A question for the ages..........What do "those people" do, when they can't find their 11/16 drill bit, but don't have a lathe?????

[Runs With Scissors]

So there I am just minding my own business working on some little BS project when "BAM."

I smash my finger between this stupid "coolant dispenser" and the tailstock.....again!!! (I have actually done it about 400,000 times now and its pissing me off)

Now I have no idea if this thing (coolant dispenser) even works, I have never used it yet, so I probably should have just removed it and been done with it.

HOWEVER..........being OCD/ADHD/ADD (and my wife says "on the spectrum") I can't help but making a "mountain out of a mole hill"

So here is a pic of what I am talking about.......You can clearly see the "interference problem"....

Here is a general overview "problem area".

I decided it needs to be "moved back" a wee bit, so I decide to make a plate that extends it back a bit. This satisfies my stupid/unreasonable need to "keep it original" (kinda/sorta)

This also has the benefit of giving me another reason to use my lathe/mill/shop

I decide that by using the original hole, I could just turn a piece that fits it, and mount a plate to that.

While digging through the "scrap pile" I find a couple of "donors" willing to "take one for the team"

So it's off to the lathe.....(to fix the lathe? )


{ Full disclosure: I forgot to take some pics along the way, so some pics are "staged"}



I turn this bar to the proper diameter and tap it for some 1/4-20 screws I have had just sitting there for about 20 years.

BTW....I love those HSS inserts I got a while back.....kinda pricey, but very convenient, and tends to give a great finish.

Now its off to the mill to make the mounting plate.



The original donor pieces were not very "square" so I perform a serious of what I consider "kinda dubious" moves with my Chi-Com parallel's, in order to square things up a wee bit.

After a few passes with the mill, I get what I consider an "acceptably accurate block" to work with.

Now I have to just drill a few holes.

But "Ill be damned".....I can't figure out what my wife did with the damn 11/16 drill that I need....

(I probably looked for 40 minutes, but "no joy")

I decide to just get it close, by using the next smaller one.

 

[Lil Foot]

Bore it? Ream it? Make a single flute drill? Broach it?

 

[Runs With Scissors]

so I drill the hole for the attaching screw, and use this little "micro adjustable counter-sinking tool" from "way, way back in the day" when I was doing aircraft sheetmetal work.

Perfect!

A regular mortal, should/would have just open that hole a "scosh' using a file, and been done with it...But NOOOO......I can't do that.


So being the "stubborn cranky Jarhead" that I am, I decide I am going use my "new'ish to me lathe", come "Hell or high water".

Just then, I look over and see this bad boy sitting there.

So I mount it up, and after trying to get it secured, this is the best I could come up with......

It's not as "elegant" as I had hoped, but there was no other way I could figure out how to mount a 2nd clamp to it.......Every configuration I tried either would not reach far enough, or it would stick out too far and hit the ways.

I reason to myself that it should hold it "good enough" for the small amount I need to take off...~.025'ish

It worked, so I tapped it for the cap screw that I will use to secure the pipe with.

My milling skills need A LOT of work, so I have to use my "poor mans surface plate" (a.k.a a piece if granite I dug out of the garbage) to shine her up a bit.

and Wa-La!!!!

Works like a charm.

No more "smashed fingers/knuckles/thumb"

Hell, you could drive a truck through there now!!!!

The End......

 

[Hoserman]

Outstanding! I really miss the maintenance shop where I used to work. I had access to all the metal working tools and government jobs ran rampant. There was basically nothing we couldn't make. Dang! I miss that. You did awesome.

 

[ken erickson]

So I mount it up, and after trying to get it secured, this is the best I could come up with......

Would you have been able to hold the work piece in your four jaw chuck, indicate off the existing hole and bore from there?

 

[NCL4701]

Nice work!

To your original query, what do those of us without a lathe do when our 11/16” drill bit goes missing? I must admit I have yet to lose an 11/16” drill bit but have lost a variety of other sizes, including once losing an entire box of drill bits. (Thankfully a small box.) Using the money I saved by not buying a lathe, I purchase a replacement drill bit(s). Not nearly as fun as what you did, but effective.

 

[Pawnee]

Cool fix!
Wash your hands before you eat a sandwich though.

 

[Cape Cod]

I don't know about "those people"...
But "this" people
<<<<<
would (plan to) fire up the HAAS CNC machining center and circular interpolate the hole with a 1/2" carbide endmill.


Of course, I would get as far as taking the vertical pipe out of the existing bracket and tossing it in the chip pan. Then life would get in the way, and I wouldn't even finish the original lathe project I was working on.

 

[Sidekick]

Don't you have a Bridgeport and boring head. I drill undersized and use my boring bar that is all in one setup.

 

[Shawn T. W]

I'd just go buy another bit, and when I got home I'd find the "lost" one!
(That tends to be the easiest way to find lost stuff!)