Shop Made Tools

[Greebe]

I also liked your idea for the rest, well done!

Thanks. I just took a 1/2 mild steel bar and put it in one of those combo boring bar tool holders. Worked pretty well

[Randy]

Tool post grinder

I've been admiring you guys' work for over a year now, too lazy to submit any of my own photos. Well, I'm gonna stop being so lazy and join the party.

Here's a tool post grinder I built about 20 years ago.





Two motor pulleys and three spindle pulleys give me six speeds from 4500 to 24000 rpm. (I use only the lowest & highest). The motor is a 1/3 hp 3450 rpm induction motor I found at a surplus store. It's compact and pretty quiet. Swtich, start cap & relay are in the enclosure directly underneath. The flat belt is from Dumore. Bearings are nothing special, just ordinary deep groove radials, two at the wheel end shimmed to give them a little preload, one at the pulley end mounted with some axial float in the housing. It's served me well. I get a pretty decent finish though I'm sure it would be better with better bearings. Perhaps someday I'll make another spindle with proper angular contact bearings.

[deltaenterprizes]

The crescent wrench adjustable spanner wrench is a great idea! All the others are good too.

[Ron of Va]

I modified a Rockler wood clamp rack to hold my metal stock.
http://www.amazon.com/Rockler-Clamp-.../dp/B001DT30YU
It turned out pretty well. I had everything on hand for the modification and didn’t have to buy anything.

[Ron of Va]

Great idea, even if not yours

What did you use to make the holes, and what kind of shape was it in afterwards?

To drill for the spanner. Center drilled first, then regular HSS drill bits (made in the USA). They held up fine.

[murph64]

Hi Everyone,

Seeing Jim's post reminded me of what I did years ago to adjust some motorcycle shocks. Needed the same kind of tool again for a grinder I was working on so here it is:



The proper name may be something else but we use to call these monkey wrenches & they are a dime a dozen.

I now have several in different sizes w/different size pins.

Best wishes to ya'll.

Sincerely,

Jim

I started with the same wrench, only the pins are on the side of the jaws like the one Ron made.


Andy

[madwilliamflint]

I hate swarf, so I bent a piece of plastic and mounted it on an old magnetic base. I can used it on the mill or the lathe.

Love it! What did you bend the plastic with? I might need one

[Ron of Va]

Love it! What did you bend the plastic with? I might need one

I sandwiched the plastic between two 2X4’s clamped to my bench. Then I used a heat gun gently waived over the plastic until soft and pliable.

[Randy]

6" Rotary Milling Table

Another project from about 20 years ago, one of my more ambitious ones. I purchased the worm gear set, and machined everything else. When I started I had no intention of making the dividing accessories. I didn't expect to use them often enough to warrant the effort. But then HSM published Philip Dulcos' article on his dividing head, with a big photo on the cover. It was so pretty that I relented and started on the dividing discs. I still haven't made the sector arms and the special crank assembly, or a tailstock. Perhaps when I retire and take up clock making.

[jhe.1973]

I'm impressed too!

Hi Randy,

If you have the patience & perseverance to make a turntable as this, clock making will be a breeze.

Do the dowels on the right angle plate locate the table so the slots are at right angles when the dial is zeroed?

I am also curious as to the size/dia. of the table surface.

Would be honored to see more detail photos if you have the time.

[Randy]

6" Rotary Milling Table

Jim, There are keys on the underside of the angle plate to align with the mill table slot, and the dowels (taper pins actually) are to ensure repeatable alignment of the rotab to the the keys, as well as repeatable height. Not really important if I'm not using a tailstock, which I haven't made yet. So for now their only real function is to support the weight of the rotab while I'm putting the mounting bolts in.

Here's a view of the underside. If the cover plate were not caulked in place I would remove it to show the internals.



A view of the main scale and pointer. The rubber plug covers an oil port.



The worm shaft housing pivots at the front, and a bushing at the other end is mounted on an eccentric.



Give the knob half a turn and the worm is disengaged so that the table rotates freely. Note that there's a small eccentric inside the large eccentric to adjust for wear and gear clearance.



The graduated collar on the worm shaft is marked in tenths of a degree. I had planned to add a vernier scale for hundredths, but there's no real need for that. The worm gear has 60 teeth, so the crank goes 6 degrees per turn. I went with decimal degrees. I think degrees/minutes/seconds is totally pointless in the age of CAD and calculators.

I think the most puzzling part of the project was the disengagement mechanism. Not how to do it, I thought of at least half a dozen ways. Choosing which method took the most thought!

[jhe.1973]

Thanks for the details!

Hi Randy,

Just wanted to say thanks for the additional photos & info.

I have a worm & wheel assembly & just might get to building a small rotab some day for a small bench size mill I have.

Your project is an inspiration.

[Jeremy_BP]

Wow, some really amazing stuff in this thread. I've been riveted throughout all 125 pages.

Here's my small contribution. It's a magnetic chip guard that sticks to my vise or mill table. I have a bunch of .25" plexiglass pieces of various shapes and sizes I can swap out.

[Tait]

That magnetic chip shield is very cool. Also, that's the first thing on this thread to which I've thought "I'm making that when I get home".

[DATo]

I like that chip guard too. I could have used it today at work Jeremy. I was fly cutting 7075 and spitting out chips like a machine gun. I now have a wonderful collection of aluminum chips in my pockets, on my hat, in my beard and I even got one in my boot. Hey Tait, make me one too while you're at it *L*