Yeah, great idea I recently did more or less the same thing, just different machines. 75 year old hands hate tiny uncomfortable handwheels. I replaced a small plastic knob that raises and lowers the blade guard on my 14" Laguna wood bandsaw and put basically an identical wheel to the ones you used in this video, what a difference. Thanks for the video...
Couldn't agree more re the supplied hinged wrench for mill vise. Have been considering alternatives for ages! Like your idea for hand wheel. I haven't any spare hand wheels but must come up with something eventually. Ahh yes - telescope gauge limits -- all too often find I am on limit with one - and spring tension near limit also seems way weaker... making setting harder too. Glad you managed to retrieve that bust tap... guess remaining piece of original tap acted successfully as a bottoming... lucky! Great end result. :) Probably it will still allow quite good tightening. Nice addition too for your Z axis handle with the other hand wheel. I just ordered a ''cheapy'' hand wheel from Chine so yet again may be following in Lee's footsteps later.! Thanks for the shout out.
Chris, I got a chance to spend a little time in he shop today & use both the "enhancement" featured in this video. That larger Z axis wheel is the "cat's meow."
Hi Lee, thanks for another great video. I just got the power supply and binding posts for the mill and am pretty close to finishing the power feed install. Keep up the good work. Jim
Looks good Lee. Even without the original vice handle you could always use a ratchet in the end of the socket for the additional leverage . Again I love the creativity.
When you run into this again try using a 1/4 drive twelve point socket and extension . I've done this many time . You got to use what you got . Tool Maker JT Hay Fort Worth Texas
G'day Lee that's what I would really love on my lathe and mill. I suffer with rheumatoid arthritis and the puny hand wheels that came with are a real pain to use after awhile. Thanks for filming what you did to the bigger hand wheels it gives me an idea to replace mine, regards John Tasmania
I have the same lathe although not bought from Precision Matthews and can agree about those small light weight hand wheels on it. You might try wadding up some paper towels and plug the bore on your lathe chuck when through drilling and boring. That saves getting the chucks internals full of swarf. It won't prevent it all, but enough to make it worth doing. Use a piece of paper against the side of that hand wheel hub and the drill bit moved up to it until the paper just starts dragging. The step over half the drill, hub diameter and subtract the papers thickness. An old machinist's trick for edge finding. Zig Zag cigarette rolling papers are almost exactly .001" thick.
Do you remember the old handwheels? The ones that were just a "T" with a handle on one top of the "T" and a counter balance on the other side? Why did we abandon those? I find these circular handles with a handle on the perimeter to be UNBALANCED (not yelling, just emphasizing). This causes the handwheel to move on its own. I've been setting up to make a balancing system. I'm going to put a counterbalance on the opposite side, facing back.
Great minds run together. I went through my SAE & metric sockets, but couldn't find one that'd fit on the tap. Guess I need a set of 8 point sockets. 😃 Thanks for watching.
Yeah, great idea I recently did more or less the same thing, just different machines. 75 year old hands hate tiny uncomfortable handwheels. I replaced a small plastic knob that raises and lowers the blade guard on my 14" Laguna wood bandsaw and put basically an identical wheel to the ones you used in this video, what a difference. Thanks for the video...
We gotta do what we gotta do to make our "toys" more comfortable to use.
Couldn't agree more re the supplied hinged wrench for mill vise. Have been considering alternatives for ages! Like your idea for hand wheel. I haven't any spare hand wheels but must come up with something eventually.
Ahh yes - telescope gauge limits -- all too often find I am on limit with one - and spring tension near limit also seems way weaker... making setting harder too.
Glad you managed to retrieve that bust tap... guess remaining piece of original tap acted successfully as a bottoming... lucky!
Great end result. :) Probably it will still allow quite good tightening. Nice addition too for your Z axis handle with the other hand wheel.
I just ordered a ''cheapy'' hand wheel from Chine so yet again may be following in Lee's footsteps later.!
Thanks for the shout out.
Chris, I got a chance to spend a little time in he shop today & use both the "enhancement" featured in this video. That larger Z axis wheel is the "cat's meow."
Hi Lee, thanks for another great video. I just got the power supply and binding posts for the mill and am pretty close to finishing the power feed install. Keep up the good work. Jim
Good deal Jim. Looking forward to some pix of your finished project.
Looks good Lee. Even without the original vice handle you could always use a ratchet in the end of the socket for the additional leverage . Again I love the creativity.
When you run into this again try using a 1/4 drive twelve point socket and extension . I've done this many time . You got to use what you got . Tool Maker
JT Hay Fort Worth Texas
G'day Lee that's what I would really love on my lathe and mill. I suffer with rheumatoid arthritis and the puny hand wheels that came with are a real pain to use after awhile. Thanks for filming what you did to the bigger hand wheels it gives me an idea to replace mine, regards John Tasmania
Well done, that new wheel looks perfect.
Nice, I did the same thing to Mine only I used a Heavy Press Fit and no set screws, works fine. Lot better for those long Jaw openings/closings.
Nice set of upgrades, Lee! I bet that will make using the mill a lot more enjoyable for you.
Best wishes,
Tom Z
Thanks Tom, had a little shop time today & really liked the "enhancements."
I have the same lathe although not bought from Precision Matthews and can agree about those small light weight hand wheels on it. You might try wadding up some paper towels and plug the bore on your lathe chuck when through drilling and boring. That saves getting the chucks internals full of swarf. It won't prevent it all, but enough to make it worth doing. Use a piece of paper against the side of that hand wheel hub and the drill bit moved up to it until the paper just starts dragging. The step over half the drill, hub diameter and subtract the papers thickness. An old machinist's trick for edge finding. Zig Zag cigarette rolling papers are almost exactly .001" thick.
Turning Point Good idea, thanks for stopping by & commenting.
Do you remember the old handwheels? The ones that were just a "T" with a handle on one top of the "T" and a counter balance on the other side? Why did we abandon those? I find these circular handles with a handle on the perimeter to be UNBALANCED (not yelling, just emphasizing). This causes the handwheel to move on its own. I've been setting up to make a balancing system. I'm going to put a counterbalance on the opposite side, facing back.
You can still use a breaker bar with that wheel if necessary... nice feature.
GREAT VIDEO !
Thanks
I am no machinist, but I really enjoyed that! Can I ask do you use (have you tried) chlor paraffin for lubricant when cutting?
Maybe you could have put that tap in a 12pt socket, than ran it down in there with a 1/4 extension an a t handle or ratchet.
You can use a 12-point socket from your 1/4" drive set to work with small Taps- WAY better than a vise-grip or Crescent wrench-
lee nice work cool video. bob
Thanks
I have used a 1/4" extension to extend taps also you might find a socket that would fit it...
Great minds run together. I went through my SAE & metric sockets, but couldn't find one that'd fit on the tap. Guess I need a set of 8 point sockets. 😃 Thanks for watching.
Another thing I have used is a drill bit extension, although I have misplaced it and cannot find it anywhere at the moment.
I noticed that you have a power assist on the Z axis: did you fabricate this? do you have a video or pictures?
Brian Matz Here's a video of one I built for a friend. ua-cam.com/video/7qZemRnjX2E/v-deo.html
Thanks
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