MAGNETIC BASE AND A THIRD HAND I use a small magnetic base vice to hold my dial-bore gauge while checking it with a micrometer. The extra hand allows me to get a better read on it. These are not expensive. I can store it near by, but out of the way. Steve Potz...
GREASY HANDS LOOSE GRIP When my hands are a little greasy, I have a hard time turning and grip- ping the twist knob to send my centering fingers out on my Kwik Way Boring Bar to contact the cylinders firmly. My fix was to cut a 2- inch long piece of a used bicycle...
PVC CAN BE A WONDERFUL TOOL I have a 6 inch length of 3/4 PVC pipe I have used for maybe 25 years. I use it for pushing floater wrist pins out of pistons with no damage. I use it to bottom washers on studded heads. I have used it to carefully push head gaskets onto...
IMPROVING THE BLASTING EXPERIENCE Like most machines, our glass beader has two 75 watt lightbulbs hanging down from the inside top. These cause a lot of shadows, glare in your line of sight and every once in a while, when you least expect it, a bulb shatters as if for...
POLISHING ARBOR I made an arbor to polish piston pins and pilot bushings that can be chucked up in my lathe, or even in a drill chuck. First I cut off the head of a long carriage bolt. This one was 3/8” coarse and will fit in a small drill chuck. Then added a nut,...
BALANCING ACT I installed pulleys at the top of my 20-ton press. I ran cables from the bed up and over the top. I welded up the ends of 2 pieces of 4” square pipe to form 2 bucket which I loaded with enough lead tire weights to act as a counterbalance to the bed. Now...