Apparently, I have been informed that my Vacation from the shop is over.    And, it is time to get back to work so..

this is getting an update....built this about 30 years ago..  about due?

Then, I also inherited a box from my Late dad..

What is so special about this box? Well, open it up...

Those two big taps are both 7/8", one coarse, one fine thread.  That thing on top of the box?

Have at least 7 dies to find homes for, too....most of the taps in the box are both fine and coarse threads...will have to sort through the two groups and see what I have.

 

Intend to go into Lowes, and buy some 3/8" Project Board Poplar.....and build a box.....Thinking maybe a drawer or two....and a lid.  May just stand up all the sorted out taps, and maybe set aside those two BIG taps.   Top compartment for the taps, drawers for the wrenches...and maybe even that complete set of Pipe Thread taps.   Dies can be in the drawer with the wrenches, if need be.

 

 

So...waiting on September's PayDay, to go buy some lumber....and see IF Moose & Squirrel have delivered a "Plan" yet....may do an "Inventory" on the taps, and see what, if anything is missing.   I haven't seen any Metric sized taps, yet....I MIGHT have one...somewhere..

 

Stay tuned..

Since my retirement as a mechanical engineer the only taps I am interested in are labeled "Guinness".

Edited September 3, 20205 yr by junglejohn

21 hours ago, steven newman said:

I haven't seen any Metric sized taps, yet....I MIGHT have one...somewhere..

A blessing in disguise!  I'm convinced that the metric system is a plot to undermine legitimate woodworking everywhere.

Thinking there MIGHT be 2 Metric taps....as I had a 80-20 project a few years ago....and kept the taps...

Waiting on the "School Desk" to get cleared off..

So I can sort through the taps....Stack of lumber back there?

Best 5 slabs in Lowes....1/2" x 5-1/2" x 24"  Poplar ( Drawing by the GrandBRAT Diva)

Clear Poplar?   Might have some nice grain detail to it....once the finish goes on...

 

May get started in the morning....once the eyes are fully awake..(takes a little bit)

 

Oh, righty, then....needed to sort through a pile...

Items I had too many of one size, items I could not read the size....were place into a pile...

Will send these down to Georgia, tomorrow...as for the rest

The 2 smallest ones have their own wrenches....

So....I leave these 2 set up, and stash into the small tool Tool Chest...about half of the rest..

Will fit the other wrench...will need to hunt for a wrench for the larger sizes...sometime..

There are 2 spares in here...will set up a board with holes to store these in.

 

Have a 36" long, Poplar 2 x 2....intend to cut it into 3 foot long blanks, drill the holes to hold the taps.   Will rip a couple strips to go between them of the 1/2" thick poplar...and a Forstner bit to drill the holes to hlod the dies in.     Frame & Panel lid.   Wrenches for the dies and the tap wrench will have their own spots.  Need to cut a few slabs to make the box...keeping an eye on the grain patterns...panel for the lid MIGHT be a glue up...we'll see. 

 

Tap sizes range from 1/4" up to 7/8", seems to be by 1/16" steps....minus a 13/16" size...will see how tomorrow goes...

I made one for a friend many years ago and only recessed the dies about halfway down.  Then drilled a second hole to fit a small magnet set that in place with some epoxy.  This let them stay in place when he slammed the drawer home, and be easy to grab with fingers because they were not flush with the board.  Don't know what your plans were, just throwing that out as a idea that worked.  Well once anyway.  

Roh-Kay, Raggy.....3 hours in the shop...including cleaning the work space BEFORE I could get to work... 

"Clean up!  Aisle No. 1!"  had to haul the trash can and dust scooper to the shop.   Also, something to stay "Hydrated".

Set aside 2 planks for later...

Maybe a lid, or two?   the rest?

These 5 are all supposed to be 24" long?   item behind these?

2 x 2 x 36".....Needed to get 3 pieces out of this..so

Cordless Mitersaw...cut the first piece ~12"...cut what was left in half...then gang all three up..

So they are all the same length...then lay out for a box..

Then layout for a front and back..and crosscut those...

Then figure out how long the 2 ends needed to be, and cut them.   I'm not sure who was getting the "work-out"...the saw, or me..

Ok..lay out a few of the Dovetail toys ( usual luck, that plywood was the wrong size..) Then lay out for the pins...

Yep, I do these "Pins" first...then drop this down to where I can saw a bit...need something to sit on...

Turned out, I needed 2 saws...

Then clamp things flat, and start to chop...

Chop 1/2 way down, flip this over, and complete the chops.   Clean the pins up, then use the pins to lay out the tails.....then cut and chop the tails...

1st corner done.   The rinse and repeat....

The Pine slab is so I don't hit the top of my bench with a chisel...

Area right between the shoulder blades was starting to get sore...time to call it a day...

 

Stay tuned

 

So already I am 2 weeks behind??  

 

Coming along well so far. 

OK, more on the dovetail stuff,...

Had to transfer the spacings from one end to the other...

Something like this.  Notice I also marked out which is the waste  ( X marks the spot) another marking gauge to set how deep the make the cuts...

Then mark the cut lines for the saw to follow...and clamp this in the "anti-rack" vise..

used both that No. 68 and the Old No. 4...

Then clamp the board to the Pine chopping block..

Go about halfway down, and leave a bit on the end, to support these while I chop from the other side...

Pins are done.   Then, stand this up onto the Tail Board...

Sharp pencil to mark things out...usually looks like this...

Again, mark which will be the waste...take this to the bandsaw..

Make a bunch of cuts, but...stay on the waste side of the lines, more of the line I leave, the tighter the fit...then chisels to remove the waste...

And we have the tails done...grab the Pin board, and try a dry fit..

Rinse and repeat for the 4th corner.....then a dry assembly..

Had to use the WR #62 to trim the 2x2 racks to final length...

Until they fit.   Had to get another box out, and set it on the bench...

This got assembled, and fitted with a #12 cutter...

Then built a jig to hold the sides still, at least while I ploughed a groove...

Should hold it... then tried the plane out....

Was going against the grain, I guess....  One down, and 3 to go....then....PIZZA arrived! 

Closed up shop, and went to get a bite to eat...3 hours was enough for one day....again.

 

I went out to Lowes, bought a new Thermocouple for the Furnace, and a 1/4" x 24" x 24" Luann Plywood panel....should be enough...

 

Stay tuned....

Played around this morning...made some noddles..

having issues with the photo editor...will NOT let me edit and save...so

We going big, today...

Batch of Pho Noodles? Poplar flavoured?  All the grooves to house the bottom panel are milled....1/4" x 1/4"...groove is 1/4" above the bottom edge of the board..

Ok, the panel to hold the dies is next.   Have it rip and crosscut to size....but, it will need a groove to house it in place....changed the cutter to something wider...

I think it is a #18?   Dogs were used to hold the 2 x 2s still..

Then tried to make a groove down the center..

I was "off" about a 1/16"....turned the blank around, and go the other direction....I was going to clean things up with the Router....

As the bottom of the groove was a bit tilted...

But, when I ran the #45 along the other edge, it cleaned this up....need the router to just clean up after the #45...Test fit?

With some scrap, that I thought was the same thickness....it wasn't....we have ways...

Planed S4S....then another dry fit...

Works for me.  Drop this into the box, and see IF the Die will fit...

Then dig out a 1" Forstner bit...

Need to bring one of the dividers down to the shop. And, step off 12 equal spaces for these.....really only need 10, as I have 2 extras.   Framing square to mark out a panel for the bottom of the box...bandsaw to cut it out of the larger panel...

Also need to start drilling holes to hold all the taps.....more "stepping off"....

 

Waiting on one of the 2 "Computer Geeks" in the house to wake up, and see what the photo problem is...I can't even rename these pictures....dang thing seems stuck in "Paste" mode..

Looks like I'll try to edit the rest of the day....and see what went wrong...

Stay tuned..

 

Computer has went into a Read only mode....trying to clear...will advise, later..

 

 

Two Hack wares, in the process of getting them shredded, now...

Too late to go back and edit the Biggie Photos on here.....however, I was able to FINALLY get all of today's pictures edited down to size, and added their names... whole new file as the"old one" is getting shredded....

Edited September 23, 20205 yr by steven newman

Ok, am using a "work-around".....still having issues with the Photo Edit stuff....Took longer to edit and caption photos of what I did today, than actually doing the work

 

So...Hauled a handful of toys to the shop this morning....Need a way to find a center line on the Die Shelf ..

Once the center was found... a combo square could draw a center line along the length of the board...

Then divide off the spaces.   Then drill a "test hole"

Just to check the spacings...then drill the other 9...

Then fill the holes...

Works for me...set this aside...the start on the tap holders...once I found the center line, again..

These are the "Biggies", 7/8".  then the next group, changing drill bit sizes as I went..

Then right on down the line..

Then what was left over...into the other rack...

Dry fitted the bottom of the box..

Left this as is for a bit, as I wanted a "full scale" dry fit..

Wanted to make sure the "bigs" were sitting low enough, to miss hitting the lid...

 

Then, empty the entire mess...grab a glue bottle, a few cauls, and a few clamps..

The sit it up on it's bottom...and check for square...

Square showed it as "square" in all the corners....diagonals also matched exactly....what did I do wrong..

Ever wonder why I haven't used the Tablesaw for this Project?

Twould be nice IF I could find it....

 

I did find 2 planks that almost matched each other in thickness...even the edges were close...so...spread some glue, use the bench vise as a third hand...

Add a few clamps...is 5 too many?

Not too sure about this green stripe, though..

May keep it...may not....May just make it the trim around the lid...we'll see.

 

 

Went and looked at the drawer for my taps and dies are in, standard ones anyway.  Not tall enough to allow me to stand them up inside.  By about 1/2 inch.  Guess they will have to lay down.  

Just wondered why a departure from the traditional tap & die box with the taps laying down?

Did not feel like routing all those recesses....

 

Can't spread things out flat in the shop...have to go "vertical"   smaller footprint, easier to stack on a shelf....box is the same size as the one for my Stanley No. 45...

 

At least this beats sitting around in an old FORD parts box....

1 hour ago, steven newman said:

At least this beats sitting around in an old FORD parts box....

Oh yeah.  I put tape on all the ones you sent me and put them in a small tray in the drawer with the boxed set I have.  At least for the moment if I need one I can see the numbers on the tape better than the taps.  But I have two drawers to make holders for, SAE and Metric.  

Look closer...there is a 10mm-1 and a 6mm tap in that pile....last used on an 80-20 project....

24 minutes ago, steven newman said:

Look closer...there is a 10mm-1 and a 6mm tap in that pile....last used on an 80-20 project....

Yeah I had to use magnifying glass to see them.    Added those to other drawer.  Both drawers are same size.  Neither is tall enough to stand the taps up.  Minor problem I will lay them out.  

Had to wait on the camera battery to get re-charged....then down to the shop, to "de-clamp" a couple items.. 

Handsome, ain't they?   Needed to level things up a bit..

A little off the top?...and the bottom, too...then work on the sides....thought I could use the WR 62..

Balance didn't feel quite right..went with something a bit...smaller...

Like a Stanley #3....either way, soon had the box all cleaned up.

.

And then set this on the lid blank...trace around the box..then trace around again...1" further out..

Bandsaw to make a few cuts...cold, of course..

Sliced and diced?    Then set up the mitersaw...

Then a jointer to remove the bandsaw blade marks....

I thought it would be nice IF the panel for the lid was smoothed down flat..we have ways..

Both faces.   The the glue and an army of clamps showed up...

Intend to make a pocket in the underside of the lid, to hold any and all paperwork....like what size takes which drill bit..

Since the glue was out..

Cauls are there, as this wanted to "fold up" and break down the middle of the center rack...will be gluing this into the box tomorrow, I think...

 

Letting the 2 glue-ups sit overnight...then clean them up....and start some install work...we'll see

 

Stay tuned