Hints and Tips

I had mentioned this earlier and had some people inquire as to what I was describing regarding Allen wrenches and pipes, where I cut a notch for the wrench to rest in to help control it when tightening or loosening bolts.


Well today I needed to use this and took some pics.

Pipe.



IMG_4061.jpeg


Pipe huggin that wrench.



IMG_4063.jpeg





5/32” wrench on my small pipe. It helps to have a pipe sized appropriately to the wrench needed so I have three sizes of pipes, 3/8-1/2”-5/8”.
 
It takes a big man to admit that he has a small pipe...

But, I sure as hell hope those are not ball-end wrenches (maybe Eight excepted...). We've all used cheater bars, and some of us know how to cross another wrench to make a cheater when none is available - which doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do...

All in fun,

GsT
 
@RaisedByWolves
I guess I missed your previous reference to Allen wrenches and pipes, so I wasn't sure I understand.

I was about to ask for more explanation, but now I see @GeneT45 post suggesting that you use the pipes as cheater bars to add leverage to hex keys.

Is that the crux of your tip or have I missed the point?
 
GeneT45 said:
It takes a big man to admit that he has a small pipe...

But, I sure as hell hope those are not ball-end wrenches (maybe Eight excepted...). We've all used cheater bars, and some of us know how to cross another wrench to make a cheater when none is available - which doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do...

All in fun,

GsT
Click to expand...
Ah yes, the eternal ball end debate.

I just keep two sets, one with and one without and use them accordingly.

Eight?


extropic said:
@RaisedByWolves
I guess I missed your previous reference to Allen wrenches and pipes, so I wasn't sure I understand.

I was about to ask for more explanation, but now I see @GeneT45 post suggesting that you use the pipes as cheater bars to add leverage to hex keys.

Is that the crux of your tip or have I missed the point?
Click to expand...
Yes, that's basically the idea.

There are lots of places on dies where you cant get the short end of the wrench in, so you use the long end with a pipe on the short end. This makes the short end want to "Cam out" of the pipe as the bend in the wrench prevents good engagement. This cut gives you 25% more wrench to grip onto, plus it stabilizes the wrench in the pipe via the torque your grip exerts on the pipe.


Lost my favorite pipe recently, but brother to the one in the pic. Had that one and the one in the pic for 30+ years and one finally walked off and hasn't returned.

It has come home several times in the past, so well see.
 
RaisedByWolves said:
Ah yes, the eternal ball end debate.

I just keep two sets, one with and one without and use them accordingly.

Eight?



Yes, that's basically the idea.

There are lots of places on dies where you cant get the short end of the wrench in, so you use the long end with a pipe on the short end. This makes the short end want to "Cam out" of the pipe as the bend in the wrench prevents good engagement. This cut gives you 25% more wrench to grip onto, plus it stabilizes the wrench in the pipe via the torque your grip exerts on the pipe.


Lost my favorite pipe recently, but brother to the one in the pic. Had that one and the one in the pic for 30+ years and one finally walked off and hasn't returned.

It has come home several times in the past, so well see.
Click to expand...
Since it ended up in the washer, check your sock drawer! My wife has tricked me into quite a few duplicate tool purchases over the years.
 
Put a clamp on vibration.
Every now and then I find myself in an unconventional situation and I'm finding I'm doing these things more with my small machines, so I figured Id throw this out there.

The other day at work I was multitasking my ass off and needed to trim up/square a piece of 14" plate that was 5" tall and a foot long. What I "Should have" done was clamp it to the table and mill one edge with it overhanging the table, then milled the other side the same way.

This would have required me to move the vise, raise the knee, move the ram, etc, then do all that again to get it back to the configuration I was previously using it in.

So this is a quick-N-dirty that actually works pretty well.

I add mass to the part via a set of cant twist clamps and viola, my skinny wiggly part suddenly seems much bigger and rigid to the cutter.

Pic.

IMG_4079[1].JPG



And of course a video showing just how effective this is. This is about a .100 deep cut on 1/4" O-1 with a 1/4" endmill to limit vibration to begin with. A larger endmill would only exacerbate the vibrations. Im taking two passes of half the thickness to eliminate as much of the burr as possible.



 
Here is another take on making the same type of cut.

www.hobby-machinist.com

Edge Milling a Poorly Supported Workpiece

The linked video shows a technique for making the best of a poor situation. Note that the workpiece is relatively thin and extended relatively far from the vise jaws. You should avoid this setup whenever possible. To exaggerate his point, the machinist is using a 6" diameter face mill. When the...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
 
I have a love/hate relationship with hand wipes. They work great and are super convenient. But I feel guilty just throwing them away after a light, single use.

Got this freebie last time I went to the dentist and now get two or three uses out of them. Not much of a tip, but it makes me feel better.

IMG_2402.jpeg
 
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