Projects/Accessories

Stent Tool Cutter & Grinder

This machine is a major asset to any workshop as it enables cutters to be sharpened and ground accurately. The machine came as a set of castings and basic drawings and has since been radically overhauled including a totally new design for the spindle.

Keep tools sharp

A guide showing how to keep various tool cutters sharp using the tool cutter and grinder machine

Tool Posts

The photo on the left shows both a 4 station turret tool post designed by GH Thomas and a rear parting off tool post for the Myford ML7. On the right is a rear tool post for the BH600G based on a design originally for Hardinge lathes. All tool posts must be robust and well seated to the top or compound slide as rigidity is key to success.

Lathe screw cutting Gearbox

The Myford lathe came with few accessories as these were very expensive. A gearbox for screw cutting and fine feeds fell into this category so I made one designed by D Machin. This has been in continual use now for well over 40 years

Taper turning attachment

I designed and made this attachment for the Myford ML7 lathe. It enables loger tapers to be turned and more accurately. The taper angle is set based on a sine angle similar to commercial available Sine Bars.

GWH Engineering

creative engineering in a home workshop

Small diameter turning jig

I designed this jig based on another design to fit the BH600G lathe. The major attribute with this design is the ability to ‘dial in’ accurately the required diameter. A simple tool but essential should long small diameters be required.

Retractable Screw cutting jig

This jig was designed by GH Thomas for the Myford lathe and is a very clever design which enables the screw cutting tool to be retracted at the end of a forward cutting pass so that the tool can reverse and be clear of the thread.

Slotting Tool

This tool is to my design origonally to fit on the Myford but now modified to be independent of the lathe. The new design allows for the large cutting forces to act without imposing wear as in the case of slotting in a lathe. The tool is bench mounted and hand operated. Gears, by example, are automatically centre aligned and the cutting feed is incorporated. The tool also allows for multi slots to be cut, as in the case of a spline requirement and can index for 1, 2 ,3 ,4 ,6, 12 radial positions ML7 Clutch The Myford made clutch was another expensive accessory but it is very useful especially when needing to make repeated checks on the diameter of a work piece without having to repeat-ably turn off the motor. The clutch I made is an adaptation of that used by Myfords in their Tri-Lever speed selection device, it is however very basic yet fully functional. The success of this ‘clutch mechanism’ led me to make another for the BH600G lathe which has a belt drive and so easily incorporated.

Quick Release

I designed this mechanism to enable the Myford ML7 lathe when screw cutting to release from the lead screw. Although manually operated in conjunction with the retractable screw cutting jig it makes cutting threads easy to do.

Knurling Jig

I designed this jig to enable knurls to be cut without imposing any stress on the lathe spindle bearings. With the arrival of the BH600G lathe the jig was slightly modified for dual use!.

Ball Turning Jig

I designed this ball turning jig for the Myford lathe which was able to produce both balls and convex recesses. The latter was used to make a ball adjustable tool rest for the cutter grinder. The tool has been re-designed for the BH600G and this only provides for ball turning however it is easier to set up for use. See this link for more information

Carriage Stop BH600G

This is a jig designed by me specifically to fit the Bh600G bed. It not only provides a stop to ensure consistency when machining lengths to the same dimension but also provides an LED which illuminates on contact. This feature is there to act as a visual stop but also as a safety feature. If work is being done close to the headstock then the stop is set to illuminate prior to any collision however should the operator miss the LED warning or go past then the stop will automatically shut down the motor.

Screw Cutting Clutch BH600G

This clutch was designed by Gray Meek who based it on that used in Hardinge lathes. This is a major project and working with Gray I was able to make a prototype version to fit the BH600G, Gray also has many other versions available. The clutch enables screw cutting to be carried out without having to stop the motor when needing to reverse the carriage. An automatic set of stops trigger the mechanism to stop screw cutting and for the operator to withdraw the cutting tool and then move the lever to reverse without any need to stop the motor. This device is an essential tool when cutting metric threads on an imperial lathe but equally useful for inch threading. see project link

Screw Cutting Quick withdraw of Compound Slide

Based largely on the George Thomas version for the Myford lathe, This is a very useful mechanism when cutting threads as it allows the compound slide to withdraw so that the cutter can be moved to the start of thread and then re-positioned ready for an additional cut to be made. see project link

Lathe Cutter Height Setting Tool

Design a height setting tool with a slight difference to speed up the task and ensure accuracy and consistency. The design is basically along the established method but I have added an LED which only illuminates when the tool height is exactly set to the lathe centre height.

Boring Head

I designed this boring head for the milling machine. It allows auto surfacing and auto shut off triggered by stops. The jig facilitates very small settings to be made for boring precise diameters and is fitted with an R8 mounting stem though other stems can be also fitted for use say in the lathe.

Fine Feed mechanism to supplement the BH600G lathe

a project to refine a previously designed belt drive mechanism which provided power from the belt pulley connected to the gearbox input shaft. The new refined mechanism builds on the belt drive concept but now uses a small gear train to drive a gear fitted to the gearbox input shaft giving considerably better fine feeds than before and without any additional noise.

Making Cast Iron Piston Rings

These were made for the model project ‘Neptune’ and subsequently for the ‘Seal’ 15cc ic engine.