Tools To Make Tools, To Make Tools, etc.

Continuing on with my tooling efforts, I decided I needed an adapter to hold dies on the tail stock, and an adapter to install my drill chuck on the headstock spindle. Both these accessories are available ready made from Taig for about $27.00 plus shipping. But what fun would that be? I made both adapters for about $6.00 and a few evenings of work. I practiced my facing cuts, turning cuts, drilling, boring and threading. All basic skills needed for model building. Here's the results:

Tailstock die holder on left with die inserted , spindle chuck adapter On right

Threaded end of both adapters

Tailstock die holder without die

On both adapters you can see holes drilled across the bodies. This is to facilitate tightening and removing the adapters. Just insert a tommy bar and turn. The tailstock die holder is made out of a piece of 1-1/2" 6061 aluminum, bored through 3/8" to accomodate a length of stock to thread and with a 10-32 set screw to secure the die. The spindle adapter is made out of one of the pre-threaded blank arbors bought from Taig for $2.60, made from free machining steel. I had to make the die holder first, so I could thread the spindle adapter 3/8"-24 for the chuck to screw on. Both work great. It's a great feeling of accomplishment, and I'm looking forward to new projects in the near future. Please bear with me on the pictures as I'm using a borrowed camera which is older and not as high resolution as I'd like. I didn't take pictures of the making of the adapters because my access to the camera is limited, but hopefully soon I'll buy a new camera so I can take some action shots.