The magic is basically an extra thick threaded spring washer. I had a couple identical to yours and had one that got messed up in an incident involving my tablesaw. So after seeing yours I decided to investigate lol
That would work well. I did actually buy a good digital height gauge and a cast iron surface plate a few years ago. For those of us with rubbish eyesight it is a good investment. Regards, Mark
Another mighty fine production Mark, me eyes are not what they used to be either, so we invested in a SOBA optical centre punch set, basically a main holder of 30mm wide round base with a 25mm wide upper column of about 40mm tall. There’s a couple of 10mm holes in the top that you have a couple of 10mm acrylic rods with the top part protruding about 16mm or so, at the bottom end there’s a different type of sights finely cut into it, on being 3 concentric circles and a dot in a middle, the other sight is a typical cross hairs sort. There’s 2 off 10mm centre pops one has a steep point of about older 45 degrees and the other ones about 60 degrees or so, you would have put the big base over there piece of work roughly in the middle of the hole, then put one of the acrylic sights in and move the big base to get it into the centre of the sight. Then keep pressure on the base though and place one of the 10mm centre pops in and tap with a hammer. This is the most idiot and probably professional way of getting a truly accurate centre pop, we had one over 5years now and is like new and still the best, Check it out it’s called a SOBA Optical Centre Punch set. Best thing since sliced bread. I too would love some of your 2D drawing and willing to send you a couple of beer tokens for the pleasure, I don’t want something for nothing, hence a offer to “let’s get Mark Merry fund “ take care and looking forward to seeing some more of your videos...Phil
Phil, I remember seeing those SOBA centre punch sets advertised in the Model Engineer magazine back in the 80's (I have boxes full of those magazines). I badly wanted one but at the time I had very little disposable cash and it was one of those "like to have" tools that fell well short of my budget. Now I find myself using a magnifying lens a la Mr. Pete or I use my CNC mill for laying out holes. Drop me an email at mark.presling@gmail.com and I can send you the files for the pin wrench. Regards, Mark Presling
I had to stop the video when you were bending the stock and I just had to mention that I have a complete set of those which are Snap on Brand and here in America they are one of the best tool maker/suppliers. Mine were drop forged as the entire tool must be heat treated for durability. The pins are part of the forging as well. Now back to the video.
Yes, that little chuck has got me out of a lot of trouble when you need a batch of screws shortened or the ends modified. You soon build up a series of inserts for different gauge screws but I get lazy and forget to mark what diameter each one is. I find that you just grab one that the screw fits through and if you cannot find one you have to make a new one.
Mark, Perhaps I'm a little late to the dance but might I perhaps suggest a better filing button ? Make them soft, aluminum even and use a nylock nut instead. Tighten till lightly snug but loose enough for the buttons to still turn. When your profile hits its mark the buttons will turn. No wear on your good files or your buttons. Credit must go to Myfordboy, he uses this technique in several of his videos and even on his mill. Also I made a pin wrench like this years ago and found it flew quite well. This was after squeezing and grunting to loosen or tighten a stubborn nut. A pin wrench can be very much like a pair of scissors when they slip, all digits still intact luckily. The mkII version was hinged 2/3 down the one arm and the ends were of a more circular shape. Great vids, keep it up. JG
Joe, thanks for the feedback. I must say that the filing button I used on that build was not thought through very well. I left it dead hard and one of them fractured but left just enough to finish filing the form. I understand the idea of using a soft button but I sort of wanted to keep finished buttons for re use in future projects. I have a box with old ones and it is often possible to design a part with a known radius that I already have a button for. I usually harden then temper them but I was trying to cut corners. I did watch the Myfordboy video you talked about and I think that gave me the idea. I started designing a pin wrench with the hinged arm that you describe. Sort of like a Y shape rather than a V shape. I can't recall why I abandoned it though. Thanks for watching. Regards, Mark P
Very cool idea! I’m sure this covers a wide range of sizes but my only thought would be if you needed larger diameter pins but were limited but the thread diameter of the SHCS. Do you think you could add a little more material to the ends and use a larger diameter SHCS and make several different sized pins. I guess the only limiting factor would be the center to center distance of the 2 pins but then again if the pins were larger they would most certainly be a larger center to center distance. I guess I am just thinking out loud for when I choose to make one. You gave me a great idea to make one for myself. Thank you for the detailed video!
My tool would be limited to around 4mm diameter for the pins but that is way larger than I need for most of the jobs that I do. You could scale the ends up or down to suit though.
Next time you make one of these, consider making the underside of the main joining bolt be a countersink taper. These hold more strongly as you tighten them down as the two tapers lock together. More work making the bolt, but you seem to love challenges. Maybe just use some Loctite on the nut?
Once again, some great ideas. I love how you made the lantern chuck. That is a great solution to use a nut! Also the filing buttons were a great solution. Your dykem bottle gave me an idea too! One thing did occur to me that might help if you have to machine thin stock like that again. A trick I have used a few times is to silver solder the stock to a larger piece of steel for support. You can machine everything and then melt the solder to release the part. It works very well! All the best, John.
Sadly, I dropped the dykem bottle and cracked it after that video was made. That's why I had put duct tape around the outside of it as a precaution in case it did get dropped. I reasoned that it would stop it smashing completely and I would not end up with dye splashed all over my floor and machines. It was a few days later that I noticed it had all leaked out onto my shelf creating a sticky blue mess! I have since made a new one from a plastic container that previously held PVC solvent. I washed it out with acetone and now I am less worried about it breaking. I have soft soldered parts to a steel pallet before but they were really small parts, motion links for a 3 1/2" gauge steam loco, and they just had to be waisted and some holes drilled before rounding the ends.
I have a bottle of chemical blacking solution which does a pretty good job. The silica gel is probably a good idea. The climate here is sub tropical and we get hot, wet summers with high humidity. At night, all the metal surfaces "sweat" and that is where most of the corrosion comes from. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but I find that a highly polished steel surface will corrode within a few days and if that surface corrosion is polished off the surface will then be more likely to stay bright and polished. It's almost like it has to corrode once and then it's OK. Weird!
Very good job. Skills and knowledge like you are doing is invaluable, especially in this crappy-throw away market place. A essential video for vacuous headed kids who do nothing but stare into their phone and punch the buttons on it. They don't even realize what they don't know, or think is unimportant.
Well, thanks for the positive comment. I used to teach Industrial Technology in a secondary school and by my reckoning, around 2% of my students had the curiosity and inquisitiveness to make them really good at what I was trying to teach them. Some had the skills but they lacked the curiosity which I think is essential if you want to learn more.
That is cool. I have been thinking about making something like that. I hope you don't mind if I steal your dimensions of your tools (converted to English of course). Yours look like a good size. I have never seen a lantern chuck. I will have to make one of them too.
Christian If you send me your email address I can give you the 2D drawings. Or if you intend to CNC machine the parts I can send you the 3D model. Regards, Mark
Thank you. Your video is well organized and well presented. There is enough detail to replicate your process without becoming bogged down with the minutia. As a person new to machining, I learned some basic techniques that I hope I can remember when I am faced with similar situations.
