# One liner quickies



## mklotz (Nov 7, 2007)

It's too cool to work in the shop today. (65 degF - Hey, I live in SoCal and "too cool" is defined as air temperature less than skin temperature.)

So, I decided to photo document some simple hints I've been meaning to pass along to one and all.

It's a lot easier to set your threading gage parallel to the work if you fit it with a small, extended V-block.







A tea strainer makes an excellent holder for degreasing small parts that might be easily lost.  This model opens like a clam shell by squeezing on the handles.






Shotgun cleaning swabs, fitted on a handle, are excellent for cleaning tailstock bores, etc..  The soft cotton fuzz has an almost magnetic attraction for even the tiniest swarf.
Good sizes are 12 gage and .410.  While at the gun store, pick up barrel cleaning brass brushes in various calibers.  They come with a threaded stud so it's easy to make handles for them.  Great for getting swarf out of freshly tapped holes, etc.






A small square block of steel, cut to the height of the lathe centerline above the top of the compound and made with a relieved bottom (so it doesn't rock) is a great device to set the height of lathe tools.  I use my fingernail as a comparator - the human finger is incredibly sensitive to minute height differences.






Cut off the head of a toothbrush and secure it to the side of the apron with a magnet so it bears on the lead screw.  As you thread, it will remove swarf ahead of the half-nuts.






Go to your local Home Depot and buy some grounding (earthing) clamps.  (They're meant to secure a ground wire to a pipe.)  They make perfect lathe dogs.  All you have to do is add a short driver rod into the already drilled 5/16" hole used to secure the wire.  A screw to hold the driver rod in place is already provided.






A piece of soft iron florist's wire in a MT holder makes a fine "parts catcher" when parting off small parts in the lathe.  Stick the device in the tailstock with the wire in the central hole of the part.  As you part off, the freed part(s) will be caught on the wire.  (The soft iron wire will break easily if, for some reason, it catches.  I've never had that happen, though.)

If the parts don't have a central hole, I have a solution for that too but that will have to wait for another cold snap.






Save those short lengths of stock and use them to make light duty custom hammer heads.  This one, made for jewelry work, has steel, aluminum and brass heads in a variety of shapes. 






Mounting a small lens to your prick punch will make it a lot easier to get the tip into the point where the scribe lines cross.






Buy a micrometer head and you can make your own custom micrometer for getting into tight areas.  This one features an adjustable size and the ability to use interchangeable anvils.  I used this a lot until I happened upon the Fowler 1/2" mike shown below.






Dremel sells an adjustable three-jaw chuck for their tools.  Buy one and make a handle for it and you have a swell little pin vise.  This one has a hollow handle so it can accommodate long work.  The spinner at the end is removable.


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## lugnut (Nov 7, 2007)

Marv I really like the little hammer you've shown,(why didn't I think of that)  the tooth brush idea I've aready used, I mounted one simular on the wheels of my wood cutting band saw to clean them off.  Keep the ideas coming.
Mel


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## Mcgyver (Nov 7, 2007)

Marv,good stuff, you are the idea man!  I like the thread gage tool especially


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## rake60 (Nov 7, 2007)

Marv I've had to deal with many engineers in my career as a machinist.

You are one of the very few who offers ideas that are so perfect for a 
real working machinist.  I have to think that is because you have actually
used and perfected the items.

The value of an engineer who's actually put his ideas practice with his own
hands is truly priceless, and Sooooooooooo rare!

Great stuff!  
Thanks for adding them here.

Rick


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## Bogstandard (Nov 8, 2007)

Marv,

WOW!

'nuff said

John


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## Ralph (Nov 8, 2007)

Marv,
   You never cease to amaze. Each and every one as simple as the lowly paper clip, but oh so helpful. Thanks for sharing your ideas and making me think. Hope I get to meet you at El Camino soon.


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## cfellows (Nov 8, 2007)

Thanks for sharing, Marv.  Lots of great ideas.  I'm gonna get started on one of those hammers this weekend!

Chuck


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## mklotz (Nov 8, 2007)

Thanks for the kind words, guys.  Being arguably the world's laziest guy, I really love making little odds and ends to make work easier.  Some of them are real disasters but once in a while something works.

I had another reason for making this post.  Julian, in another thread, has been trying to encourage the lurkers to get in and contribute to the forum.  I wanted to make it clear that useful contributions to the board do not have to be exotic, complex engines that took weeks to complete.  Simple little shop hints and gadgets can make posts that are both entertaining and useful.

Rick,

You're right.  Every one of those things is something for which I've had a personal requirement and developed the thing shown to fill that niche.  When I work on an engine, I keep a list of all the tooling and gadgets that would have made the job easier.  When I finish the engine, I'm generally ready for a break from making tiny, fastidious parts.  So, I pick up my gadget list and do some low precision work for a while.  Then the tools and gadgets are ready to be used when I start the next major project.

Ralph,

Frazier Park to Torrance is quite a trek but we would certainly like to have you attend a SCHSM meeting.  You're probably aware of the club website.  Our meetings are the first Saturday of the month.


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## shred (Nov 8, 2007)

In a probably futile effort to out-simple Marv , heres a murky picture of a jig I threw together to do the dozens of #60 and #70 cross-drills of 1/16" and 3/32" rod that Elmer likes, especially on the Tall Vertical.






Just a 0.050" V-groove in the top of a square block, and top plate to clamp it. Drill the lot through once with a slightly larger bit to make a bit of a guide / pocket 0.080" from one end. Straight stock can be stuck in under the plate from the back and pre-made bits like the arm shown can be stuck in the other way round, providing a nice clearance to hold a 1/16" plate to the pin.

Set the groove a useful distance from the edge to make finding it again easier.


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## mklotz (Nov 8, 2007)

Well, it's still chilly here in LA and my one-liners seem to have gone over fairly well so I documented a few more...

Low profile clamps for your V-blocks will prevent the clamp from interfering with the tool when you're working in close.






Liquid electrical tape is great stuff - especially when you forget to put the heat shrink on before soldering the joint like I seem to do.  Available at most home supply stores, it has another interesting use.  Dip the tips of your tweezers in it.  When dry it is a bit tacky and works beautifully for preventing small parts from 'sproinging' across the room.






Hand chasing shapes on the lathe is a very good way to make decorative (i.e., not dimensionally critical) parts.  Gravers are the traditional tool but it's easy to make a holder for standard 1/8" tool bits.  Simply mill a 1/8" slot in some 1/2" aluminum.  Round off the corners so a piece of 1/2" square tube will slip over.  Tap the tube for some setscrews to lock the tool bit in place.  Grind tool to suit.  (As an aside, this is also a very convenient device to hold these small tool bits for grinding - no more burned fingers.)






Make a small cap to attach a piece of optical fiber to one of those ubiquitous one AA battery pocket flashlights with the halon bulb and you've got a super illuminator for inspecting bores - firearms or otherwise.






Take a piece of rod that fits the holes in your boring head and mill a groove to fit a lathe tool (1/4" in this one).  Now you can use your boring head as a horizontal fly cutter to make gears or produce interesting patterns (e.g., knurling) on flat surfaces.






If you're centering square stock in the 4jaw, you run the risk of one of the stock corners catching the DI stem as you rotate the stock from face to face.  Attach a thin piece of bent sheet metal to the stem as shown.  This 'wiper' will depress the DI stem as the corner goes by, thus avoiding an expensive "whoops".  A side benefit is that the sheet metal acts as a flag to tell you when you have the face of the stock turned perpendicular to the DI stem - which is where it should be when the centering comparison is made.


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## Bogstandard (Nov 8, 2007)

Another bunch of great gizmos Marv, it makes me wonder how I have been managing all these years. Most probably by taking twice as long as you do it with your little gadgets.
Thanks for yet another great post.

John


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