Harold Hall
My Workshops
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Similarly, when writing an article on an aspect of equipping the workshop I have purchased some commercial items just to be able to photograph them and whilst expensive was very much easier than arranging for the supplier to provide the picture I required. Typically therefore, I have a large number of vices, (mechanical ones that is) some rarely used.
Photograph 7 shows three rotary tables, one commercial and two shop made with Photograph 8 showing four dividing heads, again, two commercial and two shop made.
Photograph 9 shows just a few of the vices mentioned having been machined by myself, in some cases to considerably improve commercial items and others made from available castings.
In the vast majority of workshops the least adequately catered for task is for sharpening workshop tools and was certainly so in my case until a few years ago. Of course, I had the obligatory off hand grinder, but this fell far short of what was really required. Attempting to minimise this short coming I developed the grinding rest, seen in Photograph 10, and being initially used with my standard off hand grinder. For most applications, even grinding the side cutting edges of end mills, it comes close to a fully fledged tool and cutter grinder with its main features being, in addition to being able to set angles, fine feed both across and towards the wheel (X and Y axis that is).
The accessories that go with the rest are shown in Photograph 11, with only that for sharpening the end mill side cutting edges being at all complex.
Photograph 12 shows a simpler rest for construction in the lathe only workshop, but still providing the same facilities. I prefer the earlier rest, though the double hinge linkage for adjusting the approximate distance to the wheel is more difficult to set up compared to the linear method of the simpler rest. Both Photograph also show an off hand grinder that I have adapted to take cup and saucer wheels being a definite plus compared to a standard bench grinder for the task. Even so, they still perform well with a normal off hand grinder.