# Tips And Tricks



## jpfabricator (Sep 23, 2015)

In an earlier thread Bill Gruby mentiond old tips and tricks that have been forgoten.
So lets make this thread about tips and tricks.

Sent from somewhere in East Texas Jake Parker


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## jpfabricator (Sep 23, 2015)

If you have a hole that needs threads, but cant be chucked in a lathe, use a tap. If you dont have a tap big enough use a tapered hardwood dowel driven into one flute to "take up the slack".
Multiple passes will have to be made, with the dowel tapped in further on each pass.

Sent from somewhere in East Texas Jake Parker


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## Mark in Indiana (Sep 24, 2015)

If you're troubleshooting an electrical problem on a machine, you're normally following a circuit diagram and using your multimeter to find an open. Instead of using your multimeter, use a panel light (of the correct voltage), attach a pair of long leads & alligator clips to it. Attach one lead to a common point and the other lead to points in your circuit. A panel light has an instant response and it's easier to see from a distance.


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## Randy_m (Sep 24, 2015)

Deleted.


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## chips&more (Sep 24, 2015)

If I need a tip or trick. I just ask the wife, she’s way smarter than a Google search.


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## Belliger (Oct 6, 2015)

I think I saw that trick in the handbook they gave me after I signed the marriage certificate...


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## Bill Gruby (Oct 7, 2015)

This thread was started fo a very good reason. I cannot move it to it's proper place while it is being used the way it is.  It is for old school machining tricks. Get it on track and I will move it.

 "Billy G"


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## Belliger (Oct 7, 2015)

Apologies. I have never had to do this before but I was told by a gunsmith that if you have threads with some sort of locking compound on them (red loctite, rockset, etc). Pouring boiling Prestone 50/50 on them will break down what's inside without damaging the metal.


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## Mark in Indiana (Oct 7, 2015)

I have to admit that many tricks that I've done are so second nature that I don't think of them as unique. One example is the trick of hobbing the edges of a keyed shaft to hold the key in place as you slide the pulley in place. So I need to reach deep into my memory banks for more tricks. I hope that I'm able to share & learn with you guys.


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## Andre (Oct 7, 2015)

Air ratchets with a short socket extension work great for quickly adjusting the jaws of independent lathe chucks.


Used motor oil works great to seal the end grain of wood.

When fitting bearing journals, use a burnishing file to harden and shrink the very top surface of the workpiece. You can create a diameter more precisely than you ever imagined by using one. It's a watchmaker and clockmakers trick for the end of pivots. To make one; stone one side of a HSS toolbit blank at an angle to it's long axis, till there are no lines should be parallel to the long axis. Then simply use as a file, re-stone when it starts to get marked up. Some lubricating oil helps burnishing as well.


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## Bill Gruby (Oct 8, 2015)

Thank you Jake for starting this. I will be moving it to "Questions and Answers" in the near future. It will be a "Sticky". Only one rule will be in place, "No Bashing Allowed" and it will be enforced. Again Thank-You.

 "Billy G"


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## ogberi (Oct 8, 2015)

Somewhere in my Kennedy I have a 1/2" toolbit with the end ground to a rounded profile.  I've used it in the qctp, the roundud profile vertical like a shear tool, to burnish copper and brass.  Also used it with the profile horizontal and set on center to burnish up to a shoulder.  I broke the sharp corners with an arkansas stone on the toolbit.  Takes some pressure to use, but leaves a gorgeous finish, and toughens up the shaft.  Don't use it often, though.


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## dlane (Oct 8, 2015)

I think George Wilson had some good ones, in questions & answers


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## finsruskw (Feb 18, 2021)

Diaper for the Z axis chip guard


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