Shop Made Tools

[rcaffin]

Why not? But you probably want side handle unless your arms are like Popeye's
If I have plenty of holes to tap I'd rather do it with anything else than manual twisting.

Cheating sticks. Go back 50 - 80 years of technology, and buy a carpenter's brace. They are still available, and they are really the bee's knees for tapping multiple holes.
See for example https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-5044-.../dp/B0001IW8N8
And there are plenty of older ones available second hand on ebay.

One caution: check which sort of chuck the brace has. Some of them may have 'drill chucks', which slip and are useless, but others have a chuck designed for holding a square shaft - like the end of a tap. I think all the old ones have this.

I took a hex extender and converted the male end to have 4 flats rather than a hex fitting. Now I can use a brace on any of the common hex inserts: really useful for getting rusty bolts and screws out (or snapping them off...).

When using one of these you get massive torque, but really controlled torque. You can sense a small increase in tapping force and stop in a few degrees.
OK, somewhere around M12 things might get a bit difficult - but still less difficult than any other method (apart from thread milling on a CNC).

Cheers
PS: I have three braces, of different vintages.

[DennisCA]

That's a good idea, I have several old braces, didn't realize they fit the square end of a tap.

[flathead4]

I have a lot of my dad's tools including a brace, so I had to go look. I can see how that could work to hold a range of taps. I'm not sure I can adapt that chuck to the lathe and wouldn't want to ruin the brace, but it might be possible to use the principle to design a universal tap holder for the tailstock quill.

[nickel-city-fab]

I have a lot of my dad's tools including a brace, so I had to go look. I can see how that could work to hold a range of taps. I'm not sure I can adapt that chuck to the lathe and wouldn't want to ruin the brace, but it might be possible to use the principle to design a universal tap holder for the tailstock quill.

Neat-O! I thought I was the only one who had some of those.... I also have a chain drill somewhere with that type of chuck, works great on larger pipe sizes. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mil...ry!14304!US!-1

[rcaffin]

I'm not sure I can adapt that chuck to the lathe and wouldn't want to ruin the brace,
I would hope NOT!

I was using one of mine today with an old auger bit, to sink a 10 mm hole some 180 mm into very old hardwood (gum) - a barn corner upright post. To be sure, 'some work was involved', but the chuck held without any problems - and the auger bit did not snap either, which was a testament to the value of old tools.

The business end of yours looks fine to me. A drop of oil here and there will do no harm.
Is it branded Stanley, and if so what part number?

Cheers
Roger

[DennisCA]

I finished my hand scraper, or at least for now. Not sure about the length. It's around 50cm now and it feels fine. I thought 50cm was too long first but I realized had cut it to 60cm. I cut it down and turned a handle and a pad that I can screw on and off:





If I think it's too long I will cut it down at the front somewhat, but it feels OK so far. Think it depends on the height of the work and where I choose to put the pad. Without the pad the length matters way less.

And some day I'll replace that feeler gage with something more permanent.

[flathead4]

I'm not sure I can adapt that chuck to the lathe and wouldn't want to ruin the brace,

Is it branded Stanley, and if so what part number?

Cheers
Roger

It says Made In USA with PEXTO in an oval. No other markings. I have no idea when or where my dad got it. It was hanging on the wall in his basement shop when he passed away.

[Boats69]

I finished my hand scraper, or at least for now. Not sure about the length. It's around 50cm now and it feels fine. I thought 50cm was too long first but I realized had cut it to 60cm. I cut it down and turned a handle and a pad that I can screw on and off:





If I think it's too long I will cut it down at the front somewhat, but it feels OK so far. Think it depends on the height of the work and where I choose to put the pad. Without the pad the length matters way less.

And some day I'll replace that feeler gage with something more permanent.

Cool. Good luck with the scraping. Keep us posted on progress.

[wbc]

Not new, other than made as two lathe tools in one:
1) Clausing 5900 tailstock: a lever/drilling attachment
2) Adapts into a generic QCTP slotting/shaping attachment
Adjustable lever positions are supreme overkill.

Woodwork I don't mess with.

[wbc]

Clausing 5900 Tailstock: graduated dial and pointer added. Old-school, and no batteries needed. Floating spinner handle from
a faucet knob makes a nice crank add-on too.

Did the magnetically-attached digital caliper on-the-ram hack too, but a dial suffices much of the time.

[mattthemuppet]

that is really neat, lovely work wbc!

scraper looks awesome Dennis, looks like you've already been giving it some use based on the What did you do today thread

[rcaffin]

It says Made In USA with PEXTO in an oval. No other markings. I have no idea when or where my dad got it. It was hanging on the wall in his basement shop when he passed away.]

The Stanley brand is well-known, but it seems that there were a lot of quite good copies over the decades. One of mine (it's old) is branded 'CROSS', and I have no idea of its history. Searching for 'cross brace' gets thousands of hits for the obvious, and so far I have not been able to figure out how to exclude all the ones about cross-braces, so to speak.

Unfortunately, very few of these braces allow you to remove the chuck to repair it: there are 'unremovable' pins hammered in place. But the pawl ring is breaking up. Some ingenuity may be required. Suggestions welcome.

[flathead4]

Not new, other than made as two lathe tools in one:
1) Clausing 5900 tailstock: a lever/drilling attachment
2) Adapts into a generic QCTP slotting/shaping attachment
Adjustable lever positions are supreme overkill.

Woodwork I don't mess with.

I once cut a 1/4" internal keyway groove in a 4" bearing I made for the overarm support on my horizontal mill using a boring bar and moving the carriage back and forth for the better part of a day. So yeah I would love to have that setup. Nicely done!

[BCRider]

On the wood boring brace chucks. Some were in fact set up to hold round drills. But generally that was a later thing and you can tell those by the three fingers. Almost all of the two finger chucks like I see in the photos here are in fact designed to hold longer tapered square shank wood boring bits. The little "v" in the end may hold taps but not all that securely. The "V" being very short and typically not machined but left as it came from the forging of the end.

The shape intended to be held by this chuck can be seen on these OLD SCHOOL STYLE AUGER BITS. In use the chuck is opened enough to let the whole tapered square fit down deeply into the chuck and the little "v" is more for clearance from the round shank part. When fitted only the tapered square is fully held.

On the other hand there's a very good reason why these brace and bit setups are making a comeback in the hobby of hand tool only wood working. With well shaped and correctly sharpened auger bits they cut very nice holes with surprisingly little effort. I've got a set I use for when I take on the occasional "unplugged" wood working project.

[DennisCA]

I've used them to drive and unscrew stuck screws, particularly slotted screws. Get a lot of torque out of those... And controllable.