Paul's Garage Projects

My Boxford lathe came with the original quick change tool post, which is quite hefty and sturdy for a small lathe. I'd been using a spanner to switch between tool holders, but this tends to get in the way. I didn't have a rotary broach so needed to be a bit more creative. I started by turning some round stock to a suitable dimension, marked the centre, then secured it in a hex collet in the mill facing upwards. The finished project I found the centre with a small drill bit, then moved the mill in the X axis across half of the measurement across the points of the bolt (minus half the width of the drill bit). Then drilled down around 10mm and turned the hex collet block to the next index, keeping it in the same place in the vice. I did this for all six positions of the hex block, which left me with something that resembled a tiny pepper pot.  I then used an end mill the same size as the measurement across the flats of the bolt to drill out the middle. There was then a small amoun...

I had some spare metal knocking about in the garage and decided I needed an oil pot for use with my lathe. I'd recently been making an ER32 collet chuck so followed those dimensions for the thread. This allowed me to use the current gear settings in the lathe and the collet parts to check the thread fit. The finished project I used an end mill to create a flat bottom hole for a rare earth magnet. This is great for keeping the pot in place quite close to the working area on the lathe. Quite hefty for an oil pot, will definitely outlast me  

With ER32 Collett and Nut in place.  

New chuck key for the 4 jaw Aluminium and brass carriage stop Fixed steady made from what was lying in the scrap pile. Approximate dimensions Metric thread dial  

Complete assembly - surprisingly involved for something that looks so simple.  

Complete assembly. Could have done with a larger dial and a different internal design - this one was too fiddly to put together. Tool angle that seems to work well.  

Complete assembly After Blueing with added clip.