I take great comfort in rewatching these older videos. Experiencing the same hurdles you once faced and overcame to now be taking bigger challenges in your stride all coz of the tools you once toiled to make.
You are a great natural instructor Quinn, you are a pleasure to watch and learn from. I am fairly new to machining and in my 60's. My 3 granddaughters will be seeing your videos as they get a bit older to view a great example of a very gifted role model.
I am in the process of building a tool rest for my Harbor Freight 8" grinder. I think you saved me a lot of work when you showed moving the mount from the wheel guard to the motor base. I was planning to use the wheel guard even though I was concerned that it was not rigid enough. I am going to skip ahead and plan on using the motor base from the start. Thank You for the great video series.
Really enjoyed this series Quinn. You should do a remake on the miter gauge. You are correct with the lock not holding, it needs to have a pivot pin and a separate locking mechanism. Again, thanks for sharing your craft. Cheers
Love your channel. I just binge-watched several hours of your videos. I don't know if I'll ever wind up buying a lathe and mill, but i still love learning the techniques. Both you and This Old Tony are great instructors. The humour makes it even more enjoyable. Keep up the great work! Cheers.
Thanks for these videos. After watching this, I checked my grinders and discovered that the one I inherited has a completely different set up which will makes for a more rigid mounting. Thank you so much for your videos!
Quinn, I followed your design but I was after a way to sharpen tungsten, i machined grooves in the edge of mine and it works for sharp and blunt points as well as the 2 sizes of tungsten that i use. Thanks for doing 90 % of getting me there, love the channel.Thanks a bunch.
Hello Quinn Fabulous videos - I really appreciate the way you cover EVERY little detail, and the rate at which you go through stuff: not too slow, not too fast, just the right rhythm. You’ve taught me a great deal: thank you. As regards the fixing for the platen (which I think is pronounced as you prefer, since it is not spelt ‘platten’), and much as I love your little knurled buttons, I’d suggest a stake fixing with an eccentric rod operated by a lever. Have a look at the lever fixings for wheel hubs, or better still the pinch bolt for an adjustable height saddle, on a racing bicycle to see what I mean: I’m sure you could modify one, or use the basic design and machine a beautiful version of your own. The lever can be positioned to fold out of sight under the platen when in the fixed position. Quick, durable, superbly powerful and elegant, just like your work. Cheers from Scotland Will
Excellent descriptive video, very clear, great useful addition to the shop. Not sure on your interposing the locking washers between two faces is standard practice, improving the contact area/flatness and using the co-efficent of friction to hold position. Having the screw affixed to the arm is ideal, so imparting sufficient clamping force is the key, as you stated. A friction material could be used to improve, some fibre washer or similar. Hope you don't mind my ramblings. Best regards from the UK.
I did my first set of lathe tools at my school, I was already experienced with grinding but today I finally finished my 5 Rougher Finisher .25 radius with zero light pass through when putting a half inch round stock on the grind. A 3/16 in groove tool with a radius. Left offset thread Perfect no light pass through
Opted not to comment in parts 1-3, in favor of saying here that I enjoyed this series immensely... especially the parts about dealing with mistakes and the complexity of considerations when audibles get called. Great stuff. Someday, the person who invents a brass magnet will also formulate an effective nubbin removal spray to help make more efficient use of scrap stock. Many thanks for sharing this.
This video really resonates with me, im not a machinists but watch a few of the channels, and I have a budget 6" grinder ive had for years with the typical flexi-crap tool rests and I too had to make modifications to address the issue. You did a great job on fabbing this one up. Ive seen a few of your videos and now I have a new machinist channel to add to my bookmarks-!!
Enjoyed the series Quinn! I wondered how you would overcome the lack of rigidity of the sheet metal guard and I like your solution. One thing certain about machining, it's a constant learning process, which to me keeps it interesting.
Well done B-H! It's amazing how much versatility that simple mod will give your grinder, and all the shortcomings will guide you towards the ubiquitous "Mark 2". It turned out very nice and it is nice to have the original rest as only a memory now, cheers Quinn!
Thank you Quinn. I still don't have my lathe set up but I am in the process of cleaning out space. If I can never stop watching videos I get a whole lot more stuff done :-). But I am interested in tool grinding now I figure that's a good place to start along with leveling and positioning are lathe.
I gained a lot of pointers on this video. I want to build a platon for my bench grinder also. I'll be reviewing these videos again. Once more thanks a lot.
Subscribed . Project Egress sent me so it's hello from Hertfordshire England ( pronounced Hart-ford-sheer but don't get in a spin about pispernunciation it's not that important) Enjoying your mistakes and all approach to video making, it's the real world for most of us home engineers. Also nice to see the use of lighter machines because we don't all have room for a Bridgeport fire breather in the shed.
Hi Quinn, keep in mind that a scale for the grinder rest does not remain true when the rest is adjusted as the stone wears. great videos, I am impressed.
I really like your miter slide. That was enough to convince me that I need to make new platens for my grinders. To make them adjustable, I intend to use a pin for the pivot and mill an arced slot with a rotary table, and use a thumb screw to lock the angle. I was curious how you were going to address deflection of your attachment points to the sheet metal covers. Your solution looks like it worked well.
Interesting project - I've got an earlier model of the same grinder. The toolposts are a bit more robust but could use some serious redesign. So its great, you've done some of the legwork and I can work from there! BTW - Thanks to Adam Booth for the introduction by way of your "relay"! Great idea and waiting to see where it goes.
Hi Quinn, I love your videos - thanks for making them! I have a suggestion - please consider putting links to the earlier parts of a video series in the comments, so when someone stumbled across part 4 without having seen parts 1-3 it would be easy to start at the beginning. That said, your videos are great!
I just got done mounting DRO scales to milll and lathe. So I was thinking, what about drilling and taping holes in side of cast iron base to mount from that. That takes everything off the sheet metal cover. Which is a flexi flyer. My 8" grinder needs work. This gives me some great ideas.
Put a couple holes in the thumb wheel and make a pin hook spanner or face spanner. - Stamped sheet metal wheel covers should be illegal! Some great results there Quinn.
It is great watching U work thru problems on the fly. I have two suggestions for your consideration. There are Belleville conical spring washers (McMaster Carr) which might work better in UR application and also if you put a bushing beneath UR thumb-screw to extend it past the lip of the platten you would be able to grasp it better to apply torque (leverage) - a longer bolt would be needed obviously.
Wow I am so glad I stumbled across this series! I have an incredibly similar 8” bench grinder, i mean everything down to the bent dust shield is exactly the same so I am running into the same issues when trying to grind tool bits and such.. (the rest having too coarse of an adjustment, the powder coat on them, it being mounted with a carriage bolt through both sides of the dust shield making it more difficult to change the wheels, & my rest is actually off center because of the dust shield being bent..) So I’ve been wanting to make a new rest since I got this thing but I didn’t quite know where to start, I know I want it to be super rigid but mounting options are pretty limited. I really like what you did here though, you made something very rigid & very functional while still using the factory mounting locations! And I really like the idea of the miter slot, very handy! So I shall use what I’ve learned here to make my own rest, hopefully as good as yours!
Hay there gal, I'm working the same problem did not like using the guard for a mount spot. so I'm using a plate mounted behind the guard coming out to the front of the guard. and will mount things there. just working on it now, we'll see how it works. think I'll be able to come up with a degree system for angle on the wheel.
16:27 - a note referencing a comment from a previous video, then: seems like this miter setup is what's required to get that precision you talked about from single-point threading. Order of operations: 1. Make grinder platen with; 2. Make miter guide for it; 3. Grind cutting tool; 4. cut threads! Now I know! :)
I have a sears version of the same grinder. In the process of making squared guards out of angle iron, as the factory stamped versions are just really sad. I grew up with a baldor with cast iron guards, the rigidity is so much better. Thanks for sharing, great content and ideas.
Another fantastic video. Would it be possible to do a video on the carriage locking lever you made for your lathe?. My lathe is very similar and I have to retract the whole slide to lock the carriage using the allen bolt. Not quite sure how you made it.
I might do a video on all my lathe mods, including that one. That lever is just a piece of flat stock with a little piece of an old allen key pressed into a hexagonal hole in the end. So it's effectively a very flat 90º allen wrench, and it fits under the gib adjustments on the cross slide.
Wow that thing really fought you to the last breath didn't it? The nordlock washers looked interesting but they must be very job specific so I don't know what I would use them for,. Next time you are in Pensacola I'd be happy to buy you a beer. Good show as always keep up the good work.
Have you ever read any of Carroll Smith's books? A good portion of his oeuvre is racecar specific, but still broadly applicable. It's hard to overstate how big an effect they had on the way I approach solving problems. He had an amazing talent for making engineering practical and de-mystifying the process of designing and making stuff. Your style is unique, but the effect is the same.
I have similar rubbish rests on my grinder. Yours looks good and versatile. To stop your angle gauge vibrating loose clamp an O-ring under the knob. Being both sticky and compliant I think it will fix the loosening problem
I was going to suggest nylon washers . Star washers is also a good idea but I suggest neutron star washers , (the ones with the fingers pointing inwards instead of outward.)
Great series every vid I watch is very well done, but watch out with the aluminum on grinding wheels as you said about self aligning with the grinding stone when laying out the wheel cut out area.
@@Blondihacks Careful, you should keep a separate wheel for grinding your tungsten tips, lest you embed other metals from the grinding wheel into them, or otherwise contaminate them. I keep a separate lower speed grinder just for TiG points.
The nordlock needs to be under the nut. It works by grabbing the nut and the surface. When the nut tries to loosen it actually has to stretch the thread. It won't work properly to just increase friction. Thanks for the videos! I have the same grinder and I really like what you are doing here.
You could always change the knurled nob that locks the table to a lever, like the ones that lock the mill table down to get more torque, nice project that i need to make something similar, my biggest problem is the actual tin bracket on the machine, its very tinny and making your great project i first need to address this. Checkout the plastic tool that comes with the tormek grinder you can buy them seperate it might give you an idea to make a guage. I think its the TTS 100.
Your diversion to the subject of lock washers reminds me it is time to re-read one of my favourite authors. Caroll Smith wrote a series of books on driving, building, and engineering racing vehicles, (He was the other Caroll to Caroll Shelby who beat Ferrari @ LeMons), entitled "Tune to Win", "Drive to Win", "Engineer to Win", "Prepare to Win" and the fifth book in the series, "Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners, and Plumbing Handbook", aka 'Screw to Win". Engineer, Prepare, and the fastener handbook should be required reading for anyone that is building anything. The former will teach you all about thinking through forces, shear planes, materials, and just what it is you are trying to accomplish. The fasteners book will teach you not only what fastener to use when, but the all important why you choose the one you should.
HI BLONDI, YOU DID A WONDERFUL JOB ON THE TOOL REST. I HAVE THE EXACT SAME GRINDER AND YOU ARE RIGHT THE TOOL RESTS ARE JUNK. FUNNY HOW WE BUY THESE TOOLS MADE IN CHINA AND WE ALL HAVE TO FIX AND IMPROVE THEM. I HAVE A GRIZZLY 12 X 36 GUNSMITH LATHE AND A GRIZZLY BENCH MILL. I HAD TO MAKE 3 IMPROVEMENTS ON EACH, NOW THEY ARE NOT TO BAD , AS KEITH FENNER SAID ( ON A SIMILAR PROBLEM ) THERE MUST BE A LESSON HERE. ENJOYED WATCHING !!! JOE FROM S. JERSEY
Hey Blondiehacks! Love your videos, and I'd like to share a hack with you. Use a sharpie instead of the layout die. I saw a a few people doing it, tried it, and never looked back! Much more convenient and less messy!
You'll see me using sharpie in my videos as well. Sharpie doesn't hold up to abrasion and oils the way layout dye does, so I use it for more short-term layout.
Came out nice. You might try those "Clamping Lever" handles that you can reposition as you can get lots more torque I use them on things like that they work well but are not cheap as reusing the factory knob.
a very elegant solution that has given me some great ideas but a couple or 3 nuts instead of the thumb wheels, some matching bolts and a wrench would accomplish the same. you can spot weld the bolts to the bracket so they don't turn or if you don't have a little wirefeed welder, a dab of JB weld will beat all heck out of a lock washer... Git-R-Done
I realize this is a bit late. Recently finished the tool rest table that is part of the acute sharpening system from eccentric engineering. It is a complex system, maybe over the top for sharpening lathe tools. They do two things that might be of interest. Instead of a lock washer they use an 0-ring. This works well and you get to play with trapaning when making the disk that captures the O-ring. ...And they solved the problem of setting the table angle by making templates that on rest on the table and wheel. Thinking I will follow your lead on this one and use a miter slot. Love you vids. Off to check out what Clough42 did on this subject.
I really enjoy your vids. Your miter gauge has a 30 degree pin for the left face of the threading bit. How do you cut the other side. Another pin? Another miter gauge?
Amazing the grip you can by using a piece of regular typing paper or some very thin paper type gasket material-between the two flat metal surfaces. Give it a try.
Nice job! Like your video's thanks. Little trick for removing mill scale (you may know?) Sno Bowl toilet bowl cleaner. Put some in a plastic bowl drop in the part, drink a beer or two, take it out and the part is clean as a pin. Don't leave it to long. Cheap and sure beats scrubbing it off! Keep up the good work.
Interesting! My guess is the ingredient doing that is lye. That's what's generally in drain cleaners, toilet cleaners, etc. A powerful base. I'll give it a try!
Dunno?? Both of ya'll have put more thought into it than I ever have.... Know it works, been using it for years building bit's, spurs, buckles and such. Works quite well actually.
Hi Blondi, I had a grinder wheel that my dad used to put on his wood lathe, i re made it into a bench grinder, but a very rough steel frame that the bearing assembly, pulley and wheel sits on. The headache is the tool rest, and since my grinder will only sharpen hss bits, im custom building the toolrest only for sharpning hss. I have no up or down movement on my toolrest, will that be ok? Or do i need it, it will be able to tilt down, away from the wheel to get the about 10° angle. But i like your idea on the mitre, and definitely going to do somethimg similar, i do not have a mill, so my design will be be using bearings on a "folower rail" if i can call it that, at the bottom of my toolrest, (i made it big😬) so doing this should work, Thanks for your informative videos💪🏻💪🏻
Awesome job, love the idea so much, I’m going to do the same thing to my medium and small grinders. My 8” is a cast iron body and parts, so can’t mod it. DAMN, YOU RELIABLE CAST IRON! LOL.
@somebody else, love the channel name shows selflessness when wanting to give you credit. Great question, somebody else. Because everything on the machine is made of cast iron, the arms holding the plate, plaitens, platters, plantains, etc. rigidity is already built in. So, being that Quinn’s project is awesome I can do it to my other grinders, made out of cookie cutter designed sheet metal. But not to the already ridged cast iron one, where you were the only one to miss the point of the joke. You let a 50-60 lbs, cast iron joke, albeit an “office” joke, but a joke none the less, fly right over your head. Now, go bother “somebody else”. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge
@somebody else, ha ha, no. There wasn’t what’s his name was on third who’s on first but somebody else let it slip. I have to say, for being “somebody else”, you’re a good sport. Don’t you dare change your RUclips name. It’s one of the best ones. 👍.
Good question! I don't think so, because the vibration is in all directions. Left-hand threads will keep spinning things from loosening (assuming counter-clockwise rotation), but vibration will loosen anything.
Accept it Quinn, we gnarly metric people know a thing or two. We also know that a coil washer doesn’t lock by biting in between faces, it goes on one end of the thread to keep the threads in tension during vibration to prevent loosening as vibration alternately lets the thread tension off and on.
Why Surgical Foresepts? Most folks use either common needle nose pliers, or needle nose vise grips. I think the standard shop tools maybe a bit more cost effective?
Forceps are operable in both directions with one hand and very easy to work with. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it! They are not expensive. There’s a link in the description.
👗⚪️ Turned out great (after tweaking) would specific angle guides be better than the adjustable one? New camera angle for intro was good, a better view of your workspace, how about a little shop tour? Nice to see Abom has finished his leg of the relay, will the box survive Uncle Bumble ? 🤣 I've been called lots of things but "gnarly" is a new one 😁
Yah, specific pinned angles might be better- you don't really need infinite adjustment, just the correct angles for tool bits. A shop tour will happen at some point, once the channel is bigger and there's enough people who would care :) And yah, I can't wait to see what you-know-who does with the Relay. :D
Is the riser part stiff enough ? No roll on the rest ? Also, could the rest itself, thick as it is, get to bind the wheel like a cantilever clamp if roll occurs. I'd want to have more clearance on the sides. I guess you get a better feel for it than me on my couch. Thanks for the calm and precise commentary and thanks for no music. Subscribed.
Oh goodness no, there’s no way that’s going to bind the wheel. It’ll grind the rest to dust before that happens. There’s no flex in the riser. It’s 1/8”’ steel plate and only a couple of inches long.
I've blued ,blacked and de-rusted all sorts of parts from guns to Triumph Spitfire gearbox parts using this method and you should too. (It's platen as in flatten,also aluminium).....smart ass brit. Ant way this is a great way to save expensive oxide coating fluid and most ,not all,are made from selenium dioxide,a product called cold blak is available in 4.5ltr containers from "frost restoration" in the UK,as gun shops act the fool on prices,and as selenium dioxide is toxic and messes with the reproductive system,less contact is better. 1/ get a zip loc bag big enough to hang in a bucket of warm or cuppa tea hot water. 2/ Add the part to be de-rusted/oxide coated,then add a small quantity of de-rust/oxide coating solution. 3/Add water to the bucket with the part in zip loc bag,leaving zip loc open ,the water will compress the bag onto the part forcing intimate contact to the part. Top up each bag with solution 'till each part is covered,it won't take much,also hot water will soften the bag and allow it to conform to the profile of the part,but be careful of sharp edges etc. A clear bucket/tub allows easy visual check of the coverage of each part as it is immersed and level checked before adding more bags/part combinations to the water container Saves using brushes and tube,brushes can leave smear marks.and the hot bluing process can be left for a few hours 'till cool,the wash and oil. This has saved me the bother of messing with splashes or spills.lip loc bags come in a huge range of sizes and shapes,shafts can be done in this manner i did gun barrels with long skinny bags and a trough made from rain gutter with end caps glued in place. Hope this helps,as it was a turning point for me for this use. Cheers .
Beautiful job. I guess my "to-do" list just got longer. I notice that you're not using the standard gray aluminum oxide wheels that are standard on this grinder. The finish you obtain is substantially better than they usually produce. May I ask what the while wheels you use are?
You’ll find them if you search for “white aluminum oxide”. I believe these are Norton. They work very well! Those gray wheels that come with consumer grinders are garbage
Well this was a great little series! I really enjoyed watching it, especially with all the real world course corrections and saves that always provide great learning opportunities. This is a project I need to do myself and I’m sure my attempt will be much more well thought out after watching this series. 👍 P.s. Where is a good place to buy the 2 inch shell mill you used?
I enjoy your videos but have a question. As having been an electrical engineer and having done machining I am not sure what a soldering station and oscilloscope has to do with machining other than equipment repair?
Indeed, check out my blog for, for example, a five year project where I designed and built a computer from scratch. This channel is part of a larger Blondihacks enterprise.
I restore vintage firearms. Ive had great success with cold bluing by boiling my parts in water for 10-15 minutes before dropping them in oxpho-blue. Then i coat them in oil and wipe off. Consistent dark bluing. Try it next time, see what you think. Great videos !
I've got 2 bench grinders in the shop. A Baldor & a Griz… The Baldor is very good but the cast iron rests are small and don't wrap around. They have worn a lot and been re-machined several times. I'm not sure you will like the aluminum surfaces, as grit will likely imbed. The Griz… rests fasten to the sheet metal dust hoods and flop around. Been meaning to fix that. I think I will either make a rest that fastens to the base or sell the damn thing to another fool. One of the rests has an angular V groove that interferes with using it. Fixed that. The arbors were terribly machined and unusable as they came. Conclusion, cheap bench grinders are a kit that you can almost make useful.
So, with the "Buy me a Beer", what is your Personal Preference of ale/lager/ipa? As a resident of Western Washington State, I absolutely love my "BIG BALLARD Imperial IPA" made by RED HOOK Brewery in Seattle, Washington.
Campagnolo? Ya know, the bike-parts people? They make a superior anti-rotation washer for old-skool bike brakes. Not a lock washer per se, but a very useful item. Talk to the oldest guy at your Local Bike Shop.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm a woodworker who knows nothing about machining. Found it very interesting. Thanks.
I take great comfort in rewatching these older videos. Experiencing the same hurdles you once faced and overcame to now be taking bigger challenges in your stride all coz of the tools you once toiled to make.
The whole series I thought I would ad a support to the base off the grinder. Now you did exactly that. As always, learned a lot!
You are a great natural instructor Quinn, you are a pleasure to watch and learn from. I am fairly new to machining and in my 60's. My 3 granddaughters will be seeing your videos as they get a bit older to view a great example of a very gifted role model.
Thank you very much! I hope I can inspire other women to try machine shop work.
I am in the process of building a tool rest for my Harbor Freight 8" grinder.
I think you saved me a lot of work when you showed moving the mount from the wheel guard to the motor base. I was planning to use the wheel guard even though I was concerned that it was not rigid enough. I am going to skip ahead and plan on using the motor base from the start.
Thank You for the great video series.
Thanks! Great series. Practical device.
Really enjoyed this series Quinn.
You should do a remake on the miter gauge. You are correct with the lock not holding, it needs to have a pivot pin and a separate locking mechanism.
Again, thanks for sharing your craft.
Cheers
Nice series. I enjoyed.
Thanks, Mr. Pete! That means a lot to me.
THAT is a real SWEET tool rest!
Thank you! I'm really pleased with how it turned out.
This has been slightly mesmerising to watch. Thanks! 😀
Great project. I appreciate the tips as you go along but also your analysis of what went well and what didn't and how you corrected it.
Awesome, thank you!
Love your channel. I just binge-watched several hours of your videos. I don't know if I'll ever wind up buying a lathe and mill, but i still love learning the techniques. Both you and This Old Tony are great instructors. The humour makes it even more enjoyable. Keep up the great work! Cheers.
what he wrote ;)
Thanks for these videos. After watching this, I checked my grinders and discovered that the one I inherited has a completely different set up which will makes for a more rigid mounting. Thank you so much for your videos!
Great video series. I like the miter gauge idea. It looks like the miter gauge would be really handy for touching up an angle on a cutter.
Quinn, I followed your design but I was after a way to sharpen tungsten, i machined grooves in the edge of mine and it works for sharp and blunt points as well as the 2 sizes of tungsten that i use. Thanks for doing 90 % of getting me there, love the channel.Thanks a bunch.
Hello Quinn
Fabulous videos - I really appreciate the way you cover EVERY little detail, and the rate at which you go through stuff: not too slow, not too fast, just the right rhythm. You’ve taught me a great deal: thank you.
As regards the fixing for the platen (which I think is pronounced as you prefer, since it is not spelt ‘platten’), and much as I love your little knurled buttons, I’d suggest a stake fixing with an eccentric rod operated by a lever. Have a look at the lever fixings for wheel hubs, or better still the pinch bolt for an adjustable height saddle, on a racing bicycle to see what I mean: I’m sure you could modify one, or use the basic design and machine a beautiful version of your own. The lever can be positioned to fold out of sight under the platen when in the fixed position. Quick, durable, superbly powerful and elegant, just like your work.
Cheers from Scotland
Will
Awesome! What a fun and USEFUL project. As someone that’s a stickler for precision, AND has hand ground bits, I love this!
Excellent descriptive video, very clear, great useful addition to the shop.
Not sure on your interposing the locking washers between two faces is standard practice, improving the contact area/flatness and using the co-efficent of friction to hold position. Having the screw affixed to the arm is ideal, so imparting sufficient clamping force is the key, as you stated. A friction material could be used to improve, some fibre washer or similar.
Hope you don't mind my ramblings.
Best regards from the UK.
I did my first set of lathe tools at my school, I was already experienced with grinding but today I finally finished my 5
Rougher
Finisher
.25 radius with zero light pass through when putting a half inch round stock on the grind.
A 3/16 in groove tool with a radius.
Left offset thread Perfect no light pass through
It is nice to have a school that offers classes like this! Good for you.
Opted not to comment in parts 1-3, in favor of saying here that I enjoyed this series immensely... especially the parts about dealing with mistakes and the complexity of considerations when audibles get called. Great stuff. Someday, the person who invents a brass magnet will also formulate an effective nubbin removal spray to help make more efficient use of scrap stock. Many thanks for sharing this.
This video really resonates with me, im not a machinists but watch a few of the channels, and I have a budget 6" grinder ive had for years with the typical flexi-crap tool rests and I too had to make modifications to address the issue. You did a great job on fabbing this one up. Ive seen a few of your videos and now I have a new machinist channel to add to my bookmarks-!!
Thanks for the kind words, and for watching!
Enjoyed the series Quinn! I wondered how you would overcome the lack of rigidity of the sheet metal guard and I like your solution. One thing certain about machining, it's a constant learning process, which to me keeps it interesting.
Thanks! You can never solve all the problems in the design phase, much as we'd like to.
Well done B-H! It's amazing how much versatility that simple mod will give your grinder, and all the shortcomings will guide you towards the ubiquitous "Mark 2". It turned out very nice and it is nice to have the original rest as only a memory now, cheers Quinn!
Thanks very much! I learned a ton doing it, and may make another for the other side with what I've learned.
Thank you Quinn. I still don't have my lathe set up but I am in the process of cleaning out space. If I can never stop watching videos I get a whole lot more stuff done :-). But I am interested in tool grinding now I figure that's a good place to start along with leveling and positioning are lathe.
I gained a lot of pointers on this video. I want to build a platon for my bench grinder also. I'll be reviewing these videos again. Once more thanks a lot.
Those forceps are great!
BRAVO! I've been wanting some kind of precision tool rest for grinding lathe cutters, and you did a bang-up job. Thanks! I'm now a new subscriber.
Awesome, thanks for the sub! 😁
Subscribed . Project Egress sent me so it's hello from Hertfordshire England ( pronounced Hart-ford-sheer but don't get in a spin about pispernunciation it's not that important) Enjoying your mistakes and all approach to video making, it's the real world for most of us home engineers. Also nice to see the use of lighter machines because we don't all have room for a Bridgeport fire breather in the shed.
Here here! My shop is so small I have to stand on one leg.
Neat. I need to make one of these for my belt grinder for various reasons. Thanks for the ideas.
Just found this channel thanks to the Project Egress thing. So much for my doing anything productive this weekend.. lol
Haha, thank you! Welcome to my little channel.
Dude how did I miss this whole series???
Hi Quinn,
keep in mind that a scale for the grinder rest does not remain true when the rest is adjusted as the stone wears.
great videos, I am impressed.
A great series, I need to do something like that with my 8 inch grinder.
I really like your miter slide. That was enough to convince me that I need to make new platens for my grinders. To make them adjustable, I intend to use a pin for the pivot and mill an arced slot with a rotary table, and use a thumb screw to lock the angle.
I was curious how you were going to address deflection of your attachment points to the sheet metal covers. Your solution looks like it worked well.
Terrific! Glad I could inspire a project for you.
Interesting project - I've got an earlier model of the same grinder. The toolposts are a bit more robust but could use some serious redesign. So its great, you've done some of the legwork and I can work from there! BTW - Thanks to Adam Booth for the introduction by way of your "relay"! Great idea and waiting to see where it goes.
Hi Quinn, I love your videos - thanks for making them!
I have a suggestion - please consider putting links to the earlier parts of a video series in the comments, so when someone stumbled across part 4 without having seen parts 1-3 it would be easy to start at the beginning.
That said, your videos are great!
I got better at that in more recent videos. Check my playlists as well- everything is grouped into projects there
@@Blondihacks thanks - I did. Got distracted by a bunch of other great vids as soon as I got there! Great stuff.
I just got done mounting DRO scales to milll and lathe. So I was thinking, what about drilling and taping holes in side of cast iron base to mount from that. That takes everything off the sheet metal cover. Which is a flexi flyer. My 8" grinder needs work. This gives me some great ideas.
I was wondering how an internal tooth washer would have worked.
Put a couple holes in the thumb wheel and make a pin hook spanner or face spanner. - Stamped sheet metal wheel covers should be illegal! Some great results there Quinn.
It is great watching U work thru problems on the fly. I have two suggestions for your consideration. There are Belleville conical spring washers (McMaster Carr) which might work better in UR application and also if you put a bushing beneath UR thumb-screw to extend it past the lip of the platten you would be able to grasp it better to apply torque (leverage) - a longer bolt would be needed obviously.
Wow I am so glad I stumbled across this series! I have an incredibly similar 8” bench grinder, i mean everything down to the bent dust shield is exactly the same so I am running into the same issues when trying to grind tool bits and such.. (the rest having too coarse of an adjustment, the powder coat on them, it being mounted with a carriage bolt through both sides of the dust shield making it more difficult to change the wheels, & my rest is actually off center because of the dust shield being bent..) So I’ve been wanting to make a new rest since I got this thing but I didn’t quite know where to start, I know I want it to be super rigid but mounting options are pretty limited. I really like what you did here though, you made something very rigid & very functional while still using the factory mounting locations! And I really like the idea of the miter slot, very handy! So I shall use what I’ve learned here to make my own rest, hopefully as good as yours!
Excellent! Glad this was useful to someone! 😀
Hay there gal, I'm working the same problem did not like using the guard for a mount spot. so I'm using a plate mounted behind the guard coming out to the front of the guard. and will mount things there. just working on it now, we'll see how it works. think I'll be able to come up with a degree system for angle on the wheel.
Great project. Thank you.
nice work ,you just increased the usefulness & functionality by 400% on that grinder
For sure. A much better tool now. Makes you wonder why the factory doesn't spend a few more pennies on this.
16:27 - a note referencing a comment from a previous video, then: seems like this miter setup is what's required to get that precision you talked about from single-point threading. Order of operations: 1. Make grinder platen with; 2. Make miter guide for it; 3. Grind cutting tool; 4. cut threads! Now I know! :)
Great series! I need to make some for mine!
Nicely done.
I may try something similar for toolbit grinding and for sharpening drill bits as well.
Thanks, and Meow to Sprocket.
I have a sears version of the same grinder. In the process of making squared guards out of angle iron, as the factory stamped versions are just really sad. I grew up with a baldor with cast iron guards, the rigidity is so much better. Thanks for sharing, great content and ideas.
Yah, consumer grade bench grinders are all really weak in this area. Thanks for watching!
you could use a cheap digital angle finder to set the table angle.
Oh great idea! I should get one of those. 😀
@@Blondihacks I know it's a year too late but most newer phones now have a level / angle gage already in them. That's how I set my grinder.
Another fantastic video.
Would it be possible to do a video on the carriage locking lever you made for your lathe?. My lathe is very similar and I have to retract the whole slide to lock the carriage using the allen bolt. Not quite sure how you made it.
I might do a video on all my lathe mods, including that one. That lever is just a piece of flat stock with a little piece of an old allen key pressed into a hexagonal hole in the end. So it's effectively a very flat 90º allen wrench, and it fits under the gib adjustments on the cross slide.
Wow that thing really fought you to the last breath didn't it? The nordlock washers looked interesting but they must be very job specific so I don't know what I would use them for,. Next time you are in Pensacola I'd be happy to buy you a beer. Good show as always keep up the good work.
I've only been to Florida once, but I'll stop in for that beer on trip #2!
I'll keep one cold for you
Have you ever read any of Carroll Smith's books? A good portion of his oeuvre is racecar specific, but still broadly applicable. It's hard to overstate how big an effect they had on the way I approach solving problems. He had an amazing talent for making engineering practical and de-mystifying the process of designing and making stuff. Your style is unique, but the effect is the same.
I have, in fact! I used to build race cars for fun (before machining took over my life).
@@Blondihacks I should have read the comments first! :)
I have similar rubbish rests on my grinder. Yours looks good and versatile. To stop your angle gauge vibrating loose clamp an O-ring under the knob. Being both sticky and compliant I think it will fix the loosening problem
I was going to suggest nylon washers . Star washers is also a good idea but I suggest neutron star washers , (the ones with the fingers pointing inwards instead of outward.)
Great series every vid I watch is very well done, but watch out with the aluminum on grinding wheels as you said about self aligning with the grinding stone when laying out the wheel cut out area.
Nice build with endless possibilities!
Maybe an adapter for grinding tungstens for your TIG torch-if you TIG weld of course.
Great idea! I've been learning TIG, in fact, so that would be a great addition.
@@Blondihacks Careful, you should keep a separate wheel for grinding your tungsten tips, lest you embed other metals from the grinding wheel into them, or otherwise contaminate them. I keep a separate lower speed grinder just for TiG points.
The nordlock needs to be under the nut. It works by grabbing the nut and the surface. When the nut tries to loosen it actually has to stretch the thread. It won't work properly to just increase friction. Thanks for the videos! I have the same grinder and I really like what you are doing here.
You could always change the knurled nob that locks the table to a lever, like the ones that lock the mill table down to get more torque, nice project that i need to make something similar, my biggest problem is the actual tin bracket on the machine, its very tinny and making your great project i first need to address this. Checkout the plastic tool that comes with the tormek grinder you can buy them seperate it might give you an idea to make a guage. I think its the TTS 100.
Your diversion to the subject of lock washers reminds me it is time to re-read one of my favourite authors. Caroll Smith wrote a series of books on driving, building, and engineering racing vehicles, (He was the other Caroll to Caroll Shelby who beat Ferrari @ LeMons), entitled "Tune to Win", "Drive to Win", "Engineer to Win", "Prepare to Win" and the fifth book in the series, "Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners, and Plumbing Handbook", aka 'Screw to Win". Engineer, Prepare, and the fastener handbook should be required reading for anyone that is building anything. The former will teach you all about thinking through forces, shear planes, materials, and just what it is you are trying to accomplish. The fasteners book will teach you not only what fastener to use when, but the all important why you choose the one you should.
HI BLONDI, YOU DID A WONDERFUL JOB ON THE TOOL REST. I HAVE THE EXACT SAME GRINDER AND YOU ARE RIGHT THE TOOL RESTS ARE JUNK. FUNNY HOW WE BUY THESE TOOLS MADE IN CHINA AND WE ALL HAVE TO FIX AND IMPROVE THEM. I HAVE A GRIZZLY 12 X 36 GUNSMITH LATHE AND A GRIZZLY BENCH MILL. I HAD TO MAKE 3 IMPROVEMENTS ON EACH, NOW THEY ARE NOT TO BAD , AS KEITH FENNER SAID ( ON A SIMILAR PROBLEM ) THERE MUST BE A LESSON HERE. ENJOYED WATCHING !!! JOE FROM S. JERSEY
Thanks Joe! 😀
Hey Blondiehacks! Love your videos, and I'd like to share a hack with you. Use a sharpie instead of the layout die. I saw a a few people doing it, tried it, and never looked back! Much more convenient and less messy!
You'll see me using sharpie in my videos as well. Sharpie doesn't hold up to abrasion and oils the way layout dye does, so I use it for more short-term layout.
Came out nice. You might try those "Clamping Lever" handles that you can reposition as you can get lots more torque I use them on things like that they work well but are not cheap as reusing the factory knob.
Yah, I think those would be a good option. I may retrofit.
A lever on the top knob so you can torque that washer?
a very elegant solution that has given me some great ideas but a couple or 3 nuts instead of the thumb wheels, some matching bolts and a wrench would accomplish the same. you can spot weld the bolts to the bracket so they don't turn or if you don't have a little wirefeed welder, a dab of JB weld will beat all heck out of a lock washer... Git-R-Done
I realize this is a bit late. Recently finished the tool rest table that is part of the acute sharpening system from eccentric engineering. It is a complex system, maybe over the top for sharpening lathe tools. They do two things that might be of interest. Instead of a lock washer they use an 0-ring. This works well and you get to play with trapaning when making the disk that captures the O-ring. ...And they solved the problem of setting the table angle by making templates that on rest on the table and wheel.
Thinking I will follow your lead on this one and use a miter slot. Love you vids. Off to check out what Clough42 did on this subject.
I really enjoy your vids. Your miter gauge has a 30 degree pin for the left face of the threading bit. How do you cut the other side. Another pin? Another miter gauge?
Amazing the grip you can by using a piece of regular typing paper or some very thin paper type gasket material-between the two flat metal surfaces. Give it a try.
Nice job! Like your video's thanks. Little trick for removing mill scale (you may know?) Sno Bowl toilet bowl cleaner. Put some in a plastic bowl drop in the part, drink a beer or two, take it out and the part is clean as a pin. Don't leave it to long. Cheap and sure beats scrubbing it off! Keep up the good work.
Interesting! My guess is the ingredient doing that is lye. That's what's generally in drain cleaners, toilet cleaners, etc. A powerful base. I'll give it a try!
It's actually not lye but hydrochloric acid...I don't recall the concentration.
Dunno?? Both of ya'll have put more thought into it than I ever have.... Know it works, been using it for years building bit's, spurs, buckles and such. Works quite well actually.
Great idea.
You use the white heel to grind HSS? Or just finish grind? Much cooler!
Beautiful
Hi Blondi,
I had a grinder wheel that my dad used to put on his wood lathe, i re made it into a bench grinder, but a very rough steel frame that the bearing assembly, pulley and wheel sits on. The headache is the tool rest, and since my grinder will only sharpen hss bits, im custom building the toolrest only for sharpning hss. I have no up or down movement on my toolrest, will that be ok? Or do i need it, it will be able to tilt down, away from the wheel to get the about 10° angle.
But i like your idea on the mitre, and definitely going to do somethimg similar, i do not have a mill, so my design will be be using bearings on a "folower rail" if i can call it that, at the bottom of my toolrest, (i made it big😬) so doing this should work,
Thanks for your informative videos💪🏻💪🏻
Awesome job, love the idea so much, I’m going to do the same thing to my medium and small grinders. My 8” is a cast iron body and parts, so can’t mod it. DAMN, YOU RELIABLE CAST IRON! LOL.
@somebody else, love the channel name shows selflessness when wanting to give you credit. Great question, somebody else. Because everything on the machine is made of cast iron, the arms holding the plate, plaitens, platters, plantains, etc. rigidity is already built in. So, being that Quinn’s project is awesome I can do it to my other grinders, made out of cookie cutter designed sheet metal. But not to the already ridged cast iron one, where you were the only one to miss the point of the joke. You let a 50-60 lbs, cast iron joke, albeit an “office” joke, but a joke none the less, fly right over your head. Now, go bother “somebody else”. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge
@somebody else, ha ha, no. There wasn’t what’s his name was on third who’s on first but somebody else let it slip. I have to say, for being “somebody else”, you’re a good sport. Don’t you dare change your RUclips name. It’s one of the best ones. 👍.
Hi 500w bench grinder is it enough for that tools?
On your tool bit jig if you made it a left hand thread would the vibrations tighten it instead of undoing it?
Good question! I don't think so, because the vibration is in all directions. Left-hand threads will keep spinning things from loosening (assuming counter-clockwise rotation), but vibration will loosen anything.
well done
Check out Stuart Batty’s Angle Gauge. It is the most precise one I have ever seen for a grinding wheel.
Thanks for sharing
Accept it Quinn, we gnarly metric people know a thing or two. We also know that a coil washer doesn’t lock by biting in between faces, it goes on one end of the thread to keep the threads in tension during vibration to prevent loosening as vibration alternately lets the thread tension off and on.
I've seen some small electronic levels that might work for setting the angle on the rest. Unless you want to make a scale...
Yes! That’s a great idea.
Why Surgical Foresepts? Most folks use either common needle nose pliers, or needle nose vise grips. I think the standard shop tools maybe
a bit more cost effective?
Forceps are operable in both directions with one hand and very easy to work with. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it! They are not expensive. There’s a link in the description.
Great result!
I chuckle over the translation of your you tube title to text in the preview. This one is blonde yaks.
👗⚪️ Turned out great (after tweaking) would specific angle guides be better than the adjustable one?
New camera angle for intro was good, a better view of your workspace, how about a little shop tour?
Nice to see Abom has finished his leg of the relay, will the box survive Uncle Bumble ? 🤣
I've been called lots of things but "gnarly" is a new one 😁
Yah, specific pinned angles might be better- you don't really need infinite adjustment, just the correct angles for tool bits. A shop tour will happen at some point, once the channel is bigger and there's enough people who would care :) And yah, I can't wait to see what you-know-who does with the Relay. :D
You'll come up with something clever 😊
we all gotta make things a few times before getting it right, but thats where the fun is
Is the riser part stiff enough ? No roll on the rest ? Also, could the rest itself, thick as it is, get to bind the wheel like a cantilever clamp if roll occurs. I'd want to have more clearance on the sides. I guess you get a better feel for it than me on my couch. Thanks for the calm and precise commentary and thanks for no music. Subscribed.
Oh goodness no, there’s no way that’s going to bind the wheel. It’ll grind the rest to dust before that happens. There’s no flex in the riser. It’s 1/8”’ steel plate and only a couple of inches long.
I've blued ,blacked and de-rusted all sorts of parts from guns to Triumph Spitfire gearbox parts using this method and you should too.
(It's platen as in flatten,also aluminium).....smart ass brit.
Ant way this is a great way to save expensive oxide coating fluid and most ,not all,are made from selenium dioxide,a product called cold blak is available in 4.5ltr containers from "frost restoration" in the UK,as gun shops act the fool on prices,and as selenium dioxide is toxic and messes with the reproductive system,less contact is better.
1/ get a zip loc bag big enough to hang in a bucket of warm or cuppa tea hot water.
2/ Add the part to be de-rusted/oxide coated,then add a small quantity of de-rust/oxide coating solution.
3/Add water to the bucket with the part in zip loc bag,leaving zip loc open ,the water will compress the bag onto the part forcing intimate contact to the part.
Top up each bag with solution 'till each part is covered,it won't take much,also hot water will soften the bag and allow it to conform to the profile of the part,but be careful of sharp edges etc.
A clear bucket/tub allows easy visual check of the coverage of each part as it is immersed and level checked before adding more bags/part combinations to the water container
Saves using brushes and tube,brushes can leave smear marks.and the hot bluing process can be left for a few hours 'till cool,the wash and oil.
This has saved me the bother of messing with splashes or spills.lip loc bags come in a huge range of sizes and shapes,shafts can be done in this manner i did gun barrels with long skinny bags and a trough made from rain gutter with end caps glued in place.
Hope this helps,as it was a turning point for me for this use.
Cheers .
Beautiful job. I guess my "to-do" list just got longer. I notice that you're not using the standard gray aluminum oxide wheels that are standard on this grinder. The finish you obtain is substantially better than they usually produce. May I ask what the while wheels you use are?
You’ll find them if you search for “white aluminum oxide”. I believe these are Norton. They work very well! Those gray wheels that come with consumer grinders are garbage
Try a fiber washer, quality gasket material. It comes in many thicknesses.Now I gotta make one!
Fiber or fiberglass washer in conjunction with a Bellville washer works very well for me in similar situations.
'two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts make a right'
Well this was a great little series! I really enjoyed watching it, especially with all the real world course corrections and saves that always provide great learning opportunities. This is a project I need to do myself and I’m sure my attempt will be much more well thought out after watching this series. 👍
P.s. Where is a good place to buy the 2 inch shell mill you used?
I enjoy your videos but have a question. As having been an electrical engineer and having done machining I am not sure what a soldering station and oscilloscope has to do with machining other than equipment repair?
Indeed, check out my blog for, for example, a five year project where I designed and built a computer from scratch. This channel is part of a larger Blondihacks enterprise.
I restore vintage firearms. Ive had great success with cold bluing by boiling my parts in water for 10-15 minutes before dropping them in oxpho-blue. Then i coat them in oil and wipe off. Consistent dark bluing. Try it next time, see what you think. Great videos !
Ive always hated the flimsy garbage tool rest that cheap grinders come with, this series was satisfying knowing im not alone in the dilemma..
They are surprisingly awful. If someone would make a decent one, we’d all buy it
I also prefer to clean the chips off with the shop vac. Cleaned up just once.
When CAD fails, break out the scrap and cutting torch!
I've got 2 bench grinders in the shop. A Baldor & a Griz… The Baldor is very good but the cast iron rests are small and don't wrap around. They have worn a lot and been re-machined several times. I'm not sure you will like the aluminum surfaces, as grit will likely imbed. The Griz… rests fasten to the sheet metal dust hoods and flop around. Been meaning to fix that. I think I will either make a rest that fastens to the base or sell the damn thing to another fool. One of the rests has an angular V groove that interferes with using it. Fixed that. The arbors were terribly machined and unusable as they came. Conclusion, cheap bench grinders are a kit that you can almost make useful.
Yah, agreed on all fronts. There are no “good” consumer bench grinders, just “ones you can make workable”
I can't wait to own shop tools someday 😞
So, with the "Buy me a Beer", what is your Personal Preference of ale/lager/ipa?
As a resident of Western Washington State, I absolutely love my "BIG BALLARD Imperial IPA" made by RED HOOK Brewery in Seattle, Washington.
Its primary purpose is a shield to protect the operator if the stone breaks up
Campagnolo? Ya know, the bike-parts people? They make a superior anti-rotation washer for old-skool bike brakes. Not a lock washer per se, but a very useful item. Talk to the oldest guy at your Local Bike Shop.
Check out AvE's review on nordlock washers - interesting results