Broken Tap Removal by David F. Bryant Over the years I have drilled and tapped hundreds of holes for scope mounts on various rifles and pistols. On occasion I will break off a tap, especially in old military rifles. When this happens, I leave the mill in position and mount a carbide grinding bit or [...]
A Collection of Tips for the Shop Toothpaste! by James Burgess Is there one among us that has NOT been embarrassed or frustrated by some stinky gunk on our hands? Hypoid lube, brake fluid, ugh, burned ATF fluid! Here’s a tip: Keep a tube of most any brand of common toothpaste in the tool chest. [...]
By Howie Grunert When I am using the lathe I always need a pad of paper and a calculator handy to decipher those big numbers! The paper sat on the drill press table and the calculator behind me on a cabinet – not very handy. Photo 1 shows my lathe with a toolbox under it, [...]
Shop Made Collet By Al Hanson The photo shows a shop made collet used to chuck a reamer in a 5/16" collet in my milling machine. The reamer’s shank diameter has been reduced to an odd diameter and I didn't have enough vertical height to use a drill chuck. I did have some 5/16" OD [...]
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 [...]
