Making A Domed Contact Point

Taken from Patron Series #3 "Constructing A Dial Indicator - Part 2 - Making the Indicator Shaft Assembly" / clickspring
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[@EleanorPeterson]

3:35 - Nice. The finish is already so fine that you can't tell when the chuck stops revolving. And we haven't even got to the polishing stage!🙂

[@ArchEdge]

Thanks Chris - Great Video. When your finger is in the picture, there is a sudden realisation of how small these parts really are! Amazing Work

[@Vonbek32]

Chris Im always amazed that you can bring out such beauty in a small part I mean even your fasteners are works of art. Thank you for sharing it.

[@BloodyMobile]

I am always so impressed when people manage to make such things so shiny that they start looking more 3D rendered than real. It's just amazing.

[@jonathans1759]

When the tool rest comes out and you get the chills knowing there is some master turning by hand about to enlighten you. Magnificent and Sublime.

[@modelenginerding6996]

THIS is what Sherlines were designed for! Folks give Sherline a bunch of crap because they can't turn down a brake caliper off their rusty car. :)

[@Arthur-ue5vz]

Isn't it incredibly satisfying to make functional pieces of art? They work as intended but also look like they belong in a high end museum! Not much can be better than that! 😊

[@warrenjones744]

I am fairly certain only Clickspring Chris would polish the threads on an indicator point! Marvelous craftsmanship sir.

[@trottermalone379]

Another good one. You make free-handing those radii look easy. Those chips are amazing. We mortals would have a chattering and shattered stump. Share a picture of the back side of the cutting tool to go along with what you show of the tool rest?

[@Yoshikaable]

Wow these parts are glamorous. I wish I could own one screw made at this level of hand care

[@coreypratt-e36]

Still to this day I’m still amazed. Thank you for showing the quality of craftsmanship. I strive everyday to make quality work like this everyday at my shop. Thank you for doing what you do!!!!!

[@methlonstorm2027]

all ways great to watch a master craftsman at work thank you

[@dennythomas8887]

Another masterpiece! It's gotten to the point where I'd expect nothing less from Clickspring. I'm also amazed that the capability of the Sherline Lathe.

[@MacMiskenn]

Perfect straw colour on that tempering.

[@benruniko]

Lathing a circular profile by hand… an incredible amount of skill and practice went into that and i would never be brave enough to attempt such a thing in metal.

[@ourtube4266]

I can’t believe that McMaster-Carr has to go through this laborious process for every fastener and they are still able to sell them for 6 cents a piece. Truly inspiring!

[@samdude1953]

I assume that is diamond paste you're using to polish the hardened part. It's a nice touch, Chris!

[@ClickspringClips]

Bergeon 6807-EF Diamantine powder mixed with a small amount of oil. Can be found online, Amazon, various horological suppliers etc - Cheers :)

[@modellingmark]

Simply beautiful work! Even your swarf is neater than mine!

[@paularbon1093]

Just beautiful work, I love the finish you get.

[@johnkelley9877]

Fantastic work! I always look forward to a new tutorial. Thanks for sharing this.

[@jeffanderson4979]

You make everything look so easy. Beautiful job man

[@sundarAKintelart]

Your work is a class of its own.

[@iagobarreirolopez2641]

For a little while I though you were going to make a doomed contact point. Good to see there is still hope for that little screw

[@holgerlauer]

A small master piece 👍

[@pgiamel]

un lavoro meraviglioso, come tutto quello che fai, complimenti è interessantissimo seguirti

[@bulwinkle]

The art anc craft of Clickspring is to make the prosaic look like jewels.

[@Mulletmanalive]

We’ve been making Gear Prawn jokes about Clickspring for years; the addition of Cuban jazz indicates he’s decided to embrace it. Nice!

[@darenscott1718]

Tickle, tickle algorithm...

[@EleanorPeterson]

Gurgle, gurgle, alcoholism... 🍺

[@LittleAussieRockets]

LoL

[@stevenbierlink6695]

Just finished a beer. Better grab another and watch again

[@frosty2651]

Impeccable!

[@tomasn3]

Beautiful

[@mgcamp85]

Beautiful work and video as always. I was wondering if sometime you could comment on the properties of the steel after different heat treatments e.g. quench hardened vs straw vs blue?

[@boblow2186]

Yep no worries. When you heat and quench it first time the steel will be glass hard and just like glass it will be brittle so the next step is to soften it slightly. So you polish it then heat it to straw or blue and that is an oxidation on the surface of a known temperature. There are tables in engineering books for different tools that require different strength. Or it can be used as decoration as in clocks the hands and screws are often blue. Hope this helps.

[@RNMSC]

@@boblow2186 or more for @mgcamp85 A part of this is that discussion of it being 'glass hard' this is due to the fact that Iron (Fe) forms crystals as part of it's process of going from molten to solid. Bringing it up to the red heat that is used in preparation for quenching it, causes those crystals to break down forming smaller crystals. If you were to bring it up to a white heat, the metal crystals would be gone entirely, and nearly anything you do to the part will deform it, so you go to a red heat. Additionally in quenching the metal, you are inducing stresses as the surface "shrinks" due to the cooling, against the higher temperature interior. This is also a part of why prince rupert drops are as hard as they are, and behave the way they do if you break the tail. Back to iron and steel. Bringing the entire part up to a point where the surface oxidizes (not rusts) at various temperatures has the combined characteristic of allowing some crystal growth to the metal, and allowing the molecules in the metal to re-arrange and reduce some of the stress. Rais the temperature to deep blue coloration of oxidation though, and you effectively remove the quenching hardness entirely. There are situations where you do want this. Look at the tang on a file, that file needs to be hard enough to cut the materials it's designed for, however the tang needs to be soft or malleable enough that it doesn't shatter in a palm, or handle as one (all too often) abuses the cutting surfaces of the file. As noted above, the tables give you recommendations on what colors provide what features. And inevitably machinists will keep experimenting with variations, though predictability is almost always preferred.

[@timspeevack4410]

When hand turning is the point of tool contact on center or above/below? How long is the tool (i.e. how much grip do you have, is there a handle, etc.) What happens if it catches? I'd love to see a dedicated video on just this process. Love your work, and thanks for sharing.

[@jsd1982]

What do you do with all the leftover chips? Is it possible to recycle them and melt them back down into stock?

[@jeffarmstrong1308]

In theory - Yes and large machine shops do so. A small, hobbyist's shop like Chris's (and mine!) only generates a tiny amount annually that no scrap dealer is interested in. You can see one example of reuse at 4:05 where the blueing tray is filled with brass chips obtained from the chip tray. For metals like steel it's not practical to even attempt to recycle the swarf 'in house'.

[@itarry4]

I mean easy enough especially for you I love watching you work it's so relaxing. However I'd still rather make a tool that creates the right radius etc to me it's just easier especially if making a few.

[@sbrunner69]

The collet chuck seems so versatile...

[@DaveChurchill]

Nice! What's it for?

[@johnboytrue]

You are such a showoff, and I love it.

[@vallejokid1968]

Chris, do you wear loupes while making these small items or are you able to see all that detail naturally?

[@wadekirby8575]

Did you make or buy the die holder? If bought what is it called? If you made it do you have a video of the process?

[@tomt9543]

Is that quick change tool post a Sherline product or whose? Also, is your lathe the 8” or longer one?

[@dangerrangerlstc]

It always looks like you're turning some 3 inch piece of steel until your hand comes into frame and suddenly there's a scale reference and then part size shrinks dramatically. Just a fun observation

[@charlesforan7446]

So nice….

[@Chr.U.Cas2216]

👍👌👏 again and as always.

[@user-xv9fe4eo1b]

Read the title as "Making a DOOMED contact point". Had many thoughts about it then.

[@glenw.3813]

Chris, I’ve never used the boric acid or borax coating. We never see what is involved to clean up the part after heat treated and quenched. Is it difficult to remove? I’ve heard that it is and also from those who say otherwise. Would appreciate your thoughts and maybe video demonstrating. Thank you so much for your willingness to share your talent.

[@ClickspringClips]

For scale minimisation during heat treatment I use powdered boric acid only, not borax. To cleanup simply immerse the part in hot water and the glaze dissolves from the part in a few minutes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6Slhmp9j7N4gLM. Borax, whilst essentially the same compound in a different form, behaves quite differently to boric acid and has a different role in the shop, most commonly I use it as a flux with foundry work. - Cheers :)

[@glenw.3813]

@@ClickspringClips Thank you for sharing the information!!!

[@constantinosschinas4503]

Did not get the flame-bronze step. What is it's purpose?

[@buildmotion1426]

Is that a 4-48 thread? Shiny ✨

[@fir3w4lk3r]

Shiny! What is it for?

[@TreyVaswal]

Ooooh, 'domed', not 'doomed'. I'm on YT too much, lol.

[@korycoster3586]

I was expecting someone to say "Yatzee" when parting off?

[@sarinhighwind]

I'm at the point of wondering how much sticky tack you go through. haha

[@goober-ll1wx]

What lathe do you use??

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

4:52 What is that green clayish stuff?

[@elund408]

its called Rodico its used by watch makers to clean and hold parts. (think expensive silly putty)

[@jeffarmstrong1308]

Silly putty or Blu-tak also work almost as well and is m-u-c-h cheaper

[@RNMSC]

@@jeffarmstrong1308 I'd suggest play dough over silly putty, but that comes from watching silly putty flow far too fast at times. 🙂

[@NovaLand]

After watching this video, I still don't have a clue what was being made :P

[@rdgk1se3019]

What was that green thing at the end of the video?

[@catalinbadalan4463]

"I accidentally domed your contact."

[@alrikscyriel6208]

I read "doomed contact point" OO...

[@brothertheo2677]

What the hell is a doomed contact point?

[@MrPossumeyes]

Chris, I will never possess the skills or abilities (coz I'm an old boy and too old to learn new shit) you have. If I was a young fella... well ... I'd give it a go ... We're Antipodeans, right? If you want something and it isn't available Ya'd better make it, right? And ya'd better make it right or those pricks will laugh at ya, Right? Bastards. Cheers, Chris, for being a stickler.

[@RNMSC]

I am never going to take up a profession that involves bending or forming sheet metal. That said when I see a project that allows me to learn a few skills, such as seaming and simple folding of sheet metal, I'm more than happy to give it a go. Likewise looking at things like etching signs in brass. Having an idea of just exactly what is involved in getting started helps me to appreciate the work that others are performing. I'm not yet 60. Plenty more to learn. And my kids have observed that I'm more of a melinial than them in my choices on social media. I'm not entirely sure that's a compliment, but I do what I can to have fun. So remember the adage, 'Staying young simply requires the unending interest in unlearning old "truths" the probably weren't true when you learned them all those years ago.' Oh, and 'Always be ready to tell Mrs. Grundy to take a hike!'

[@RANDOMNATION907]

pff, you call that polished? . . . just kidding, that's an incredible luster. Tiny little buggers too.

[@jimsvideos7201]

Shiny.

[@tattoosteveneo]

You make it look so simple but it’s not

[@bobcrow214]

It actually is very simple

[@alasdairhamilton1574]

Come on Chris, put a little more effort into the polishing mate😎.👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@EitriBrokkr]

What's the average age of your audience? Just curious as to why i keep getting advertisements geared toward senior citizens

[@wadekirby8575]

The advertisements you see are supposed to be tailored to you, but it doesn't always work like that.

[@loganosmolinski4446]

boop

[@frenzalrhomb1]

I miss the voice over.

[@classicbandgeek]

The level of polish you can get from hand finishing parts is almost disgusting

[@eekpie]

doesn't work