My Metalshop/drafting projects - "Make Your Own Tools"

Buffalo Bob

Active User
Registered
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Messages
40
My first high school was Lane Technical School, in Chicago. A large school they had about every shop you could think of. A great preparatory school for college or profession. Mechanical drawing gave me the opportunity to plan and draw objects. Lots of good help but you will rue the day you had to produce a clean, ink drawn print. My heart goes out to the draftsmen and women I knew who made a living drafting until their eyes gave out. Plus the print checkers and engineers relying on their judgement and experience to correctly produce what was drawn. Geez...........

Anyway I have copied projects I worked to make your own tools and gauges. They are easy regarding precision and will allow you to learn new things.
BB

01A HAMMER HEAD.jpg 01B HAMMER HANDLE AND ASSEMBLY.jpg 02 HAMMER HEAD.jpg 03 DEPTH GAUGE ASSEMBLY.jpg 03A DEPTH GAUGE BASE.jpg 3B DEOTH GAUGE HANDLE AND PARTS.jpg 04 PARALLEL CLAMP ASSEMBLY.jpg 04A PARALLEL CLAMP JAWS.jpg 04B PARALLEL CLAMP SCREWS.jpg
 
I learned CAD so I could stop doing electrical drawings in pencil. Never mind pen.

But your depth micrometer plan has me wondering again why depth micrometers are SO expensive compared to a standard 0-1". Is it the base or the rods?
 
Re: My Metalshop/drafting projects - "Make Your Own Tools"

I learned CAD so I could stop doing electrical drawings in pencil. Never mind pen.

But your depth micrometer plan has me wondering again why depth micrometers are SO expensive compared to a standard 0-1". Is it the base or the rods?

Mike I too know "Pencil". BLGBWC (Before-Life-Got-Better-With-computers) I manually updated Bills of material, by hand, in pencil and recalculated on an adding machine. Then tried to get the numbers to balance. My automation was an electric eraser. Until the page wore through. Then added footnotes. LOTUS Ver 1a spreadsheet was a miracle. Then it all went downhill with MS.

Regarding the depth micro, I couldn't say. Just because they can I suppose. What's that old saying about needing more tools to make more tools? Try explaining that to my wife! Enjoy your day..
BB

- - - Updated - - -

is.php?i=1107711&img=05_V-BLOCKS.jpg 05 V-BLOCKS.jpg
 
Bob

Thanks for the drawings and the memories they invoked. The hammer looks just like the one I made in my high school shop class about 50 years ago in NJ. Except, I think that we cast the aluminum grip around the steel handle shaft, then turned it down and knurled it. Or maybe that was just on the screwdriver handle; for sure, it had the aluminum grip.
I remember also making a cold chisel and a ***** punch. Other stuff I don't remember... I had the hammer until a few years ago. I thought I might still have the punch, but a quick trip to my toolbox says no.
That class was the first and last time I used a metal lathe until I started my home machine shop five years ago.

Greg
 
Re: My Metalshop/drafting projects - "Make Your Own Tools"

Bob

Thanks for the drawings and the memories they invoked. The hammer looks just like the one I made in my high school shop class about 50 years ago in NJ. Except, I think that we cast the aluminum grip around the steel handle shaft, then turned it down and knurled it. Or maybe that was just on the screwdriver handle; for sure, it had the aluminum grip.
I remember also making a cold chisel and a ***** punch. Other stuff I don't remember... I had the hammer until a few years ago. I thought I might still have the punch, but a quick trip to my toolbox says no.
That class was the first and last time I used a metal lathe until I started my home machine shop five years ago.

Greg

I worked in a machine shop for a while until I went back to school. Loved it. No matter how crude or misdirected my efforts were, the Tool & Die Makers were always so supportive. Always ready to show the right way to do things. At that time my best friend was a lead hammer. Had a few woodworking hobby/business for many years and returned to metalworking. It's a wonderful retirement hobby...

- - - Updated - - -

Does this work?
BB

http://www.MyEasyPics.com/pf.php?fid=8nu3egn0yr3zvog34s5s
 
I was a draftsman for about 15 years, back in the late 50's. and today at a estate sale, I MISSED a complete set of Leroy lettering set with 6 or more templates / scales, the pen and different size tips in a beautiful wooden case. it had $20 on the price. I nearly bopped the fella on the head. . . . :) not really but it was a beautiful instrument from the past. . .
 
What memories this thread brings back! I too remember making many drawings in drafting class. I never did any in ink, only in pencil, but I remember them well. I also fondly remember making a screwdriver (still have it), a number of cast aluminum projects, a small steam engine, and even a cannon. The cannon did not fire, at least not when it left the school, but a little bit of work with my dad's drill press and it worked just fine.

I am glad that you posted the drawings for the hammer, as something like that will be an excellent project with my granddaughter. Thanks for posting!
 
I learned CAD so I could stop doing electrical drawings in pencil. Never mind pen.

But your depth micrometer plan has me wondering again why depth micrometers are SO expensive compared to a standard 0-1". Is it the base or the rods?

I always figured the price of the micrometer was due to it's brand name and number manufactured.

I too made a lot of pencil drawings in my day. Could never letter worth anything, used templates. Pick up CAD on my own, I use CadStd, free venison. It would have been nice to have had CAD back in my collage days. It came out after leaving school. The program then was like CadStd compared to what is used in todays engineering departments.



Thanks everyone for sharing your drawings.
 
Thanks for the memories. I also marvel how big companies like GE operated before Xerox machines. Carbon copies.. may six copies that are readable. Guess it's true that desperation leads to discovery. Thank goodness.... :)
BB
 
Don't mean to go off topic, but....

I almost forgot... when I was in high school we also made actual blueprints using specially reactive paper and ammonia. I only did it once, so I don't remember the exact process, but the results were cool.

When I first graduated from high school I worked in a machine shop for a year, and all of the prints were actual blueprints, hand drawn and blued. Some of the mills used NC (numerical control) using punched paper tapes to load the programs. If just one of the machine movements was wrong, the whole tape had to be remade. If there was a power outage, or even a power bump, the whole program had to be reloaded from the tape. The digital readouts on the control panels still used vacuum tube number displays. One machine, only a year old, had LED number displays. Digital dial calipers did not exist. Digital micrometers did, but the digital readout was mechanical, much like the old odometers in cars, and they were really expensive.

Enough of the trip down memory lane! Time to get back on the topic at hand!
 
Back
Top