Member postings for Vic

They aren’t bad but not worth the premium in my view. The screwdriver bits in my set are showing signs of wear and they don’t get that much use. Some of the handles are a weird shape as well in my view.

Some years back I saw a redneck mill trimming device. It was a steel bar welded to a car disc brake then accurately turned down to fit a collet in the quill. You can guess how it works.
A guy at work told me another way, without the need for an indicator. After turning a point on one end put two short 90° bends in opposite ends of a suitable length of steel bar. The blunt end goes in the quill then you swing the bar left and right until the pointed end just touches the table at each end. He also suggested the use of cigarette papers. I used this method myself before I got a dial gauge.

I’ve had two garage workshops and have to say working on a bare concrete floor is dreadful. I tried mats etc but they just trap swarf etc. I currently have a shed with an insulated floor and floor boards covered in plywood with floor paint. If I had to use a garage again I’d definitely cover the floor with boards or something.

Except when it isn’t

The beauty of pigtails is that the mops are self tightening up to a point and don’t require any tools for quick fitting and removal. The mops can also be made with a wide tolerance on the size of the bore and still work. It’s a concept that has stood the test of time.

They are often called Pigtails. These folks self both left and right hand versions in a number of sizes.

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Sounds good Jason, where did you get yours?

Edit: I’ve just bought a set online.  

Edited By Vic on 25/09/2023 22:20:28

All my reamers seem to have a lead or taper to them on the end. This is of no consequence for most jobs but sometimes I need to ream a deep hole and the Parallel part of the bore isn’t long enough. Can you buy almost fully Parallel reamers for use as a second operation? Any links appreciated if you can TIA.

Have a look at Jan Ridders work. He will supply one or two plans if you ask. I built one of his vacuum engines and found the plans easy to follow.

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I agree with Pete. I get a great finish with a fly cutter.

Do you have a link please Michael. It’s not something I’ve needed very often. The stuff I have is very old.

I don’t, and I suspect many others don’t have the tools to broach hex sockets.

As a point of interest though can you show us the tools you use for this. I doubt I can justify buying half a dozen different size broaches but it’s still of interest.

Unless the knob is well secured to the cap screw it will come undone on the first use. For me the hex socket is just there to apply additional pressure if/when needed. Most of the time I’d want the convenience of just using the thumb screw.

I should add that I’ve not been overly impressed with the quality of the knurling on most of the High Tensile (Black) socket screws I’ve bought in the past. Poorly formed and not very deep. The exception to this were those manufactured by Unbrako and the straight knurling on them was a piece of art in comparison.

Clickspring makes some good videos but like many others I get fed up of him making small items of tooling and then not showing them in use.

I must have nearly a thousand cap head socket screws in M2.5, M3,M4, M5, M6 and M8 in stainless steel, some of them marked THE and none of them are knurled. I’ve actually never seen one before. I use mainly Kay’s, Boltbase and GWR. I should add that I generally only use Metric fasteners so perhaps that’s why?

Yes agreed, the bottom part of most high tensile cap head socket screws (that isn’t knurled) is the widest part. I use mainly stainless ones though and I’ve never seen one that was knurled. I think I tried knurling one years ago and pretty sure the attempt failed. Maybe it’s time I tried it again?

I’ve often thought it might be handy having one with a hex socket in it for some projects but couldn’t think of a durable way of securing the two parts. How do you think this may have been done, just glued/thread locked together?

Oh, I watch Joe Pie as well as several others.

Can I post a link? I like This Old Tony, and not just because he sounds just like Alan Alda!

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