What is the most useful workshop tool that you have made?

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

My most used tool is the first thing I ever made.. and it's rough as heck: badly flycut, poorly bandsawed and not quite square where milled. But I didn't have a spanner the size to hold the er32 holder body while the c-spanner tightens it . I made the thing from a piece of scrap blagged from the local agri engineers. But since it works it's not worth the bother to make a new one just so it's pretty

[egaParticipant @ega]

BERT ASHTON:

Thanks for the photo – impressive! And particularly the retracting topslide.

I did make the HDA many years ago and rather than cut into the speed plate winkled out those little drive pins and moved the plate to the inside of the belt cover.

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

Upside down cutoff tool holder. Completely changed that corner of My machining world.

[VicParticipant @vic]

I don't know about most useful but the most used would be a Tangential Tool holder.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

The most useful tool I've made is a QCTP to a design by J.S. published on the net about 12 years ago!

Russell.

[John CoatesParticipant @johncoates48577]

Most useful is definitely my tangential tool holder and its sharpening block

Edited By John Coates on 15/11/2015 20:25:40

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Russell Eberhardt on 15/11/2015 20:08:51:

The most useful tool I've made is a QCTP to a design by J.S. published on the net about 12 years ago!

Russell.

.

 

Try 21 years ago, around 1994 according to the drawings.

However the original article was in ME in 1989.

 

I'd be hard pressed to pick one tool but one I use daily is the tapping head I built.

 

But last year I converted it from air to electric so I wouldn't have to run the big compressor for doing just a few holes.

 

 

I didn't want to mess with the air unit in case it didn't work so I canabilised an unused Machine Mart air drill for the epicyclic reduction box.

It's a three phase motor running off an inverter which gives me variable speed plus instant reverse. Still uses the clutches off the air unit so you can tap a blind hole and it just slips when it bottoms out.

Now can use it for just one hole and being bench mounted it's within reach of the vise so every hole is square.

Edited By John Stevenson on 15/11/2015 20:48:19

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

G'day, I ground a new finishing tool for my mini-lathe. The results were so impressive that I have decided it's worth it's own thread.

* Danny M *

[alan frostParticipant @alanfrost17805]

Just a thank-you to Mike, Graham and Bazyle for their help in tracking The Jacques Maurel articles ,videos, and other relevant threads down.

I sometimes have long absences from the site put off by the sometimes in my view ,petty criticisms and back biting (much less now , under the current moderators and editor) . I must plead guilty to occasionally having been involved myself,to my regret.

It is therefore very pleasant to say thanks for help , which has always been available from many members even through the "medieval period" when "feuds" were more common. Many thanks.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Without a doubt, the best "tool" I've made is the quick change tool holder I designed and made for my Bridgeport clone milling machine. It has a 30 taper spindle and I found that endlessly reaching up to loosen and tighten the drawbar was taking almost as long as the actual machining itself. Just using the edge finder in between operations required a change of holder and back again. Something had to be done about it.

Most commercial power drawbars for these turret machines are air powered and generally assume an R8 taper collet is used. The "proper" retainers that use a pull stud use a spindle that is designed for the job and the internal cavity required is way bigger than what I had in mine.

I posted a build thread at the time. I'm pleased to say that it has stood up well so far. Originally I bought NMTB 30 tooling for it but since realised that BT30 and even CAT30 tooling will also fit. That gives a better choice of toolholders, although I require a pullstud for each new holder.

You can see the pullstuds here, one fitted to a toolholder, another not. The retainer mechanism is the assembly at the end of the shaft with the o-ring on the outside. Tool changing now takes literally about 1 second. Very pleased with the result. The other concept that might have worked would have been an external closer that retained the tooling rather like the "Quick Switch" system but I felt that would be rather more restrictive in available tooling and modifications required to any I bought.

Murray

Edited By Muzzer on 16/11/2015 12:50:25

[brickyParticipant @bricky]

A QCT that Is totaly different from the dixon type and is easy to make.I designed this after seeing a toolpost by Pratt Burnerd.I do own a Dixon type but my holder is quicker and more versatile than the one I own.The only draw back is that each individual tool has to be packed to height but once done it's the most useful tool I own.Idid send anconstruction article with a disc of photographs to D,Clarke and asked if they were suitable for publication.After varius emails and phone calls the only response I got was that he hadn't had time to look for it.This took well over a year and put me off trying to get anything I have made published.

Frank

[Martin CottrellParticipant @martincottrell21329]

Mine was my Worden T&C grinder built from a Hemingway kit.

[egaParticipant @ega]

bricky:

"put me off trying to get anything I have made published"

Your QCTP sounds interesting – might you post a photo or two?

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

A steel vice, so useful I made a second one

[davidsuffolkParticipant @davidsuffolk]

My most useful tool would also be the simplest and used for riveting to a hidden existing hole. No photo but basically, take an old hacksaw blade and snap it in half. Weld or solder a short pin in one of the holes & then line up the other hole to the pin and weld or solder the blades together. (make the pin and hole to suit the drill for the rivet)

Now, it you want to rivet a piece of sheet metal to another with an existing hole slide the tool so it passes either side of the top sheet and with the side with the pin iunderneath. Once the pin locates in the existing hole the hole in the top blade will be perfectly aligned so you can drill through.

5 minutes to make!

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi Bricky I never found it. Try submitting it again. I passed all articles to Neil and Diane and never saw that one. If it was as good as you said, I am sure I would have used it.

[Alan JacksonParticipant @alanjackson47790]

Mine is a Lever Locking Topslide. This is the latest version on a Chipmaster lathe. It is so useful to be able to position and angle the topslide anywhere on the cross slide and instantly lock it in position. It also has a screwcutting retract and a slide locking lever below the feed dial.

Alan

[JAParticipant @ja]

The most useful I ever made was a mandrel handle for my Myford Super 7. I used the design from Ian Bradley's Myford Series 7 Manual. However when I replaced the lathe by a big bore Myford I gave it to a friend since the new lathe came with a Myford mandrel handle. This is not nearly as good as the one I made since the handle crank length is not adjustable.

Now the most useful tool is an alignment microscope that I made over 12 years ago. Shamefully I cannot find any details about it but I think the design came from the ME or MEW. The original design used a mirror which I replaced with a prism. I do remember that the optics were very expensive.

JA

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

ME, DAG Brown design.

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

I have to bend the tittle and little. I did start making one of these when I bought my first miller but changed lathe and it came with this. It's easily the home made tool that gets the most use by a large margin.

John

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[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Posted by KWIL on 18/11/2015 10:37:09:

ME, DAG Brown design.

If that's the Centering scope you are referring to, do you have the articles/details?

[Roger HeadParticipant @rogerhead16992]

John, that's a nice knurling tool. I've recently repaired (again!) my piece of Chinese spaghetti known as a straddle knurling tool, and I always swear that I'll make a decent one. Maybe integrate your RH plate and the QCT holder into one piece…

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by Roger Head on 18/11/2015 12:05:23:

John, that's a nice knurling tool. I've recently repaired (again!) my piece of Chinese spaghetti known as a straddle knurling tool, and I always swear that I'll make a decent one. Maybe integrate your RH plate and the QCT holder into one piece…

The only problem with that one is the knurls it's based on. It would be best to pick a size of good quality HSS knurls that can be bought easily with different patterns and degrees of coarseness. On the other hand when I have used a coarser diamond pattern I have often found it to be too sharp to hold comfortably.

The owner of the lathe made 2. Or maybe the owner before him made it. The other one is a different design. I'll post a shot shortly. The arms need to be longer on it. So far it's done what I want when needed.

John

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[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

I have elongated the slots that the clamp passes through on this one but should make new arms – when I need too. The pivots on the clamp need to be larger too allowing more angular movement leaving more space for the nut or handle as per the other one.

They aren't difficult to make really. The fiddly parts are the various screws – home made slotted heads. It might be possible to modify bought high tensile ones. They only need to be threaded for a short length directly under the head. Grub screws would keep the width of the heads down.

You can see that the last thing I used them on was brass. They are ok on al and fc stainless too but that one takes a lot of pressure.

My fc stainless generally seems to be a ferritic grade. I just ask for free cutting and one lot wasn't so I'd guess that's why.

John

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Edited By John W1 on 18/11/2015 12:59:08

Edited By John W1 on 18/11/2015 13:03:25

Edited By John W1 on 18/11/2015 13:05:21

[JAParticipant @ja]

Graeme W

I have found some details – "Optical Alignment for Machine Tools" by D A G Brown & R O Stephens, Model Engineer, 24 September & 22 October 1999.

I note that Hemingway Kits do a Centering Micrscope that could be to the same design.

JA

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