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  1. #1
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    Default Tooling I should have made years ago... (2)

    I started a thread some time ago about things that members discover they should have made years ago.
    http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=146801
    It won't let me post now but today I made a bit of tooling that fits right in that space, so...
    Here it is -
    P1030113 (Medium).JPG
    (This was fabricated as I was mainly welding today but it could have just as easily been machined)
    Most of the tooling for the lathe tailstock is MT2 with a tang, but the centres are not tang'd. To remove the Piper live centre I normally use a tool holder like this while winding the ram back

    P1030115 (Medium).JPG
    But that won't work for a dead centre which I had to use today to get extra clearance
    P1030117 (Medium).JPG
    So, you take your little jigger, slide it into the tang slot and then just wind back.
    P1030119 (Medium).JPG P1030121 (Medium).JPG
    Should have made one years ago...

    Michael

  2. #2
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Nice if you have tang slot!

    Good idea for a thread Michael.

  3. #3
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    Some time back I fitted my mill drill chuck to the lathe tailstock by mistake and had to remove it in a similar manner. Afterwards I realised that I may want to fit other mill tooling in the tailstock at some time so I made a piece with a tang and M16 thread so it can be fitted into any MT4 mill tooling and will still push out of the tailstock normally.

    A thread in the rear end of the dead centre that a suitable bolt/threaded rod can screw into would do the same job I think. This would be useful for lathes without tang slots.

    Dean

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oldneweng View Post
    A thread in the rear end of the dead centre that a suitable bolt/threaded rod can screw into would do the same job I think. This would be useful for lathes without tang slots.
    I recently bought a dead centre with a thread in the rear end and did just that. I installed a cap screw and adjusted it until the centre ejected when the tailstock is wound fully back.

  5. #5
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    Made up one of these today. (Although it might get thinned down in the future as it looks a little chunky)
    P1030323 (Medium).JPG
    For those none the wiser, the back story is that I was using the R/T and got sick of sorting out the bits to hold it down. The top of the R/T when vertical has a fork that a T bolt can slide into when used in horizontal mode but the bottom only has a pocket for use in conjunction with a hold down clamp. The step block is only just wide enough to straddle the T slot and the smallest size of clamp will not fit so a longer one is needed - which is taller etc.
    P1030320 (Medium).JPG

    Typically I will remove the vice from the table, slide one of the T bolts out (leaving one for the 'top'), position the R/T and then assemble a few bits from the clamp kit to hold the other end. This doover allows me to do away with the clamp kit bits and just use it instead - the height of the slotted part on the doover is by a strange coincidence the same height as the forks on the side of the vice too...
    P1030319 (Medium).JPG

    It's another thing I've been meaning to do for years.

    Michael

  6. #6
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    I'm a bit of a Tom Lipton fan and noticed on some of his videos that he had a stop on the side of his vice. It's one of those things that I've been meaning to do but today with a job that would really benefit from something like that, I did.
    P1040168.JPG
    I made the block up first - just a bit of MS, 1/4"x1/2"x1 1/4" with a 6mm hole and then proceeded to tap a hole in the vice jaw. The vice is a Vertex anglock 4". My first attempt at centre punching for the hole just blunted the punch. "Crumbs!" I thought. "It must be hardened". Out with a 1/4" ball nosed carbide end mill (nearest carbide end mill to hand) and started drilling - plan B was to make a hole and then fill with Araldite so I could tap into that. After a couple of mm, the swarf changed from powdery dust to spiral ribbons, so I stopped and continued drilling with a 5mm before tapping for M6. Not sure whether the jaws are just case hardened or the heat treatment meant it was very hard on the surface but softened further from the surface.
    P1040169.JPG
    Regardless, it's done and quite useful. I was able to make two parts (one from each end of a square bar) just by flipping end for end without having to re measure the datum. Further more because I then had a fixed location, drilling holes on adjacent faces that were a fixed relationship to each other was simple. When not required the stop will rotate and sit within the profile of the jaw or can be removed entirely.
    The other vice tooling that Tom uses is a little clamp that locates on the top of the jaw for shorter parts. I think that has just jumped up the queue a bit.

    Michael

  7. #7
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    Not too many things would be hardened right thru. It would make the part brittle and impossible with thicker steel. The centre would take too long to quench. I would think the jaw would be case hardened, but I could be wrong.

    I have one of those clamps. It is quite useful. I think it came from Ausee Tools.

    Dean

  8. #8
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    This is the clamp that I mentioned in post 6 and the other day I was wishing I had this for some repetitive operations, so today during a spare moment made one. (Ausee do have them but...)
    P1040261.JPG
    I milled the profile, clamped the halves together and then drilled the dowel holes before inserting the dowels and trimming the ends. I think if I was doing it again I'd clamp and dowel after getting the two pieces to thickness and then do the ends and profile.

    Michael

  9. #9
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    Hi Michael G
    A little compression spring around the allen bolt is a handy addition I have found.Maybe you have one hidden in there.
    Bob

  10. #10
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    At the moment I have two jobs that require a profiled cutter, one being a lead screw and the other for a wormgear hob. Normally I would grab a larger piece of HSS and grind that down, but that is time consuming when it is an ACME or similar profile and wasteful as well.
    I 3D printed a design of a holder to get around this issue a month or so back; today I finally got to make it in metal.
    P1040700.JPG
    Left to right, they are the plastic "proptotype", a pair of 1/4" holders (I only need one but I had a piece of material left over...) and one for a 3/16" bit of HSS. I also have a 1/8" version in work. The 1/4" versions were broached but the 3/16 and 1/8 were needle file territory.
    Currently in the Phos acid bath to phosphate them in preparation for use.

    As well as being able to be used in the lathe for turning, I will also be able to sharpen HSS pieces while in these holders, making it easier to get the grind right.

    When I think of all the time I've spent grinding down 1/2" bits of HSS for a small threading job...
    (all I need to do now is finish that ACME profile jig that Phil (Steamwhisperer) came up with)

    Michael

  11. #11
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    I'm posting this here as it does fall into this catagory -
    Today I finished making one of these

    DSCN8553 (Small).JPG
    'Nice' you say but what does it do?
    I'm making up some worms at the moment and needed to broach a 1/16" keyway into a 5/16 bore. I have the broach but don't have the bushing so needed to make one. The first attempt was with a 3mm diameter endmill with the bush blank held in a normal vice. That nearly worked but the deflection of the cutter (even though only 0.5mm DOC) was enough to push the slot to one side. My preferred method would be with a slitting saw, but I did not want to convert the mill to horizontal. That's when I dreamed up this thing, which you could probably call an extended V block.
    The photo below shows it in use. The tapped holes in the base hold studs from the hold down clamp kit and my largest clamps are long enough to reach over and hold the bar stock. With this, I can hold small stock and use a slitting saw to slice it length ways.

    DSCN8550 (Small).JPG
    I actually used it twice today - once to make the broaching bush (slot a bit over 1/8" wide) and then to make up a dummy shaft to hold the worms while cutting the tooth (1/16 wide). Worked really well both times.

    Michael

  12. #12
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    Nice work Michael and very timely for me. I’ve got some 3mm keyways to do in 10mm shafts.

    My version ended up bigger than I intended but I was just using scrap material I had at hand.
    The vertical part is just bolted on with two 10mm SHCS and locates on a raised register. I figured the base might be useful as a generic mount for other fixtures and having the register would make alignment easier.





    The round black counterbore is just a leftover artifact from the scrap.

    Steve

  13. #13
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    Not quite tooling, but something I wish I'd done a while back. For the last few months my back has been locking up after a day in the shed, but only when using the mill. Finally dawned on me that I had a duck board mat on the floor by the lathe but not at the mill.
    This is 1000x700mm and made from a scrap single-use pine pallet. Boards are 13x40, gap is 12mm and supports are roughly 250mm apart for those thinking of making their own.
    Worth doing.
    DSCN8686.JPG

    Michael

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  1. Tooling I should have made years ago...
    By Michael G in forum METALWORK GENERAL
    Replies: 78
    Last Post: 27th Jan 2012, 12:53 PM

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