by Al Hanson A while back I needed to modify a flat head screw for a special purpose. I couldn’t buy a screw that would fit the need, so my lathe came to the rescue! At the time, I didn't have any lathe collets and didn't want to ruin the threads by clamping in the [...]
by John Viggers I have been very impressed with the Diamond Tool Holder for the lathe and I have bought several sizes, in both the left- and right-hand patterns. There came a time when I needed an extra sharpening jig and rather than wait for one to be posted to me, I made my own. [...]
by Ed Koizumi I've enjoyed the tips I’ve received and thought I would send one along to share. This is a tip for containing metal chips when operating the drill press. The photo should make the use and design clear. The simple shield can be cut from the bottom of a plastic tub or jar. [...]
by Jim Connell Nobody likes to break a tap and one of the main causes of broken taps is starting the tap at an angle to the drilled hole. There are tap guides available to help with this, but the method I use requires no extras. After drilling the tap hole, remove the drill from [...]
by Don Wiederhold If you don’t have a digital readout on your lathe, it is easy to go too far when moving the cross slide by reference to the dial only. Here is a little tip for avoiding overshoots when making a recessed facing cut. First, I bore the recess in the normal manner, but [...]
by Dick Saunders After making the optical center punch that was presented in the June/July 2006 issue of Machinist’s Workshop, I got the idea that an optical centering device to align the spindle on the mill, mill-drill, or drill press would be handy. This design allows you to align the spindle to a reference mark [...]
