By Ron Geppert Over two decades ago, I acquired a French 1822 T-Bis percussion pistol in .69 caliber made by Chatellerault, but it was missing the hammer and screw. I finally found a hammer from a Westley-Richards lock that was close enough to fit. To determine the thread pitch and diameter for a hammer screw, [...]
By Dave Kellogg In many cases a tool is more pleasant to use if there is a shallow depression to help locate the user’s finger. Consider, for example, a rotary knob a couple of inches in diameter that the user spins, such as a radio tuning dial. Another example might be a lever the user [...]
By Chuck Dorcey I had considered replacing the tailstock clamp on my Jet BD-920 lathe (which requires a wrench to adjust) with a cam-operated mechanism, but before going that route, I asked myself, "Why isn't a quarter turn of the wrench enough to release the tailstock?" The answer is that when the clamp under the [...]
By Roger W. Thomas Oversized taps are available in the marketplace and the common size is +.005". They are typically used when sending a part to be heat-treated. Since you normally get shrinkage when heat treating, it is proper to use an oversized tap. What do you do if you have an odd tap size [...]
By Mark Jachniewicz I recently needed to drive some pipes into the ground to install Malibu pipe lights. I have a Harbor Freight electric, heavy-duty impact drill, but I couldn’t find an appropriate fitting to drive the pipe. Time to cannibalize – the job needed to get done! I started by cutting the head off [...]
By Daniel Burgoyne I was working on a small project this weekend using M3 flat head screws, pulled from spares of a European radio-controlled racing car with the intent of keeping costs to a minimum and completing the project before Monday. Unfortunately, I did not plan my project ahead and did not have a 90° [...]
