# Machinist jack



## Just for fun (Aug 17, 2022)

Some of you may remember the 20' section of mystery metal that I picked up at the local metal junk yard.




Decided to make something useful and make a pair of machinist jacks.  As I was told a long time ago it probably won't turn very nice and that is true.  I tried carbide inserts and HSS bits (ones I ground so that doesn't mean much).  High speed and deep cuts with carbide inserts work the best most the time.  There was one section that I was turning was like two different kinds of metal.  After a couple of passes it cleared up.  Anyway, with a little file work and emery cloth polishing it looks pretty good.  




With all of the help I received from this forum I have learned a lot.  The first thing was how to draw the V grove in the top in Fusion 360 to actually cutting the V grove later on.  Then came the boring and internal threading, that was challenging at times but no real catastrophes.  There were several guys mentioned I needed to be more consistence with my cuts and that was probably the biggest thing and help.   Once I started taking cuts of the same amount each time things just started coming together.  And another tip that helped was to slow down when threading especially when threading internally.

Here is the finished product.


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## Ben17484 (Aug 17, 2022)

Looks really nice  


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mattthemuppet2 (Aug 17, 2022)

Looks beautiful and lovely finish! And you have enough material to make thirty or forty more


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## WobblyHand (Aug 17, 2022)

Just for fun said:


> Some of you may remember the 20' section of mystery metal that I picked up at the local metal junk yard.
> 
> View attachment 417435
> 
> ...


What does the other side of the piece on the left look like?  I presume it is internally threaded?  I need to make something like this.  Is the idea the top piece can spin relative to the screw?  What is the purpose of the semi-closed bottom?  Pardon my simple questions, never looked at one of these up close.


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## Just for fun (Aug 18, 2022)

WobblyHand said:


> What does the other side of the piece on the left look like?  I presume it is internally threaded?


Yes, you are right.





WobblyHand said:


> I need to make something like this.  Is the idea the top piece can spin relative to the screw?


Yes


WobblyHand said:


> What is the purpose of the semi-closed bottom?


Well,  I was thinking I would make a spacer block that would register in section.  Maybe in the next few days I'll get that made and post more photos.   I also turned a larger section in the screw to accommodate the head of a cap screw.  I don't know if it is needed but it will allow me to screw it to the milling table with a T-Nut.








WobblyHand said:


> Pardon my simple questions, never looked at one of these up close.



No problem, thanks for looking and asking.


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## rwm (Aug 18, 2022)

That knurling came out perfect! Nice!


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## Just for fun (Aug 18, 2022)

rwm said:


> That knurling came out perfect! Nice!


Thanks


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