Here are some metalworking projects I've made
A ball turning tool for the lathe. The castings and instructions are available from Metal Lathe Accessories in Pennsylvania. Castings are very high quality and heave features that make them easy to machine.
This was a great project for me, my first significant job with cast iron (what a sooty mess!) and a challenge to work to a few tenths on the fit for the rotary journal bearing. The old South Bend still performs, and it’s better than I am.
A little depth gage. Small brass parts offset by nicely blued steel. About 4 inches long. From the Machinist’s Bedside Reader.
I use Brownells Oxpho Blue. Works great on clean steel.
Die holder for the lathe, from the Machinist’s Bedside Reader. The knurled handle slides and spins on a shaft, so you can do power threading and simply let go when you need to stop. Handles are there for manual operation.
Knurling tool, from the Machinist’s Bedside Reader. A great mill and lathe project. Also had some brazing and heat treating.
Here’s an upgrade for the lathe that adds a roller thrust bearing to the outside of the spindle. Replaces the simple washer that SBL supplies. A nice exercise in threading, among other things.
Stationary Steam Engine
Now this is a proper steam engine. Ever since I was a little kid I wanted a model steam engine! This took about 250 hours to make, about 63 parts, all from barstock. Here are a couple of YouTube videos
Collet Stop for 5C Collets
I should have made this years ago. It’s a nice exercise in threading. The body is CRS and the 1/2-in shaft is drill rod. Blued, cuz I like it that way.
Since the shaft is fairly large, how to you use it as a stop for a very short, small diameter? Easy, just add a short piece of small-dia rod that slips in the collet as a bridge between this shaft and the workpiece.
Toolpost Grinder Mount
Holds a Makita RT0701 router. This is a ripoff of a design I saw somewhere on Ebay. It’s made from a 1-inch plate of 6061. The router has plenty of power and variable speed. Certainly good enough for the simple tasks that I have.
Mini Plunge Router Base
This is my customized version of the excellent mini plunge router base made by Micro Fence, Inc. Mine has the controls rearranged, a thumb-operated depth lock lever, and an optional adjusting nut to set a fixed depth. These features are exactly what I want after many years and many routers. It’s truly a precision machine tool, smooth and solid. Template guide bushings line up exactly with no fiddling. Aluminum parts are coated with clear lacquer and steel parts are blued.
Here is the complete drawing package
Tiny Bevel Gage
Since I tend to do some smaller woodworking projects, a standard bevel gage is too big.
Cutting Gage
Why buy one when you can make one? The most challening part was machining the cutting disk from drill rod. It's hardened.
Scribing Gage
A shameless copy of a fairly new commercial product. This is used to draw a line parallel to a reference surface, for instance when making trim fit an irregular wall profille.
Quick-Release Table Clamp
Nifty cam-operated table clamp for the drill press from "Machinists's Workshop" April/May 2025. Some interesting machine work including the concave saddle and a ball end for the handle. Polished up the steel real nice.
Hand Tapping Tool for the Mill
This little accessory lets me manually turn small taps in the mill while maintaining alignment. A Jacobs No. 0 chuck slides and spins in a brass sleeve that's held in the primary chuck. The knurled collar locks into one of the key holes.
