Material: Steel
Units: (in)

I’ve seen many ball turning designs as I read through the back issues of Home Shop Machinist and Projects in Metal, but I’ve never seen one as simple and effective as Steve Bedair’s Ball Turning Toolpost.

Steve runs a website dedicated to 9 x 20 lathes and it’s full of great information. If you’re interested in this project, be sure to check out the other projects Steve has listed on his site.

Note: Because this project requires both a lathe and mill to complete, I’m listing it under both categories.

Here’s an image of Steve’s Ball Turning Toolpost in action:

And here’s a YouTube video clip of the toolpost in action:

Excited yet?

Here’s the link to the plans so you can create your own! If you want a detailed walkthrough of the process, be sure to visit Steve’s site.

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One of the most useful tools you’ll use daily as a machinist is a 6″ scale (also called a “rule”, but not “ruler”).

Scales come in different lengths, graduations and finishes. And you can buy a rigid or flexible one to suite your needs.

If your just starting out consider getting a 6″ 5R or 16R flexible scale. I find black scales with white lettering the easiest to read. SPI makes an EZ-View that is inexpensive, accurate, and easy to read.

What’s the “5R” or “16R” mean?

English:
3R: 10ths and 50ths (front), 64ths and 32nds (back)
4R: 8ths and 16ths (front), 64ths and 32nds (back)
5R: 10ths and 100ths (front), 64ths and 32nds (back)
9R: 16ths and 32nds (front), 64ths (back)
16R: 50ths and 100ths (front), 64ths and 32nds (back)

Metric:
E/M: 32nds and 64ths (front), 1 mm and 0.5 mm (back)
D/M: 10ths and 100ths (front), 1 mm and 0.5 mm (back)
M: 1 mm and 0.5mm (both sides)

So as you can see, the 5R and 16R scales are the only English scales with 100ths, which (although hard to read) is useful to have on a scale. Of course, if you’ll be working with metric measurements, you’ll want to go with an E/M, D/M, or M scale (English/Metric, Decimal/Metric, or Metric).

Quality Brands:
Starrett
Brown and Sharpe
Lufkin
Mitutoyo
Fowler
SPI (Makes the EZ-View – $5)

Where To Buy:
Check ebay.com first if you’re looking for a high-end brand like Starrett. Otherwise try one of the tool suppliers, like MSC / J&L Metalworking.

One final note on scales, it’s handy to have a “hook rule” in your toolbox. They are a bit harder to find and you won’t use them as often, but when you need one, you need one. The picture shows the 3 scales I use (the one on the left is a flexible SPI, the one on the right is rigid SPI, both are EZ-View), and a Lufkin hook rule in the center. Notice how the hook rule is very thin with a small hook on the end. Also, you can see from the picture how much easier it is to read a black scale vs a silver one (although the Lufkin is very old, so that has something to do with it too).

That’s just about everything you need to know about scales. If anyone has anything to add, feel free to post a comment.

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First, let me say that this list will never be complete. Second, if you asked 10 machinists to put together a list like this, you’d get back 10 different lists. Because of this, my list will be contested by many readers, of that I’m sure. If you think I’ve omitted something, please post a comment. I’m sure this list will continue to grow long after I’ve posted this – but that’s the beauty of the internet.

Keep in mind, this list is intended for the beginner. Someone who has just purchased a shiny new lathe or mill and has no idea what tools they need to buy to go along with it.

I’ll try to list the most important items in each category first. In some cases I’ll provide links to further explanation on some items (like which brands to look for, which size, etc).

Safety Equipment:

• Eye Protection
• Ear Protection
• Steel Toe (or thick leather) shoes with a hard sole (to prevent chips from poking through).
• No Gloves, Jewelery (rings, necklaces, watches, etc), Long Hair, Long Sleeves – nothing that could get caught in moving machinery.
  • If you have long hair, get a hat to tuck it under. “Pony Tails” can still get caught.

Hand Tools:

• Calculator (any cheap scientific that has Sin, Cos, and Tan functions)
• Screwdrivers (#2 Phillips, 4″ Flat)
• Pliers
  • Needle Nose
  • Diagonal Cutting Pliers
  • Channel Lock Pliers
• Hex Keys (metric and fractional sizes)
• Files
  • #2 Smooth Cut Mill Bastard
  • Jewelers Files
  • File Card
• Scribe (carbide tipped)
• Deburring Tools (Noga or Vargus brands are good)
• “Fishtail” (for setting up threading operations)
• Thread Pitch Gage (for measuring threads)

Measuring Equipment

• 6″ Scale (5R or 16R with 100th’s)
• 6″ Caliper (vernier, dial, or digital – buy a cheap Harbor Freight one, if you need better accuracy you should be using a micrometer anyway).
• 1″ Micrometer (vernier – Etalon, Starrett, Browne and Sharp, and Mititoyu are all good brands – buy a good quality used micrometer off of ebay).
• Magnetic (“Mag”) Base (Noga is a good brand)
• Test Indicator (Interapid, Browne and Sharp, or Mititoyu brand)
• Travel Dial Indicator (1″ – buy a cheap one in case you destroy it. Harbor Freight is fine).

Lathe Tool Bits:

• High Speed Steel (HSS) blanks that can be ground to any shape (you’ll need a bench grinder if you plan on grinding your own tools).
• Indexable Inserts
• Carbide Tipped
• Boring Bar

Mill Tool Bits:

• End Mills (assorted sizes to fit your needs)
  • 2 flutes (for soft metals like aluminum)
  • 4 flutes (for harder metals like steel)

Tool Boxes:

• Kobalt/Craftsman (this is the minimum quality tool box you could choose. You’ll soon find that the drawers on these mechanic-style tool boxes are far too large for your small tools. Avoid cheap brands like Husky or Harbor Freight).
• Kennedy (better quality, smaller drawers which is ideal for all the small tools you’ll acquire).
• Gerstner (best quality, but expensive. If you plan on making this a lifelong hobby or profession, consider a good quality wooden tool chest that will help protect your tools from rust).

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