This page is dedicated to the beginner. I consider myself to be in that category, even after three years of fussing. But who knows, there might be something here of interest to more advanced hobbiests.
The central machines in my shop are the mill and the lathe. All other stuff is there mainly to support those machines, though sometimes they are the main tool for a particular project. This section is a hodge-podge of tools for the lathe, tools for the mill, ancillary machines and special tools, with tips scattered throughout. Note that the tips are based on my personal experience. They are not necessarily the best way to do things, but they work for me.
Milling Accessories
Sacrificial Plate
The sacrificial plate serves two purposes. It protects the bed from damage from drill bits and other tools going too deep in the workpiece, and it provides a means to clamp the workpiece in place. In my opinion, this is an absolute must for the mill. My very first project would have damaged the bed if I had not had one. I was making such a plate, and was using a piece of 1/2" plywood between the bed and the plate-to-be while I drilled holes to be later tapped for clamping things. When I finished drilling the 100+ through-holes, I had 100+ (not-through) holes in the plywood.
Sherline sells such a plate for (I think) about $60. This seems to me a bit high for a throw-away item, so I elected to make my own. There are advantages to the manufactured plate, as it is guaranteed to be perfectly flat -- stress releived, with the tedious job of drilling and tapping holes, etc. already done. My work does not require that degree of precision, and the placing of the holes was a good exercise for me. Here's a picture of that first plate, after a couple of years of use:
| The light areas in the picture are scarring from milling through the workpiece into the plate, and the irregularly- spaced holes are from drilling holes through the workpiece into the sacrificial plate. After 20-plus milling projects, there's still life in the old plate, but I'm making a new one now (February 2003) to replace it when needed. | |
I made a mistake with this plate -- one that is not evident in the photo, but is a bother to me nearly every time I use it. I placed the holes 1/2" apart. This spacing is too wide, for when I clamp a workpiece on one end, the other end is too far from a hole for a clamp to reach it; clamping that end becomes a challenge. Hole spacing on the new plate is 3/8", which should solve that problem. Here's a shot of the one under construction:
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The new plate is 3/8 x 4 x 12", because that's the size piece of aluminum I had. I drilled this new one under CNC, which was a lot faster and less work than the manual method I used for the old plate. The toughest job is tapping the holes. With the old plate, I drilled the holes slightly oversize and tapped 10-32 with a hand-held drill. This time, I drilled the proper sized hole and am tapping by hand. Tapping is a tedius job, so I'm doing only 1 or 2 rows a day. There's plenty of time before I need it. |
Tip: Space the holes according to the size of your clamps, so they can always reach the workpiece.
Vises
I have several -- a Chinese vise similar to the Sherline (but bigger, capable of holding a 3" piece), the Taig vise that came with the mill -- capable of holding a 2" workpiece -- and a Palmgren, capable of holding a 3" piece. Each has its particular pros and cons.
| The Chinese vise pulls the moveable jaw down as it tightens, holding the workpiece level. But it's a little bit more difficult to use than the others. |  |
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The Taig vise is easy to set up, but the moveable jaw rises as the vise is tightened. I have to tap the workpiece down as I snug it, and then turn a cap screw to lock it. (No, I'm not drilling into the vise -- I just forgot to get the drill bit out of the way for the picture.) |
| The Palmgren is the best of the bunch in my opinion. It is easy to use and holds the workpiece flat -- but it is too darn big and heavy for my little mill, so I use it only for special jobs. With this vise, you push the horizontal lever in to close the jaw, then pull the vertical lever to horizontal to apply the final squeeze. |  |
Lathe Accessories
Chuck Wrench
There is not much space between the nuts holding the chuck in place and the gear cover, and my old fingers just don't have the sensitivity to align the nuts properly when mounting a chuck. Usually I drop the nut when I try. So I made the tool pictured below, out of 1/4 x 1/2 x 3/8" scrap aluminum. I milled a pocket to accept the nut. This allows me to place the nut accurately and get it started. Then I spin it on with my finger and tighten it with a real wrench.
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Tool Turret
| I confess I haven't used this yet -- but I will! This gizmo, which mounts in the tailstock, has six holes into which a variety of tools are mounted, allowing you to switch tools quickly for successive operations on one workpiece. A typical application would be center drill, intermediate-size drill, final-size drill, and reamer or tap. To change tools, just rotate the lower section to put the proper tool in line. |  |
Die Holder
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For a long time I used a hand-held die holder from Sears to cut threads on small rounds. I rarely got them straight, so a nut or other dohicky screwed on often was not square -- "caliwhompus," I think they call it. Then I found a die holder that mounts in a chuck held in the tailstock. Put the workpiece in the 3-jaw, turn the spindle with one hand while feeding the tailstock- mounted die holder into the workpiece with the other, and whoop-de-doo! Problem solved. |
Saddle Stop
| A saddle stop is a device that prevents you from overrunning a target point while turning on the lathe. There are many designs -- some simple, some complex. I use the KISS system ("Keep It Simple, Stupid"). Here's the stop I came up with. It's just a brass block with a channel cut in it to fit the ways, a 10-32 x 3" capscrew and a knurled brass knob secured with Loktite. Works like a champ. Some have put a brass tip on the screw to avoid scarring the ways. I have not found that necessary. |  |
Tapping
There are many different ways touted for removing broken taps to save the workpiece. The best situation, of course, is to avoid breaking the tap in the first place. The problem hounded me for a long time, until I picked up a couple of gizmos from OMW Metalcrafts:
The first is a tapping block., handling taps from 0-80 to 3/8-16. The tap is inserted through the smallest hole that will accept it, and into the hole to be tapped. The block ensures that the tap is lined up properly in the hole. I have never broken a tap while using this device. (Tap and driver not included.) You can make one yourself, of course; the design is rather obvious. But this one is more elegant (and more accurate) than I could have made at the time I bought mine. |
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The other one is for really small holes. Called the "Sensitive Tapping Tool Kit," this gizmo is for taps sized 0-90 to 6-32. As with the tapping block, I have never broken a tap while using this. This device has its own tap holder, with a knurled knob used to turn the tap with the fingers for a really sensitive touch. Not shown is a steel rod that slips into the hole at the top. This rod can be mounted in a chuck on the lathe's tailstock, for tapping on the lathe. |
Both devices prevent misalignment of the tap to the hole. Since misalignment was my major problem with tapping, these gizmos are worth their weight in gold to me.
Other Power Tools
I have a pretty well-equipped shop for what I do. It wasn't always this way. At first, the mill and the lathe were pretty well it. But I added to it slowly, and though the total cost is more than I like to think about, it was a pretty painless process.
Band Saw
I used a hacksaw for about a year to make little ones out of big ones. When my right arm got to be about twice the size of my left one I decided it was time to get a power tool to replace it (the hacksaw, not the arm). The guy at Sears talked me into a chop saw. Big mistake. Loud, dirty, dangerous (flying sparks) and an overall PITA. A major waste of money. So I replaced it with a tiny bandsaw from Grizzly Industrial. That worked for a couple of years, but when I moved out of my apartment and into a house with a garage, I replaced it with a larger Grizzly that could cut unattended and shut itself off when done. At about $175.00, this was one of my best purchases.
Grinder
I use an 8" grinder to grind HHS lathe cutters, and occasional other jobs. Lately I've been using carbide insert tool bits more, so the grinder is not used often. But when it's needed, it's NEEDED, so I keep it.
Belt Sander
The belt sander is a great tool. I use it to sharpen cutters, smooth sharp edges off parts, and a number of other things that would otherwise need filing.
Drill Press
My mill works fine as a drill press, so why would I need a dedicated one? For bigger stuff, mostly, and for when I don't want to disturb a setup on the mill. And for making pens. I don't like working with wood on the mill; too much cleanup required afterwards.
Dremel Multi-Tool
What can I say? It's a great multi-purpose tool.
Drill Doctor
Before I got the Drill Doctor I had to discard drill bits when they got dull. Luckily, I didn't throw them away. When I got this machine I spent an evening sharpening all these old bits. Now I buy new bits only when one breaks or I need a new size. Being able to sharpen my bits in my own shop is a real convenience.
Air Compressor
I build steam engines a lot. Firing up a boiler just to test an engine is not practical. You have to wait 10-15 minutes to get steam, and then you have to wait that long again before the engine is cool enough to work on. So I got a cheap compressor from Sears. Probably all it will ever do is power model steam engines. On the other hand, there are some neat-looking tools it could run ...
Pendant
Using a standard PC keyboard to control jogging and some other operations on a CNC milling machine for me is a major PITA. Often, it takes several keystrokes to perform one operation, and the keys of interest are far apart. For example, on my Taig mill with MPS-2003 controller software, to move the spindle down at medium speed, I have to go through this sequence: Press "1," to initiate jogging, Press "Z," to identify the axis, Press "M," to select the speed, and Press and hold the left shift bar to initiate and continue the action. Enter the programmable keypad. I purchased the X-Keys PS/2-20 20-key keypad. This keypad is programmable to allow one keystroke to to do the work of seveeral, so that now, to do a Z-axis move down at medium speed I merely press MED. and Z DOWN, holding the latter key as long as I want the operation to continue. The two keys are relatively close together, so the operation is an easy one. |
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The keypad is easy to program. In fact, it took less time to program it than it did to make the labels for the keys. Ok, I got fancy with the lablels. The product comes with pre-cut label stock on which you can write the labels, making that operation as quick as the programming. The keypad-now-pendant comes with a "Y" cable. You plug the cable into the computer and the extra connector into the keyboard's cable. So simple even I could figure it out without studying the manual. After programming the jogging operations, I had four keys left over. Nature hates a vacuum, so I programmed these keys for actual CNC operation -- LOAD TAP, LOAD AGC, PGM GO and PGM STOP. The LOAD keys still require my using the main keyboard to type in the name of the file, but at least I don't have to type in the type of file it is. The PGM GO and PGM STOP keys merely duplicate the "C" key and the space bar on the main keyboard. This is a valuable gizmo for my CNC mill. Not only does it reduce multi-key operations to one or two keys, but also it brings those keys close together, speeding up the operation while reducing errors. The keypad can be found at http://www.ymouse.com, and is priced at $99.95 plus 9.75 shipping and handling. I have no association with that company other than as a satisfied customer. |
