Category: Videos

  • Making the KING of All Knurling Tools

    Welcome back to my manual machine shop. In this video series I’ll be making a much improved knurling tool from my current bump knurler setup. Rather than engineer this one from scratch I’m starting with the sensitive knurling tool kit from Hemingway Kits (not sponsored). The kit is based on the somewhat renowned vintage “Marlco”…

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  • Making Spindles for a RACE CAR

    This week in the manual machine shop I’m helping out some old friends. When I was at the University of Kentucky, I was on the Formula SAE (Formula Student) team where we designed, built and raced with a Formula 1 style race car. The main competition we attended was at the MIchigan International Speedway, and…

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  • Making a VERSATILE Mini Pallet

    Hello everyone and welcome back to my manual machine shop! In this video I’ll be engineering and machining a mini pallet system for my vertical milling machine. This is sometimes also referred to as a universal fixture plate and is essentially a slab of metal with a whole bunch of holes in it. The holes…

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  • Making a MASSIVE Fly Cutter

    Welcome back to the manual machine shop! In this video I’ll be taking on everybody’s favorite cutting tool. The fly cutter But of course I will be putting my own flare on it, by making it MASSIVE. And not only that, it will also be adjustable in diameter and will accept tungsten carbide inserts. The…

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  • Making a MINIMALIST Wallet

    Welcome back to the manual machine shop! In this video I’ll be making a popular everyday carry item, a low profile minimalist wallet. This will be a pretty simple wallet design including a money clip, but the machining process is anything easy. I’ll start this project like I do every project, at the drafting board,…

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  • Making a PRECISION Machinist Jack

    Welcome back to the manual machine shop! In this video I’ll be prototyping a machinist jack with a few unique design features. The original idea comes from a very nice follower who shared his idea with me and I’m excited to share it with you as it solves a lot of the common problems with…

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  • Making a BOLT ACTION Pen

    Welcome back to the machine shop! This video I’ll be tackling a project I’ve wanted to revisit for 8 years; a bolt action copper pen. I manually machined a custom pen years ago as a Christmas gift for my father-in-law and have been itching to make one for myself. While I was able to find…

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  • Making an ARMY of Tool Holders

    Welcome back to the manual machine shop! This video I’ll be expanding my collection of tool holders for my Aloris style CXA quick change tool post on my metal lathe. Constantly having to mount different tools in the holders is the opposite of “quick” so I’m excited to finally fix this problem. I’ll make the…

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  • Rotary Broaching Eccentric Cams

    Welcome back to the machine shop for the dramatic conclusion to the rotary table chuck adapter build! Two videos ago I went about the process of reverse engineering the D1-5 cam mechanism of my metal lathe and developed an adapter design using the drafting table. Then in the last video I underwent the emotional rollercoaster…

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  • Making a Rotary Chuck Adapter

    Welcome back to the manual machine shop! Last video I walked through the process of reverse engineering a D1-5 camlock mechanism and manually drafting a rotary table chuck adapter based on that design. Now for the fun part… the machining! I’ll start with the most complicated part, the main body and walk through the process…

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