Search results

I'm curious... What is the biggest (and / or heaviest) "bench" style vise ever made? The biggest I'm aware of is a Hollands 18, which is supposed to be in the 350-400 lb range:

Recently, I brought home this 6" Morgan vise that Mitch restored for me: One interesting thing about this old Morgan are the jaw screws. They're not standard! A search of common hardware suppliers turns up nothing like them. Mitch and I discussed several options and on my last visit (when...

Last week the left spindle on my little riding mower blew up, literally. A few too many bricks, rocks, tree limbs and general abuse I suspect. I took a trip down to the mower shop with plans to buy a new spindle and be up and running by evening. The last time I replaced this spindle it cost...

Like most mechanics and machinists I often need to reference a drill or tap chart to pick out the correct tap drill, clearance drill, or just to know what size a Letter U drill really is. Until today I've either washed my hands thoroughly before opening up Machinery's Handbook or I've used a...

My neighbor came by late last week with a project: Find out why his ATV wouldn't start and fix it. He uses this ATV every single day and it starts and stops constantly. The starter button is actually worn! After a few minutes of fiddling, it was obvious the starter motor had a burned...

Have you ever gone to the store to buy something, only to buy something else and return without what you set out to buy in the first place? This is one of those stories. While having some negatives made at the local newspaper today the printer and I got to talking about Linotype machines. In...

The thread on judging mechanics by their tools made me think about this particular garage. So, keeping in the spirit, let's judge this garage. Did anything happen here, or is it just another old, tiny, termite-infested impediment to progress?

Recently, I have been researching lathe chucks as I am in need of a new one. Initially, I was interested in the Buck semi-steel BVC series chucks as I had assumed they were still made in the USA. In fact, I called Buck Chuck to ask about the country of origin of their current products, but...

A Herringbone Parquet Floor, From Scratch I alluded to a big project coming up a while back in my Do-All saw thread. I hoped to get started on it over the winter, but other things got in the way. Now that it's finally nice and warm out, I'm ready to begin the next phase. This project...

A vise is a vise, right? WRONG! I'm sad to say until a few days ago, I did not have a decent bench vise. Good quality old iron is fairly rare around here, or I don't know where to look. As a consequence, I've "made do" over the years with a couple cheap farm store vises. The results have...

Last week I received a surprise from fellow GJ member Jxxxoxxe. In the mail was a 3-ring binder containing a complete copy of the parts and operation manual for my Series II Bridgeport. Jxxxoxxxe, who recently got his own Series II mill as documented in this thread was kind enough to copy his...

Now that the saw is nearing completion, I've been surfing Ebay looking for accessories. One particular accessory I have been looking for is a DoAll Work Holding Jaw. DoAll offers these new for $140, part number 5-13007 as evidenced by the DoAll V-36 parts manual: Unfortunately, here's an...

I got this in the mail a couple of days ago from my uncle. It's a late 40's Roper Whitney #5 hand punch: My father used this many times as a boy in my grandfather's shop. I don't have many of his old tools as most were scattered to the winds. However, the ones I have are a reminder of...

I recently bought a Jacobs #18N 3/4" chuck with a #4 Morse Taper arbor. For my application I'll need to use the chuck with both the existing #4 Morse Taper arbor and a 3/4" straight shank arbor. Here's the chuck when I bought it with a #4 Morse Taper arbor installed. The smaller chuck to the...

Hi guys, About a week ago I asked for ideas on pin punches in The Hammer thread. Here's the resulting prototype incorporating some of your suggestions and a few ideas of my own! Let me know what you think. :beer: Rather than try to explain them in a post, I made a video which I think does...

The Hammer - Now with pricing and ordering details. OK GJ'ers you asked for it and here it is: A 100% American-made hammer with no girly plastic handles to crack, or wood handles to fall off, no Chinese materials, and a level of quality that will make Snap-On jealous. You can bet nobody...

I thought I'd document and post this up for others, as this is a common industrial control problem found in mills, lathes, drill presses, etc. This evening I finally had some time to get to the root of a problem with my lathe. Several weeks ago the machine mysteriously blew the T2 main power...

I was moving things around in the garage today and came across a tool that I thought would be prime material for a "What is it?" post. Let's hear what it's called AND the name of the manufacturer. Here are the photos: Clues / facts: 1) It weighs about 200lbs. 2) This is an original...

Hi guys, I'm working on a 2000 Jeep Wrangler today, troubleshooting a slightly rough idle and minor off-idle hesitation problem. I can barely notice it, but the neighbor swears it's getting worse. I checked all the usual suspects including timing, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coolant sensor...

These photos are from a few years ago, but I thought GJ'ers might like to see them... So, your car finally let you down. No problem you say, a quick trip to the dealer and you'll have a new part that is exactly the same in dimension, material, and function. The replacement will bolt right up...