I use a small magnetic base vice to hold my dial-bore gauge while checking it with a micrometer. The extra hand allows me to get a better read on it. These are not expensive. I can store it near by, but out of the…
Steve Potz Steve’s Engine Shop Cocoa, FL
When my hands are a little greasy, I have a hard time turning and grip- ping the twist knob to send my centering fingers out on my Kwik Way Boring Bar to contact the cylinders firmly. My fix was to cut a 2- inch long piece…
Mike Segar Segar Machine Bloomington, MN
I have a 6 inch length of 3/4 PVC pipe I have used for maybe 25 years. I use it for pushing floater wrist pins out of pistons with no damage. I use it to bottom washers on studded heads. I have used it…
Jim Feurer Animal Jim Racing Lacon, IL.
Like most machines, our glass beader has two 75 watt lightbulbs hanging down from the inside top. These cause a lot of shadows, glare in your line of sight and every once in a while, when you least expect it, a bulb shatters as if for…
Timm Jurinc Tuf-Enuf Auto & Marine Performance Avondale, AZ.
I made an arbor to polish piston pins and pilot bushings that can be chucked up in my lathe, or even in a drill chuck. First I cut off the head of a long carriage bolt. This one was 3/8” coarse and will fit in a small drill…
Wes Schell Schell Engine & Machine Gregory, SD
I installed pulleys at the top of my 20-ton press. I ran cables from the bed up and over the top. I welded up the ends of 2 pieces of 4” square pipe to form 2 bucket which I loaded with enough lead tire weights to act as…
Steve Potz Steve’s Engine Shop Cocoa, FL
We sharpen our CBN bits in our mill using our diamond coated carbide valve seat tip sharpener. We hold the CBNs in a 1/2” collet and turn the mills head parallel to the table, then set the carbide sharpener on the mill table. You aren’t applying any real…
Timm Jurincie Tuf-Enuf Auto & Marine Performance Avondale, AZ
What’s the Best Penetrant? A recent online article provided some information on various penetrating oils. A subjective test of all the popular penetrates with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a “scientifically rusted” environment resulted in the following numbers.- Penetrating oils ..........Average torque load to…
Engine Pro Technical Committee with special thanks to Machinist’s Workshop Magazine (www.machinistsworkshop.net) and Bert Hitzing
Our brake lathe does not see as many rotors and drums as it once did but we are finding new uses for this great machine. With its large assortment of adapters and cones, it becomes a natural for mounting hard to hold parts…
Jerry McLain McLain’s Automotive Machine Shop Cuba, MO
Many of our company’s jobs are short runs, with setups that needed to be changed sometimes every two to four hours. Work holding setup time was something that became necessary to improve as our volume of work increased. By investing in a quick-change jaw system we were…
Jim Kovach Kovach & Assoc. Performance Engine Building Parma, Oh