Simple ,usfull projects?

Thanks; hobby's are Radio control, Ham radio, Model railroad, gardening tropical fish. Don
 
One useful tool to make is a threading assistant tool. Purpose is to hold a tapping tool straight in a drill press or in a lathe tailstock to tap straight into the part. Not sure what it is called, someone here does.

Make a cylinder in the lathe that goes into the chuck. Then make a rod with a pointed end that goes into that pressing a spring in. So that pointed rod engages the tap handle rear end hole and keeps it straight as the tap is advanced with the spring pressure pushing it in.

A picture would show easier than explaining. But a simple useful tool to make.
 
2volts said:
Tell us some more about gardening tropical fish...

pete
Click to expand...

Not as silly as it sounds, I do it but its called aquaponics.:laughing:
You use filter beds of gravel to clean the fish tank water and grow stuff in the filter beds.
Grow beds at the front, the fish tank is at the back.
tanks-so-far.jpg

Veggies grow like gangbusters
tomatoes.jpg

and then you can harvest the fish. These are jade perch, they went in at 2cms each in jan, 6 months later this was their size.
two fish2.jpg
Sorry to hijack the thread but its well worth doing.
 
dontrinko said:
Thanks; hobby's are Radio control, Ham radio, Model railroad, gardening tropical fish. Don
Click to expand...
You don't say what your R/C discipline is, CARS/BOATS/PLANES/ COPTERS
if planes or copters, electric/gas/gliders..

Railroad has to have a lot of ability to make your own engine, your own cars. Rebuild rare stuff that parts are impossible to find. Copy something awesome.
 
RC ; I have quad copters indoor and outdoor, cars, mostly 1/10th scale, and boats, mostly Traxxas but also others.
Tropical fish : i have down sized. at one time I had over 20 tanks. Now I have 38 ,3, and 75 fresh water and 75 and 20 salt water.
 
dontrinko said:
RC ; I have quad copters indoor and outdoor, cars, mostly 1/10th scale, and boats, mostly Traxxas but also others.
Tropical fish : i have down sized. at one time I had over 20 tanks. Now I have 38 ,3, and 75 fresh water and 75 and 20 salt water.
Click to expand...
Obviously for the RC Cars, you can upgrade your gear to better materials, play with different car looks, suspensions, gears. With the copters replacement parts(upgrades).
 
Charles Spencer said:
I seem to recall somebody had something like this in their signature line:

"Lathe - a tool to make parts for a milling machine
Milling Machine - a tool to make parts for a lathe"

About two years ago I realized that since I had retired I had been buying and fixing machines for the two years since I decided to make my little shop. And making tools, accessories. etc. So I designed a product. It required milling, turning, drilling, tapping, and some other operations. I made five of them and it took about two months as I used it to refine my processes. That required making more tools, more accessories, etc. And buying more things Then I made 25 more of them in about two weeks.

The result was that since then whenever I need to make something useful it goes much more quickly. I've made brackets, yard equipment axles, faucet parts, and a number of other things rather quickly.

The point is that when you optimize the use of your machines then the things that you want and need to make should go easier.
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I, too, have a shop full of rebuildable tools, waiting for me to get to them for repair, refurb, or both. ;) Precisely. Tools which are useful to me may not be useful to someone else. I've always made the tools I needed when the store-bought stuff wouldn't cut it. My house, truck, and shop are full of items I wanted to make, which makes things simpler for me. I found that a simple RE magnet stuck to the front of the drill press head made the best chuck key holder I'd ever had. The little HF magnetic dishes work well in all sorts of places, too, like assy/disassembly areas, but I also use cardboard when I need to keep track of different length bolts for automotive work, etc. Stick the bolts in the same patter as the item you're removing. If my sister's mechanic had done that, he wouldn't have punctured her water jacket in the head on her VW station wagon a decade ago. Don't learn the hard way. =:-O

I buy everything from HF when it's on sale, and nearly everything goes on sale at least twice a year. I refurb some of the brand new tools from them, too. :-/
 
savarin said:
Not as silly as it sounds, I do it but its called aquaponics.:laughing:
You use filter beds of gravel to clean the fish tank water and grow stuff in the filter beds.
Grow beds at the front, the fish tank is at the back.
View attachment 231181

Veggies grow like gangbusters
View attachment 231182

and then you can harvest the fish. These are jade perch, they went in at 2cms each in jan, 6 months later this was their size.
View attachment 231183
Sorry to hijack the thread but its well worth doing.
Click to expand...

Pretty cool. And, wow! A person who actually paints their projects! Such a treat. ;) I see more youtube vids of unpainted weld projects, I swear...
 
savarin said:
Not as silly as it sounds, I do it but its called aquaponics.:laughing:
You use filter beds of gravel to clean the fish tank water and grow stuff in the filter beds.
Grow beds at the front, the fish tank is at the back.
View attachment 231181

Veggies grow like gangbusters
View attachment 231182

and then you can harvest the fish. These are jade perch, they went in at 2cms each in jan, 6 months later this was their size.
View attachment 231183
Sorry to hijack the thread but its well worth doing.
Click to expand...


I saw a set up like that in one of the medical cannabis shops around here, they sell the gear for that. (Was in there looking at CNC made stash boxes in metal that they sell. Some of them are really nice work.) Can grow some big fish and herbs.
 
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