mklotz
Well-Known Member
It's too cool to work in the shop today. (65 degF - Hey, I live in SoCal and "too cool" is defined as air temperature less than skin temperature.)
So, I decided to photo document some simple hints I've been meaning to pass along to one and all.
It's a lot easier to set your threading gage parallel to the work if you fit it with a small, extended V-block.
A tea strainer makes an excellent holder for degreasing small parts that might be easily lost. This model opens like a clam shell by squeezing on the handles.
Shotgun cleaning swabs, fitted on a handle, are excellent for cleaning tailstock bores, etc.. The soft cotton fuzz has an almost magnetic attraction for even the tiniest swarf.
Good sizes are 12 gage and .410. While at the gun store, pick up barrel cleaning brass brushes in various calibers. They come with a threaded stud so it's easy to make handles for them. Great for getting swarf out of freshly tapped holes, etc.
A small square block of steel, cut to the height of the lathe centerline above the top of the compound and made with a relieved bottom (so it doesn't rock) is a great device to set the height of lathe tools. I use my fingernail as a comparator - the human finger is incredibly sensitive to minute height differences.
Cut off the head of a toothbrush and secure it to the side of the apron with a magnet so it bears on the lead screw. As you thread, it will remove swarf ahead of the half-nuts.
Go to your local Home Depot and buy some grounding (earthing) clamps. (They're meant to secure a ground wire to a pipe.) They make perfect lathe dogs. All you have to do is add a short driver rod into the already drilled 5/16" hole used to secure the wire. A screw to hold the driver rod in place is already provided.
A piece of soft iron florist's wire in a MT holder makes a fine "parts catcher" when parting off small parts in the lathe. Stick the device in the tailstock with the wire in the central hole of the part. As you part off, the freed part(s) will be caught on the wire. (The soft iron wire will break easily if, for some reason, it catches. I've never had that happen, though.)
If the parts don't have a central hole, I have a solution for that too but that will have to wait for another cold snap.
Save those short lengths of stock and use them to make light duty custom hammer heads. This one, made for jewelry work, has steel, aluminum and brass heads in a variety of shapes.
Mounting a small lens to your prick punch will make it a lot easier to get the tip into the point where the scribe lines cross.
Buy a micrometer head and you can make your own custom micrometer for getting into tight areas. This one features an adjustable size and the ability to use interchangeable anvils. I used this a lot until I happened upon the Fowler 1/2" mike shown below.
Dremel sells an adjustable three-jaw chuck for their tools. Buy one and make a handle for it and you have a swell little pin vise. This one has a hollow handle so it can accommodate long work. The spinner at the end is removable.
So, I decided to photo document some simple hints I've been meaning to pass along to one and all.
It's a lot easier to set your threading gage parallel to the work if you fit it with a small, extended V-block.
A tea strainer makes an excellent holder for degreasing small parts that might be easily lost. This model opens like a clam shell by squeezing on the handles.
Shotgun cleaning swabs, fitted on a handle, are excellent for cleaning tailstock bores, etc.. The soft cotton fuzz has an almost magnetic attraction for even the tiniest swarf.
Good sizes are 12 gage and .410. While at the gun store, pick up barrel cleaning brass brushes in various calibers. They come with a threaded stud so it's easy to make handles for them. Great for getting swarf out of freshly tapped holes, etc.
A small square block of steel, cut to the height of the lathe centerline above the top of the compound and made with a relieved bottom (so it doesn't rock) is a great device to set the height of lathe tools. I use my fingernail as a comparator - the human finger is incredibly sensitive to minute height differences.
Cut off the head of a toothbrush and secure it to the side of the apron with a magnet so it bears on the lead screw. As you thread, it will remove swarf ahead of the half-nuts.
Go to your local Home Depot and buy some grounding (earthing) clamps. (They're meant to secure a ground wire to a pipe.) They make perfect lathe dogs. All you have to do is add a short driver rod into the already drilled 5/16" hole used to secure the wire. A screw to hold the driver rod in place is already provided.
A piece of soft iron florist's wire in a MT holder makes a fine "parts catcher" when parting off small parts in the lathe. Stick the device in the tailstock with the wire in the central hole of the part. As you part off, the freed part(s) will be caught on the wire. (The soft iron wire will break easily if, for some reason, it catches. I've never had that happen, though.)
If the parts don't have a central hole, I have a solution for that too but that will have to wait for another cold snap.
Save those short lengths of stock and use them to make light duty custom hammer heads. This one, made for jewelry work, has steel, aluminum and brass heads in a variety of shapes.
Mounting a small lens to your prick punch will make it a lot easier to get the tip into the point where the scribe lines cross.
Buy a micrometer head and you can make your own custom micrometer for getting into tight areas. This one features an adjustable size and the ability to use interchangeable anvils. I used this a lot until I happened upon the Fowler 1/2" mike shown below.
Dremel sells an adjustable three-jaw chuck for their tools. Buy one and make a handle for it and you have a swell little pin vise. This one has a hollow handle so it can accommodate long work. The spinner at the end is removable.
, heres a murky picture of a jig I threw together to do the dozens of #60 and #70 cross-drills of 1/16" and 3/32" rod that Elmer likes, especially on the Tall Vertical.
