ANOTHER ARBOR To cut down the flange on 12-point nuts for clearance, we built this simple arbor which allows us to cut 12 at a time. Simply a piece of all-thread cut on one end to clamp in the jaws and drilled for a pilot hole on the other for the lathe tail stock....
GIVE IT SOME BODY Some cam lubes are thin and drip off the cam lobes. I take thin lube and add gel capabilities to hold on to the cam lobe until start up. To do this, I add a small amount of petroleum jelly to thin cam lubes. It gives them more body so they’ll stay in...
STICKY SITUATION Most of us know that magnetism on parts such as connecting rods is a very bad thing. Heat and friction can cause used rods to become magnetized. Today we can download Gauss/Magnetometer apps for our phones. They use the phone’s internal compass to...
CARTRIDGE ROLL LIFE When doing port work, one way to get much more life out of your cartridge rolls is to cut the glue at the end and unroll and cut the sandpaper back to a fresh surface. This will also reduce the diameter for hard to reach places. I found that the...
KEEPING CHIPS FLOWING When using a grinding discs, sanding disks or carbide die grinder tips on aluminum, use “cutting saw wax” as a lubricant. This will keep the aluminum from gumming them up. Just apply to the surface and grind away, reapplying as needed. Brad...
SHOP MATH Ever wonder how to find the center of 2 pulley groves? Use 2 long straight bolts, 3/8” in this case. Lay one in each pulley groove and measure the distance across both. Now subtract the width of one bolt to find the centers. (1.078”-.375” = .703” [.700”] in...