting. The local welding shop still uses one of those old line shaft type drill presses with the flat belt drive. I don't think any modern one will slow down enough to do good work with that size bit. A lot of big bit work is done on a lathe and they do have a slow speed to be able to cut threads with them.
 
Leroy,
Thanks for all the info. While talking to my dad yesterday he said he has an old hand crank drill press that I could have. At first I kinda just laughed and said I was looking for one with a motor but maybe I'll take him up on his offer.

-Mike
 
That will work (and you too). It might take Morse taper drill bits so you might have to go shopping.

A real machine shop drill press will go slow enough but your not going to find them at any modern day hardware store or big box store.
Maybe use a milling machine if you can.

So your going to create an array of holes in an arc and they all need to be accurately located in order to all line up with the one hole in the 4x4?
That might be tricky.
 
DoubleO7,
Yeah, it'll be a real workout since I have 10 holes to drill in 1/2" plate. I'm thinking of reducing the hole in the 4x4 tube down to 3/4", which would be slightly easier to drill.

My plan is to weld a pipe in the existing hole in the 4x4, lay the 1/2" plate below and somehow mark where the holes will be drilled in the plate, through the hole in the 4x4. Maybe with paint?

-Mike
 

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