2014 POTD Thread Archive

Made some button cutters to shape a gear cutting fly cutter. Many things left to do befor attempting to cut a gear however.
Chased a ground hog out of the pick-up engine compartment that the dog had cornered.
Have a good day
Ray
 
It wasn't a project, but a necessity.
I had to tighten some M3 nuts, requiring a 5.5 mm wrench.
In the wide collection of greasy and rusty wrenches wifey inherited from her dad there wasn't a 5.5 mm wrench ("half measures are for sissies" he always told - probably because Piaggio never used M3 bolts and he was of the Bigger Hammer school).
So I took the thinnest 6 mm wrench, placed it in the vise, heated it with a Bic lighter for some minutes - it helped a bit - and got a 5.65 mm wrench, good enough for those pesky microscopic nuts.
Probably to file a 5 mm wrench would be easier, but I have just one, while there was a fistful of 6 mm coupled with the 7 mm for the M4 bolts, so I preferred to keep the 5 mm one in its native size.
 
Marco Bernardini said:
It wasn't a project, but a necessity.
I had to tighten some M3 nuts, requiring a 5.5 mm wrench.
In the wide collection of greasy and rusty wrenches wifey inherited from her dad there wasn't a 5.5 mm wrench ("half measures are for sissies" he always told - probably because Piaggio never used M3 bolts and he was of the Bigger Hammer school).
So I took the thinnest 6 mm wrench, placed it in the vise, heated it with a Bic lighter for some minutes - it helped a bit - and got a 5.65 mm wrench, good enough for those pesky microscopic nuts.
Probably to file a 5 mm wrench would be easier, but I have just one, while there was a fistful of 6 mm coupled with the 7 mm for the M4 bolts, so I preferred to keep the 5 mm one in its native size.
Click to expand...

I fly RC helicopters, all small metric stuff, a couple of times when I didn't have the right nut driver I used the head of a socket head cap screw as a nut driver, works good, if you need a wrench drill a hole in a piece of something the same size/under size as the OD of the SHCS, press it in, grind the extra off.:))
 
Don B said:
I fly RC helicopters, all small metric stuff, a couple of times when I didn't have the right nut driver I used the head of a socket head cap screw as a nut driver, works good, if you need a wrench drill a hole in a piece of something the same size/under size as the OD of the SHCS, press it in, grind the extra off.:))
Click to expand...

Good suggestions, thanks!
But tomorrow I'll buy a 5.5 mm wrench: I started the job (a steel cable to support the vineyard… all stainless!) late in the afternoon, and when I arrived at the M3 nuts the shops were closed.
 
I have made custom wrenches/nut drivers from Socket Head Cap Screws and brass tube that the screw just fits into. Solder in the screw and make a custom wood handle like a file. Lst one was for 2-56 hex head screws from an imperial SHCS.
Chuck
 
Re: POTD Surprise attack from my milling vise !

I needed to mill mild steel block today
50 mm x 49 mm It had to be as accurate as I could get it.
I decided to use another vise I had to see how accurate it was. It has no name.

My first pass found .004 inch taper in the Y axis, after some investigation I found the stationary jaw of the milling vise was leaning .002"
Top to bottom not in the x axis (this I indicated earlier in setting the vise on the mill)
I took off the hardened bolt on jaw and ran an end mill across the casting face to clean up.

I put it together and still had .002 taper :thinking: in the Y axis
I then found the movable jaw was kicking up one edge. Solved this with a lathe boring bar.
The 4th pic down was a sweep after a cut, the indicator did not move so I knew it would be square.

The block turned out "so" square it surprised me.... max variation was .01 mm / .00039 " or less all over. This was achieved by taking .003" final cuts

Some pics.
dd
Vise milled.jpgFrom one side to.jpgJust the vise 004.jpgFinal sweep.jpgRectified.jpgThe vise.jpgTruly square.jpg

The vise.jpg From one side to.jpg Just the vise 004.jpg Rectified.jpg Truly square.jpg Vise milled.jpg Final sweep.jpg
 
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Re: POTD Surprise attack from my milling vise !

ddmunroe said:
The block turned out "so" square it surprised me.... max variation was .01 mm / .00039 " or less all over. This was achieved by taking .003" final cuts
Click to expand...

If I'd get such precision my first thought would be «The indicator is stuck» :biggrin:
Nice job!
 
Took the first cuts with my new mini mill that arrived last week. now I need to make some non-metric T-nuts.
 
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