BUILD: A Toolmakers Bench Block (Staking Anvil)

G'day everyone,
I have bean meaning to add a bench block to my tooling for years but never got around to doing it. They are generally not expensive, but I never got around to getting one. However I have started to use pins, rivets and peens more often, and I do need to get one. I would like a model that has a hex shape, which would allow me to hold it in my vise, but the mass produced ones do not come with a hex base.
Starrett do make one, but once you factor in conversion to AUD, taxes and shipping, the price came out to $450. This is quite a lot of a bench block.
So I decided to make it myself. I have a piece of 4140 in the right size for the job. 4140 is not the best suited steel for the job, but it should be adequate. I will heat treat it to harden it (my first time heat treating a piece of 4140 this big) and I will use my tool post grinder to grind it.
I hope you enjoy the video.
#machining #diy #heattreatment
Mill - Sieg x2.7l
Lathe - Hafco Al-250g
Toolmakers Bench Block
Toolmakers Bench Anvil
Staking Anvil
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
3:13 - Lathe Work
6:55 - Cutting The Hex
8:45 - Milling and Drilling
12:52 - Heat Treatment
16:33 - Surface Grinding
18:06 - Final Part

[@machinists-shortcuts]

When grinding, it is often prudent to reduce the contact area of the wheel with the workpiece. In this case the end of the wheel is often dished out so it only cuts on a line around the circumference. This reduces heat build up and helps with keeping the wheel open.

[@chrisoakey9841]

i agree. mount it side on so the circumference of the stone presses against the part, not the face. just turn the tool 90 degrees.

[@JSmith19858]

They mean if you're using the front face then you dress it with a chamfer rather than a square face

[@artisanmakes]

Yeah I just did the lazy option of tilting the grinder every pass to try and grind on one corner

[@slimjim3229]

I've had good luck using those 2" scotchbrite disks on a mandrel for removing heat treat marks on knife blades. They come in rough, medium and fine.

[@Zardwark]

Always a source of amazement as to how much can be achieved with so little with a bit of 'can do' attitude. And I always learn something 🙂

[@homemadetools]

Great job on a fairly commonplace tool. We shared this video on our homemade tools forum last week 😎

[@davidmoys2374]

It's awesome to learn more ways I could do a job even without the proper equipment. lol well done. My suggestion would be if you're ever in a position again of having to make "V" grooves like that again would be to machine the relief slot first. This may seem counter intuitive at first but it is very important based on surface speed of tool geometry. When running at a constant RPM the larger the diameter of the tool the greater the surface speed is all the way down to a diameter of Zero whereby no matter how fast you have your spindle running the surface speed is also Zero. Therefore, when machining a "V" groove with a chamfer tool and no relief you are basically dragging the very tip through the material as if it isn't spinning at all which will create greater pressure on the machine and the tool. Hope this is helpful for future endeavours.

[@artisanmakes]

I know, I think I just got lazy for a bit and tried to make to work

[@skwerlz]

For your surface grinding - reverse the lathe so the rotational planes are opposed. If both contact points are spinning the same direction they're going to push off instead of biting in. Having a very slight angle helps a ton too.

[@fabiofoltran4361]

I don't know nothing about machining so I'm asking you since you seems knowledgeable, the angle is so you have a single point of contact instead of a whole surface ? What if the point gets worn out? The stone wouldn't bite into the part so no more "facing" , thanks

[@skwerlz]

@@fabiofoltran4361 Yes, it's so you have a single point of contact, but the direction of contact is more important than the amount of contact. Good instinct there. The wheel is going to wear down, it's designed to so it doesn't get smooth and stop cutting, but it wears out slowly if you have the right type of stone. As it does you can adjust for the wear and you have the option to "dress" the stone, meaning use a small diamond to cut it back into shape. With this small of a stone it's not going to matter if your stone starts looking like a dreidel, it's going to work just as well because the entire contact surface will be rotating the same direction.

[@recurvestickerdragon]

The flames coming back at 16:02 and 16:12 prove that even chromoly has a sense of comedic timing

[@wmose3694]

it is part of the quench it lets you know the part is still hot enough to re ignite the oil

[@GoblinKnightLeo]

"It leaves a fantastic finish in the holes" "Wha.... oh, never mind."

[@gerritvisser]

You have encouraged me to start using 4140 again, thank you. My one and only attemtp in the past cost me a HSS shell mill (too high surface speed so the 4140 work hardened).

[@jacobheasley2171]

Great build! A Blacksmith taught me when i was young that used motor oil makes for a good hardening quench medium and iv always used that. Different oils from different cars are bettor or worse, and i hear the impurities from the engine and carbon build up actually add to the oils ability to make a harder case on the metal.

[@Phil_Cleaver]

It’s been a long time since that was a thing. All the detergent and other additives in modern oil make it pretty bad as a quench. What he is doing with veg oil is a much better option.

[@howder1951]

Me too, the cost of the motor oil being way cheaper than vegetable oil is my motivation. I haven't done enough to tell anyone what to do properly though.

[@jacobheasley2171]

@@Phil_Cleaver How do the detergents effect the quenching of the steel? Does it change the rate the heat is removed or how it interfaces with the oil? Genuinely curious cause I've never heard that mentioned or experienced anything to suggest such.

[@johnrussell6620]

Lawn Mower oils are a possible source of low detergent oil. The detergent keeps impurities suspended in the oil to allow for being filtered by an oil filter. Non detergent oils allow contaminates to settle and circulate less in engines that have no filters to capture them.

[@JETHO321]

Just for future reference, you're grinding off too much material per pass. Looks great though.

[@TOMMYLIVSEY-in1du]

Just curious how can you tell?

[@JETHO321]

@@TOMMYLIVSEY-in1du By the sparks and you can visually see the step it's creating.

[@rooikatza]

Please start a youtube channel and show us how

[@andrews6517]

Yeah I'd be taking like .001-.002 inches per pass on my depth while grinding with that and adjust the feed accordingly. I've never done this, but I love the setup, though! Always enjoy seeing creative solutions to get the job done 👍🏻

[@JETHO321]

@@rooikatza I have one. I'm a gunsmith. It's not on this account. KZbin won't allow me to tag it. Try again.

[@RedDogForge]

great build! oh heck i keep forgetting to tell you.. if you happen to be in oil/gas region or mining, a great source for large 4140 scrap is folks using pile drivers. they often replace foot long 4" diameter round sections and 1ft sq by 6" thick sections of 4140 as part of their consumables. free/cheap metal

[@JaenEngineering]

Nice build. One suggestion though, instead of loads of facing cuts to clean up the stock, use the mill with a large end mill or shell mill to remove the bulk, then face in the lathe.

[@THusbands]

The boring out underneath is to make it less likely to wobble on uneven surfaces (less contact area) same as with mugs.

[@hazza2247]

mugs mainly have a recessed bottom for the same reason that glass bottles do which is to direct all the force of placing them into the area which is strongest

[@hazza2247]

i’m not saying you’re wrong just that the reason you stated is secondary to durability

[@furiousg1589]

If you're in Melbourne, I'd be happy to surface grind it for you FOC - I'm in Preston.

[@andrewkoziarz3105]

Bench blocks are bored on the bottom to reduce the weight. Toolmaker boxes usually have hundreds of pounds worth of tool steel, and weight reduction is important

[@schwuzi]

Also so they sit flat on a workbench. Much easier to sit flat on a small rim than on a wide surface.

[@skwerlz]

And it gives chips somewhere to go when using it as a tapping guide.

[@vx-iidu]

a machining related tool that sits around in the workshop is probably one of the last things you'd care about reducing the weight of.

[@schwuzi]

@@vx-iidu It'll also dampen more of the hammer blows if it's heavier.

[@firstmkb]

@@vx-iidutrue, until someone thinks he deserves it more than you.

[@JanBinnendijk]

Nice piece of work, if you take a surface plate and some sandpaper, you can flat-lap the part., even get it to a mirror finish, if you finish it on a flat piece of wood, with polishing compound..

[@dangreen7709]

HRC of 50-55 is pretty high for 4140 steel. Its toughness increases rapidly below HRC 50. 42-48 is generally a good range for very high strength and good toughness

[@jasongarland3165]

If you want to polish the face of the bench block further, you could certainly stick a piece of fine sandpaper in a granite surface plate or even a thick piece of float glass and wet sand the face of the block against it.

[@Horus9339]

Well done Sir, you truly are an engineer with great skills to create what you need with what you have. Superb work.

[@rjung_ch]

Nice addition to your tools. Cheers 👍💪✌

[@hazza2247]

i reckon the underside is usually bored out to ensure it doesn’t rock/‘seesaw’ on any high spots or bits of debris on the bench top

[@RedDogForge]

wish we were neighbors, id glady lend you use of the surface grinder. nice job with tool post grinding :)

[@bartcraig4310]

Thank you for creating and sharing another excellent vid. Your efforts are always appreciated. Much respect from Perth

[@MCsCreations]

Brilliant work, dude! Really well done! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@be007]

good result ! cheers ben

[@richardhargreaves8132]

Brilliant as ever, the level of effort puts the rest of us to shame!

[@priority2]

Great job! Very nice work😊

[@TalRohan]

Nice job I would be very pleased with that, I like the 55 rockwell hardness because that should stop the edges of the holes rounding into the piece and gouging pins. Nice work

[@markwatters6875]

Top job mate 👍🇦🇺

[@howder1951]

Nice work , I was expecting a lapping on a flat plate rather than the unconventional grinding. It came out very nice and I am sure you will use it all the time. I made a handy one from a hockey puck for quick rough use and am very happy with it. I always enjoy your videos, there is something new to learn every time. Keep making videos, and I thank you for this one, cheers!

[@merc7105]

Hope you're well. Cheers.

[@jamesriordan3494]

Good save mate

[@billchiasson2019]

A 36 grit flap wheel would flatten that out super fast and saved a lot of machining. The project came out great!

[@artisanmakes]

I can’t imagine that it would have been much faster. The lathe works fast

[@JSmith19858]

In a comment elsewhere in here you mentioned it was difficult to get a small enough feed in with the lathe. I can't see your setup to see if it is, but if you set the compound at 30 degrees to the workpiece then the feed on the handwheel halves. So one 20micron graduation becomes a feed in of 10.

[@wmweekendwarrior1166]

Good stuff

[@AB_Tool]

I wish percision matthews would sponsor you. You would make use of a bigger mill for sure. Keep up the awesome videos. It's always a pleasure when you upload.

[@artisanmakes]

Cheers, I don’t even think precision Mathew’s operates in Australia so I can’t see it ever happening

[@graedonmunro1793]

good job

[@jackfromthe60s]

A good tool for facing that wonky puck of 4140 is a diamond tool holder. They handle interrupted cuts really well and take seconds to sharpen. You don't even need to remove the tool bit from the holder to sharpen it. If kept sharp they require less power to drive than a ceramic bit too. Use another bit ground with a slight nose radius for the finish cuts.

[@robertwalker7457]

Very interesting thankyou.

[@alexduke5402]

Oh man! I can make one of these for gunsmithing. Make a metal and plastic one!

[@wm12ga]

If you’ve got a 3D printer print up a little tray for the bottoms that you can put magnets into to catch any pins that you drive all the way through.

[@Chickenandfriends-dj4vt]

That massive chunk in the lathe looked funny as! Keep up the great work dude, Ive only just discovered your channel but I'll be there from here on in mate.

[@DanielGafner]

Loved the video. Taking the hot part out the oil and it igniting was making me 😂. It seems wrong a wet anything should start burning even when i sort of know whats going on😊

[@paulconrod4504]

Nice

[@DaleDix]

You'll have to get a stick with some magnets on it for the swarf.

[@Grauenwolf]

If the bottom is flat, your table has to be perfectly clean or it won't sit properly. If it's just sitting on a ring, small debris will be moved aside, allowing it to more easily sit flat. You can see this in most wood or ceramic plates and bowls.

[@SukottoSama]

i wish i can save money to the point where i can get into hobby machining and start making money by making stuff.

[@wiju]

3:30 why not use the hacksaw? 😁

[@Fetch049]

Nice job. You are going to remove the burr on the screwdriver pin, right (19:55)?

[@mikebroom1866]

Jeeesus. Would have been better off cleaning up that blank with an angle grinder

[@watahyahknow]

thing is with grinding that the amount of material that passes the tool varies from the outer circle towards the center so you either need to slow down the lathe while moving to the center of move the tool slower inside the further you go in allso might be eazier to heat treath the steel if you use a pottery oven as you can controll the temperature a little better inside it and heat the part more evenly , you had the part in the pad of the propane flame and it was pretty clear that the part closest to the flame got hotter faster than the part that was away from the flame , this might allso cause warping aaaah waswondering where a staking anvil ws used for , hmmm thats pretty handy

[@tas32engineering]

The lathe gear head can really take a cut. Bought a range of steel rod early knowing the gears would take it. Interupted cuts can loosen compund handle. Going for a gravity coolant feed as spray isnt preferred.

[@WilliamPriola]

I have an idea for minimizing the aerosolized coolant your mist part cooler produces. Add a brush to the end like one of those cheap ones for flux, or maybe add a sponge brush, the brush head means it still delivers the coolant where needed by just placing the brush head on the part. It'll reduce aerosolized coolant by catching it in the bristles/sponge.

[@anders4674]

Good time to have power cross feed

[@inlandnavigator]

Wait... Didn't that mill have a 3hp motor? Surely that would have no problem with that 4140 I imagine?

[@RedDogForge]

the reason they bore out the bottom is to make it easier to lay flat, they then only have to grind the "rim" flat/perpendicular

[@Gumbatron01]

You could check out your local fish and chip shop for oil. You should be able to get 20l drums of it very cheaply, it might smell like fish and chips but should be fine for quenching.

[@christopherharsh8837]

The bottom is bored out to help it sit flat on the bench and not rock around as bad on a uneven surface

[@KF-qj2rn]

11:46 i think the second depth of cut was 3 or 4x more than first pass, the orig. depth worked well it seems

[@stormkhan4250]

Referring to your self made wood planer, there is another KZbinr who made his own set of wood planes. The way he constructed his planes is certainly different - he is a wood worker and he applied woodworking methods to building his planes! Hint: dovetail joints to join the 3 larger flat surfaces of the plane! His channel and name is: Young Je The result is quite spectacular & amazing. 😀

[@mkegadgets4380]

As a drawing available? Look forward to your next video.

[@Itsdirtnaptime]

I would imagine the reason it cracks in water is because it is cooling it off too fast. Oil will hold heat better. Keeping the part from shock. Same reason why some people can heat treat a flat bar, and others are just cooking a banana.

[@artisanmakes]

That is right but some steel are more prone to cracking than others due to what they are alloyed with

[@kosir1234]

when machining a v groove, it is a good idea to make a relief with the normal endmill first :) Also, 50to55Hrc is not too hard to turn on a lathe with proper carbide inserts.

[@artisanmakes]

I’ve done a bit of hard turning before, but I don’t think the inserts would appreciate this type of interrupted cuts

[@kosir1234]

@@artisanmakes depends on the inserts :) but yes, they can go dull fast :D

[@pawekowalski7469]

👍👍

[@lolcec81]

Комментарий в поддержку канала и ролика, а также труда мастера.

[@HolzMichel]

to get a better finish with your tool post grinder, run the chuck clockwise (reverse), dress your stone with a 45 degree-ish angle and turn the post with grinder mounted to match the angle on the stone to the work. only take very light cuts. anything 1/1000 of an inch is way too much for a tool post grinder

[@PaddyPatPatrick]

Hello Everyone, From The UK👋

[@littlehills739]

dished out bottom strikes me like a leveling thing like bottom of a cup is dished out but then why wouldnt you want the mass for warping on heat treating ? or is it to sit on a sand/lead bag ?

[@philoso377]

Nice video and presentation. I was curious about what cat tool you use to model your concept?

[@artisanmakes]

Solidworks

[@sinchrotron]

Im pretty sure that 6 liters of vegie oil in Australia worth more than entire part if you buy it

[@dominomon7117]

What size wrench will be needed for this nut

[@elvinhaak]

Nice idea. Do you have a steam-engine in the workshop or near you? Sometimes it makes that sound somehow. Your grandfathers hobby?

[@notjon9588]

Would it have been worth putting on the mill to cut the high face off the part?

[@artisanmakes]

Probably not, lathe works faster than my mill. Cheers

[@Spedley_2142]

Should have cut the centre slot first as the point of a V cutter doesn't actually cut, it just gets pushed through the part.

[@johnrussell6620]

At 16:45, could you have done the heating with an electric furnace/kiln, or an electric induction cook-top element inside a furnace type body, while flooding the furnace with argon gas instead of flux for surface erosion protection?

[@artisanmakes]

Yeah if you certainly can if you have one. I don’t unfortunately

[@erwe1054]

После закалки не стал отпуск делать ?

[@RectalRooter]

Aboot the bottom being dished out. Do I get a prize ?? Maybe it's the same reason dish bottom furniture like tables and lamps. Is to help them sit flush on surfaces without rocking. Imagine the difficulty it would be to get a 3 foot diameter flat bottom dish from rocking if the surfaces are not perfectly flat

[@Lilac757]

For the algorithm.

[@kennethstaszak9990]

That router bit would have lasted longer with a clearance slot machined first. The cutting forces on the point are too high and the point is too fragile to withstand the cutting forces. I've done it with a slitting saw or a small diameter end mill. The slitting saw worked a little better depending on the depth of the slot.

[@artisanmakes]

Probably, live and learn

[@skyfreakwi]

Your missing out on the proper horizontal grinding marks!!! I don't believe it! Wtf? It's fine though, I'm kidding. I prefer the circular style you did anyway... Nice tool post grinder btw. Bravo!

[@anejkolaric8960]

You ran out of power when drilling enventhough mill has the 3 hp motor?

[@artisanmakes]

Yeah. It’s extremely powerful above 600-700rpm, but still lacks a bit of torque to do low speed drilling in large diameters

[@anejkolaric8960]

Oh thats the case Thank you for information I was planing on doing something similar to my mill but I thought that 1.5 hp will be enough

[@slygamer01]

I still think you should turn the wooden handle around on the plane so it fits in the palm of the hand rather than pointing into the palm.

[@artisanmakes]

Me personally I like it this way. Cheers

[@henrydando]

Ild avoid using your power drill to unwind your chuck. If a chip gets in there then it can cause some damage to your chuck since the drill will just power through

[@artisanmakes]

maybe. I used to do this for years with the old chuck and it never caused any issues. i know the risks and I am fine with doing it to these cheap chucks

[@DannyDan2k13]

Would it not have been faster to deck the blank off in the mill first and then finish it on the lathe?

[@artisanmakes]

Probably not, it really didn’t take a whole lot of time to clean it up on the lathe

[@DannyDan2k13]

@@artisanmakes Ah fair enough

[@alanp3334]

10:00... I was drilling some 20mm holes and had the same problem. My drill press doesn't have the juice for those diameters either.

[@richardculbertson8027]

Not sure where in aus you are located but would it be feasible for you to get in touch with cee and he maybe able to help with bigger offcuts or blanks

[@technicgamerhd5380]

that would be amazing

[@LittleAussieRockets]

He mentioned a few videos back, he's based in Sydney.

[@artisanmakes]

I never said Sydney, but eastern nsw

[@littlehills739]

where in oz are you ? ill offer free surface grinding if your in vic postage out side vic would cost as much as a local shop

[@ejackulayt]

Comment 👍

[@andrewclark8225]

I guess I was spoilt, back in the 80’s when I was an apprentice we had surface, cylindrical and tool/ cutter grinders, real sized mills and lathes!

[@Kineth1]

Critics just don't understand the stakes.

[@0Logan05]

Be sure to keep your “TOOLS” in order as they are indeed under threat(As are we ALL)!