# The cool tool wall



## TFrench (1 Oct 2020)

This was mooted a little while ago. Somewhere to show off those cool (to other tool nerds), weird and unique metalworking tools. 

I'll kick it off with one I've been acquiring pieces of for a long time. It's a diprofil filing machine. I got the motor and some other bits in an auction lot. Did some research to find what it fitted and it intrigued me. I've been buying and selling them on eBay ever since and I've pretty much acquired a full set. The quick release driveshaft lets you swap tools in seconds - I've got a pencil grinder and a angled dental drill type tool. You can fit all sorts of files to the diprofil - Swiss pattern files fit it perfectly with the knurled piece of the handle cut off. There are also holders for wooden laps that you use with diamond paste for polishing hardened steels. Not sure how much I'll use that but you never know!


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## AES (1 Oct 2020)

Cor "TF", that ain't 'arf a "nerdy" tool. Thanks for showing. I've heard of those machines before (is "Diprofil" the manufacturer/brand name, or just a general tool name BTW?), but this is the 1st time I've seen one. Thanks.

P.S. I'm not quite sure if I'll let you off your altogether for the "less than ideal" taps, etc, storage "system", but this post has - perhaps - made a step toward making amends! (Nice one mate).


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## Alpha-Dave (6 Oct 2020)

To be honest I’m more impressed by the Leinen-E. I have a Leinen-D with swivel and a Boley-E. They are great.


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## marcros (6 Oct 2020)

Alpha-Dave said:


> To be honest I’m more impressed by the Leinen-E. I have a Leinen-D with swivel and a Boley-E. They are great.



lets see them then Dave!


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## Droogs (6 Oct 2020)

@TFrench that would be the ideal companion on an ornamental lathe


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## Alpha-Dave (6 Oct 2020)

marcros said:


> lets see them then Dave!



I am quite enjoying taking rusty lumps and making then nice again. Perhaps one day I will go full-Wadkin, but for the moment:

Leinen D after reassembling:


Leinen D at work:



Boley E on temporary stand:



Other motley crew, including the 112 before the cleanup:
:


112 refreshed:


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## Yojevol (6 Oct 2020)

@Alpha-Dave 
A man of vice, eh. Most of us keep quiet about them


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## TFrench (6 Oct 2020)

Looks like a record 75 and a York there as well Dave? Nice collection! 
Here's a funky vice I got recently. It's a Hilma hydraulic machine vice. Winding the handle works as normal, then a half turn as you tighten it brings the hydraulic piston up to pressure. Releasing it takes almost no effort as well, because all you're doing is releasing the pressure in the cylinder. It's obscenely heavy! Unfortunately not a keeper as it's too big for my kit, but I'm certainly glad I saved it from the scrap men.


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## Alpha-Dave (6 Oct 2020)

Yes, a Record 75 and a York 150 (6”), and a Record 35. I haven’t tried to collect, but I end up being curious about the mechanisms. I think I’m heading towards just keeping the Leinen D and Record 112 as best-in-class for 4” and 6”. 

the Hilma is pretty cool. I have seen a trend on YouTube of people who build their own vices are adding hydraulic cylinders in to them to add squeezing strength, but often at a cost of speed-to-open. Having the cylinder only engage at the end of winding must have a clever mechanism. I suspect that also then leads to more potential failure points.


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## Alpha-Dave (6 Oct 2020)

I managed to get this Sevo vice on Facebook Marketplace, which as been brilliant for holding round shapes under the drill press. I then copied the idea for a vice to hold wooden bowls for hand-carving but that is still a work in progress.


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## TFrench (25 Oct 2020)

Ok, how's this for a haul of cool Metrology nerdiness. Spur of the moment eBay buy - all the indicator stands and v blocks and angle plates you could ever want, a Baty shadowgraph and a sigmasize analogue comparator gauge. Mainly I wanted to have a play with the shadowgraph - more on that when I get chance. The sigmasize has blown me away though - firstly that it worked when I turned it on, secondly by how accurate it is. You can adjust the +/- limits so the light goes amber or red if it's out of tolerance, it's metric or imperial, and it measures down to 0.00015 of an inch/ 0.005mm. Which is insane. The gauge block in the pictures is almost perfect, but you can see the difference in it's size if you warm it up in your hand for a minute. Amazing!


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## Trevanion (25 Oct 2020)

TFrench said:


> and it measures down to 0.00015 of an inch/ 0.005mm. Which is insane.



And I'm very happy if I'm within a thou or two...

I'm kind of curious what they would've been making that required accuracy to that level!


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## AES (25 Oct 2020)

TFrench said:


> Ok, how's this for a haul of cool Metrology nerdiness. Spur of the moment eBay buy - all the indicator stands and v blocks and angle plates you could ever want, a Baty shadowgraph and a sigmasize analogue comparator gauge. Mainly I wanted to have a play with the shadowgraph - more on that when I get chance. The sigmasize has blown me away though - firstly that it worked when I turned it on, secondly by how accurate it is. You can adjust the +/- limits so the light goes amber or red if it's out of tolerance, it's metric or imperial, and it measures down to 0.00015 of an inch/ 0.005mm. Which is insane. The gauge block in the pictures is almost perfect, but you can see the difference in it's size if you warm it up in your hand for a minute. Amazing!




I'm NOT in the least jealous "TF" (you barsteward you  ), though like Trevanion I do wonder what you're going to use all that stuff for - you no longer have a "home workshop" (actually, you haven't had one of those for a long time!) but now you have a home Metrology Lab!!!

BTW; and being serious for a mo, I've used shadowgraphs before, but "WTH" is a sigmasize, what does it do and how does it work (forgive my "igerance" please)?


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## Alpha-Dave (25 Oct 2020)

Trevanion said:


> And I'm very happy if I'm within a thou or two...
> 
> I'm kind of curious what they would've been making that required accuracy to that level!



An easy example would be pumps, especially gas handling ones need even finer tolerances than that. Vacuum pumps even more so. The less leakage around the moving parts, the lower the ‘back pressure’, the less wasted energy pumping something twice (or more), and the smaller (and lighter) it can be. You can then imagine this gets important for vehicles, jets, submarines, etc.


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## Bm101 (25 Oct 2020)

Cut out a little bat shape and stick it on the screen.


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## Alpha-Dave (25 Oct 2020)

Bm101 said:


> Cut out a little bat shape and stick it on the screen.


To 0.005 mm tolerance.


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## Bm101 (25 Oct 2020)

0.0005 I'm the _*Batman.*_


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## toolsntat (25 Oct 2020)

Der, Der Der Der Der Der Der Der Der Der Der 
EXACTMAN......


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## AES (25 Oct 2020)

Alpha-Dave said:


> An easy example would be pumps, especially gas handling ones need even finer tolerances than that. Vacuum pumps even more so. The less leakage around the moving parts, the lower the ‘back pressure’, the less wasted energy pumping something twice (or more), and the smaller (and lighter) it can be. You can then imagine this gets important for vehicles, jets, submarines, etc.




Yeah, quite right Alpha-Dave, but my point was (along with several other members posting here I think) is that those sorts of things - which need such tolerances - are not usually made in what most of us here call a "home workshop"!!

BUT you can all simply ignore my comments here, I'm simply jealous!  

Though I would still like to know what on earth a sigmasize is - I s'pose Google is my friend eh?


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## TFrench (25 Oct 2020)

A sigmasize is an electro-mechanical comparator gauge. Basically, sliding your part under it tells you if it's within tolerance. I'd never even heard of one before I got this - chances of me mass producing anything to the tolerances it can work to are zero. It's pretty much obsolete these days with CMM's and laser measuring but it's a pretty interesting curio. I'll try to get some video of it in action, should explain it a bit better!


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## AES (25 Oct 2020)

Thanks "TF". I look forward to seeing the video.


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## Felix (25 Oct 2020)

TFrench said:


> Ok, how's this for a haul of cool Metrology nerdiness. Spur of the moment eBay buy - all the indicator stands and v blocks and angle plates you could ever want, a Baty shadowgraph and a sigmasize analogue comparator gauge. Mainly I wanted to have a play with the shadowgraph - more on that when I get chance. The sigmasize has blown me away though - firstly that it worked when I turned it on, secondly by how accurate it is. You can adjust the +/- limits so the light goes amber or red if it's out of tolerance, it's metric or imperial, and it measures down to 0.00015 of an inch/ 0.005mm. Which is insane. The gauge block in the pictures is almost perfect, but you can see the difference in it's size if you warm it up in your hand for a minute. Amazing!


I've got a 600 x 600 x 100 granite block that needs calibrating if you need some practice with that new kit you've bought


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## TFrench (25 Oct 2020)

I sold an autocollimator earlier this year!


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## toolsntat (25 Oct 2020)

TFrench said:


> I sold an autocollimator earlier this year!



That was lucky, I had to see the doctor about mine......

Cheers Andy


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## evildrome (26 Oct 2020)

Wow... its quite heavy duty gear isn't it? 

I have some precision stuff but its all for items 6" or under. 

That set of centres is huge. I don't even think it'd fit comfortably on my Parkson (which is about 133% the size of a Bridgeport).

I could actually use that Sigmasize thing though. If it came with a sensor head about 1/4 the size of that one.


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## Cabinetman (26 Oct 2020)

I was once asked to quote to make something to store coils on nuclear submarines, imagine an empty cable reel with one end/disc that could be lifted off, the coil put onto the round centre and the lid put back on again. This then went into a tin with the lid. It had to be made in hardwood and the specification from the MOD was to within 4 thousands of an inch. 
I pointed out to them that wood was not really the best material for this as there was no way on gods earth that it could be kept within that tolerance and that if it swelled they would never get the coil off it. It all went a bit quiet after that.
It was also specified that the bottom disc and the central column had to be turned from one piece, when it is blindingly obvious that it is much simpler to turn in separate parts. And that’s how your money is wasted folks.


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## dannyr (26 Oct 2020)

cabinetman - was this to supply the Barrow works where most of those subs were made? 

ie the same place where they admitted a few years ago to assembling one of the main Trident segments on upside-down because the measurements were fairly similar that way? And the place where they found during a service that some of the main reactor coolant valves had corroded nearly right through.
How our tax billions are spent to make the world a much more dangerous place (especially for the crew).

I'd tell you an even more worrying story or two about dangerous errors on these things, but don't want a visit from naval security.


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## Cabinetman (26 Oct 2020)

Hi Danny the coils were being made by a local company and they needed to follow the MOD specification for packaging them but I don’t know where they were eventually going I’m sorry.
If this level of stupidity flows throughout as you suggest, that’s pretty worrying, And as you say particularly for the crew.


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## Jelly (26 Oct 2020)

AES said:


> Yeah, quite right Alpha-Dave, but my point was (along with several other members posting here I think) is that those sorts of things - which need such tolerances - are not usually made in what most of us here call a "home workshop"!!



I wouldn't be so sure, there's plenty of people out there doing that kind of thing in home workshops, for my sins I've built two machine tool spindles in a home workshop. It does reach a point of your hobby being "Precision" though...

If you're interested in the kind of loons who would do such a thing, google Stefan Gotteswinter to see an offensively competent German man (of YouTube fame) operating a small toolroom as his hobby from a home workshop.


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## AES (26 Oct 2020)

Jelly said:


> I wouldn't be so sure, there's plenty of people out there doing that kind of thing in home workshops, for my sins I've built two machine tool spindles in a home workshop. It does reach a point of your hobby being "Precision" though...
> 
> If you're interested in the kind of loons who would do such a thing, google Stefan Gotteswinter to see an offensively competent German man (of YouTube fame) operating a small toolroom as his hobby from a home workshop.




OK, will do, thanks (even if it only depresses me)!


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## TFrench (26 Oct 2020)

Stefan does some amazing work. I'll never be that good, but it's fun stuff to tinker with. 
Teaser - just wait till you see what's coming home with me tomorrow. It's very heavy, hideously complicated, possibly broken, obsolete and glorious. Just my cup of tea really


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## Jelly (26 Oct 2020)

TFrench said:


> It's very heavy, hideously complicated, possibly broken, obsolete and glorious. Just my cup of tea really



My money is on a DSG 17T lathe or a Butler 8" slotter...


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## TFrench (26 Oct 2020)

A DSG is certainly the fantasy big boy lathe. Realistically I'd like a tidy triumph 2000, but I'm in no rush as the Harrison is plenty good enough. The deckel FP1 has a slotting head so I've no need (or space!) for one.


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## Jelly (26 Oct 2020)

TFrench said:


> A DSG is certainly the fantasy big boy lathe.



A friend of a friend has twice offered to sell me his spare one (it's missing some components in the motor control box and he's never got round to sorting it), if it reaches three times, I may well take him up on it... It's always the *moving* it that's given me pause for thought.


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## Droogs (27 Oct 2020)

Oh a DSG 15x36, I'd swap the wife's kidneys for one. Maybe one day (_sigh_)


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## TFrench (27 Nov 2020)

Cool drill chucks you ask? Why yes, of course. First up is a jacobs 20N ball bearing superchuck. Largest chuck jacobs made - its range is 3/8 - 1". Pictured with a No.0 for comedy effect!

Next up is a kawasaki keyless chuck - I had no idea they made these, but it's a fantastic piece of kit, at least as good as an albrecht. 

Finally there's an rpd centering chuck. Looking through the "sight" on the side projects a crosshair onto the workpiece, letting you line up perfectly and then drill.


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## AES (28 Nov 2020)

NICE, TF: Especially that last one (with the sighting thingy.


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