A wee bit of metal working got done...

[steven c newman]

Ok, I'll save all the info towards the next time I try metal working.....time to get back to chopping wood

Wood deck was cut to size, back edge has a champfer block planed to fit the box. Laid out some toys. Laid out the dados.

Had one chopped out..
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Had the square reset to the depth I wanted. Chisel is from Aldis. Mallet?
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Was hiding back here, where the second holder was stored. Soon had this mess..
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All cleaned out. Knife a line, couple whacks with the chisel into the line, pare away the waste, until flat and smooth. Test fit the second holder...
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Those little spots? Appears the screws to hold the deck ( which I reused from the other deck) were a "tip" too long. Beltsander to level things down. I had to turn the back guide for the saw around, so the keeper latch up on top was facing the "correct" way. Slide the saw back into place...
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Might just do, for now....saw itself is by Disston
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Etch says it is expressly made for Stanley Mitre Box by H. Disston & Sons. Saw is a No.4, with a 5" by 28" long plate. need to place this big mitre box where I can use it...besides right on my bench....

[Patrick Chase]

Steven, for the sizes I use the most (like 1/4-20) I started buying the little sets with a tap and the right drill bit in the same package. This saves looking through my numbered sets for a #7 and saves wearing them out.

I do prefer screw machine bits for general metal work - they are shorter so they don't flex as much.

If you do a lot of tapping, this thing is quite useful: hand tapping machine that keeps the bit perfectly vertical and allows easy control. My 4-year-old grandson used it to tap some holes in 1/4" steel. Grizzly hand tapping machine:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DCZ9V

JKJ

There's also a cheaper, lower-tech solution (easy enough to make your own).

Or you can always splurge on a tapping head for your drill press :-).

[steven c newman]

The tap wrench I use most of the time, consists of two bars, and two bolts. Rather low tech. Have used a tapping head a few times, when I was making plastic parts at an injection factory. Needed to drill the hole through both the knob, and the brass insert, then thread the hole in the brass insert. Knob was for an O2 tank selector valve. Usually made 650-750 knob every 8 hrs. Includes injection molding the knob with an insert, trimming the flash as needed. Testing the threads, and cleaning the part before packing to ship it out. Had two drill presses set up, side by side. with jigs to hold the part.

Had two of the "T" style ones.....more for the tiny taps than the bigger ones. Tap and die set I have is from the 1940s. Most have an "ACE" stamped on them.

[steven c newman]

Next up? fabricate a metal "tree" these boxes used for holding the stop rods. You can set the rods for the length you need to cut......I need to build the stand like gizmo that held the rods. Need Bar Stock pieces, and a couple connectors.

[george wilson]

70 or 75% thread is o.k.. We aren't building really critical items here. In a normal set of 29 fractional drills you can only come so close. I normally use a NUMBER set(which explains what the #7 refers to. Most here will already know that). These bits offer closer choices. I also have a set of LETTER drills,but they cover only the larger size drills. They give a further choice in graduations for fitting to taps. I used to have drills up to 3" in diameter,but gave these big ones to the toolmaker's shop. They could only be used in my big lathe anyway.

[steven c newman]

Shopping trip completed. length of 5/16" weld steel rod...36" should be enough.
36" of 3/16" by 3/4" wide flat bar stock, weld steel. Might be way too much?
Pair of coupling nuts, hex sided. Has a threaded through hole, 3/8" by 16. Plan is to ream out the threads.
two thumbscrews. One to hold each rod. Drill and tap a 1/4 x 20 hole into the coupling nut's side.

One tube of JB Weld's Steelstick, to hold the thing together, while I fasten it down. have a supply of #10 machine bolts to help out.

Hmmm, would adding some rubber feet be a bit much.....

Need to get some measurements, maybe jot them down somewhere, and cobble a tree together... Last one of them Stanley "trees" I saw on the auction site was around...$120.00 or so. Might need to get a new hacksaw blade......grinder is set up and ready to go. Paint? Or, just leave it shiny steel?

[steven c newman]

That JB Weld steel stick? worthless junk. Went with just bolts for now.....not that great a day in the shop, even snapped a tap inside one part......might be fune getting the broken piece out....

Anyway, bolted a few things together, and later will take them out to be welded...
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Meh....My luck, I won't even need this thingy, anyway. I'll get it welded up, cleaned out, and dressed up a bit. Couple of thumbscrews?

Don't have a welder, and I never learned to weld, anyway. have a cousin that does, though.....May even add a few extra pieces, just to beef it up.

Tap that broke? 1/4" x20...good thing I had a couple more handy....

[Patrick Chase]

That JB Weld steel stick? worthless junk. Went with just bolts for now

There's only so much you can do with epoxy, especially putties like SteelStik that contain a lot of non-bonding filler. IIRC SteelStik is rated for ~1 kpsi under ideal circumstances. A typical steel bolt yields at a minimum of 36 kpsi, ranging up to 120+ kpsi for the good stuff (Grade 8).

.....not that great a day in the shop, even snapped a tap inside one part......might be fune getting the broken piece out....

Ugh, tap removal, You can't judge anything by one failure, but if you're lubricating properly and it keeps happening then that may be a hint to back off on the thread percentage. My desire to avoid that sort of thing is why I use a #4 bit (60% threads) for 1/4-20 in steel, provided it isn't too thin.

Anyway, bolted a few things together, and later will take them out to be welded...
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Meh....My luck, I won't even need this thingy, anyway. I'll get it welded up, cleaned out, and dressed up a bit. Couple of thumbscrews?

Don't have a welder, and I never learned to weld, anyway. have a cousin that does, though.....May even add a few extra pieces, just to beef it up..

Maybe time to learn? It looks to me like the sort of thing you could do with plain-Jane stick welders, and those are pretty cheap and easy to learn.

[Jim Koepke]

Don't have a welder, and I never learned to weld

When I was going to a Community College I wanted to learn to weld. Way to many prerequisites for the welding program. Went up to the Art Department and found a sculpture class where I learned the basics of welding. I didn't want a certificate, I just wanted the skill.

jtk