Shop Made Tools

[martym]

Thanks. I decided it was time to learn machine work. So I am taking classes at the local VoTech. The hammer was the last project in the basic lathe class.

Wow, some things never change! I'm a '75 grad from machine shop technology at the old VoTech school on Winbourne Av. in Baton Rouge. I made the same hammer, which I still have. My instructor was John M. Jones. He designed the hammer project in 1960. It was copied and used in many machine shop schools. Interesting that they are still using those projects but after thinking about it, probably still using the same curriculum.
BTW, my final project before graduation was the dreaded pentagonal dodecahedron. I was working after school in a machine shop by that time so I took some aluminum stock to work and knocked it out one night on the clock while I was supposed to be threading valve stems.....lol.

[H380]

Wow, some things never change! I'm a '75 grad from machine shop technology at the old VoTech school on Winbourne Av. in Baton Rouge. I made the same hammer, which I still have. My instructor was John M. Jones. He designed the hammer project in 1960. It was copied and used in many machine shop schools. Interesting that they are still using those projects but after thinking about it, probably still using the same curriculum.
BTW, my final project before graduation was the dreaded pentagonal dodecahedron. I was working after school in a machine shop by that time so I took some aluminum stock to work and knocked it out one night on the clock while I was supposed to be threading valve stems.....lol.

New Iberia here. Yes the project book was last revised in 1978. Still has both pecan crackers.

[tylernt]

...aaaaand back to shop made tools!

These are rough and ugly, but I made some boring bar holders for my 7x10 mini-lathe. I have chosen not to convert to a QCTP and instead have several 4-way turrets I can swap in and out for semi-quick tool changes. So, I needed a way to hold round tools.

The turret will just accommodate 5/8" square stock, so I clamped a 5/8" 1018 steel blank in the toolpost and used a center drill in the 3-jaw to make a small hole that's perfectly on-center as far as height goes. I also dialed the cross-slide so the periphery of the finished hole would be 1/16" inch away from the edge of the stock.

Then I moved the stock to the 4-jaw, and using a mill centerfinder in the tailstock and the hole I just centerdrilled, I dialed the piece in. This one was the 1/4" holder:



After drilling through, I then cut a slot on the thick side of the stock. I started a shallow groove with a hacksaw and then did most of the work with a recip saw (no mill here). Here are 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" holders. The 1/2" uses the full width of the 4-way turret, blocking two tool positions, but the smaller ones just occupy one tool position (well, they will once I cut those HSS bits in half!).



Here's one clamped in my tool post:

[bvd1940]

Necessity is the mother of invention, nicely done.

[mars-red]

Tiny spatula

This is a silly little tool I've been meaning to make for ages but finally got around to. Got the idea from George Daniels - it's a tiny spatula for crushing/mixing polishing powder with oil, against a glass sheet. The blade is a piece of old steel mainspring, and the brass collar was turned from an old carburetor screw. It works pretty nice!

[tylernt]

Funny you should mention that kyfho, as I also just made an internal threading tool from O-1 as detailed here:

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=3523.0

only I didn't mill the top off, just ground it off.

[T.Hoffman]

I'll add some of my little projects over the last year:

Drawbar wrench:


Machinist jack screws with ACME threads, and additional height bases:


Collet rack with acrylic:


New handles for my Harbor Freight lockers:

[T.Hoffman]

whoops, one more.

Lathe indicator clamp with easy adjust handle:

[Chris S.]

I'll add some of my little projects over the last year:

Drawbar wrench:

Machinist jack screws with ACME threads, and additional height bases:

Collet rack with acrylic:

New handle for my Harbor Freight lockers:

Lathe indicator clamp with easy adjust handle:

Impressive work.

[Thatcher]

yes! i registered to the forum a while ago and finally got in. I have no real training with a lathe or mill except for being taught how to mitre on a bridgeport at bike school. i recently bought a little atlas 9 inch lathe and have been learning what it can do. i made a little aluminum stand off to hold tubing for tacking and an attatchment to mitre 7/8 so far. this thread has been a major source of inspiration for me so thanks!

http://thatcherworks.blogspot.com

[Thatcher]

I also made this wrench for the lathe. lag bolt welded onto cut out steel and cemented in a handle i threw in ceramics class. looks like a bug.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I also made this wrench for the lathe. lag bolt welded onto cut out steel and cemented in a handle i threw in ceramics class. looks like a bug.

Nice, I don't think you'll find very many ceramic handled wrenches around.

[ak95xj]

Tried coping some tube on the lathe today.It was great..Very easy to set up with the compound angles ,plus you can dial in the holesaw in the 4 jaw, so it actually ran true..

[vpt]

How did you turn up the duracell batteries?

[lugnut]

My guess is that when he went to take the photos he had to change the batteries in his camera. I hope they are dead, I can imagine what a good live battery could do in pile of metal shavings.