Ball turner build

Anything worth doing is worth overdoing, so when it came time to make a ball turning attachment for my Logan lathe...I might have gone overboard and made one with a dovetail slide and lead screw. The result is certainly more complex than it needs to be for a tool that will get used infrequently but it's also very satisfying.
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/ jeremymakesthings

[@JesseSchoch]

maybe you could drill tap a hole in the middle of your big screw and put in a set screw to wedge it into a set position?

[@JeremyMakesThings]

Wow, the first comment, first suggestion, and I’m gonna say you win. That’s a brilliant and elegant solution.

[@Rustinox]

@@JeremyMakesThings I was thinking the same thing, but I guess I too late :)

[@billbaggins]

Another good use for self tapping grub screws 🤣

[@brandonraggette7546]

I was thinking a thrust bearing under the screw, but this is a way simpler solution.

[@DavidPlass]

I love the humor! I saw what you were doing right away with the grub screws. This Old Tony eat your heart out!

[@JeremyMakesThings]

Tony’s execution is way better than mine.

[@DavidMoscoeUni]

@@JeremyMakesThings Standing on the shoulders of giants here

[@DavidPlass]

@@JeremyMakesThings Well, his CGI budget is higher. You do you.

[@624Dudley]

Enjoyed that build. Who doesn’t love seeing a shaper make dovetails? 👍

[@TangentJim]

Jeremy - Nice Build - Nice Design - Nicely Articulated . The thing that impressed me the most . You were always conscience of the pivot Point Location . That speaks volumes - I'm impressed. ---Jim

[@joell439]

Sorry Jeremy to be a voice of reason...... but your gags are always convincing and definitively worth the effort. I truly appreciate the clever "story boarding" that you do for us. 👍👍😎👍👍 At work we had a acronym that summed up real, under-appreciated engineering effort - NISWGI (pronounced ni-swig-ee) - Nothing Is Simple, We Guarantee It. This ball turner, like all of your previous projects, would be worthy.

[@RotarySMP]

I love the hours of derusting prep work on your material supply :)

[@JeremyMakesThings]

It’s worth the effort to keep as much rust dust off the machines and cutters as possible.

[@RotarySMP]

@@JeremyMakesThings You are doing magic with that scrap supply of yours Jeremy. Keep up the good work.

[@Lwimmermastermetalart]

Very nice build. Always appreciate a good toolmaker. I’ve been one for over 50 years. Love your little shaper. Don’t see them much anymore. Personally I haven’t used one since I was in Tech school in the late 60’s. Does almost make me want to get one lol. As for your tool bit adjustment have you considered making a rocking wedge one like found on most tool posts? Granted it still takes a bit to get perfect but you don’t need shims. Really enjoyed seeing something other than making a boring head ball turner. 🤙🏻🤙🏻

[@Swehollow]

Nice. Been waiting for a new video 👍🙂

[@TalRohan]

there are as many things to do as there are solutions to doing each one ..I like this, it reminds me of a way I saw for making wooden balls (I did it a different way) but yours is far more accurate, very few wooden things need to be precise within thousandths because there is far more wiggle room with two bits of wood than there is with metal

[@Man-in-da-shed]

Some nice work on the old girls, thanks Jeremy.

[@ollysworkshop]

What a load of balls! 🤣 I like the way you manage to build such great stuff from old bits and pieces.

[@jdmccorful]

Really like the way you process your solutions for project build. Enjoyed the video and thank you for your time.

[@fredflintstone8048]

Love the sound of the shaper at work on the cast iron.. Sounds like the huffing, the breathing of a huge beast.

[@brianferguson855]

The gag worked great 😂

[@mumblbeebee6546]

It’s pretty! It makes pretty things! You are recycling and entertaining us. That’s quite a lot of good stuff, thank you!

[@theimpatientmachinist]

We waited a month for a 23 minute (and 15 second) video?! Just kidding.. I may be impatient but that was a good one! Cheers

[@ironhead65]

Loved the self tapping screw gag!

[@barthanes1]

It's much more impressive to watch you make a tool out of rusty junk on clapped out machines than it is to see another guy make it with his half-million shop from fresh stock.

[@smallshoptalk589]

That was really nice. So relaxing to watch. New Sub.

[@lundysden6781]

Nice little shaper!

[@JeremyMakesThings]

It’s a 7” Rhodes from around 1920. I did a few videos a while back about restoring it.

[@chrisroberts1509]

put a grub screw on the edge of the screw and tread to stop it from backing out

[@DrFiero]

All that work! Just to make a ball turner! Geez, I just reach down and gra.... uhhh... wait. never mind.

[@MyMiniHomeWorkshop]

Very nice indeed, you're a man after my own heart when it comes to making things out of nothing, ie: scrap 👍

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

Great build! Thanks for sharing! A ball turner is somewhere on my to-do list. That list only ever gets longer.... 👍 🇬🇧

[@CraigsWorkshop]

Very nicely done. I did not foresee the method for internal curves, but that's nice and simple. The design may have been "vastly overcomplicated" 🙂 but that doesn't matter, the video was 100% satisfying.

[@ScottHiland]

The post was likely turned slightly smaller to clear a 7/8" hole and locating was intended to be done by the angle on the bottom against a chamfer.

[@juyfjgfjhgfjugf4702]

i might steel your idea, yours is way better than my idea,thank you for the idea

[@rallymax2]

Looks awesome Works awesome Reuse of similar lathe parts is awesome Round over is awesome.

[@ADBBuild]

That's a nice looking door knob you made there!

[@edsmachine93]

You can put a set screw with a a brass tip in your pivot screw toward the outside. It should hold fine. Take care, EM.

[@homemadetools]

Great work. We shared this video on our homemade tools forum this week 😎

[@davidsnyder2000]

Great video Jeremy. You always put a lot of work into making them. It shows. Thank you, I learn a lot👍 I always look forward to the next one🙂

[@edsmachine93]

Very nice work. My first time viewing your channel. The Ball turner is a very nice design. I subscribed to your channel. Thanks for sharing. Take care, Ed.

[@yeagerxp]

Excellent work 👍👍👍 . Thank you for sharing. Take care of yourself 🇨🇦

[@Callum-Long]

So good man, love the process, your an artist with this stuff

[@garysgarage101]

I love your build and how you go about making tools. Also, I learned something new; pulley taps! Another tool I’ll need to acquire. Thanks for the video.

[@JeremyMakesThings]

If you’ve ever tried to tap for a set screw on the hub of a pulley, you’ll know why they’re called that.

[@belatoth3763]

I imagine when your worst enemy gives you a ton of brand new different raw stock

[@mariocortes1337]

Very educational video ,congrats, super 👌

[@be007]

nice ball

[@CraigAndera]

Great stuff, as usual. Enjoyed this one very much.

[@Rustinox]

I can totally understand it was fun to build. And it seems to work great too.

[@RB-yq7qv]

HI Jeremy. Nice bit of work. The locking screw could be remade and incorporate a locking ring. How's the jeep coming along.

[@Mr49Studebaker]

I'll stayed tuned in waiting for all the custom shift knobs you can build now.

[@JeremyMakesThings]

I need one for the Jeep. If I can pull it off, I want to make a Damascus steel one using parts taken off the Jeep.

[@624Dudley]

@@JeremyMakesThings Ooh 😯! I’d watch that video. 👍

[@christurnblom4825]

Nice work. I made one which converts my boring bar into a ball tuner. You just put it into a tool holder & come from the top instead of the side or the end. It's not as rigid as this but it gets the job done. And how often does one manually do features requiring this tool in a hobbyist setting? Not that much, I would presume.

[@belight-ws4bb]

Stumbled across your channel. good job! looking forward to watching more of your videos.

[@jmunozar]

It looks pretty cool!, I also enjoyed a lot watching you making it! :) thanks for sharing!

[@TomChame]

Excellent, thanks!

[@Vikingwerk]

Great build!

[@TgWags69]

If you milled a clearance spot in the cross slide where you could access the mounting nuts you could leave the rest assembled. Use a thrust bearing under the big screw, and either loctite it in position or add a set screw with a brass slug.

[@JeremyMakesThings]

I thought about that as I a building it, but it would take out a good bit of material where I want there to be material, and as it’s built, the clearance for the nuts would actually extend into the counterbore for the screw. Since this thing probably won’t get used much, the set up time is mostly a minor annoyance.

[@TgWags69]

Looking back at the video @18:10, I realize you really don't have enough meat on the cross slide portion to drill a big enough hole for a socket, although you may be able to mill a larger area around the nut big enough to get a wrench on it. I see some lathe cross slides like that with an, essentially a captured nut. Might be a bit of a pain, but could be lesser of a pain than adjusting the pivot tension every time, especially if you added a thrust bearing.

[@johanback5659]

A thrust bearing under that big, sloted screw maybe could solve the problem. But then you have to machine the hole a little bit deeper. Nah nevermind. Just use grease and loctite

[@tp8845]

Great job! I Like this kind of shaper work!

[@HanstheTraffer]

It must have been hard to line up those screws to drive into steel without holes. I wish I could do that.

[@y2ksw1]

Nice!

[@smashke]

Could you use a thrust bearing under the large mounting screw?

[@warrenjones744]

round over 👌

[@wizrom3046]

Looking at the depth of engagement of the ball and socket, I think it would have been just as happy with a ball in a hole, with a slight chamfer on the hole. And a long handle screwed into the block looks like it would make it easier to use? 🤔 Great fun project, thanks for sharing! 👍

[@JeremyMakesThings]

A handle would definitely help with the hot chips to the hand.

[@wizrom3046]

@@JeremyMakesThings ... good point! I was mainly thinking about a long handle giving good leverage and ability to take a smoother cut.

[@kokodin5895]

silly idea here insteas of screwdriver slot in thet pivit mounting screw why not drill 2 or 4 holes and use angle grinder disc nut spaner that would give more grip on the base, you could also lock it in with another screw in the middle of that screw if the bottom wasn't hollow or some off center screws that lock against the piviting post around the main screw, given it shouldn't wear that much it may even lock in a predrilled location

[@russelldold4827]

Was there a conscious reason for choosing 45 degrees for your dovetail? Nice result, by the way!

[@JeremyMakesThings]

No reason really.

[@russelldold4827]

@@JeremyMakesThings Good enough! 👍

[@sanjaysami4315]

Great video. I had a question. Wouldn’t you get the same result if you fed in on the cross slide ? Instead of building the slide from scratch ? Very cool build.

[@JeremyMakesThings]

There were a lot of clearance issues with using the compound/top slidesince the tip of the tool bit needs to be behind the pivot point, and it doesn’t pivot very well on the saddle. The cross slide position is only used to get the pivot point under the spindle, and then the slide on the ball turner controlled the radius.

[@sjv6598]

Man that is pretty impressive! I do enjoy watching scratch built tools like that.

[@junchang132]

化腐朽為神奇😊

[@wires99]

I understand why, but running the shop vac while you cut must be loud as hell. Been there, done that.

[@paulshouse524]

Hmmmmmm...........

[@jimsvideos7201]

Nice!