Home made tools

[crash]

I came across this link on another forum. It is a machinist forum and this is their page for home made tools - upto 173 pages now but some very simple ideas and some very skilled machinists aswell. Happy trolling.
Or add your own to this thread.
Shop Made Tools - The Home Shop Machinist & Machinist's Workshop Magazine's BBS (http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php't=39202)

[superquag]

... Now I want a lathe....:(:(:(

[EchiDna]

lathe, mill, water jet, anodizing rig...

[Blknight.aus]

... Now I want a lathe....:(:(:(


you know the story that when you have a hammer everything begins to look like a nail....

if you're anything like me, no, you probably dont want a lathe or a mill...

[uninformed]

no, I do want a lathe

[wrinklearthur]

I sold my lathe. :banana:
That bloke down the road from me loves a challenge. :angel:
.

[superquag]

... Did'nt say I needed one, just want one... to play with...:D

[p38arover]

I have a lathe but I'd like a better one. This is my third lathe. They get bigger each time.

[Bigbjorn]

I kept a 14" x 40" Liangdei toolroom lathe from my machine shop. I would have preferred to have kept the 8' Colchester but didn't have the room for it. And there was the big chinaman, 20' between centres. Bought it for its scrap value and sold it for the same a few years later. Damn good machine.

So my lathes have been shrinking.

[MR LR]

you know the story that when you have a hammer everything begins to look like a nail....

if you're anything like me, no, you probably dont want a lathe or a mill...
That sounds a bit scary....

I assumed you'd be a precision tool kinda guy Dave...

[p38arover]

That sounds a bit scary....

I assumed you'd be a precision tool kinda guy Dave...

He has a precision sledge hammer. :p

[bee utey]

He has a precision sledge hammer. :p

There are people who have the exact precise tool do do every job close at hand, then there are those who know exactly how much force needs to be applied, no friggin micrometers or torque wrenches needed, and can use a lump hammer as a precision implement.:):):) That takes real skill.:D

[MR LR]

There are people who have the exact precise tool do do every job close at hand, then there are those who know exactly how much force needs to be applied, no friggin micrometers or torque wrenches needed, and can use a lump hammer as a precision implement.:):):) That takes real skill.:D
Well i'd love you to show me how you can turn a perfectly level surface on a shaft without a lathe or end mill...

[MR LR]

Well i'd love you to show me how you can turn a perfectly level surface on a shaft without a lathe or end mill...
But then some people are different to me and only fit parts instead of making some custom ones, it's pretty hard to buy off the shelf bits when your 103 year old car is the only one in existence....

[wrinklearthur]

But then some people are different to me and only fit parts instead of making some custom ones, it's pretty hard to buy off the shelf bits when your 103 year old car is the only one in existence....

What 103 year car?

:rulez:

[Bigbjorn]

But then some people are different to me and only fit parts instead of making some custom ones, it's pretty hard to buy off the shelf bits when your 103 year old car is the only one in existence....

One consolation is that those early veterans were made by blacksmiths, fitters, and carpenters with hand tools and what are considered today to be primitive machines.

Anything they made then can be duplicated with relative ease today. Exponentially better machine tools, better foundry techniques, better matallurgy.

[bee utey]

Well i'd love you to show me how you can turn a perfectly level surface on a shaft without a lathe or end mill...

In high school metalwork class we were expected to use hand files to make level surfaces. It's all in the wrist action...:)

[MR LR]

In high school metalwork class we were expected to use hand files to make level surfaces. It's all in the wrist action...:)
Meant as in turning down a shaft, i just worded it badly...

[MR LR]

What 103 year car?

:rulez:
This car driving a vintage racing car - 1909 S.C.A.T. (http://www.vintagecarheritage.com/driving-a-red-antique-racer-1909-s-c-a-t-2535-hp-targa-florio-%E2%80%98near-replica%E2%80%99/) was the one i was talking about in that post, there are others in the family, just not detailed on the interweb, i'll make a thread about them some day.

And they still had lathes and mills back then, just a lot lower technology, i don't know how you would restore one without at least access to a lathe...

Cheers
Will

[bee utey]

This car driving a vintage racing car - 1909 S.C.A.T. (http://www.vintagecarheritage.com/driving-a-red-antique-racer-1909-s-c-a-t-2535-hp-targa-florio-%E2%80%98near-replica%E2%80%99/) was the one i was talking about in that post, there are others in the family, just not detailed on the interweb, i'll make a thread about them some day.

And they still had lathes and mills back then, just a lot lower technology, i don't know how you would restore one without at least access to a lathe...

Cheers
Will

You make the lathe to suit your job. Give a (traditional) blacksmith a red gum log, a file, an axe and a couple of railway spikes or similar, he can forge a couple of centres and turn your shaft to any degree of precision needed for a vintage car. Accuracy is determined by hand made go/no-go slip gauges, all it takes is skill, time and Will (sorry, I mean will) :):):)

BTW a blacksmith made his own files, too.

[Bigbjorn]

In high school metalwork class we were expected to use hand files to make level surfaces. It's all in the wrist action...:)

Standard first year fitter apprentice college exercise. "Reducing a surface by chipping, filing, and scraping".

You use a hacksaw, chisels, files, scrapers to produce surface plates from three raw castings by trying them against each other until you have full contact. Final check is against a master surface plate.

[MR LR]

You make the lathe to suit your job. Give a (traditional) blacksmith a red gum log, a file, an axe and a couple of railway spikes or similar, he can forge a couple of centres and turn your shaft to any degree of precision needed for a vintage car. Accuracy is determined by hand made go/no-go slip gauges, all it takes is skill, time and Will (sorry, I mean will) :):):)

BTW a blacksmith made his own files, too.
Geez i don't know what kind of restorations you've been around but everything on our cars is done to 0.025mm, thats the original precision (it's Italian so all metric). In the original manufacturing they had access to similar machinery as what we have today but anyway...

Cheers
Will

[bee utey]

Geez i don't know what kind of restorations you've been around but everything on our cars is done to 0.025mm, thats the original precision (it's Italian so all metric). In the original manufacturing they had access to similar machinery as what we have today but anyway...

Cheers
Will

I don't do vintage cars, not my thing, no patience for fussy detail. I spent 20 years making and using off-road dune buggies though, yes I have a lathe but it's only a baby and all the long shafts I needed to make were spun between any centres available. Proper tools are cool, but you are better off sometimes just knowing what precision is important and hand making the part. Two vee blocks on a solid bench and you can check your shaft straightness to any accuracy you like.

[slug_burner]

It is amazing what can be done with basic hand tools. Most of us don't have the time and know how to do it the blacksmith's way. We like to think that if we had the fancy tools we would do the job. I just don't have the time to use a lot of tools that I have bought over the years.:(