What is it and what is it for

I recognised it as a Keats from Sparey's excellent "The Amateur's Lathe", and remember thinking in my innocent youth that it was a must have accessory.

But are they still useful when many of us have milling machines? In practice I've never had call for a Keats, thinking it's because a mill is a better alternative to a Keats or an milling slide on a lathe. I hadn't thought of a Keats on a mill-table though. A vice, angle table, rotary table, or clamping down direct do most of what I need. Am I missing something? (Quite likely - I'm self-taught, and have many odd gaps in my skill-set!)

Dave

Hi Martin, as Nick Hughes has shown, primarily designed for use in a vice, but as Nigel Graham has said, they can be adapted for use in a fly press, and probably in any type of press. Below is a photo of a 6" pair that I adapted back in 2013 for my fly press, and which includes a back-stop for doing multiple bends of the same dimensions. I have folded a 6" length of 1.5mm thick steel sheet to 90 degrees with it with very little effort, and it may even do 2mm thick steel.

Regards Nick.

Forked thingy is for the change wheels.Redundant after fitting the QC box. It is not the metric conversion banjo. Noel.

The base of this retracts against a spring. Again very well made.

A transfer punch.

Hi, it is a universal transfer punch, similar to Warco Universal Transfer Punch

Regards Nick.

Dave -

The kind of work I have in mind where a Keats angle-plates could be useful on a mill or drill is in, or on, the ends of cylindrical or square section objects, where it performs the roles of vice and Vee-block in one go.

Recently I needed tap M6 holes in both ends of 18 aluminium bars, using a tapping-head in a bench-drill with low-gear setting. In the end I used a 3-jaw chuck on an adaptor-plate, but could just as easily have used the Keats block. I forget what settled the argument - I think it was the rod diameter a bit too small for the clamp.

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Nick -

There is of course a limit to what the bending tool will take, but also minimum radius to the bend to some extent depending on the material, and I would suggest 2mm thickness the absolute limit.

Bottom left is S7 tailstock handle/ bottom right is S7 changewheel banjo\ top right is single toolholder and top left needs another view.

Lost for ideas on this one. 1.5" sq maybe.

Hi Nigel Graham 2, having used folding machines and press-brakes throughout my working life, I'm aware of bending radius, and what the tools will take, but it is mostly down the the width of the Vee block, and mine is 20mm wide, which will allow for a larger radius, and in fact, looking through my judges notes when I entered this into an ME exhibition, I did actually bend a piece of 2.5mm steel, with no more effort than what I bent the 1.5mm piece, albeit being about 45mm wide.

Below is my 1.5mm and 2.5mm samples that I made at the time I finished adapting the tooling for my fly-press.

Regard Nick.

The 1.5" square thig is the base for a Potts drilling spindle I think. Not got mine handy to compare.

Is that one of these?

Thankyou Nick.

I based my comments on what seems the most my Warco 3-in-1 folder would be happy with, and what we've been shown here looks a similar capacity.

I have also used a large Edwards folder and I think has a warning label of 16, maybe 14, swg maximum in mild steel; but I was also thinking of what the material being folded can take without cracking.