Metalworkers' Hints and Tips for Home Machinists: Practical & Useful Advice for the Small Shop

by Vic Smeed (Editor)

Overview

From the leading magazine for metalworkers since 1898, Model Engineer, comes this curated collection of practical advice and useful tips anyone in the industry needs to know! Jam-packed with information that’s as relevant today as it was during its original publication, spanning from the 1890s to the 1960s, Metalworkers’ Hint and Tips include sections on lathes and lathe work, benchwork, machine tools and accessories, electrical queries, and other miscellaneous topics. These best-of tips are the most fascinating, helpful, and time- and money-saving tips metalworkers will ever need! Author Vic Smeed was the editor of Model Maker magazine for almost 20 years and is the author of 16 modeling, metalworking, and other workshop books.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781497101753
Publisher:	Fox Chapel Publishing
Publication date:	08/24/2021
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.22(d)

About the Author

Vic Smeed was the editor of Model Maker magazine for almost 20 years, having steered the publication through its development to the present day. In a lifetime of model building and model engineering, Vic produced countless original designs for models of all types. He is also the author of 21 books, his most popular being The Encyclopedia of Military Modeling.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Section 1 Lathes and Lathework 3

Removable Nose for a Mandrel 3

Center with Tool-setting Peg 4

Divider for a Portass 4

Tapers 4

Cutting Metric Threads 6

Forming and Finishing a Screwthread 10

Cutting Square Threads 14

Packing 16

Lathe Carrier 16

Lathe Center Gauge and Scriber 17

Sensitive Drilling Attachment 18

Boring and Facing Tools 18

Collet Chucks 20

Second Operation Set-ups 22

Boring Recesses 23

Lathe Toolposts 24

A High Speed Turning Hint 25

A Simple Lead Screw Chip Guard 26

Clasp Nut Engagement Stop 26

Simple Tool 29

Improvised Steady 29

Screwcutting B.A. Threads 29

Setting Lathe to Turn Parallel 30

How to Plane Small Gears 30

A Center-spacing Punching Tool 32

Boring Bar Attachment 33

Turning and Boring Phosphor Bronze 33

Query - Form Tool of Complicated Shape 34

Curing the "Incurable Chuck" 34

Tightening Adjusting Screws on Cross Slides of Small Lathes 35

Cutting Multi-thread Screws 35

Query - Knurling Troubles 35

Twisted Rods 36

A Chuck for Small Screws 36

Overcoming the Deficiencies of Inaccurate Machine Tools 37

Making Screws 40

Section 2 Benchwork 45

Hints on Filing 45

File Cleaning 46

The Art of Drilling Holes 46

Winding Small Springs 47

Prevent of Noise 48

Small Bends, Sets and Joggles 48

Adjustable Wire-bending Tool 52

Winding Helical Springs 53

Working Pipes and Tubes 53

Mandrel for Cutting Rings from Thin Tubing 55

Adjustable Jig for Drilling Round Stock 56

Handling Small Nuts 56

Fixing Small Rivets 56

A Simple Marking Gauge 56

Toolmaker's Cramps 57

Gear Wheel Repairs 57

Chisels from Needle Files 58

Vee Supports 58

Vise to Set Small Studs 60

Cultivating Caliper Accuracy 60

Wood Lathe Bow Nuts 61

Sharpening Small Twist Drills 62

Drilling Hexagonal Holes 64

Query - Holes in Thin Sheet Metal 65

Square-ending a Drilled Hole 66

Straightedge and Surface Plate 66

Query - Scraping Planed Plates 68

Non-slip Tap Wrench 68

To Save Broken Taps 70

Simple Tap Wrench 70

Tap Grinding and Binding 71

Lubricants for Tapping 71

Some Causes of Taps Breaking 71

Cross-drilling Shafts in Vise 72

Hacksaw and Scratch Brush Hints 72

Uses for Powdered Graphite 72

Drilling Laminations 73

A Handy Drilling Jig for Joint Pins, Round Bars, etc. 73

Removing Broken Taps and Drills from Castings 73

A Simple Hole-chamfering Tool 74

Holding Hacksaw Blade for Depth Slotting 75

Section 3 Machine Tools and Accessories 77

Spigot Cutter for Shouldering Rods 77

Tip from Canada 77

Small Bench Grinder 77

A Tip in Grinding Copper 80

Safety Washer for Grinding-wheel Spindle Nut 81

Freehand Grinding 81

Oiling Lathes and Machine Tools 83

Jointing Band Saw Blades 83

Query - Drilling Machine Chatter 84

Gripping Slips for the Machine Vise 84

Simple Belt Tensioning Device 85

Belt Dressings 85

Section 4 Electrical 87

Electrical Heating Elements 87

Query - Motor Trouble 89

Query - Running Cable to Workshop Motor 90

Query - Pressure-operated Switch 90

Query - Dynamo Not Working After Repair 91

Query - Wrong Direction 92

Query - Small Solenoids 92

Query - Horsepower of Motor 93

Section 5 Miscellaneous 95

Safety in the Workshop 95

Chemical Coloring of Metals 96

What Metal Is It? 96

Making Oilcans 102

Make Your Own Modeling Clay 102

Query - Sand for Molding 103

Hand Cream 103

P.T.F.E. 104

Metric System 105

A Simple Forge 107

A Simple Furnace 107

Casting Aluminum Alloys 108

Melting Aluminum 110

Measurement of High Temperatures 110

Low-temperature Solders 111

Query - Glass Grinding 111

Nameplates 112

Query - Marking Steel Tools 112

Extracting a Tight Pinion 112

Query - Etching Brass 113

A Simple Method of Making Clock Hands 113

Making and Using Case-Hardening Compound 113

A Home Made Lubricant 114

Planishing Sheet Metal 115

Editorial Reviews

The Home Machinist Series is filled with everything you ever wanted to know about machining and more. I feel quite confident that those who read the whole series, or even just one book, will come away with invaluable and extensive knowledge that will help further their craft.

Publisher CNC WEST magazine Shawn Arnold

There is a wealth of insightful and easy-to-comprehend information for metalworkers in the five books in the Home Machinist Series from Fox Chapel Publishing. The books are extensively illustrated with photos and illustrations to help readers better understand the content, which is well-organized to serve as handy, long-term machining references.

Alan Richter