Workshop Resources, Tools of the Trade, Favourite and Foul.

It started with an empty garage and it is now very busy.

My early purchases are a Myford Super 7 large bore lathe and a Myford VMB manual milling machine both bought from Howard at Myford-Lathes.   I have modified both of these machines.   The Super 7 has the Clough42 Electronic Leadscrew added which is a marvellous addition.   Following on from this I added stepper motor drives to the VMB X and Z axis. I replaced my BCA Mk3 with a Tormach 440 CNC milling machine.

 

Now for the smaller stuff, most of which can be traced to William Smith’s influence in his books and videos relating to clock making.  I cannot recommend his media enough to any new starter.

Roughing Metal to Size

Originally I had a Kennedy power hacksaw which did sterling service but this has been replaced with a Femi NG120ABS.   The Femi is a great workhorse and I have added a laser cut marker.

Next in line must my Burgess BK3 bandsaw.  It was bought on Ebay and was in quite a mess but cleaned up nicely. This machine is no longer manufactured and some versions do not allow the slower speed facility needed for cutting metal. New blades are readily available.  I have done a lot of modifications to my BK3 including a new fence, new blade guides and replacement drive wheels. These modifications have  transformed it into a very accurate machine.

When it comes to band sanders there are so many to chose from.  I spotted an unusual Vanco one on Ebay.   The sanding head can be raised and lowered into a hole in the bed.  This means you can drop it down inside objects. Very unusual.  It needed lots of TLC and it is not perfect but it works well.   The belts are a non standard size but there are custom suppliers out there.

Every shop needs a guillotine and while I was in business we had a Gabro 2M2 notching guillotine in our small support workshop.   Needless to say I found one on Ebay and cleaned it up, fitted a new blade and springs (yes spares are still available).  I also added a fence arrangement.  It is wonderful for cutting thin sheet up to 2mm such as aluminium and printed circuit board.  If you have hardboard the same thickness as the blade you can quickly make drawer dividers by half cutting board at right angles.

Drilling and Tapping

The father of one of my old employees had a Naerok drill press in his garage which I bought from her when she cleared his workshop.   Allegedly the name is Korean backwards.  I fitted a keyless chuck and an angel light ring cluster.   As a machine it is not dead perfect but it does the business.

I recently went rash and bought a tapping arm.  It is a Roscamat Mosquito.  It was very expensive but is lovely.  It has detachable clutch heads for all the standard size tap shaft and cross head sizes.

Punching holes brings my RS punch and tools into play.   We had all the punch tools at my work location but we modified a BTG press to use them.   I spotted one of the RS originals on Ebay and bought the tools from RS.   Really useful.   As an aside I picked up a baby BTG press at a recent clock fair.

Wheel Cutting and Horology

After reading up William Smith’s books I had to get a Sherline CNC rotary table.  I have made an adapter for this so it fits in the bore at the back of my Myford Super 7 to give me indexing up to 999 divisions.

Also from Sherline was their motor head that I fit to the Myford vertical slide for fly cutting clock wheels.

Before the Tormach 440 arrived I had to cross out wheels by hand using my Hegner Jig Saw.  This is the one job when cutting a wheel that can make or break the look of the final item so I look forward to CNC operation using Delphe Gearwheel Designer.

I like the tools that Malcolm Wild produces and have bought a depthing tool and arbor press from him.  He is a really nice guy to do business with.

Odds and Ends

I have standardised on ER25 collets on the VMB and the Super 7 (when not in formal chuck mode).  I also have a set of ER40 with R8 adapter for the VMB together with ER16.  I have a set of ER11 sizes but they are for specialist uses on the Sherline motor head.  The Tormach has now pushed me into ER20 and ER32 so pretty much full house on collets.

What every shop needs is a set of Stephenson Collet Blocks.   I have these in ER25 size only and they are so useful.  I bought them from ArcEurotrade. I first saw them being used by Clickspring.

I will add some more pictures as time permits.