Post Your Favorite Tools

[BobWarfield]

I saw a "Top 10 Must Have" list over on PM and had to go over it. I'm drawn like a magnet to those things: always on the lookout for a handy gadget I've missed. My problem is I want the "Top 10 Nobody Thought Of" list! LOL

Here were the Top 10 by popularity:

1. Micrometer set in 0-6" range. 0-1" and 1-2" are the most used. I agree this is a must-have tool, but I use my calipers more often!

2. 6" caliper, digital or dial, your choice. I constantly use these. They all seem similar in accuracy, but my Mitutoyos have better feel, so I reach for them first.

3. Dial Test Indicator w/ Magnetic Base. Another constant use tool. Noga makes the best bases, and I like Interapid Indicators. B&S Best Test were also highly favored.

4. Allen wrenches. T-handles in metric and imperial are constantly needed. I also have a set to fit my 3/8" ratchet, a folding set, and a set of loose keys. Wiha looks like a nice brand I may try when I buy a new set of T-handles.

5. Edge finder. An essential tool, but I don't use my Starret all that often. I guess I don't do enough precision mill work.

6. 6" Scale with fractional and 1/100" divisions. Many swear by their scales. I don't own one and haven't missed it. I use a tape measure or digital calipers. I did read a fascinating account of how one fellow uses his with CNC to good effect.

7. Calculator. Amen! And I will add to that a notepad and a pen. I bought a box of steno pads and a box of Sharpies. I use them constantly.

8. 0-6" Depth micrometer. This is another popular pick that I don't use much.

9. Combination square. Another I don't use.

10. 12" Crescent wrench. Yep, they are handy.

In total, some 63 tools had been listed when I looked. You can see the whole list on my web site: http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCUsefulTools.htm

There's a few I added that weren't on the PM list:

Pad and paper: I bought a box of steno pads and a box of Sharpies. I use them constantly.
Screw Machine Bit Set: Infinitely better than regular drill bits. They're more rigid, and because they're less common, you wind up buying a better made set. Wait for them to be on sale.
Nice Drill Chucks: Don't scrimp. Buy nice chucks. I use Javobs for small bits and an Asian-made Albrecht clone for bigger bits. I got the Albrecht-clone from Lathemaster, who sell a nice one.
Kant Twist Clamps: A million and one uses. C-Clamps are prehistoric technology by comparison. Their only drawback is they aren't cheap.
Magnetic base halogen work light: None of my machines have a work light. Halogen is bright and the flexible neck puts the light right where it does the most good.
DeWalt 14" Multicutter: OK, that's cheating, this is a machine, BUT, boy is it handy, and it isn't that expensive. I have not used my bandsaw since buying it. It is faster, takes less shop space, and leaves a cleaner cut.
Air Tool w/ Cut-off Wheel: When nothing else works, I grab this. Think of it as a rotary cutting "bigger hammer".
Bessey Clamps: When you need more range than a Kant-Twist offers, I go for my Bessey clamps. C-clamps, you lose again!
1/8" Air-Powered Mini-Belt Sander: We don't need no steeking files no more!
Scraper-style Deburring Tool: Chapter 2: We don't need no steeking files no more!
Angle block set: An Asian-made angle block set is not too expensive ( gave $40 for mine) and I've found them to be extremely handy. I own 4 protractors (including a digital) and have never used them since I had the blocks.
"Arrow" Welding Magnets: I find these to be pretty handy way beyond welding. Magnets in general are handy around a shop.
File Brush: If you use files, get a file brush. Mine came from Brownell's.
Piloted Tap Wrenches: You need a big one and a small one. The pilot goes in any drill chuck.
Z-Axis Presetter: Cheap eBay purchase has been my most accurate way to set Z heights.
5C Collet Blocks: Holding round stock couldn't be easier.
Big Blocks: 2-4-6, Angle Blocks, etc. Because its hard enough to get big pieces clamped down.
Huot Dispensers for End Mills: Extremely worthwhile organizer. I have them for taps and drills (got the works for cheap on eBay), but don't use the latter.


What are your "Top 10 Nobody Thought Of" tools that you want to share?

 

[slink74659]

Every day I'm machining I use my Starret edge finder.
I have two ridgid scales. One is a six inch and the other is 150 mm.
I also use an old Starret last word indicator more than any other one I have.

 

[Philjoe5]

Every time I use my 4x6 harbor freight bandsaw I ask myself, "What tool would I use to cut this piece of stock if I didn't have this bandsaw?" And yet there it sits in the corner of the shop and except for blade changes doesn't need much attention at all. Most stuff over 1" thick would just be a pain to cut using anything else.

Next would be my Fowler electronic edge finder. I wouldn't mill/drill without it. ;D

Dial and test indicators keep me honest all the time. ;D

Dykem and good layout marks have saved me more than once when I've miscounted handwheel rotations. :-[

 

[Don Huseman]

My most useful tool is my computer and master cam cadcam. I spend days drawing up parts.

 

[shred]

My favorite is the digital calipers-- I must have 4 or 5 of them scattered around the house. 2nd would be hex keys-- I have several sets of those too.

I rip apart old hard drives to get the magnets inside. Those have a bazillion uses and are extremely strong.

A good oil can with a tip that can press in the oil fittings is a must with old machines.

 

[macona]

I have a couple 6" rules and never really need them. Dont drink coffee so dont need a stirrer I guess?

A good DTI is hard to beat. I have an Interapid on a indicol type holder for the mill and a Compac on a KDK indicator holder for the quick change on the lathe.

Quick change on a lathe is hard to beat as well. I never would want to go bak to using a rocker or one of those turrets. I like the KDKs. Nice and low profile and the holders fit between models. I think the one on my EE is nearly as old as the lathe is from the tag.

Hermann-Schmidt makes what is supposed to be the best edge finder around. Puts the Starrett to shame.

And its about the only thing that they make that most people can afford.

http://www.hermannschmidt.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=8&idproduct=148

 

[Swede]

Hmm, interesting thread. You've covered most of the goodies. I would add a "Blake" centering indicator, or a chinese copy, as a really, really handy tool for working with round stock in a milling machine. I would agree on the drill chucks... The quality Albrecht style has supplanted all of my keyed Jacobs, even the better BB variety. The Taiwan Albrecht clone from SPI and others is an incredible bargain; very well made, silky smooth, and precise. Cost is no longer a valid argument against a keyless.

I consider a 1/2" keyless chuck in the lathe tailstock to be almost essential, due to the sheer number of tool swaps executed in rapid succession - Center drill, drill, ream, all done in a flash without fumbling with a key which is easily misplaced.

Spring-loaded tap guide for the mill = excellent tool.

While not really a tool, I've decided that a VFD is an outstanding addition to any 3P machine. I replaced the cheap 1P motor on a small bench drill with a 3P + VFD combo, and it is a WONDERFUL combination. Same deal with my 3P mill. No more pulley swapping! You can vary the speed "on the fly" for best removal rate, finish, or both. ;D

 

[BobWarfield]

I've been wanting a Blake, Swede. I'm curious to hear your opinion about the copies tho. I know the PM gang are generally down on coax indicators. They seem to doubt their accuracy. If they use one at all they favor a genuine Blake. I'm just an HSM, so I'm not sure whether I can tell the difference too awfully much. I do know a coax would be easy for a lot of my setups. Can you comment on the accuracy of the clones?

On the keyless chucks, I have an embarrassing confession: I keep forgeting which way loosens, over tighten, and then have to break out a pipe wrench (or Kant-Twist) to loosen again. I understand a big bit will often really tight up those chucks in use. I know it's "rightey tightie/lefty loosey", but heck, I just forget and grab the darned thing and its reversed when upside down. Shame on me I guess, but I keep thinking I need to engrave an arrow on the danged thing! I suspect a smaller model would be a joy that I'm less likely to over tighten, especially in a lathe tailstock. I should probably round one up.

On the tap guide, is that what is called a "floating" tap holder? I have a piloted holder, but it isn't spring loaded.

I can also wholeheartedly second the VFD notion. I stuck a DC treadmill motor and variable controller on my little lathe shortly after I got it and it radically transformed the machine for the better. Can't imagine messing around changing V-belts. Plus, it is so helpful to vary speed on a job that's running if its chattering or acting up.

As for the mill, I want more speed range than the VFD can really deliver to handle aluminum and steel. Eventually I'm going to build a transmission. I seem to recall you've got a Bridgeport clone, so I suppose you've got a variable pitch pulley. I'm still researching what can be done to get a good hi/lo range that is quick to throw a lever on. Varispeed is one possibility.

Cheers,

BW

 

[shred]

I have a couple 6" rules and never really need them. Dont drink coffee so dont need a stirrer I guess?

Hermann-Schmidt makes what is supposed to be the best edge finder around. Puts the Starrett to shame.

And its about the only thing that they make that most people can afford.

http://www.hermannschmidt.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=8&idproduct=148

Same here on the 6".. all it gets used for is centering lathe tools, which isn't that often. I must be uneducated in the uses of the 6" rule. Some fan care to educate us heathens?

I've got one of the H-S edge finders (got it in with some other stuff), and it's nice, but I don't notice it being tremendously better than the others I have.

I have a stash of MT2 Jacobs chucks, so I've been using those in the tailstock, but one of these days I'll go keyless-- I'm always jealous of the nice Albrecht a friend has..

Another tool I use all the time is the Red Wing polishing lathe I picked up for nearly nothing one day (guy just thought it was an oddball electric motor, which it resembles)-- with the quick-release chuck, I can swap from buffs to burrs to wire wheels and back in seconds.

 

[macona]

I have a Blake Co-Ax. Meh.. Used it a few times.

Literally..

One of the issues with it is the sheer amount of vertical space it takes up. Then you need a stop rigged up for the anti-spin rod to rest against. I find myself using the interapid on an indicol more often than anything else.

Cant say it was worth the money. And there have been stories where they are not very accurate, at least not as accurate as a DTI.

Keyless chucks. I have a real Albrecht in the lathe and two more asian copies. One a "Pelican" from MSC and the other from littlemachineshop. They all work fine. Also had a cool Whalstrom automatic drill chuck. You can change bits with the spindle running. Has to be seen to be believed. Gave that to my dad.

I dont even use that method of centering the tool on the lathe. I either have the measurement noted from the ways to the center or just take a couple light finish passes on scrap till the nubbin disappears. Since everything is on quick changes I rarely change tooling in the holders.

I also got a dental polishing lathe not long ago from a from a friend. From the 20s. Had to completely rebuild the old porcelain rotary switch.

Floating tap holders keep the tap fixed to the shank radially but allow annular movement. Usually spring loaded. Used often in cnc tapping on a mill where the mill does not have rigid tapping routines. That way if your feed and spindle rpm are off a but the tap can float a bit.

 

[Swede]

On the "Blake" centering indicators... It is one of those tools that you can certainly live without, but if your projects involve a lot of round stock on the mill table, I have found it to be a terrific asset. Over the years I've made a couple of turbines and radial engines, and especially for the turbines, when you've got perhaps a dozen major round components that need to be bored, bolt-holed, etc, it really speeds things up.

As far as accuracy, I've got two of the clones, and as far as I can tell, checking with my best instruments and DTI's, they are dead-on. Their action is much like applying an indicator to round stock in the lathe. Unless the round is a perfect, ground cylinder, there will be some fluctuation of the indicator - you work to minimize it. The Blake works in the same manner. By jogging X and Y axes to minimize needle movement, you are as close to center as you are going to get. I've used those things hundreds of times and have never had an operation go wrong.

They DO consume Z. One thing that can help this is to take one of the short arms intended for internal bores, heat gently, and give it a bend, turning it into a small, OD probe.

Anyway, I like mine and use them all the time. Another way to center stuff is with an edge finder, using the "Osbourne Maneuver" as detailed by Guy Lautard in his "Bedside Reader" series.

Bob - on the tap holder thing, I may have named it incorrectly. All I am referring to is a precision 1/2" shank which contains a spring-loaded, 60 degree pointed tip. In use, I drill a hole in the work that I want to tap, on the mill, then drop the table/raise the head to clear. Out goes the 1/2" shanked drill bit, in goes the tap guide, and then use the guide to bear on either the back of the tap itself (if it has a center hole in the body), or it bears on the back of a good tap wrench. Drop the quill so it all lines up and the powerful spring bears on the tap/wrench, start the thread maybe 3 turns, then finish by hand off the table.

Some of my small tap wrenches are center-drilled; those that are not, I do myself in the lathe.

 

[mklotz]

I was given a Blake clone, prebroken for my convenience. I managed to get it working, though sans the full rotation counter on the indicator dial.

It uses way too much headroom on my mill-drill and isn't as accurate (or convenient) as the Osborne approach.

I have found one use for it, however. Stick it in a collet in the lathe headstock and use it to sweep a precision center mounted in the tailstock. Makes for an easy way to get the tailstock realigned.

Incidentally, for those future readers who may be unfamiliar with the Osborne maneuver, there's a description and convergence analysis of it in the OSBORNE archive on my page.

 

[S_J_H]

I have a Blake clone. It's not accurate at all when compared to a T.I. but I attribute that to the cheap dial gage that is installed on it. The mechanism is fairly well built. One of these days I'll put a better gage in it.
You could make your own co-ax if you really wanted to.
Steve

 

[BobWarfield]

I'm gonna give a coax a try. The tip to try one in the tailstock is a great idea. I'll either get one used on eBay, or buy a clone from Shars or CDCO. What can I say, I'm a tool junkey, especially for measuring gadgets. It seems like if you can measure it, you can figure out a way to cut to that measurement.

I'll fool with it and take my own measurements. Z clearance is not a problem on my IH mill. Besides, cranking that head up and down is really making my biceps buff! ;D

Best,

BW

 

[IanN]

I would add the following to the list of tools that I would be hard pushed to do without:

A surface plate.
A height gauge.
Toolmakers buttons.
Vee blocks.
Sine bar (you really need a set of slip gauges to go with this, but you can get by using it with your height gauge or vernier calipers).

Ian.