I made that

[paul]

Without the luxury of a milling machine or any means other than manually cutting thread, this took me about 4 hours in total. Making something that I needed in the workshop from just square and round bar was very satisfying

I guess I could cross drill the screws for a tommy bar but it seems to work ok as is. I normalised/tempered all the bits but I don't have the stuff to case harden it, it's going to get pretty light use on sub 1" metals anyway.

It grips those pound coins tighter than my missus!



I know it's a bit pathetic for you expert tool guys but I'm proud of my first little tool.

[modeng2000]

Hi Paul,

They are something to be proud of.
I bought mine and they don't look any better.

John

[Richmond]

It's not the size of your tool that matters, it is how happy you are with it that counts

[alanstepney]

As others have said, they look fine and will, I am sure, do what you want without additional hardening.


Now I will go off at a tangent.

You said "...I'm proud of my first little tool. ".

Quite right, and a normal reaction.
Having made them, and found that you COULD make things that did the job and looked OK, you are encouraged to go on to bigger and better.

There was a time when basic engineering formed part of almost every school curriculum, and toolmakers clamps were one of the standard excercises.

You actually MADE something, with your own hands.
You got that pleasure of achievement, learned that you could make things, plus got some skills with hand tools.

Such engineering training has gone.
What a shame that todays kids dont get those same pleasures and basic skills, that we did.

[paul]

Richmond: that's what I've always told myself

Alan: I'm old enough to have done metalwork at school My mum still has the brass shoe-horn I made aged 11 (I'm now a mere 48)! and I remember making it - cut from sheet, mark and drill hanging hole, bung in furnace, bash horn to shape on anvil then hammer top over steel bar. I must take a picture!

Blimey - shoe horns, now there's a blast from the past!!

[waggy]

Nice one Paul.

After reading Alan and Pauls comments about things made at school and college, I took a look around.

Still got my shoe horn, copper ashtray, drill drift, centre square, tool box, height gauge and one vee block. Don't know what became of the other block or the stirrups.

What other little gems are out there, I wonder?

Waggy.

[paul]

Must be millions of things Waggy... sadly my wooden magazine rack fell apart after about 5 years, good thing too as it was rubbish. I knew then I was better with metal than wood!

[baggo]

Our first metalwork project as 11 year olds was a letter opener made from aluminium. Probably so we couldn't do any serious damage with them! Then followed a copper ash tray and a set of odd leg calipers for marking out that I still use today although the point has been sharpened and re-casehardened a few times over the years!

I was the only one of our class who carried on with metalwork past the 4th form and added a copper fruit bowl, a pulley extractor, and my first steam engine to the list.

It is sad that kids are not taught any practical skills using tools at school anymore but I suppose engineering as a career is somewhat limited now.

John

[paul]

We had 1 year of metalwork at age 11 then 1 year of woodwork but I think both disappeared from the school curriculum shortly after (thinking about it, why on earth did we have to have lily-white aprons for these subjects, our mums must've cursed!). The girls had Needlework and Home Economics/Cooking I seem to recall - there was no choice it was just what boys ang girls did: incredible!

Despite the apparent sexism I can't help feel that children had a more rounded education back then.

[Shawki Shlemon]

Paul a tool maker clamp today , anything you need later ,the need is mother of invention (or whatever you want) . I make a lot of tools and special jigs, non of which are fancy but do the job and cost me a big fat zero .Good on you and you should be proud of that .

[abby]

And don't forget the tea caddy spoon ,every planishing hammer mark had to be the same size LOL, happy days.

[steammadman]

YEH HAPPY SCHOOL DAYS; when i was at school ,( i'm past 70 now), we learned to make model airoplanes, taught by a WOMAN, (old at that too), THE BLOODY THINGS NEVER DID FLY, as the men came home from the war things got a bit more interesting, not least the scrounging around the steel works scrap piles for some metal for the metalwork class, but,
we eventually made some useful tools, eg; a scriber with a bit of an old drill for the point,
some odleg calipers, some dividers, and to top the lot A SQUARE. still got mine,its not square any more ,but i'm still proud of it! ,now i show it to my grandchildren ,as a bit of encouragement . OH HAPPY DAYS ! ! ! !