Making a Spider for the lathe

[jcmullis2]

The video you referenced is by Mr. Pete aka Tubalcain. I have watched it several times because I have thought about making new dials for my mill/drill. Home Depot sells a saw blade with 100 teeth. I made a crude rotary table out of the swivel base that came with my 4" vice. I might be able to use that to mark dial on the stop. Each line would be 14.4 degrees apart. The 100 tooth saw blade would be easier. No math and no fine adjustment between the degree marks on rotary table. With sketchup I can easily draw a circle with 25 equally spaced lines around the circle. I might do that because it will be several days before I can get to a Home Depot.

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Making the micrometer stop was not hard. Time consuming but not hard. All it involves is turning to OD's and ID's and threading. Parting off too. Except for marking the dial the stop will be done this morning. All that is left is drilling and taping the holes for the set screws.

Since joining the ranks of the independently poor (retired) I have lots of time while money is in short supply.

He’s a smart ol’boy but I wonder why he’s called Tubalcain. I really like how he makes his dials but the dial you suggest with 25 graduations are probably better for this application. With 40tpi 1/100 isn’t necessary imo. The one I looked at on the PT&G’s website also has 25 divisions. You’re saving almost $200.
Good call on making a micrometer reamer stop. You have me wanting to make one too. I’ll probably try to cheat a little. I have an old busted micrometer that I’m gonna try to convert. Ptg shipped my bald eagle floating reamer holder on the 13th so it’ll be here in a day or so. Maybe then I can figure out a way to use the busted mic in my version of a micrometer reamer stop. The money one can save making little things can really add up fast. You can also end up with lots of nice tools that didn’t cost a small fortune.
I shouldn’t have said that I have lots of money because I don’t. I’m poor and scraping by on a fixed income too. However I do have more disposable income now that my children are grown and supporting themselves.

[This post has been edited by a mod]

 

[mickri]

Tubalcain is a biblical figure known to be the first blacksmith/metal worker. That's why he picked the internet name of tubalcain. He talks about it in one of his videos. He was a long time high school shop teacher. I think that his videos are the best of the best for a newbie getting started in machining. He is definitely getting up there age wise. I hope he has something in place to keep his videos on the web. Maybe you tube videos stay on the web forever. I don't know.

I did a thread on my build of a micrometer reamer stop. It wasn't hard to make. Just time consuming. If I made another one I would probably use 20 TPI. I found the 40 TPI threads to be so fine that any little bit of grit in the threads causes the base and the rings to bind up.

 

[jcmullis2]

Tubalcain is a biblical figure known to be the first blacksmith/metal worker. That's why he picked the internet name of tubalcain. He talks about it in one of his videos. He was a long time high school shop teacher. I think that his videos are the best of the best for a newbie getting started in machining. He is definitely getting up there age wise. I hope he has something in place to keep his videos on the web. Maybe you tube videos stay on the web forever. I don't know.

I did a thread on my build of a micrometer reamer stop. It wasn't hard to make. Just time consuming. If I made another one I would probably use 20 TPI. I found the 40 TPI threads to be so fine that any little bit of grit in the threads causes the base and the rings to bind up.

I suppose it’s as good a name as any. He’s a good guy for continuing to teach long after retirement. People like him are a dying breed. The knowledge that is lost when men like him die is immeasurable. Hopefully his videos will remain available as long as they continue to be viewed. I might try to record some of videos like his dial making video.
I looked at your build and you did a great job. I’m sure 20tpi will be fine. I watched a crappy video about the one ptg sells and yours is just as good if not better.
My son finally made it over this evening and tore into my new little mill. It’s a precision matthews pm-25mv and is covered in cosmoline or whatever that nasty mess is. It should do everything that I need it to do. It’s good to have tools like these. There’s not much you can’t make with a lathe and a mill. Here’s a pic of it and I’ll get a couple of more along the way and when the cnc conversion is complete

 

[mickri]

Thanks I am pleased with how the reamer stop came out. I am going to make two more bases. A 1" and a 1.5". And I will keep the remains of the shaft I turned in case I need another one. I will keep everything together in a wooden box or tray. On to other projects.

Have fun with your new mill.

 

[jcmullis2]

Thanks I am pleased with how the reamer stop came out. I am going to make two more bases. A 1" and a 1.5". And I will keep the remains of the shaft I turned in case I need another one. I will keep everything together in a wooden box or tray. On to other projects.

Have fun with your new mill.

The conversion kit I purchased was missing a few small socket head screws so it’ll be tomorrow before the mill is reassembled with the cnc stuff. I was gonna do a post on the conversion but there’s enough of those already and it’s doubtful that I could add anything of importance.
The mill sure looked bigger in the pictures and videos. It’s looks like a little drill press compared to a Bridgeport. However, I’ll be happy with it so long as it does the little things I dream up.