This week, we’re finally finishing up our shop-made TalonGrip vise jaws.  All that remains is to poke some holes in the jaws so we can screw down the grippers and mount them to the vise. The Gripper Holes Each jaw … Continued

This week, we make the steel vise jaws to hold the grippers we finished last week.  We cut and square up the steel blanks and precisely mill the slot.  We measure the slot with gauge blocks and check to be … Continued

Today, we’re finishing the grippers for our shop-made Talon Grip clamping jaws.  These parts present a little bit of a workholding challenge, since they have to be held at a 45-degree angle and positioned accurately to cut the fine features … Continued

Today we’re making a set of low-profile clamping jaws, similar to Mitee-Bite Talon Grips. When CNC milling complex parts, it’s often most convenient to use stock a little bit thicker than the finished part so we can hold on to … Continued

In this video, I show how we manufacture our 3D printer hobbed bolts. There are lots of hobbed bolts out there.  Some are DIY and some are manufactured in volume.  Some are pretty great and others not so much.  We … Continued

In this video, we make a split-cylinder edge finding tool that allows us to pick up angled corners with an edge finder in the mill. The Challenge Normally, it’s easy to find the edges of a work piece in the … Continued

Today we’re making a set of soft jaws for the mill vise.  We have some parts coming up for the toolpost grinder that don’t have parallel sides, so how do we hold them in the mill?  Soft jaws. Soft jaws … Continued

Today, we’re working on the motor mounting eccentric for the toolpost grinder.  This will be part eight. The motor is held to the spindle with a rigid aluminum clamp, and the eccentric provides a way to adjust the belt tension.  … Continued

Today we’re working on the motor pulley for the toolpost grinder.  The features are similar to those on the motor pulley, but the pulley is much larger, and this makes it a little harder to hold in the lathe. Drilling … Continued

Today we’re working on the a poly-v pulley for the spindle.  The pulley transfers power to rotate the spindle, and it also captures the Belleville disc spring to provide preload force to the spindle bearings. Turning the Pulley The pulley … Continued