Shop Made Tools

[mattthemuppet]

a pair of possibly hardened steel wedges I made to get the chuck off my drill press. Now I just have to resurrect my bench grinder which died a death after I finished making them.



not pretty, but they did the job

[daGrouch]

Shop made level

Hope I didn't already post this. If so, please delete.

After reading a post on using a sensitive level to check for a warped lathe bed and watching Haligan on YT use one; I threw this together from shop junk.



By tweaking the dials I can both center the bubble and adjust the sensitivity. Tightening both dials presses the vial against the center block, changing the bow of vial and making it faster but with reduced sensitivity.

I thought I needed a thin liquid medium for good results so I used butane. One side of the vial has a fill valve from a semi-disposable lighter epoxied in place. Makes adjusting the bubble size easy, too.

[Euph0ny]

I threw this together from shop junk.

That is so ingenious, it's sneaky!

[vpt]

Nice level! Well thought out!

[Jack F]

Love it. How sensitive is it?

Jack.

[daGrouch]

last time I used it a piece of thin paper sent the bubble into it's hidey hole.

[Marty Comstock]

Fantastic level!

[daGrouch]

In case anyone wants to see the level in use...

[elf]

How do you adjust it so the vial is true to the base, or can this only measure the difference in level?

[daGrouch]

For general purpose leveling I would bow the glass a bit more so it's not as finicky then calibrate it like any other.

Find a mostly level surface then get the bubble visible and note location. Turn it 180 degrees and see where it is, then split the difference and move the bubble there. Turn it a couple more times to fine tune and verify that the bubble stays in the same place. As sensitive as it is you almost need a surface plate to calibrate it to Earth level. The bow point and the curve to either side will effect how well it will work in this fashion.

Like a DTI, it's strength is differences and movement rather than absolute values.

My next project will be a balance scale for comparing molecules.

[Jack F]

Eddie, great job, where did you get the vial?

Jack.

[daGrouch]

Hi Jack, the vial is just a bit of tubing. It's pinched at one end and a valve is glued into the other.

[Jack F]

Thanks Eddie.

Jack.

[Stu]

Bolt shortening saw

This is a cheap Harbor Freight 6" cut-off saw I have set up as a dedicated bolt cutter. I cut a piece of 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/4" angle and drilled and tapped it for some common bolts, SAE on one side and metric on the other and mounted it in the saws vise. I also made a box to catch the sparks. It’s simple to use, just thread the bolt in, measure the amount to cut off and whack away. I use it so much it stays on my workbench full time and after a years use it's still on the original blade.

[ezduzit]

Stu--good idea.