Glenn recently made a Nib holder from scratch for his surface grinder. You can buy one from MSC for about $25-35, or you can make one with a few hours of effort out of parts from your scrap bin.

Here’s what Glenn had to say about his Nib Holder:

“I recently made a Diamond Nib Holder for dressing the wheels on my new surface grinder. It’s a very simplistic design derived from the common off-the-shelf Nib holders that you see in MSC, Enco, etc. catalogs. Those, however, are typically castings or welded parts. (see last photo above). My version is fully machined, ground, and bolted together. I used A2 tool steel. The part is approximately 5″ long, 2″ wide, and 1-3/4″ tall. The base plate is 1/4″ thick. The top block is approximately 1-1/2″ square before machining the angle on it.

This tool is a good example of how one might use a 15 degree Angle Block to position the top of the Nib Holder for milling and drilling at the desired angle position for the diamond dresser.

I also used my new surface grinder (new to me, at least!) to put a nice finish on all of the surfaces of the tool.
-Glenn”

Thanks for sharing you plans Glenn!

  Diamond_Nib_Holder_by_Glenn_Woodworth.pdf (213.5 KiB, 240 hits)
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Those of you who frequent the forum may have already seen this nifty little project, but I thought I’d share it with the rest of you.

Vernon Peterson came up with a great idea when he decided to build a base for his Magnetic Drill. Personally I’ve always wanted a Mag Drill, but I’ve never had a project that required one so it was a hard purchase to sneak past the wife. But with Vernon’s base I could totally justify adding a Mag Drill to my shop because it would double as a second drill press!

Here’s a video of Vernon’s creation:

Vernon originally posted this project to the forum here, but I liked the project so much I felt it needed to be featured on the home page.

I hope it inspires those of you who own a mag drill to pull it out, dust it off, and turn it into a more frequently used tool in your shop.

You can download plans to make your own below.

  Mag_Drill_Base_-_Drawings.pdf (981.4 KiB, 205 hits)
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John Lawson invited me over to his shop a few days ago and showed me some pretty amazing things he’s made over the years, including his Atlas vertical milling attachment that he made from Taig parts. His vertical attachment really caught my eye because I am in the process of restoring an Atlas MFC mill and I’ve been looking for a good vertical option for a while now. I think the design is in some ways an improvement over the Marvin milling attachment. Apparently John got the idea when he saw a Taig mill being parted out on eBay. He bought the spindle and motor for a fraction of what a Taig mill costs new and he had everything he needed (except for a mounting plate which he made) for his conversion.

Here’s a video of the attachment in action.

And here are a few pics.

I know what some of you Atlas purists are thinking. “How could anything be better than a Marvin?!” Well, for one thing, it’s available. I’ve never seen a Marving on eBay or anywhere else for sale (although they do supposedly show up for sale occassionally). And I’ve heard that when Marvin milling attachments do show up for sale they cost a fortune. Unless you’re a collector the Marvin isn’t practical. John’s attachment is.

Got a better idea for a vertical milling attachment conversion for an Atlas (or similar) horizontal mill? Share it with us by visiting the forum and leaving a comment/pictures/etc. We’d love to see it!

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