Post edited 5:33 PM – May 11, 2010 by Tyler

Material: Steel Units: (in)

After the Spring Center and the Soft Faced Hammer, the next lathe project I tackled was a set of  Screw Jacks. Why? Well, to create my jacks I had to build on my tapping and single point threading skills, both of which needed some work. The project took several tries because during the threading process I kept setting the cross slide at 29.5 degrees from the centerline of the part, rather than 29.5 degrees from perpendicular to the centerline of the part. My threads kept coming out looking like buttress threads. I was so frustrated! But once I figured out what I was doing wrong, my project progressed nicely.

I don't have a set of plans available for you to build my own, but I did find a set of plans by James Appleby for making a much simpler version of the ones I made. I've attached the plans below. Be sure to visit the Home Metal Shop Club for this project and other great project ideas. If you'd like a set of plans for my jacks, leave a comment. If there's enough interest maybe I'll create a set of plans for them.

  Machinists_Screw_Jack.pdf (331.8 KiB, 4,200 hits)

Read the original blog post