Join me in the machine shop for the first official machining project. Here I’ll be making a pair of collet blocks for the 5C collet set I inherited from my grandfather. Collet blocks are a type of 5C collet fixture used for holding small round workpieces in the mill or anywhere else you might need them. I’m going back to the good old days and designing these on the drafting board using the set of manual drafting tools that were passed down to me as well. The final design will require both the metal lathe and the vertical milling machine, both of which have been recently “restored”. These parts will require almost every feature of the manual lathe. 3 jaw chuck, 4 jaw chuck, 5C collet chuck, tailstock drilling, boring bar, and even turning threads. Parts are then moved to the mill where they are face milled, center drilled, countersunk and I even do a little power tapping. Final parts are then inspected on the granite surface plate with a dial indicator and a bevel protractor. Through this project I learn a lot about my metalworking tools and I’m eager to dive into something else!