Name: Making A Boring Head For The Milling Machine (No Commentary) @artisanmakes
Uploaded: 2026-09-21T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: Making A Boring Head For The Milling Machine (No Commentary)

Making A Boring Head For The Milling Machine (No Commentary)

Artisan Makes 2026-09-21 | Making A Boring Head For The Milling Machine (No Commentary)

Did I Accidently Just Fix The Lathe?

Artisan Makes 2024-10-05 | G'day everyone,

First half of the video involves me flushing and replacing the oil for the headstock gearbox. It wasn't going to feature in this video, it was going to make up the beginning/flashback of a video if/when I tear the gearbox apart.

As it turns out though, by chance I had some different oil that I recently picked up for a different gearbox, and I decided to see what the thicker viscosity would do to the noise of the gearbox. I was told to use ISO 68 oil, the SAE 30 stuff is thicker, and as it seems, it does wonders for the gearbox noise.

The second half of the video was the project that I had planned. Changing the gearbox oil would have been a quick 5 minute video, and not hugely entertaining by itself, so I decided to combine the two into one video.

I need a quick DRO for the tailstock. I need to quickly set the origin for counterboring with an annular cutter and I will be doing this close to 100 times. I don't have the space for a carriage stop, so a DRO is the next best option.

A perfectly good solution can be fashioned from a cheap set of digital calipers, it just needs a bit of modifying first. I did this several years ago on the mini lathe. This design replicated it, but with a few improvements.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Timestamps
0:00 - Fixing The Gearbox For Now
7:53 - Adding A Tailstock DRO

Lathe Buying Tips - Don’t Make The Mistakes I Made

Artisan Makes 2024-09-28 | G’day everyone,

I’m currently helping a friend search out a new lathe, and I am also looking at possibly getting a lathe or a lathe to convert to cnc.

Last time I bought a lathe I spent weeks researching the machines available and looking at the details which I think are importantly to look for.

Some of these are obvious, some less so. And a lot of this is informed by the mistakes and things that were overlooked in the previous times that I bought lathes.

I hope you find this video useful.

Cheers

Making A Collet Chuck For The Lathe

Artisan Makes 2024-09-21 | G'day everyone,

This week I need to remake an old project that I made for the old mini lathe. And that is to turn a piece of 130 x 60 1045 medium tensile steel into a collet chuck for the lathe. I have some handles for some die holders that I need to turn, and my best bet is to use a collet chuck.

My favorite type of collet is the ER32 which I have found to be the most versatile collet that I own, and I own a full set which can hold sizes between 3-20mm.

The current collet chuck that I use is intended for holding endmills, and is not hugely rigid, as it is held in place by a morse taper and which is constantly trying to break loose.

So I decided to make my own that would bolt directly to the spindle nose. The biggest problem that I run into here is getting the chuck register made precisely, to a tolerance of less than 5 microns. And even though the lathe that I am using has a proper gearbox, it only has a 1hp motor, and the piece of steel that I am turning is quite substantial, and it put up quite a fight to get it turned.

I hope you enjoy the video, cheers.

Mill - Sieg x2.7l
Lathe - Hafco Al 250g

Collet chuck Build
Er 32 collet chuck Build
Making A ER32 Collet Chuck

#machining #diy

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
4:31 - Facing The Part
6:07 - Cutting The Spindle Register
11:04 - Drill and Tapping The Bolt Holes
14:08 - Machining The Front Features
18:34 - Cutting The Threads
20:15 - Cutting The 8 Degree Taper
21:38 - Testing

Straight Cut Face Gears - A Half Decent Solution

Artisan Makes 2024-09-14 | G'day everyone,

A quick detour this week from what I initially had planned. On Friday I was tearing down my cassette player and instead of repairing it, I got side tracked on the AM/FM tuning mechanism. It was some type of face gear (crown gear?) and of all the gear types, it is one that I seem to know the least about. And one that I haven't thought about in ages.

It seemed to be (at least visually) a thin ring with gear teeth cut into it.

I have been looking at a way to transfer power at 90 degrees through gears for a while. Bevel and miter gears are on my list of things to tackle but I haven't gotten around to buying the cutters and getting around to learning the theory behind using them.

As an interim solution which could be made with basic spur gear cutters. I am attempting to make which seems to be called in a straight cut face gear. The aim is not to make a perfect set of gears, these are limited to lighter loads and position jobs, but it could be a great method which bridges the gap between spur gears and bevel gears.

That is the aim here and that is what I am going to try and figure out.

I hope you enjoy the video.

#machining #diy

Making A Tandem ACME Tap - Its A Bit Weird

Artisan Makes 2024-09-07 | G'day everyone,

I need a tap again. Or two. I need some acme taps for tapping some deep holes for an oncoming project. I will be remaking the lathes top slide and parts of the cross slide to better suit my needs and the first part of that will be to make a new ACME/metric trapezoidal nut.

Given the smaller diameter that I need it for, and relatively long length, I doubt that I would be able to single point cut them with the lathe without it chattering.

So I decided to make a tap, which you have probably seen me do before on the channel. I would have skipped over this, however I came upon a small guide on how to make tandem taps for cutting acme threads, and I thought that it might be interesting to give it a go.

Never used one of these before but they are designed in two stages to allow for a roughing pass to be done, before being followed by the full ACME profile. I think the final tap looks pretty funky but it does seem to work.

I hope you enjoy the video, cheers.

Lathe - Hafco Al250g
Mill - Sieg x2.7l

ACME Tap build
Trapezoidal Tap Builld
Tandem Tap build

#diy #machining

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:24 - HSS Cutter
5:06 - Cutting The Tap Profile
9:45 - Milling The Flutes
13:29 - Final Part, Hardening and Testing

Making Worm Gears With Taps - BUSTED

Artisan Makes 2024-08-31 | G'day everyone,

This is a follow up to the worm gear cutting series that I made a few months ago. The process that I showed involved free hobbing the worm wheel. This is because I do not have a universal mill and dividing head, so this rather primitive method was needed.

In that video I was asked why I made a hob, rather than using thread taps to make the worm. I think this was asked so often because several popular videos show free hobbing, using regular thread taps, and the results are very similar to what I was able to achieve, using a correct 0.8 module cutter.

I have done a bit of further research on the topic and whilst I do think that there is merit to the method in some circumstances, there is often a lot of information missing in these videos which may mislead viewers into thinking that these are a equivalent replacement to a module worm drive.

They are very similar, but they rely on different formulas to achieve the gear size, and will yield different gear tooth shapes and pressure angles, which should be considered if you are planning on making them.

I am not making this as an attempt to rebuke these videos, I think there is merit to the idea, but it is important to consider all the details which will affect how the worm may behave.

Carbide VS HSS Tooling In the Workshop

Artisan Makes 2024-08-24 | G'day everyone,

I wanted to revisit a topic that I cover a few years ago. In fairness I didn't have a mill back then, and I have a new lathe.

The topic is the subject of carbide and hss tooling in the home shop. The common advice is that HSS tooling is the go-to for smaller lathes and mills, and whilst I agree to an extent, I do tend to do the opposite and use carbide.

I get asked about why, usually after I've broken an insert or two on camera, and I thought it might be best to revisit the topic.

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
1:53 - HSS Overview
4:26 - Carbide Overview
7:00 - Lathe Cutter Choice
16:09 - Endmill Choice
22:49 - Carbide Insert Tooling For The Mill

Dead-Blow Machinist Hammer - With Tungsten Carbide

Artisan Makes 2024-08-17 | G'day everyone,

Finally a return to normal. Putting off the project I had planned to quickly make a new machinist hammer. I am moving the sherline out of the workshop and I will be taking a few tools with it, including the machinist hammer. I was simply going to remake it and not film it, but I rembered a few comments about how it should have been a dead-blow hammer from the start.

I had no clue if there was any practical merit to that claim in the real world so I thought I might as well give it a go and see if it being a dead blow actually matters.

It also gave me a good chance to use the hand planer, which I have been looking for a new project to use it in.

Dead-blow Hammer Build
Dead-blow machinist hammer

Lathe - Hafco AL250g
Mill - Sieg x2.7l

#machining #diy

On CAD, 3D Modelling And Computer Aided Engineering

Artisan Makes 2024-08-03 | G'day everyone,

CAD and 3D Modelling are thrown around a lot when I do 3D printing and computer part design. I have been asked questions about the software that I use, and I think that it is a very misunderstood part about the design process, especially when 3D modelling software looks similar to 3D CAD (and in some ways they do the same thing).

I am no 3D modeler by any means, but I have used 3D modelling software (3ds max and blender) for rendering parts, so I know my way around the software, and some of the big differences between it and parametric CAD.

Solidworks has always been my go to, and I it is the one I know the best, but I have used CATIA V5 on and off over the years.

My goal here is not to show you how to use solidworks, it is just a brief overview of what it can and cannot do, what are its strengths and why I think it is a great piece of software (when it doesn't crash).

I will also attempt to describe the advantage of parametric cad, and why it is useful over direct 3D modelling.

A 5 second Mistake Landed Me In Hospital

Artisan Makes 2024-07-21 | Like the title says, a 5 second mistake landed me in hospital a month a ago.

I am not hugely proud of it but when I make a mistake like this I think I should own up it and explain it. Even if I didn't I am sure a lot of you would notice the big scar running up my index finger eventually.

Skip to 9:11 to avoid the bloody finger.

Making an Inverted Live Centre for the Lathe

Artisan Makes 2024-07-07 | G'day everyone,

This is another side project that I have done recently. I need to machine up some pins with a convex end. The pins are made from 1/2" stock and are long enough that they need to be supported at the end. My current live centre is convex and can not be used to support them.

I could have purchased an inverted live centre, but since I am going to have limited use from it, I thought that it would be much easier to make it from materials I already had on hand.

The bearings are not the exact type that I would have like to use, but they do the job and have stood up the job that I needed them for.

Lathe: Hafco Al250g

#machining #lathe

Building a Fly Press - 10 Months in 38 Minutes (Full Build Series)

Artisan Makes 2024-06-16 | G'day everyone,

This is a fun retrospective video that I have been planning on doing for a while. The fly press is easily my favorite project that I have done in the workshop and apart from the lathe and mill, it is my favorite tool. However when I set out to make it there was no guarantee that I could even make it and I lacked a lot of the tools to even pull it off. Some of them I wouldn't be able to buy and had to make it myself, which I did over the course of 10 months. It was a real gamble with a lot of time and money spent in the pre production phase, and many long weekends spend trying to get it finished.

So in this video I would like to cover the journey from start to finish in a chronological(ish) order, listing all the projects involved and why. This is heavily edited down from the 4-5+ hour run time to something more manageable. I hope you enjoy the video.

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
1:44 - Designing
3:40 - Steady Resting
5:50 - Helical Milling
9:00 - Screwing
10:18 - Tapping
16:22 - Tap Handling
18:24 - Vise..ing
20:13 - Fly Cutting
23:04 - Fly Pressing
36:05 - Summarizing

Avoiding A Dangerous Situation on the Lathe | Making A Lathe Spider

Artisan Makes 2024-06-08 | G'day everyone,

This is a side project I found myself doing whilst making some new die holders. I am making a few extra ones, similar to the design I made back in April, however I ran into an issue whilst machining some of the longer rods that were a meter long. The long length causes the unsupported end to sag and wobble whilst running. This is a very dangerous situation if the lathe were to run as the stock could bend and whip around.

The solution was to make a lathe spindle spider, which can slide on to the rear of the spindle and support the end of the stock. This is a quick project that I managed to knock out in a few hours. It was unplanned and I didn't have the right stock on hand, but I think I managed to get a final part that I was happy with. For what its worth, it has worked very well.

#machining

Heat Treating Alloy and Tool Steel - Heat Treatment 102

Artisan Makes 2024-06-01 | G'day everyone,

This is the final part in my 3 part video series on heat treating steel. The first one covered the basics of carbon steel (youtu.be/K8QhZGBlktM) and the second one covered the allotrope phase change at high temperatures (youtu.be/macpZu1m0YA), and in this video I would like to cover tool and alloy steels. The first half will be dedicated to what makes them special, and the second half will focus on some aspects to consider when heat treating them. I will focus on 01 specifically because of how common it is. For other alloys you will need to look up the manufactures guide, because each alloy will require different heat treatment steps.

#heattreatment

Steel shrinks when it gets hot. Thats NOT Normal.

Artisan Makes 2024-05-25 | G'day everyone,

Taking a small break from machining again to go into an interesting property that steel has. And that is when it gets hot it shrinks.... Kinda. This only happens during a small temperature window at high temperatures, but this property is not common, as most materials will only expand when heated.

Like last weeks video on heat treating, it all comes down to the microstructure. At elevated temperate the ferrite and perlite will rearrange themselves into austenite. The austenite is physically denser (due to the arrangement of the atoms in the lattice) going from body centered cubic to face centered cubic.

I will try my best do demonstrate it through a basic ball and ring experiment which I do hope was done correctly.

#machining #heattreatment

Heat Treating Carbon Steel - Heat Treating101

Artisan Makes 2024-05-19 | G"day everyone,

In this video I will be attempting to do two things, make a spoo.. I mean knife, and attempt to explain the theory behind basic heat treatment of carbon steel. Heat treating is on the face a very straightforward subject (especially with carbon steel) but there is a lot more in the theory that is at least worth knowing.

In this first video of a three part series I will go over the basic theory behind the heat treating of plain carbon steel, which is the steel I heat treat the most often. I will go over the reasoning behind why I choose to either oil or watch quench my parts and the expected results that one would expect from doing so. I will also go over the expected results that one would expect from tempering the steel at various temperates - looking at the expected hardness and toughness.

And through all of that I will attempt to make a single bevel Japanese style chef knife, although the real focus of the video is the heat treating aspect. This is not a knife making channel and I doubt you will ever see me make a knife again.

I will be light on some of the details however, a lot of he heat treating characteristics of low carbon steel are glossed over, as well as describing pearlite (I tried to but I was not very good at visualizing and describing it when I tried to edit it in) and I skipped over the TTT diagram (the bane of my existence in my materials course). Don't worry, a lot of these details will be filled in in part 2, along with alloy steel. But at over 26 minutes, I think there is enough detail for basic home heat treatment.

I hope you enjoy the video.

#heattreatment

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
1:10 - Carbon Steel
2:56 - Mild Steel, Work Hardening and Normalizing
7:57 - Knifeing
10:18 - Case Hardening and Annealing
16:41 - Water vs Oil Quenching
20:04 - Final Hardness and Tempering
20:28 - Knifinging

Lathe Trepanning - 99.9% Not Brain Surgery

Artisan Makes 2024-05-11 | G'day everyone,

As the title suggest, today we will not be delving into the subject of archaic medicine (also called trepanning), but instead we will be looking at a more efficient way of creating large holes in workpieces. I am looking to create a few mounts for some nema 23 stepper motors (for a project that may or may not materialize). The holes I need are roughly 38mm. That is a relatively large hole. A hole saw is not great in steel and boring it to size would take a long time and would waste a lot of steel (although it is the method I was planning on using).

Trepanning seems like a good method to try out here. Trepanning is like parting, expect we are parting on the face of the workpiece. Because the only cut we need to complete is a thin groove, the cut can be done quicker with less material wasted. I will grind up a tool and attempt to cut aluminium and steel.

I also want to take a look at annular cutters for cutting smaller holes, roughly 18 mm and up. I have been recommended them for quite some time and given that I am going to be making a few extra die holders, I though that annular cutters would be the perfect tool for the job. In addition to testing them I will also make up a basic tool holder to use them with. I hope you enjoy the video.

#machining #annularcutters

Annular cutters
Annular cutter holder
Making an annular cutter holder
Trepanning
Lathe Trepanning

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
1:57 - Tool Grinding
3:04 - Lathe Trepanning
7:41 - Making an Annular Cutter Holder
15:16 - Testing The annular Cutters

BUILD: A Toolmakers Bench Block (Staking Anvil)

Artisan Makes 2024-05-04 | G'day everyone,

I have bean meaning to add a bench block to my tooling for years but never got around to doing it. They are generally not expensive, but I never got around to getting one. However I have started to use pins, rivets and peens more often, and I do need to get one. I would like a model that has a hex shape, which would allow me to hold it in my vise, but the mass produced ones do not come with a hex base.

Starrett do make one, but once you factor in conversion to AUD, taxes and shipping, the price came out to $450. This is quite a lot of a bench block.

So I decided to make it myself. I have a piece of 4140 in the right size for the job. 4140 is not the best suited steel for the job, but it should be adequate. I will heat treat it to harden it (my first time heat treating a piece of 4140 this big) and I will use my tool post grinder to grind it.

I hope you enjoy the video.

#machining #diy #heattreatment

Mill - Sieg x2.7l
Lathe - Hafco Al-250g

Toolmakers Bench Block
Toolmakers Bench Anvil
Staking Anvil

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
3:13 - Lathe Work
6:55 - Cutting The Hex
8:45 - Milling and Drilling
12:52 - Heat Treatment
16:33 - Surface Grinding
18:06 - Final Part

Making A Die Holder.... But Better

Artisan Makes 2024-04-20 | G'day everyone,

In spite of the fact that I have a lathe that is equipped with a threading leadscrew and a tailstock die holder, I still use my die holder quite often for cutting threads. That is fine, except the standard die holder (and every on that I have come across) is not very well designed. I tend to use 3 screws to hold the dies and I never know which screws are holding when it comes time to remove the die. I always seem to have a screw come loose and drop on the floor.

I think there is a better way of doing this, at least for most non split dies, which is what I use.

In this video I will make a die holder with a similar design to the tap holder/tap wrench that I made last year. I will machine and weld up the body from some 1020 steel and case harden it in the furnace to give it a wear resistant and durable case.

I hope you like the design and like the video.

Mill - Sieg x2.7l
Lathe - Hafco Al 250G

Making A Die Wrench

#machining #diy

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:24 - Machining The Body
6:28 - Machining The Handles
9:59 - Machining The Cap
14:06 - Machining The Locking Pin
15:53 - Heat Treating and Case Hardening
20:16 - Assembly and Testing

Building A Metal Roller Bender

Artisan Makes 2024-04-13 | G'day everyone,

I wasn't planning on making this project, but since I recently built the whet sander, I thought that it was about time that I make a cover for the bench grinder wheel. It rusted out years ago and I have been meaning to make a replacement.

The cover is quite simple, except that it relies on a rolled piece of steel to act as the frame. I need a ring roller to make it.

I didn't want to spend a whole lot of time or materials on this project because I don't see it being used a whole lot in the future, so I opted to make it from the mild steel plate that I have left over from the whet sander project.

#machining #diy

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
1:11 - Making the frame
8:22 - Making The Connector Pins
12:02 - Clamping Screw
14:00 - Making The rollers
17:33 - Final Test

Best Way To Blue Steel? Cold Blue, Hot Blue or Rust Bluing.

Artisan Makes 2024-04-06 | G'day everyone,

In this video I want to show to show you a small experiment that I have conducted since mid January. At the same time that I nickel plated the tool holder, I also blued up several test pieces to test out various types of bluing. Bluing is a steel surface treatment, mainly used to cosmetically turn it black, but it also can provide some level of rust protection.

This is usually done by leavening it baths of very hot sodium hydroxide, which is very dangerous and I would discourage that process to be done in the home shop.

However there are several other methods that can give similar finishes and corrosion protection. These include hot oil bluing, cold bluing and rust bluing. However each of these have associated pros and cons.

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro into bluing
2:50 - Cold Blue
7:50 - Hot Oil Bluing
11:33 - Rust Bluing
13:52 - Corrosion Resistance Tested
14:41 - Hot Caustic Bluing

Whetstone Grinder Build - Part 2

Artisan Makes 2024-03-30 | G'day everyone,

This is part 2 of making a whetstone grinder for sharpening my tools. Part 1 can be found here youtu.be/cAaXBuPKkrI

The purpose of the grinder is to grind sharp edges on my tools. A normal grinder spins too fast and produces too much heat and dust. This grinder is much slower and submerges a part of the stone in water to keep the heat down and to stop dust and grit. There is also a honing wheel to remove the burr.

A tormek grinder costs over $1000 AUD which I can not justify, so I made this one instead. I hope you enjoy the video.

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
0:45 - Grinding Wheel
3:44 - Tool Sharpening Jig
8:09 - Making The Water Pan
10:52 - Front Cover
12:06 - MDF Honing Wheel
14:32 - Grinder Complete

Whetstone Grinder Build - Part 1

Artisan Makes 2024-03-23 | G'day everyone,

Having recently made a hand plane to plane down wood, I now need a way of sharpening the blade. The bench grinder is good for coarse shaping, but too coarse for the final sharpening. I have always wanted a low speed whetstone grinder, and now is the excuse I have been looking for to make one. The whetstone grinder will spin at roughly 1/30th the speed of the bench grinder and have the wheel submersed in a tub of water to lubricate the wheel and keep the heat down.

In this first part I will make the frame and basic internals such as the plain bearings/bushings, the main drive shaft and the worm screw and worm gear.

We previously covered making worm screws and worm gears in a previous video. youtu.be/lmpB1K5L6tI

#machining #diy #whetstone

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:12 - Making The Frame
6:15 - Making The Worm Drive (Worm Gear and Worm Screw)
11:45 - Making The Plain Bearings/Bushings
12:56 - Making The Main Shaft
16:16 - Making The Motor Bracket
20:00 - First Test

Making Worm Gears. Harder Than You Might Think

Artisan Makes 2024-03-16 | G'day everyone,

I have made countless spur gears on the channel, mostly because they are relatively easy to make with a dividing head and the correct gear cutters. However they are not very space efficient when it comes to making large gear reductions i.e. 40:1 or greater. This is where me might turn to a worm gear. For a worm gear, the gear reduction equals the number of teeth on the worm wheel. A 60 tooth worm wheel will yield a 60:1 reduction and a 60 times greater mechanical advantage.

However making them is not as straightforward as you would think. Worm wheels are not simply spur gears that have been tilted back in the dividing head to create a slant. They are a helical gear and they need to be hobbled.

There are videos on YouTube where people use taps to make "worm wheels" which look like worm wheels, but are not the correct profile and I doubt would work correctly under any proper load.

Without a proper hobbling machine, I will need to free hob the gears using the lathe.

#diy #machining #wormgear

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profile_angle
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_angle

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro & Gear Theory
4:27 - Making The Worm Screw
9:39 - Making A Gear Cutter Arbor
12:23 - Making A "Not A Worm Gear"
17:24 - Making A Gear Hob
21:19 - Free Hobbing Helical Worm Gears

Making A Small Hand Plane

Artisan Makes 2024-03-09 | No woodworking skills needed :)

G'day everyone,

Having recently done a few woodworking projects I found myself in need of a plane. There were quite a few occasions where this would have come in handy, such as breaking an edge to create a small chamfer or smoothing down a face to quickly remove a small amount of wood. However the planes that are sold at bunnings are not well regarded, and I am not exactly sure why. So instead of buying one and trying to fix it up, I decided to make my own.

There are a lot of styles, and having never used a hand plane before I decided to keep it simple. I will make a small plane from pieces of plate/bar steel with a narrow blade. The purpose of it is mainly for breaking edges. Once I figure out the ins and outs of making lanes I will hopefully make a full size jack plane.

#diy #machining

DIY Hand Plane

Lathe - Hafco AL 250g
Mill - Sieg x2,7l

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:31 - Machining The body
9:18 - Making The Blade, Adjustment Screw and Wedge
16:30 - Making The Handles
19:46 - Shaping The Plane and Peening over the Pins
21:33 - Assembly and Testing

Making a Buit-in Library Wall With a Rolling Ladder

Artisan Makes 2024-03-02 | G'day everyone,

You asked for more wood working content, so this is the follow up to the first video. In this video I follow a life long desire (well since November) which is to have a built in library wall with space for a tv. And for the fun of it I will add a rolling ladder too. In fairness the room is almost 3m tall so it does need a ladder of some type.

Again I am not a skilled woodworker, so you will need to bear with me with some of my techniques.

This project weas done mostly at night over the course of 6 weeks. The bookshelves from ikea were about 750 AUD. The laminated timber panels and 2x4s came in at about $800 and tyhe hardware for the rolling ladder was about $120. Plus an extra $200 for the hardwood for the ladder.

Built-in bookshelves Build

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
1:40 - Cabinets and Support Frame
5:02 - Making The Book Shelves
10:34 - Finishing Touches
13:37 - Rolling Ladder Build
19:59 - Final Result

What Is Wrong With The Lathe Now?

Artisan Makes 2024-02-24 | G'day everyone,

throughout January until now I have spent my spare time getting the lathe ready for this years projects. As you may know I am very happy with the performance of the lathe, considering the price I paid, however it did come with some shortfalls with regards to the build quality. In this video I will need to fix some of the issues that have cropped up over the year and fix a few issues that I failed to notice earlier. I will also need to construct a backplate for the new 125mm 4 jaw chuck. I have been overdue for one, and whilst it is not the size that I would like, I will need it to be able to make larger backplates (the 125mm 4 jaw chuck can hold stock 160mm in diameter).

Adding bearing to lathe steady rest
lathe steady rest upgrade
lathe backplate
machining a lathe backplate
lathe gearbox

Timestamps
0:00 - Taking A look at the gearbox noise
4:33 - Flushing the Gearbox Oil
5:22 - Fixing The Steady Rest
15:54 - Drill Chuck Key Holder
16:32 - 4 Jaw Chuck Backplate

Lathe - Hafco Al250G
Mill - Sieg x2.7l

#machining

Fixing An Overdue Mistake - Morse Taper Slitting Saw Arbor Build

Artisan Makes 2024-02-17 | G'day everyone,

I've been a little under the weather recently and I have not been able to get into the workshop a whole lot, but one thing I did do when I got in was remake my slitting saw arbor. The old one was made too long to be properly supported by the MT3 collet that I use to hold the mill tooling. The run out was also quite poor. I have also bought some larger slitting saws which require larger arbors.

The new arbor will have a morse taper shank for better rigidity and a thicker shaft to prevent flexing under load.

#machining #diy

Nickel Electroplating Steel In The Home Workshop

Artisan Makes 2024-02-03 | G'day everyone,

In this video I would like to explore a method of creating a rust resistant coating on my steel tools. January in my part of NSW has historically been quite wet, with this year being no exception. The workshop of far from airtight and that moisture in the air is not great for some of my mild steel tools.

I would like to cover bluing of steel one day, but in this video I would like to delve into my experiments with nickel plating in the home workshop. Before this I would have thought that electroplating was outside the scope of what you could do in the home workshop, but as it turns out, very basic nickel plating can be done with a basic set up.

As you will see a layer can be deposited onto mild steel which is able to resist corrosion quite effectively. However bright finish or hard nickel plating is outside the scope of what can be achieved here.

I hope you enjoy the video.

#electroplating

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
2:16 - Why not use stainless Steel?
3:42 - Realistic Goals for a home set up
4:15 - Nickel Plating Method
8:41 - Results and issues with a home set up
11:01 - Electro cleaning and Electroplating Methods

DIY Punch and Die For Sheet Metal

Artisan Makes 2024-01-27 | G'day everyone,

To start the year off right in the workshop, I thought it would be best to finish off a project that I started in December. And that is to make a punch for sheet metal. I am going to make it my aim to use more sheet metal in the workshop projects this year, but I need to sort out ways of cutting small features into it. For large stuff I use the angle grinder and files, and for holes I use a step drill. But for slots my go to was to use a file, which takes quite some time to do, especially if you have multiple to do.

But now that I have the press, I want to look into making a very simple punch and die that would have me make slots, and in the future more complex shapes if need me.

In this video I will first see if the fly/screw press is up to the job, and then I will look into constructing a more complex punch which I will then heat treat. I hope you enjoy the video.

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:14 - Making The Test Punch
6:30 - Approximate Force Calculations
8:39 - Making The Slotting Punch
15:01 - Testing The Punch and Die

New Year. New Workshop. Lets set it up.

Artisan Makes 2024-01-20 | G'day everyone,

Over the Christmas break I moved home, and the new place that I am staying at has a spare spot in the garage for a small workshop. Now I have no plans to move the workshop to this place, that is staying put. But I do have a few projects planned for this space , including the need to quickly make up a few pieces of furniture. So I need to set up the new workshop and get it ready.

I will make a basic workbench from some 2x4 timber. I have a new miter saw that I'd like to try out.

I will then make a custom shelving unit for the pantry. Finally I will make up a small tv console for the living room.

#diy #woodwork

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:24 - Making A New Workbench
8:41 - Making The Custom Shelving Unit
12:58 - Making A TV Console

The Ultimate Mini Mill - The Best Upgrades I Made To It

Artisan Makes 2024-01-13 | G'day everyone,

To kick off the new year I thought I should start with a video that was planned for last year. I know. The video I a look back on the upgrades that I have done to the milling machine and giving you a quick update on the ones that really mattered/improved the mill.

For what its worth, the mill was a much more complete unit than the lathe was, and finding areas to improve it was quite difficult. But eventually I found a few things to do, over the course of 2 1/2 years.

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
1:49 - DRO/Digital Readout
4:35 - Quick Change Mill Tooling
8:46 - Power Table Feed & Power Head Lift
10:16 - Speed Handle For the Vise
11:16 - Coolant For the Mill (Flood Coolant)
14:11 - Motor Upgrade (3HP Induction)
15:59 - Column Stiffening Bracket
16:51 - Epoxy Granite and Lead to Dampen Vibrations
17:24 - Gib Scraping

Cheap Reduced Shank Drills. Worse Than You Think

Artisan Makes 2023-12-30 | Hey everyone,

I am in need of a set of silver and demming/reduced shank drills. I spend quite a lot of time boring or using the boring head because I haven't acquired the vast collections of tooling that many machine shops accumulate over years and years. I was looking to purchase some larger drills, but unsurprisingly, they aren't cheap. Even the off brand ones are easily $50 plus for sizes larger than 15mm. Now I will be happy to pay for that one day (especially when I know what sizes I really need) but for now I decided to buy a set off ebay.

I knew that these drills would not be great. I couldn't find any videos on them, so I bought them to find out if they were a case of 'you get what you pay for' or a hidden gem. Turns out, they had a lot of issues, ranging from deep scratches, bad grinds and undersized.

Long story short, don't make my mistake.

#machining #drillbitset
Silver and demming drill bits
cheap silver and demming drill bits

Making A Knurling Tool For The Lathe

Artisan Makes 2023-12-23 | G'day everyone,

Fore the last project of the year I thought I might as well get around to doing a project that has been on my list for quite some time. And that is to make a new knurling tool. My old one is a bump style (or push type) knurler and whilst they are great for larger lathes, they do require quite a lot of force to use, and according to the machining zeitgeist, that is very bad for the spindle bearings.

The new style that I will make is a clamp style. It will use a screw to clamp the two pattern wheels on to the workpiece, which should save the spindle bearings. This seems to be quite similar to a scissor type knurl tool and I have no idea if there is an advantage to one type. All I know is the clamp style works and it works well. I hope you enjoy the video

Lathe - Hafco Al250g
Mill - Sieg x2.7l

#machining #diy #lathe

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:17 - Making The Main Body
5:36 - Making The Roller Arms
12:25 - Making A M8 x 1.25 Left Hand Tap
18:54 - Making The Leadscrew
21:26 - Making The Roller Pins
23:38 - Making The Backplate
25:05 - Final Assembly and Testing

Making A Cheap Rivnut Installing Tool

Artisan Makes 2023-12-17 | G'day everyone,

In this video I will be making a quick tool to install rivet nuts / rivnuts. Rivnuts are a way to install threaded sections in this sheet metal. They work similar to a pop rivet. however they do require a special tool to install them. the cost is not too expensive, but since I won't be using these a whole lot, if I can avoid paying for the tool, I would like that.

#machining #diy

A Tour Of My Workshop / Home Machine Shop (100k Subscriber Special)

Artisan Makes 2023-12-09 | G'day everyone,

A frequently requested video idea that I get is a tour of my workshop. Now as it is there isn't much to see that you probably haven't seen already, given that it is a pretty small workshop (roughly 12-13sqm plus a small storage room) and most of it has been captured on video at some point. But it is never shown all at once and I always try to employ some camera and editing trickery to keep the lighting rigs out of sight.

So in this video I will be going over the parts that you don't usually see on camera, and I will detail a few plans for the future.

It has been a great joy doing this for the past 3 years and I hope to bring you lots of fun project net year, cheers.

#workshoptour

Making Square Holes With A Square Broach

Artisan Makes 2023-12-03 | G'day everyone,

In this shorter video I wanted to experiment with pull broaches that may work on my small fly press. My fly press has the advantage that it can exert a pull force. A pull broach has an advantage that it has less risk of snapping, compared to a traditional push broach, although given the constraints of my fly press it will need to be about 20% of the normal size. I hope you enjoy the video.

Making A Power Feed For The Milling Machine | Cheaper And Better

Artisan Makes 2023-11-25 | G'day everyone,

It has been in the works for a while, but I can finally show you my power feed for the milling machine. I have wanted a power table feed for quite some time and I would have bought an off the shelf model, save for the fact that the Sieg brand one is very overpriced. I don't mind paying for the equipment that I use, but the sieg brand one really doesn't justify the price, considering what you get.

And it is for that reason why I decided to build a power table feed myself. The whole build centers around a geared DC motor with a worm gearbox. What I will do in this video is construct a rigid mount for the motor and a clutch mechanism to engage and disengage the power feed. Originally my plan was to use a design similar to Phil Vandelay, but I wanted to make the moving portion of the mechanism smaller, relying on only moving a clutch sleeve, rather than the whole motor assembly.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Mill Power Table
Mill Power Feed

#machining #diy #powerfeed

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:19 - Making The Drive Pin For The Leadscrew
2:56 - Machining the End and Cover Plate
5:50 - How To Mount The Motor And Gearbox
7:33 - Making The Clutch Mechanism
13:33 - Making The Selector Forks For The Clutch Sleeve
19:27 - First Test
20:08 - Making A Cover and Adding Limit Switches
23:26 - Final Test

Making Spline Shafts For a GEARBOX (Internal Splines too)

Artisan Makes 2023-11-18 | G'day everyone,

One thing that I always assumed was out of the question in terms of being able to make in my home workshop would be an internal spline shaft. External splines could be done (although probably not involute) but internal splines requires sophisticated pull broaches.

However when push comes to shove, and I need a spline shaft, well I had to figure out how to make one.

The spline shaft that I make here is a 6 sided, straight faced spline. This one in particulate does not adhere to iso standards, but with slight modification, I can see this being used to broach one that does.

I do want to point out here this this is a hobby focused video. Broaching 6 keys took a very long time, and I wouldn't expect a job shop to use this, but its always handy to know this method.

I hope you enjoy the video.

#machining #splineshafts

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
3:32 - Internal Spline Broaching
5:32 - External Spline Machining

Making A Broach To Cut Keyways

Artisan Makes 2023-11-11 | G'day everyone,

Now that I have a press for the workshop, I now need some proper tooling for it. One thing that has been on the top of my list of things to do with the press is to cut keyways into parts (mostly gears). I have ordered a off the shelf 3mm keyway tool, however a the 5mm broach which was for sale was too tall for the press. So in this video I will try and recrate one using a piece of O1 tool steel.

#machining #diy

Timestamps
0:00 - Gears and Keyways
2:49 - Making The Cutting Jig
4:04 - Making The Keyway Broach
8:34 - Heat Treatment
10:47 - Making The Keyway Broach Bushing
12:40 - Testing The Borach in Aluminium and Steel

Lathe - Hafco Al250g
Mill - Sieg X2.7l

Making A fly Press | Part 4 - Pressing Bearings And Bending Metal

Artisan Makes 2023-11-04 | G'day everyone,

It is finally time to finish the mini fly press for the workshop. In the previous videos I made the frame and base, and made the ram block and leadscrew (plus a little bit of heat treating). The last thing to do before I can use it is make a handle and fly wheel weight. I will also need to make some tooling for the fly press. this has been in the works since January and I cannot wait to get it finished and see how it works. I hope you enjoy the video.

#machining #diy #flypress

Making a Fly Press

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
0:45 - Making the square socket and retaining nut
3:37 - Making The Handle Side
8:53 - Making The fly Press Weight
12:24 - Painting
13:24 - Making The Stand
14:28 - The Fly Press is done
15:07 - Pressing a bearing
16:54 - Bending 3mm Flat Steel
20:30 - Letter Punching and Final Thoughts

Making A fly Press | Part 3 - Ram block, Gibs and Leadscrew

Artisan Makes 2023-10-28 | G'day everyone,

This is part 3 in the making a fly press for the workshop series. In the previous video I made the base and welded up the frame. I also tapped the large 40mm square thread for the leadscrew.

In this video I hope to get most of the other parts made. This includes the ram block which the leadscrew drives to apply force to parts. I will also make the guide block and gib strips which will keep the ram block in place. I will also use the helical milling set up to mill the leadscrew.

I will also be heat treating the leadscrew to add some strength to the screw, reduce galling between the thread and the nut and add some wear resistance. I did have to delay the heat treating by a few weeks due to a total fire ban, but I was able to do it once the heat and wind dropped.

I hope you enjoy the video.

#machining #diy #flypress

Making A fly Press

Timestamps
0:00 - Machining The Ram Block
3:25 - Machining A Split Retaining Ring
5:55 - Machining The Leadscrew (Helical Milling)
12:14 - Making The Ram Block Guides and Gibs
17:13 - Oiling Groove?
18:00 - Assembly
19:11 - Case Hardening The Leadscrew

Making A Fly Press For The Workshop | Part Two - The Frame

Artisan Makes 2023-10-21 | G'day everyone,

In this video I will be moving along with the build of my mini workshop fly press. In the previous video (youtu.be/I2OPgacXKtk) I managed to machine the base. All 25kg of it on my relatively small milling machine. If you haven't watched it, I suggest that you do to familiarize yourself with the scope of this project.

In this video I will finish off the frame, which will be made from welded pieces of 75mm solid square bar, roughly 3 inches. This is solid enough for this project. Before it can be welded it will need to be tapped using by massive 40mm square thread tap set, which I made a few months ago. The square thread is better suited as a power transfer screw than a normal 60 degree V thread.

However tapping with such a large tap set is going to be a very difficult and drawn out process.

#machining #diy #flypress

Fly Press
Fly Press Build

Timestamps
0:00 - T - Nuts & Intro
1:52 - Tapping For The Guide Blocks
3:07 - 40mm Sqaure Tap Set
8:40 - Tap Grinding and Take 2
13:14 - Grinding and Welding The Frame
17:18 - Welding The Frame To The Base

Making A Fly Press For The Workshop | Part One

Artisan Makes 2023-10-14 | G'day everyone,

I have been working on this project in the background since late January, and I can finally show it to you. Every year I like to do a big multi part project, last year was the machinist vise and this year I will attempt to make a fly press.

A fly press is a screw operated press with a flywheel or weight to help produce momentum and a large impact force on the part you are trying to press. My design will also develop more force than a similar sized arbor press.

The reason for this project is that I don't own a press. Never needed one until I seriously picked up hobby machining, and I thought a fly press would be a fun design to make and share with you. Unlike a normal fly press which is a solid casting of steel, my one will be comprised of many welded steel plate. It will be unconventional, but that just adds to the charm.

For this project I had to make the Big fly cutter, big tap set, the big tap wrench, the helical milling set up, the 2 piece split vise and the big v jaws. Plus I had to upgrade that lathe in order to machine the new screw.

In this first video I will make the base. The plan was to make the base and the frame, but the base was a lot more complicated to build than expected. I hope you enjoy the video.

Making A Fly Press
Building A Fly Press

#machining #diy #flypress

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
3:43 - Making The Base Wider
8:24 - Making The Base Rounder
9:53 - Welding...
12:15 - Massive Fly Cutting
15:50 - Machining The Back
19:31 - T - slots

The 6 Best Lathe Projects For Beginners

Artisan Makes 2023-10-07 | G'day everyone,

I have been working on this years major project, and it has been taking longer than expected. I was planning on releasing part one this week, but a few things got in the day so I have decided to delay it a week, rather than try and rush it.

So I had a good thought about what projects I would recommend to someone who is getting started with lathe-ing. Somewhat difficult because we pick things up at a different rate, but I have a short list of projects I think would be a good fit. Most of them revolve around lathe tools, which is good because once you are finished you get a tool that you will actually use.

If you think that I have missed a good project let me know in the comments. Cheers

#machining #lathe

Top lathe Projects
Beginner Lathe Projects
Metal Lathe Projects

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
0:57 - Half Centre (Very Easy)
3:45 - Scriber (Easy)
5:17 - Machinist Hammer (Easy)
7:25 - Tap Follower (Medium)
10:38 - Tailstock Die Holder (Medium)
12:46 - Carriage Stop (Mill Required)

Mini Lathe - Sieg c3 7x14 Mini Lathe
Mill - Sieg x2.7l
Big Lathe - Hafco Al 250G

Making A TAP Follower - Should Have Made It a long Time Ago

Artisan Makes 2023-09-30 | G'day everyone,

To finish up this small build series I have done on taps and tap wrenches, I wanted to build a tap follower. They are a popular first tool to make on the lathe, and for good reason. They help you tap parts perfectly straight. it is essentially a spring loaded center which locates into the centers in your taps. Helps you tap straight, which is pretty helpful on the lathe.

Now for my set up wanted a very specific design. The body had to be a morse 3 taper, to suit the lathe and the mill. I also wanted to move away from the stepped piston design. I think its adds a extra machining time that isn't necessary for the desired result.

Tap follower build
Making a tap follower

#machining #diy

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
3:05 - Design and Tolerances
6:02 - Making The Tap Follower
12:47 - Assembly And Testing

Installing A DRO on my New Lathe (Digital Readout)

Artisan Makes 2023-09-23 | G'day everyone,

I used to be of the opinion a DRO for a milling machine was a necessary upgrade to make it usable. Accounting or backlash in two directions on both the x and y axis (which happen to have different backlash values) was a bit more time consuming than I would have liked, and frankly I wasn't great at it.

Backlash on the lathe however has never fussed me that much, and I've always been able to get by with the handwheel dials and scribed lines. My parts have big enough tolerances that scribed lines work just fine for layout.

However with my new lathe, the handwheel dials (and the carriage ) move 15.5 mm per rotation of the handwheel. Not the worst thing, but it makes calculating distances traveled more of a hassle than it needs to be. The cross slide dial is also much coarser than before with more divisions on the dial. As a result its harder to read and harder to hit exact diameters.

So I ended up doing what I thought I'd never do, and buy a DRO. Not exactly a cheap investment, even an import DRO is $270. But now that I have it, lets install it.

#machining #lathe

Lathe DRO install
How to Install A Digital Readout on a lathe
Lathe Digital readout
Chinese DRO kit

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
3:55 - The Digital Readout
7:21 - Installing The Linear Scales
16:33 - Testing The DRO

I Had To Make a MASSIVE Tap Wrench. Its 270cm Long

Artisan Makes 2023-09-16 | G'day everyone,

In this Video I will be making a huge tap wrench to hold my big 40mm taps that I made a few weeks ago. The shank on those taps measures out to be 30mm in diameter, which is too big for any of my current tap wrenches. Probably not too surprising.

Now I don't want to overthink this project, put it simply, I want to make a big tap wrench. I didn't have to do this, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. The final result is a very strong tap wrench, and having used it I can say that it is very solid.

I will be making it from a piece of 25 x 75mm bar stock which I will turn between centers on the lathe and turn a thread for some handles.

I hope you enjoy the video.

#machining #diy #tapwrench

Making a Giant Tap Wrench
2.7M Long Tap Wrench
Massive Tap Wrench Build
DIY Tap Wrench

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
1:15 - Turning Down The Main Body
8:36 - Milling The Main Body
11:01 - Machining The Moving And Fixed Jaws
13:52 - Turning The Adjustment Screw
16:29 - Turning The Handles
20:18 - Final Assembly and Measurement

I Had To Make a HUGE 40mm Thread Tap - Its BIG

Artisan Makes 2023-09-02 | G'day everyone,

Back in the workshop again and this week I need to make another tap. I need a screw with a large pitch which is also good for transmitting power. That rules out a multi start V thread, which isn't great at efficiently transmitting power. The go to solution would be an ACME or metric trapezoidal tap, which can be single point cut on the lathe. However my lathe wont cut a pitch large enough.

That is fine though because I have the helical milling set up, but that only produces square threads. Not my first choice but we can make do with it.

And that brings us here. I have never made a square tap, and I have never made a tap this big - SQ40 x 8. Machinery's handbook advises that these threads are difficult to cut with a tap, which filled me with confidence.

I will be making a 3 set tap set. 3 is the bare minimum for this thread pitch, but I could have gone up to 5. Each tap will have a different diameter to reduce the cutting force. The first one being 34mm to establish the threads, the second tap being 37mm to widen the cut and the final being 40mm to finish the profile.

I will also need to case harden the taps. i used some hot rolled grade 300 steel which is low carbon. Not my first choice of steel, but we can make it work. I will carburize it int he furnace to increase the carbon content then I will quench it in oil to end up with a tap 55 Rockwell C.

The final tap set looks pretty crazy and out of place. I have never seen a tap this large outside of a pipe tap, although the pipe tap had a much finer pitch. And I will also test the tap in aluminium. I don't have the stones to sharpen it yet so I will keep the test easy and use aluminium. Although the end goal is to tap steel. I hope you enjoy the video.

Mill - Sieg x2.7l
Lathe - Hafco Al250g

#machining #diy #tapbuild

Sqaure thread tap
Massive tap build
Making a thread tap
Square threads

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction to Sqaure Threads
3:24 - Turning Down The Blanks on the Lathe
9:07 - Cutting The Sqaure Threads On The Lathe
12:00 - Machining The Flutes
14:07 - Case Hardening The Taps
18:52 - Sqaure Thread Tap Set Testing

How I Made My Other Face Mill

Artisan Makes 2023-08-26 | G'day everyone,

Been a little under the weather this week so I didn't get much of a chance to get into the workshop. Thankfully I had enough footage from an older project to stitch together a video in premiere when it decided stop crashing.

The video is how I made my other face mill which I have used in projects such as the big V block video. Unlike the other one which uses square inserts, I am using a set of CCGT inserts that I don't use for the lathe. These inserts should allow me to machine up to a 90 degree corner.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Mill: Sieg x2.7l
Lathe; Hafco Al 250g

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
1:24 - Lathing
5:06 - Milling
9:53 - Assembly and Testing

#machining #diy