Category: Videos
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Handles, Collars and Stops… OH MY!
As the next installment of the design build that got way out of hand, I’m tacking the bits that make the rotary fixture plate extra satisfying. The locking collar that holds it all together. The block that makes this thing mountable in the milling machine vise. A brutally grippy handlebar and knob (seriously this thing
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The Radius Fixture That Got Way Too Complicated
Machining rounds on part corners presents a dilemma (to me anyway). Either I lug out my massive rotary table then spend a significant amount of time setting it and my parts up on the mill. Or I just quickly free-hand grind them on belt sander and live with the imprecision. So I’ve decided to make
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The Joy of Hand Drawing Machining Prints
Despite my best efforts to make my next machine shop project “simple”, I just couldn’t help myself but include ALL the features. As a result this one required a bit more engineering design than usual. So I decided to make a dedicated drafting video (i.e. without computer aided design software). I’ll walk through my personal
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Some STYLISH Hold Down Clamps
A while back I spent the better part of a week in the machine shop making a universal fixture plate. It was something I thought would see a lot of use. But since finishing it, it hasn’t left its home in the cabinet. Not even once! But I think I know why… for a fixture
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A FANCY Lathe Tool Height Gauge
Being an engineer I have a knack for finding problems where they don’t exist, and coming up with over-designed solutions. Combine that with being a wanna-be toolmaker and things can get out of hand real fast. But in the case of this project I think I may have stumbled upon something actually useful! On a
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Resurrecting the Phoenix Clock
Growing up with my grandparents I was always intrigued by the mysterious wooden clock in their attic. It was in pieces so I wasn’t sure exactly what it looked like but I could tell it was an open design skeleton clock where you could see the gears and escapement. So naturally my gearhead self was
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Some UPGRADES for the Lathe!
Over the past year I’ve taken on many machining and engineering projects so I’ve definitely spent a lot of time with these machine tools; becoming familiar with both their capabilities and their limitations. In this video I’ll be tackling some of the latter. Specifically on the metal lathe. I have a whole list of improvements
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Making the PERFECT* Slitting Saw Arbor
If you want something done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself. In this project I’ll be engineering and machining an improved slitting saw arbor to replace the bargain barrel piece of junk I bought a while back. Which should be a pretty simple project honestly… but of course I’m incapable of keeping things
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A Life Changing Filming Upgrade
Welcome back to the machine shop! For over a year I’ve suffered through using a camera tripod to film all of these videos, and I’ve finally reached my breaking point. So for this build I’m making an articulating arm for mounting my DSLR camera. And better yet, I’m suspending it from a ceiling gantry that
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Making a UNIVERSAL Tap Follower
Welcome back to my manual machine shop. In this build I’ll be making a spring loaded universal tap follower. This is a super useful tapping guide that keeps your tap and tap wrench straight when thread tapping. I’ll start at the drafting table putting together a detailed pencil drawing of the parts. And while it’s