Shop Made Tools

[jhe.1973]

Thanks Lew!

Hi Lew,

Thanks for your kind words.

I grew up in my Dad's machine shop starting 50+ years ago. He used to say,"You shouldn't have to brag, your workmanship should speak for itself".

Now that I am 'getting up there' myself I want to do what I can to inspire others honing their skills as he did.

Plus I am constantly amazed at all the things I still don't know.

Forums like this & PM are one of the best uses for the Internet that I can think of.

[jhe.1973]

Thanks once more

Hi Black_Moons,

I had some down time in my shop & spent a week of 10 - 12 hour days to do this. I didn't know when my next scheduled job would arrive & I wanted to be finished w/this.

I was almost heartbroken when it turned out to be too small to clear the gears I had designed & cut. I REALLY didn't want to cut notches in the frame! So, I thought up the extension arms.

The precision of the original design had it's own challenges but making the extension arms, with an additional set of holes to align, raised the bar another magnitude.

Glad you like it & thanks again.

P.S. I'll be like a bad penny - just keep coming back.

[jhe.1973]

Another heart breaking moment.

Hi Everyone,

When I typed the word 'heartbroken' in the above post it reminded me of this experience that I have on my web site.

This also gives me the opportunity to see if I can transfer photos from there if I want.



Here I have a glass disk that is 2 1/4 inch in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. I was making it to duplicate an antique clock pendulum for a clock I was restoring many years ago. I spent 8 hours grinding and polishing the bevel all the way around and then engraved/etched the trademark on the back. While doing the final polishing to remove a really tiny flaw, it slipped from my grip and hit the concrete floor. You can see the result. I had to start all over again and I made another just like this one, but didn't slip this time.

After I took this picture for this webite, I was holding this item up to see if I could find a different way to have the light come through and better show its brilliance. Guess what, it slipped from my grip again. This reminded me of what I used to tell people years ago when my wife and I sold antiques. I claimed I had developed a foolproof method for determining if a glass item was antique and therefore valuable. Just let me hold it, if it is valuable I'll break it without trying. It seems to work for me.

Hey, wadda know I can transfer photos! I just might like computers after all.......NAH!

P.S. Just got home from all day errands & realized that this isn't about a shop made tool. If it belongs somewhere else - or not at all - kindly delete it. I can't find anywhere that allows me to. Sorry.

[Lew Hartswick]

Hi Everyone,

When I typed the word 'heartbroken' in the above post it reminded me of this experience that I have on my web site.
While doing the final polishing to remove a really tiny flaw, it slipped from my grip and hit the concrete floor.

Jim

The first lesson that should have occurred, right then, DON'T work
over a concrete floor.
With a delicate object I try to work over a table with a thick carpet
pad on it. :-) (I'm a bit on the clumsy side) :-)
...lew...

[Fonzy4140]

Shop made welding positioner

I made a welding positioner that involved some lathe work on the trunion. I can't figure out how to attach pics on this forum but here is a video of the think if you care to take a look. I'll try to post pics of it in my gallery of photos on forum.


Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93GD4EBr-kE

[Void]

jhe,1973,

Gorgeous work. All those radii and blending is what makes a tool like that so beautiful IMO. Difficult to do nicely. I should say... very difficult to do.

-DU-

[Void]

I am curious when you would need this tool? If for checking MT's couldn't you just use a dead center or a MT sleeve? Are there other things that this tool would get used for?

Ever try to get a good wipe with a center in a socket? Not much to grab on to. What about a gage line?
This tool has a convenient handle and a gage line.

Same thing with a socket. Most socket adaptors have a tang end. Not so good for getting it off of the work. Some sockets are not deep enough yet are awkwardly long while the work is mounted on the lathe.
Since mine was made with the finish reamer I use for cleaning up all MT2 sockets in the shop it is also the <i>standard</i> for all MT2 tooling that I have in the shop. It is also a gage for length of the taper.

Until you have made one to the level of accuracy that you are capable of and used it... it is difficult to describe how much more useful and easier it is to use than other plugs and sockets you may have laying around.

I tend to make a fair amount of custom tooling. My dividing head has an MT2 taper spindle so I make up a bunch of MT2 blank arbors and make custom arbors for gear blanks etc... My lathe also has an MT2 spindle adaptor. I can transfer the fresh turned blanks directly to the dividing head with minimal runout (+/- 0.0001" if I am careful) with relative ease.

-DU-

[hornluv]

I made a welding positioner that involved some lathe work on the trunion. I can't figure out how to attach pics on this forum but here is a video of the think if you care to take a look. I'll try to post pics of it in my gallery of photos on forum.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93GD4EBr-kE

Nice work and thanks for the video. There's a sticky post at the top of the forum that tells you how to put photos in your post, but basically you have to have them hosted on your website, or on a photo sharing site like photobucket. Then you provide an image link to the pic.

BTW, you DO need a haircut

[ehughes]

[QUOTE=Fonzy4140]I made a welding positioner that involved some lathe work on the trunion. I can't figure out how to attach pics on this forum but here is a video of the think if you care to take a look. I'll try to post pics of it in my gallery of photos on forum.


Hello Fonzy, Any chance of a couple of photos that would show a little more detail of the construction? Looks very handy, thanks for posting. Regards, Earl

[jkilroy]

Oldie but goodie, poor mans slitting saw

I found this behind some stuff in a cabinet. I made this back in 2008, after I saw a similar setup on a board somewhere. Its a trim saw blade from the big box store, I think it was $24, carbide toothed. I remember it has a metric ID and I made the holder out of a piece of scrap stressproof. You might notice I thinned the bolt quite a bit and the washer under the blade registers to the metric OD. If I was doing it again I'd use a larger bolt and turn the register into the underside of the bolt head and do away with the washer. The OD of the holder is 5/8".



Shot of it working. You can bury it in aluminum, run it fast and feed as fast as you can crank the handle.

[jhe.1973]

jhe,1973,

Gorgeous work. All those radii and blending is what makes a tool like that so beautiful IMO. Difficult to do nicely. I should say... very difficult to do.

-DU-

Hi -DU-,

Thank you so much for your kind words but also thank you for giving me the idea of photographing items on a granite surface plate. It really makes for a classy contrast to the item being photoed.

I intend to try that soon.

Your MT gauge assembly, especially w/such a nice knurl is quite impressive.

I think I should add that I am not just saying that 'cuz you said something nice for me. Knurls as even over the entire length as you accomplished require attention to detail and cannot be setup in a hurry.

Best wishes to ya'll.

Sincerely,

Jim

[Fonzy4140]

[QUOTE=ehughes]

I made a welding positioner that involved some lathe work on the trunion. I can't figure out how to attach pics on this forum but here is a video of the think if you care to take a look. I'll try to post pics of it in my gallery of photos on forum.


Hello Fonzy, Any chance of a couple of photos that would show a little more detail of the construction? Looks very handy, thanks for posting. Regards, Earl

I have 2 photos to be seen here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

This is a miter gauge I made for my tablesaw numerous years ago. The hold down clamp was not made by me.









I am making a couple more of a new design, but they have a ways to go still.

[sasquatch]

Impressive miter gauge Henry,,,,, very nice work!!

[Greebe]

Wood Turning Drive Center

I made this wood turning drive center today. I need to make a few wood handles for some tools I am making and don't have a wood lathe, so I made this to be used in a 5C collet chuck in my metal lathe. Then I can turn the blanks between centers with this in the headstock. I think it will work pretty well. Pictures are before and after heat treating.





Greebe