Made a dedicated "wheel" wrench to tighten my apron.

[twooldvolvos]

I have been working on improving the rigidity on my South Bend 10K. I wanted to make it easy to lock down my apron, especially when facing. I have been using a wrench but I only have an open ended one or an adjustable so I have to remove them after tightening the bolt. So I made this wheel out of a 3/8 socket and a brass plumbing cap with the idea of just leaving it on all the time. I interference fit the two together. So far so good. Of course I can't tighten as much as I would with a wrench but with the knurling it's not too bad. By the way, the socket was plenty hard.

 

[piper184]

Very nice! Should work quite well

I had the same problem with my 10K until I found this handle in a box of junk one day. A few minutes with a hand file to open it up to fit and all is well. I think it was the inside handle for a camper screen door.


Sometimes it pays to hang on to "useless junk".

 

[benmychree]

The original squared bolt is fine if used with the original tool post wrench or similar single ended wrench with a square hole, either will give the leverage to secure the carriage from movement.

 

[woodchucker]

Mine : https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...you-make-in-your-shop-today.67833/post-966113

 

[piper184]

The original squared bolt is fine if used with the original tool post wrench or similar single ended wrench with a square hole, either will give the leverage to secure the carriage from movement.

Yup, both the OP and mine use the original square head bolt, just not the loose wrench to chase down. Mine (and I suspect the OP's) just lifts off like a box end wrench does. The handle I used had a 5/16" square hole in it and all I did was open it to 3/8" so it fits the lathe bolt. The extra depth in the shank (like the OP's socket) allows it to stay on the lock bolt, handy and out of the way.

 

[mmcmdl]

So what am I going to do with all these leftover SB wrenches ? They both look good .

 

[ChazzC]

So what am I going to do with all these leftover SB wrenches ? They both look good .

Add them to the box of "Miscellaneous Machinist's Tools" for consignment at Cabin Fever next year: sell for $100 (like the collections of rusty HF stuff that go for big money in the auction).