Using A Lathe To Install a Goose Neck Hitch

After drilling a giant hole int he bed of my new truck I decided I wanted to hit the freshly raw aluminum surface with some metal etching primer, and some black paint to match the black sprayed in bed liner and protect the metal.

All my paint has been on the shelf a long time. I wasn't able to break the bearing inside the can loose on the lathe, but after I got it moving I was able to chuck the spray can up cross wise in the six jaw chuck by removing two opposed jaws.

I think taping the can to a long blade in the Super Sawzall is faster, but I can walk away with the lathe on 70 RPM and work on something else for 20 minutes when I chuck it in the lathe.

Bob La Londe

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As a kid I made a rock tumbler consisting of a small windmill with a wood pulley and string speed reduction to the paint can holder. It did a fairly good job of scaring birds from Dad's garden as well. The blades were crossed sticks with thin plastic or aluminum flashing rectangles nailed on along one edge, so they self-feathered in strong winds. It lasted about 3 months between repairs.

Finished it up with a grinder. Many years ago, when this group was thick with masters of all, I was a bit taken aback by all the folks who would say, "I just freehand sharpen drills with a grinder." Well, now I just sharpen drills with a grinder. Today I had to drill four holes in the bed of the new truck for spring loaded chain loops. The only 11/16 drill bit I found looked like it had a poor shallow grind for wallowing its way through steel truck frames... In fact I think that's what it was last use for, and I'm sure I was the one who put that grind on it. I walked it over to the grinder and put a sharp aggressive three facet grind (6 if you want to be technical) on it for aluminum and punched the holes I needed right through the stiffener and bed of the truck. (There were already holes in the steel under bed goose neck ball hitch plate.

After that it was just the usual fat guy trying to work under a truck to get the springs and nuts on the under side of the chain loops.

All finished up. Next project electric running boards so my wife can get in and out of the truck safely without my having to run around the truck with a step stool. Yeah, I keep a step stool in the bed right now.

I keep telling myself I'll get some nice CBN wheels for one of the grinders so I can sharpen lathe bits, drills, and even split points all on one machine and I still haven't completely worn out a set of the cheap grey stones they come with. I probably should dress them more often though.

Anyway now, "I just free hand sharpen drills on the grinder." Its not even very hard once you've done a few. 3/16 and up is pretty easy. I have sharpened smaller by swinging a magnifying lamp over the grinder, but the smaller drills are so cheap I just buy them in batches.

Finished it up with a grinder. Many years ago, when this group was thick with masters of all, I was a bit taken aback by all the folks who would say, "I just freehand sharpen drills with a grinder." Well, now I just sharpen drills with a grinder. Today I had to drill four holes in the bed of the new truck for spring loaded chain loops. The only 11/16 drill bit I found looked like it had a poor shallow grind for wallowing its way through steel truck frames... In fact I think that's what it was last use for, and I'm sure I was the one who put that grind on it. I walked it over to the grinder and put a sharp aggressive three facet grind (6 if you want to be technical) on it for aluminum and punched the holes I needed right through the stiffener and bed of the truck. (There were already holes in the steel under bed goose neck ball hitch plate.

After that it was just the usual fat guy trying to work under a truck to get the springs and nuts on the under side of the chain loops.

All finished up. Next project electric running boards so my wife can get in and out of the truck safely without my having to run around the truck with a step stool. Yeah, I keep a step stool in the bed right now.

I keep telling myself I'll get some nice CBN wheels for one of the grinders so I can sharpen lathe bits, drills, and even split points all on one machine and I still haven't completely worn out a set of the cheap grey stones they come with. I probably should dress them more often though.

Anyway now, "I just free hand sharpen drills on the grinder." Its not even very hard once you've done a few. 3/16 and up is pretty easy. I have sharpened smaller by swinging a magnifying lamp over the grinder, but the smaller drills are so cheap I just buy them in batches. Bob La Londe

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You'll know you are Really good when they drill to size. I can make a dull or broken bit cut well but usually pass it through a Drill Doctor afterwards.

I'm happy if both flutes actually cut on a freehand grind . My DD only has a collet for up to 1/2" so ...

I'm happy if both flutes actually cut on a freehand grind . My DD only has a collet for up to 1/2" so ... Snag

----------------------------------- I bought a separate DD 3/4" chuck which works in my 1/2" DD.

I considered it but I only have like 4 bits over 1/2" that I use and those not all that often .

I considered it but I only have like 4 bits over 1/2" that I use and those not all that often . Snag

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My larger bits are mostly S&D with 1/2" shanks, so I made a 5C collet tightening cap with a 1/2" alignment bushing to surface grind them in the end mill fixture. I haven't yet dulled a bit larger than the 3/4" the DD will accept to test it. Perhaps making it was good insurance I wouldn't need to use it.

The cap and its spanner wrench were small enough for the goodie bag I took to job interviews to show I have mechanical as well as electronic skills, which helped get me into Segway. Being able to design and machine what I wanted saved me from having to beg a mechanical engineer's assistance and accept their idea of what the mainly electronic problem required, they would make the often correct assumption that an electronic tech knew nothing of mechanical design. Mitre and Segway let me charge for time in my home shop.

I've got a couple inexpensive S&D sets. One of the most useful was a stubby set I bought from Enco before they were assimilated by the BORG. The cheap sets are fine. Especially since I can fairly easily resharpen them myself. I've also gone out of my way to find a few common sizes with Morse Taper shanks for faster tool changes on the Precision Mathews lathe. I've got a few common stock parts I make routinely in small batches and quick tool changes makes a big difference. Between collet chucks, jacobs style chucks, and MT shank drills I have all the tools ready to go for three different common batch jobs. Which reminds me. I should make another batch of "bolt action" pens that use the Space Pen (tm) cartridges again.

You know the original bolt action pen project was what convinced me I could do a decent job of sharpening drills. I had a metric drill out of a set from Precision Twist Drill that lasted for about 1-1/2 pens and I was up against my time table to get the pens done before the Christmas holiday. I was pretty peeved that a more expensive brand died so quickly, but I put it off to being stainless. I figured it was ruined anyway, so I'd try to free hand it. My simple three facet grind cut better than the factory grind and lasted for the next dozen (give or take) pens and went back in the case still sharp enough to do a few more.

Circular thinking...

You know what I really should do is get to work on the turret lathe so I can crank out those types of parts even faster.

For fifty years I sharpened drills freehand on a variety of grinders including the old hand cranked, geared, clamped to the bench one my granfather brought with him, and the home built stone on a 1/4 HP motor. Now I still hand sharpen but finish most of them on the Drill Doctor. I totally broke Junior's FiL when he sent in a basket of bits for me to sharpen - among them was a 1/2" concrete bit with the insert missing. I sent it back nicely sharpened with a hole drilled through the web and a tag wired to it saying "Drill shaped object - Use only to make holes in room temperature butter"!

One saturday morning I found a half dozen bits over 1/2" for $2 each, I tried to bargain with her but she said "No, they belong to my boyfriend and he is very firm" her female friend made a puddle laughing. Needless to say I gladly paid the full asking price!

I totally broke Junior's FiL when he sent in a basket of bits for me to sharpen - among them was a 1/2" concrete bit with the insert missing. I sent it back nicely sharpened with a hole drilled through the web and a tag wired to it saying "Drill shaped object - Use only to make holes in room temperature butter"!

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The most recent drill-shaped object I made was a small hole saw from 3/16" gas welding rod, to free the broken tip of a #1 center drill so I could finish the #8-32 tap hole through the otherwise tediously completed aluminum part. The filed teeth needed several resharpenings to keep the chips flowing but it did the job.

The holes are for setscrews and pins that can push out pressed-in bearings. The parts are bandsaw blade guide rollers similar to this, but minus the sawdust grooves because a scraper of aluminum flashing cleans the blade ahead of them, and the blade back support is a separate bearing on edge instead of the flange.

A safety pin (on my key chain) can remove the rubber seals or metal shields from ball bearings to clean and grease them. Shields are retained by a spring clip at the outer edge that the pin tip can catch the inward beveled end of and pop it out of the groove. Both reinstall without tools after some practice.

When I changed phone carriers the clerk couldn't find his tool to unlatch the SIM card and asked me if I had one (yeah, right). To his surprise I handed him the safety pin which worked fine. jsw

One saturday morning I found a half dozen bits over 1/2" for $2 each, I tried to bargain with her but she said "No, they belong to my boyfriend and he is very firm" her female friend made a puddle laughing. Needless to say I gladly paid the full asking price!

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I became the engineering liaison to the production girls and was accepted enough that they stopped watching their mouths around me and joked about the Frito Lay Man and "A hard man is good to find."

I tried to make a tiny hole saw to cut out rusted and broken steel screws galvanicaly bonded into aluminum sheet last year... maybe the year before. It was a work of art, until all the teeth sheared off instantly on the first screw. Then I did what I should have done in the first place and picked up the plasma cutter.

I tried to make a tiny hole saw to cut out rusted and broken steel screws galvanicaly bonded into aluminum sheet last year... maybe the year before. It was a work of art, until all the teeth sheared off instantly on the first screw. Then I did what I should have done in the first place and picked up the plasma cutter. Bob La Londe

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I found and considered this too: