Member postings for BW

Eye dropper, syringe, baby medicine dispenser - basically a giant eye dropper

Eye drops are sold in chemist shops in packs of 100 tiny disposable 0.4ml plastic ampules

Gravity dispenser controlled by an adjustable tap, out to a small hose then to a very thin metal tube.

Small paintbrushes ie children's watercolours - have seen these with a puffball on the end and the oil is squirted drop by drop into the brush and applied

3 in 1 oil tin from a hardware store - squueze the tin to force some drops out of the spout.

I got frustrated by clumsy attempts to dispense and subsequent waste of cutting fluid and started using the above methods.

Bill

I have also seen electric motors used to raise/lower car seats mentioned as being useful for this purpose.

Could you use it to make a plastic zero backlash nut similar to the evanut idea ?

I have always thought that surface gauges are stunning classy interesting looking objects.

I got this one for 12 pounds in a 2nd hand shop.

**LINK**

Hey pgk,

This is the best explanation I have seen of making a rack type cutter and why it works

**LINK**

Post 8 in this thread gives an interesting variation on the button method

**LINK**

Bill

Yeeha got it

Thats quite neat

Nice piece of lateral thinking

In particular Read post #1 and then post #8 which is brilliant.

Can I use this jiggery pokery to paste a link directly to post # 8 ?

Bill

That's clever.

Do you drag and scratch or have a very fine engraving tool spinning really fast - have wanted an excuse to buy those tiny engraving thingies.

Bill

Thanks,

That does make sense - everything gets easier.

I did the search recommended above and found the lever operated tools on lathes.com - thought they were great - I suppose they became less common because leadscrews are more convenient for hitting exact diameters ? - but for some jobs the cam/lever operated tools must be ideal - have many of you still got them and use them regularly ?

Bill

Edited By Bill Wood 2 on 25/12/2016 10:14:46

Neil,

I was wondering the same thing.

Am attempting to make a jig to copy chess pawns and was wondering if I could also use it to part off.

See attached photos for concept. Basically replace toolpost T-nut with a tightly fitting sliding T-nut ...... see photos.

Started off with Delrin because its easy to cut and I had a scrap handy - might be a bit bendy though - depends how far it extends ? I cut it to be a very very tight fit and then added a few drops of oil to help it slide - gotta admit I dont really know what I'm doing here. For my chess pawns its unlikely to extend very far.

Wanted to keep the toolpost handy and didnt want to go through all the palaver of removing leadscrew from cross slide to follow the pawn contour but having second thoughts now.

This thread has made me wonder about having the sliding part in the toolpost rather than under it.

Any tips hints comments welcome re whether jig is practicable.

Currently 37C outside, and the tin roof of the shed absorbs all that heat and radiates in into the shed, you can feel it like a giant gas heater above your head, so am quite jealous of all you white christmas folk.

Havent got control of these photos yet but getting there.

Bill

I've been aware of these saws but never seen one

What thickness of solid round or square bar has it been known to cut ?

Bill

When I tried quenching in oil it masked the pretty colours and gave an overall much darker appearance with the blues and purples seen as subdued shadows underneath the outer darker layer.

Bookdepository all one word Google it some great prices on 2nd hand books

Also have a look at a site called scribd - for 8 dollars a month you get full and proper legal access to all sorts of electronic books - for example the crowood metalworking series - approved by the publishers.

Or alternately you can just pay a once only 8 fee and get access for one month then come back and pay another 8 dollars whenever you want another month. Well worth a look, doesn't cost anything to search the site.

Bill

Thanks for your collective wisdom and responses. Will try some of the different suggestions given.

My chess pieces are made from low carbon steel (black bar) and stainless steel there are a couple of photos in my only album. Haven't made a full set yet, am experimenting with how to do it.

Following a suggestion given on another forum, am chasing the spectacular and vivid purple/blue ("peacock colours" transition and it has been very difficult. Gotta keep practicing.

Couple of surprises along the way

1. You can use a paint stripping hot air gun to blue metal - think I discovered that in a post somewhere on this forum - and I've used this idea successfully.

2. You can use those relatively small "cigarette lighter" gas torches to blue metal

3. Best richest colours are achievable on very well finished and polished workpieces but ironically these colours may rub off very easily - I have yet to verify this.

Yellow, black and blue all seem relatively easy to achieve compared to the rich and vivid blue/purple often seen on welded work.

Clickspring has a terrific video showing how he prepared the hands of a clock for bluing. Would take me aaaages doing that for all 36 chessmen. Clockmakers in general use the same bluing technique on very fine screws and get magnificent results.

There's another video out there with a bloke making 20 sided dice that he colours by hand with flame. He makes the comment that things have to be "stupid clean".

Bill

Hey,

Cleaning : Metho, Turps, Isopropyl Alcohol, Shellite, Kerosene

Have been trying to blue some chess pieces and was using kerosene to clean the grease off them prior to bluing.

In my googling I have seen people use any and all of the above listed fluids to clean metal prior to bluing, electrolysis,painting etc

Is there any rhyme reason or logic regarding which of these to use in any given situation ? In my mind, I see them all as being vaguely alcoholic fluids, popular myth has it that people used to drink metho so they put special; stuff in it to make it taste awful.

To clean up a greasy piece of metal prior to painting, bluing, welding, soldering .......... What do you use and why do you use it ?

Bill

If you have a breadmaking machine you can make a very simple gadget to remove the paddle from the baked loaves, Have a look at the D shaped hole and make a thing to fit. If you've got a breadmaker you will know what I mean.

Snazzy metal spinning tops for children or grandchildren ?

A pen ? A mechanical pencil ? Can be done from scratch without kits or get a headstart with a kit.

Artistic tree type thing for holding ear rings and rings and jewellery.

Set of old fashioned snazzy looking weights for kitchen scales ?

Chess set ? Draughts set ?

Fire poking things & tongs for fireplace inside the the house ?

Diy brass hose fittings instead of cheap plastic ones that always fall apart or leak terribly.

Bill

Battlebots is the US version of similar UK show called Robot Wars,

Both are great, tantalising glimpses of workshops and then the robots fight in the arena.

In Australia at the moment channel 99GO on Wednesday nights, worth a look to see if you enjoy it, lots of meaningless babble from commentators but the bouts themselves are interesting.

Bill

Thanks Frances,

See proof below that I understood the instructions. Blackened pawn achieved by heating and dunking in engine oil. Am always pleased and amazed when I read something, try it ............. and it works ! Yeeha

Thanks for the links will have a look and then have a go.

Could somebody please post a link to the freebie on the "Magazines Page" that Neil mentions. I have found heaps of reprinted articles but no entire magazine - must be looking with my eyes shut.

Bill

There is a useful variation that is well worth knowing about and is shown in the first photograph of my previous post.

If you are cutting maximum possible sized balls then the pivot point must be vertically beneath the lathes axis, but the cutting tool does not have to be anywhere near the axis. See photo above

If you crank the cutting tool around so that relative to the pivot point it is at 45 degrees to the left of the pivot then you are better able to cut a full ball without fouling the chuck (or the steady rest if you are using one). See photo above.

The critical thing is the distance of the tool from the pivot point, it doesn't have to be aligned axially.

In order to understand how they work I've been doing some doodling using the ball cutter linked below, having a go at making chess pieces. Its been very interesting cutting bobbles on the end, and coves into the sides of the pieces with the pivot point well outside the workpiece. Cannot figure out how to attach photos.

Interesting that I was able to use a shear tool to get a nice finish.

**LINK**

Bill