2017 POTD Thread Archive

[francist]

For now, I think I will use the same method I use for my truck block heater. I used to forget I had it plugged in and when approaching the truck from behind I could not see that it was plugged in. I drove away with it plugged in a few times and finally came up with a solution that works well. I drape a bright green extension cord over the drivers mirror whenever I plug the block heater in. Reminds me its plugged in. No problem since doing that. I can use the same method with the lathe. If I'm going to use the indexer I will unplug the lathe and drape the power cord over the headstock by the chuck. For now the whole assemble has been removed and is stored away for some future time. I didn't want to leave it installed

I have a few of these "flags" in the shop that I use for times when I've done something out of the ordinary to a machine setup. I borrowed the idea from the streamers they use on planes when they're parked. The red woven stuff is like webbing except it's two layers like a sleeve, so I could slide a small magnet inside the tube then heat-seal the end to keep the magnet captured. The yellow tag end was a separate bit of webbing just for added contrast and visibility. Maybe overkill, but I got carried away in the design aspect a bit.

Yes I still have to remember to use them and they're not fail safe, but I find them useful. And with the magnet there's always a place to just slap them on with no fuss.

The green extension cord idea reminded me of these, so I thought I'd show.

-frank

 

[pstemari]

I have a few of these "flags" in the shop that I use for times when I've done something out of the ordinary to a machine setup.

Nice. There's also commercial tag-out items you can get from Zoro, etc, but those are probably not worth the bother in a home shop unless you've got kids around.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[markba633csi]

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[hman]

I'm refurbishing an old 4x6 bandsaw. Over all, it's more than just a "project of the day," but fixing the work stop will probably qualify.

One of the odd features of this saw (a Taiwan made HF, vintage 2003) is the location of the retainer screw for the work stop. It's in the top surface of the work platform. Not the ideal location! You can't use a regular bolt - the head would likely interfere with the part being cut. And a set screw would very likely get clogged with swarf. So I decided to drill and tap a new bolt hole from the side.

Therein lies the rub - how to accurately locate the hole? The outer cast surface is sloped about 10º. Then there's a gap of about 1 1/4". Then there's an irregular surface on the boss that holds the work stop rod. So I cobbled together a drill guide from a piece of 2" steel angle and a couple chunks of 1/2" aluminum (on which I'd carefully located guide holes with my mill). The angle was bolted down at the original setscrew hole, set parallel to the edge of the saw, and used to guide the drill bit through the outer casting and the boss. A 12" long 1/4" bit provided clearance for the drill motor.


Once I had the hole drilled through, I chased it with an F bit, then opened the outer hole to 5/16". Tapped the hole in the boss 5/16-18.


Fabricated an aluminum work stop (original missing when I bought the saw) and closed the original setscrew hole with JB Weld.


Finally, I fabricated a T-nut for the angle lock screw of the vise. As bought, this screw had a nut and washer on the underside, requiring the use of two wrenches when making adjustments.

 

[HMF]

This is a GREAT thread!!

 

[hman]

This is a GREAT thread!!

I agree. And I've been wanting to congratulate YOU on having started it. 312 pages, and still going strong! Many thanks.

 

[intjonmiller]

I finally got a "real" vise for my round column mill/drill. The 3.5" tilting thing it came with is cute, but left a lot to be desired. This is far from the ideal vise (just as it's far from the ideal mill), but it is a big step up and the price was right (currently $99 with free Prime shipping on Amazon). Got it trammed in. The Last Word shows a little less than 0.005" variation from the middle of the fixed jaw to the end, with both ends reading the same. Eventually I'll spend some time to really analyze the shape (flat, parallel, square, etc.), but for now I'm thrilled with the quality for the price.



I figure someday I'll graduate to a better vise and then I'll have this as an especially shiny bench vise or something.

Incidentally, why is a 4" or 5" precision-ish milling vise cheaper than a 6" bench vise??

 

[intjonmiller]

This was actually last week, but interesting enough to share. A friend found these dental training heads at a school that was closing. At the same time it was discovered that people pay ridiculous amounts of money for these as decorations. So she hired me to make some heavy, interesting bases for them out of some stock she found at a local liquidation place. The bronze one started as round stock and I turned it down to the stepped shape to transition to the rod. I tried to braze the bronze to the steel plate below it but I couldn't pump in enough heat. Wasted a lot of gas trying, but that helped develop a patina. The other two were just drilled to 1/2" and the rod epoxied in. Quick, easy, profitable, and incredibly strange.



There's just no accounting for taste. I mean they would be great as Halloween decorations, but people are paying over $1,000 for these things. I doubt that's just for Halloween.

 

[markba633csi]

I finally got a "real" vise for my round column mill/drill. The 3.5" tilting thing it came with is cute, but left a lot to be desired. This is far from the ideal vise (just as it's far from the ideal mill), but it is a big step up and the price was right (currently $99 with free Prime shipping on Amazon). Got it trammed in. The Last Word shows a little less than 0.005" variation from the middle of the fixed jaw to the end, with both ends reading the same. Eventually I'll spend some time to really analyze the shape (flat, parallel, square, etc.), but for now I'm thrilled with the quality for the price.

View attachment 227906

I figure someday I'll graduate to a better vise and then I'll have this as an especially shiny bench vise or something.

Incidentally, why is a 4" or 5" precision-ish milling vise cheaper than a 6" bench vise??

Is that a 4" one you got there?
Mark S.

 

[intjonmiller]

Yes. I guess I didn't say that, did I? Oops.