# Plumb bob



## sandmanred (Dec 23, 2019)

My son asked me to make him a plumb bob.  This was the first time for using my shop made tool post drill guide too.  I turned the top of the brass piece in the lathe chuck first and then bolted it to a matching cup to turn the long end.  Used single point tool to thread the steel inserts and a tap the thread the brass body.  Ran a light cut after assemembly to true up the steel nose to the brass body.  It weighs 12 oz complete.


----------



## b4autodark (Dec 23, 2019)

Nice! that should be a "keepsake tool" to pass on down in the family.


----------



## fixit (Dec 23, 2019)

PERFECT!


----------



## Chewy (Dec 23, 2019)

Excellent!!!! Think I will make one for my son. Could you elaborate on your drill?

Guessing, you index the chuck and use a drill on cut down portion of arbor?  That would eliminate taking piece out of chuck and drill hole in Vee blocks on mill or drill press.   Charles


----------



## sandmanred (Dec 23, 2019)

Chewy said:


> Excellent!!!! Think I will make one for my son. Could you elaborate on your drill?
> 
> Guessing, you index the chuck and use a drill on cut down portion of arbor?  That would eliminate taking piece out of chuck and drill hole in Vee blocks on mill or drill press.   Charles



Thanks for the comments.

The tool post drill arbor is a piece of 5/8 inch ground shaft from McMaster Carr.  I turned a JT taper on the end to mount the drill chuck.  The bushings are oil impregnated high pressure bronze (also McMaster Carr) with 5/8 ID and 3/4 OD and are pressed into a 1 inch tube.  It worked great.  It let me drill the hole in the tapered point after turning.  I was hoping I could use the tool post hand crank to advance the drilling action but the taper to the chuck let go so I just used hand force on the drill.  Hope that answers your question.


----------



## Chewy (Dec 23, 2019)

Sure Does!  Always on the lookout for homemade solutions to problems.  Lots of time I would like to cross drill in the middle of operations, but that entails breaking down the setup. This is a perfect solution to those times. Working on something from TinkerJohn now.  A spring loaded center for setting offsets in 4J chuck. Usually just stick center into hole, but this will allow better visual on getting  hole on center and being able to use dial indicator if I want to.
Thanks Again! Charles


----------



## benmychree (Dec 23, 2019)

Chewy said:


> Sure Does!  Always on the lookout for homemade solutions to problems.  Lots of time I would like to cross drill in the middle of operations, but that entails breaking down the setup. This is a perfect solution to those times. Working on something from TinkerJohn now.  A spring loaded center for setting offsets in 4J chuck. Usually just stick center into hole, but this will allow better visual on getting  hole on center and being able to use dial indicator if I want to.
> Thanks Again! Charles


Picture of spring loaded center device?


----------



## Chewy (Dec 23, 2019)

Go about 7 minutes in.  Just so damn simple but it beats pulling tailstock up close and in the way.  Less then an hour to make. I think I will make mine about 10" long unloaded.


----------



## homebrewed (Dec 23, 2019)

I made my toolpost-mounted drill chuck attachment using a chuck with a threaded 1/2" mounting hole.  I installed a 1/2" bolt in a boring bar adapter and threaded the chuck onto the part sticking out of the adapter.  I use shims to get it to the right height and the cross slide to align it.  Rotational alignment is done with two lengths of 1/2" drill rod.  One is installed in the headstock and the other in the chuck.  I back the cross slide out so I can place the chuck-mounted rod parallel to the head-mounted one, then advance the cross slide until both rods are in contact.  It's easy to see when they're parallel.  I also faced the rods so I can just butt them up and by feel adjust the cross slide until they are in line.

I also made a cross slide lock so the cross slide can't move while I'm drilling.   It uses the bolt holes that are designed for mounting a traveling rest on the carriage.  I like the setup when I'm enlarging a hole, because it's easy to swap drill bits -- don't have to periodically re-position the tailstock that way.

This is for a 7x12 mini lathe but I don't see why something similar couldn't be done for a larger lathe.


----------



## sandmanred (Dec 26, 2019)

Here it is more complete.  I made a small wooden spool that stows on the top nut and a leather case to keep it all together.  All it needs now is the line.


----------

