Making A Surface Gauge - DIY

G'day everyone,
This video has ben in the works for the past month. I will be making a Surface Gauge to go with my new granite surface plate. The surface gauge will be used to hold my test indicator and it will allow me to accurately measure the squareness and parallelism of my parts.
This build was constrained due to a lack of a surface grinder, which is typically used to build these tools, but I believe that I have worked my way around it to make a tool that will serve me well for many years to come.
#machining #diy #workshop
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
1:02 - Solidworks Model
1:21 - Machining The Base
5:05 - Machining The Rocker
6:18 - Machining The Brass Pins
6:58 - Test Fit
7:15 - Finishing The Rocker
10:44 - Making The Fine Adjustment Screw
12:26 - Making The Lower Clamping System
15:48 - Making The Rod
18:09 -Making The Top Clamp Assembly
20:50 - Making The Washers
21:56 - Knurling The Fine Adjustment Screw
23:07 - Assembly
24:53 - Testing
25:56 - Bluing The Base With Prussian Blue

[@InheritanceMachining]

Man does this look familiar... I made one a couple months back. I like your creativity in the face of limited tooling/machine options. Nicely done! PS. You can use the ball end of the rod for squareness comparison. I use it all the time with great results

[@artisanmakes]

Definitely had your video in the back of my mind whilst I made this. Definitely envied you having a surface grinder. I've used the ball end as a bumper but personally found it a little awkward to use and set up. Personal preference eh :) Love your channel btw

[@InheritanceMachining]

@@artisanmakes Ha! That's great, man. Thanks! Yeah it's definitely a bit finicky to get set up with the ball. Helps if theres a tight space you have to reach. But I mostly use the large radius bumper like you mentioned omitting from yours. New to your channel and enjoy it as well. Keep up the good content!

[@sandyiman99]

Goat recognize goat

[@sparkiekosten5902]

"I'm very happy with the way it turned out" "Artisan Makes" You and me both. That looks so much nicer than if I tried to make it! The best part for me is all the little short cuts or thinking outside the box with what is at hand to get a final result. That is by far my favourite channel for a person like me. Keep up the good work!

[@Tristoo]

last time I was this early I stayed in an incubator for 3 months

[@michaelmechex]

Great job! I wanted to see a surface gauge build like this ever since Tony said he'd make one years ago, but he never did. This totally scratched that itch. Thank you so much, it turned out amazing!

[@artisanmakes]

Neat, never knew old tony had plans to make one, wish he had done it. Cheers

[@an2thea514]

Since it was a recurring joke that he makes it in 2 years, I doubt he actually had plans for that.

[@UniSol32]

you can use ball bearings as contact points, first you make flat spots on bearings then press it into the holes in the bottom of the body then you need to bring them to one plane with fine sand paper you can do it on a surface plate but i would like to use paper tape to prevent grit from sandpaper to damage surface plate

[@roadshowautosports]

One option you may consider is buying a hardness plate the size of the bottom of your gage and mechanically attaching it. Since you made it pretty much flat, it would transfer to the hardness plate and protect it. Cheaper than buying a planar and a surface grinder!

[@ErikBongers]

Since the centre of the bottom has more surface contact than the edges, there's already a tendency to rock. This will gradually get worce as you slide it around and things wear. I would mill out the centre a little bit, so the base touches at the corners rather than the centre. This will result in 4 feet. You could go for 3...

[@artisanmakes]

It remains to be seen, I can't see anything in the indicator like I said but ill want and see once I get my hands on a tenths indicator and go from there

[@bmalovic]

@@artisanmakes You can scrape mild steel. Not a rocket science, but you will need proper blue, and you must improve your bluing techniqe. Just a small moovements, few milimetrs, not large circles, no pressure on top... BTW, your counter sink is fine, just slow it down. Threre is always thendency for small lathes/mllls to be driven too fast, just becouse of lack of torque in low speed. For example, for knurling, you need much, much slower speed, and definitly scisor type knurler (not to hard to make). You can even make hand crank, and drive lathe by hand when you need very slow speed and lot of torque.

[@MrXanderjanssen]

Just drill or mill 3 shallow holes in the base and press or adhesively bond 3 balls of a ballbearing in the holes. This will give you 3 hardened point contacts

[@lazar2175]

@@MrXanderjanssen Now that's a good idea!

[@adamrosploch359]

I have so much respect for hand sawing all your stock that’s crazy

[@MachiningwithJoe]

Brilliant video mate the final piece looked awesome and functions really well. Hopefully it won’t be long before I’m in the new shop and back machining again

[@micahsa15]

someone get this man a band saw!

[@josefstalin4532]

Time for some saturday night quality content I see! Great video as usual!

[@CreaseysWorkshop]

The little round ball on the end of the vertical shaft is there so you can use it as a squareness comparator. No need for a dowel pin or a rounded front surface.

[@artisanmakes]

Yes definitely, but I have found that getting the indicator needle perfectly centred on the ball to be somewhat tricky. The dowel pin method by contrast was much easier to set up and repeatable. Cheers

[@WeCanDoThatBetter]

Extremely well build! The surface finish with the fly cutter is excellent. Like it!

[@DavidHerscher]

Outstanding work, as usual. I continue to be impressed by your range of skiggity skizzilz. CAD is something i've not yet been able to grasp. EDIT: You can use the fact that it's not hardened to your advantage here. It would be very easy to hand scrape the bottom surface to "perfect" flatness because it's not hardened. This can always be re-done should it be damaged at any time in the future. Hand scraping a small flat square like that would take hardly any time at all, and would yield outstanding results!

[@nelunicoara4483]

If you are not able to grasp CAD means you are not able to grasp technical drawing. You should begin with it.

[@DavidHerscher]

@@nelunicoara4483 This is one of the dumbest things I’ve heard all day. There is a huge difference between reading a drawing, and using proprietary software to create a 3D model, from which drawings are then generated. CAD, is not a technical drawing. As an aside, I’ve gotten much better at using CAD software. However, that doesn’t change the fact that your comment is erroneous.

[@robfrancis8830]

Amazing as always. Thanks foir the inspiration.

[@doobedoobedo1]

Turned out really well.

[@RalfyCustoms]

Got there in the end dude, thanks for sharing 👍

[@HM-Projects]

Good build, it looks very well done. The circular front bump can probably be retrofitted by turning a piece, cutting it and attaching it to base with dowel pin and Loctite.

[@TheDistur]

Impressive machining. Love to see it!

[@Smallathe]

A very good project. Awesome work and a wonderful result!

[@TheEphemeris]

That's an awesome shop made tool!!!

[@sparrow4266]

Awesome build!

[@wyattselleck7236]

Well done. 👍

[@jasonburns1407]

Great work 👌

[@azinfidel6461]

Well done.

[@peter360adventures9]

Awesome build.

[@philipps00]

nice work, thanks for sharing 🙂

[@ludditetechnologies]

Fantastic

[@homemadetools]

Good job as always. We shared this video on our homemade tools forum this week 😎

[@nicolashuffman4312]

You can knurl with a rotary table fitted with a chuck and a standard end mill. Just set things up such that the square edge of the end mill hits the work piece offset to make a perfect V, index and repeat.

[@robertwalker7457]

Very nice work indeed.

[@Nbomber]

When filing a radius, move the file in an opposing radius. Dont have the file move parralel to the intended curve you are filing. Instead imagine the file is following an invisible circle that is touching the part. If that makes sense? do it more like a skateboarder dropping in on a half pipe, instead of like a plane flying round the globe. It gives a better curve, idk why.

[@artisanmakes]

I do both ways, I always end up getting roughly the same result

[@simonwatson5299]

PLEASE Please make those plans available!!! So cool!!

[@GlennNowOnYouTube]

Fine job. You do nice work, for sure.

[@PhillMagGamerDad]

Really nice build, you should be extremely proud! I would love to see you build a power-hacksaw as a project! I think it's going to save you a lot of time in future.

[@rolandaspaulauskas9180]

Nice job, enjoyed the video thanks!

[@paulthomas3782]

Well done looks great and will be very handy in the shop Cheers.

[@artisanmakes]

Thankyou

[@mftmachining]

Excellent job. You could use fine sandpaper with double sided tape on your surface plate. Works extremely well. Robin does that too. I go up to 2500 grit, gives a fine lapped surface.

[@lazar2175]

Inheritance Machining has a similar surface gauge build, although his is far more sophisticated. I'm stoked that it can be done on these machines too with reasonable accuracy. Awesome video!

[@boltonky]

Thanks for the upload and good work. I really need to start doing CAD my picture drawing is starting to get slack and is always hard to explain to people the vision. Also a DIY method of surfacing is using a piece of glass on a table and a piece of sandpaper (used on engines where a surfacing machine isn't always available and done right you can get great results)

[@lazar2175]

You'd be surprised how warped float glass can get. And the sandpaper thickness can vary wildly. This might not matter for something like engine, where a couple microns don't matter, but for the surface gauge 10 microns is huge (almost half thousandth for US folk) - a paper sheet is between 80-160 microns or 3.2 - 6.4 thou thick.

[@dr_robot9881]

A power hacksaw would be a great addition for all the cutting he does.

[@CB.5]

You must be new here.

[@doobedoobedo1]

lots of hacksaw action in this one :)

[@Bianchi77]

Creative video, thanks :)

[@348bac]

Looks great!! Id be well chuffed

[@alexmay3533]

26:38 The paste is a non-drying paste. So you can use mineral oil instead of linseed oil which dries fast. You have to note that the blue particles are submicron in commercial blues. You should make the paste and then crush it a lot.

[@78dwk]

Very nicely done Godbless

[@termlimit]

You should make a hand knurler. I made one, it is perfect for smaller already parted pieces like knobs. If you want a copy of plans let me know I can pdf the one I did.

[@marcocollignon1768]

Always nice to make one 👍

[@davidmassengill5290]

if u have/ get a decent DRO, anilam and accurite for sure have it, the "mill arch" function you can step/plunge cut any size radius without a rotary table.. have to belt sand or file down the scales after but something to look into for future

[@howardosborne8647]

Lovely looking surface gauge,turned out really nice. Rather than just a flat bottom it is better to rebate machine the middle portions away and leave only 3 or 4 contact feet on the bottom of your surface block (inserting 3 press fit ball bearings into milled socket holes in the base is another method). If going for the flat feet pads then finish the raised feet by lapping with very fine wet and dry paper on a flat plate with parrafin or WD40 for lubricant. On the point of Knurling you will get much better results with a 'scissor' type knurler. you are struggling with the pressure type knurler because your mini lathe doesn't have sufficient rigidity in the head bearing for you to be able to apply enough inward feed pressure.

[@ArcAiN6]

is it just me, or does anyone else think "OMG" whenever you see how fast his feeds and speeds are when milling?

[@artisanmakes]

You have to push these little machines to make them work :)

[@MrDuffman83]

Nice video man. i´ll do it!

[@BarntecCNC]

Nice Work 5*

[@Gin-toki]

For countersinks try and see if you can find some zero flute countersinks. They leave better finishes than other types and also cause less chatter.

[@jackdawg4579]

nice job. I was going to suggest making a little arbour to take that thread on the piece you missed so you could hold it in the lathe, but you got there in the end.

[@alexmay3533]

When scraping, they scratch the entire surface first and then rub it against the plate. So that the blue shows the pattern better.

[@artisanmakes]

For sure, but I'm not scraping low carbon steel any time soon

[@stockstergates4061]

base is important and the stick holder is more important, make sure the hole is precise for the stick, if it shakes, and indicator will move a lot, so touch the top of the stick lightly and watch the indicator and make sure it is precise or not.

[@garethbaus5471]

It seems like a surface gauge with 3 small widely spaced contact points would be the least likely to deviate from the plane of your surface plate especially if it wears unevenly over time.

[@TalRohan]

Very nice little project, now having seen a few of your video's I get the distinct impression that hacksawing stock by hand is something you do onn purpose as a daily workout. (props for eco friendly and not taking the easy way) I wouldnt have wanted to saw those big chunks and especially not the stainless

[@artisanmakes]

Mostly there just isn't space for a full sized band saw. With good hacksaw blades it really doesn't take too long. Well except for the stainless :) Cheers

[@JETHO321]

Fantastic job man. It turned out very good. You might consider polishing the bottom by running it over various grits of sandpaper laid flat on the BACK of a piece of glass. Its the flattest part because it was poured as molten salt.

[@artisanmakes]

Might be worth it. I'll have a look around for some float glass

[@ryebis]

@@artisanmakes lol you have a surface plate ;)

[@artisanmakes]

Some people do recommend against using sand paper on surface plates and reccomend to use float glass since the surface plate is graded. Cheers

[@ryebis]

@@artisanmakes fair enough, probably more expensive to replace as well.

[@ego73]

SHAG that hacksaw! LOL! I swear you'll lose your branding when you upgrade to a power tool, matey. Something else: I don't know if it was Tony or Myfordboy that used FILING BUTTONS to assist on those hand filing accurate radii....but it's something you might consider Love your vids. Keep em coming. Great stuff. Live well, be well. See you next Saturday!

[@FlickFreaks]

We’ve got to get our boy here a horizontal bandsaw.

[@trashes_to_treasures]

And, regarding the round end for the surface gauge / missing rotary table: if you have a disc sander, just weld a piece of rod (8mm or so) on a piece of steel (a flat or a plate works fine). Weld from the other side to not have welds on the side where the rod sticks out. Then drill an according hole into your part that needs to be round. Clamp the plate onto your disc sander‘s table and put the work piece onto it. You can now rotate and sand it round. Tap it closer to the sanding disc to reduce the diameter. Works really well for making round pieces 😃

[@Ironman9665]

Красиво получилось.

[@davidkennedy2555]

I always enjoy watching you work. You have even more stuff than I do for metal working, although I do have a bandsaw. Do you resist using one just so you can show off your skills with the hacksaw, Haha. Very nice video. When my mill arrives, I will be doing a much of tool making stuff for both it and my lathe, and once I have some competency with the mill, I will be building one of these. I have one made of wood now, and you can image what a jewel it is ;-)

[@artisanmakes]

Nah, I just done space for a full sized band saw. Best of luck when you get your mill :)

[@oddjobbob8742]

Nice build! A case hardening and it will be a Starrett look alike.

[@wayne6737]

Gerday mate, cool vid, very well done and gr8 editing, saw everything and was informed as well as entertained. Keep up the gr8 work mate. Peace out. Wayne PS, saw the same tool made by Inheritance Machining where he said that this tool was an apprentices assignment, but didnt say which year. By the difficulty I'd say it was probabily final year end of year exams as I don't feel it to be any less.

[@douglaspierce7031]

the ball on the end of the rod is for setting up as a squareness gage

[@artisanmakes]

It is but I find using it a bit awkward compared to using a bit of drill rod

[@marcocollignon1768]

"windows need to be activated" i love it 😄

[@artisanmakes]

Sshhhhh :)

[@allangoodger969]

Nice to hear the Currawongs talking away outside.

[@artisanmakes]

Definitely good company to have around the workshop

[@Brentiannoli]

Check out cut knurling tools. Instead of forming a knurl by upsetting the material it actually cuts a knurl by removing material. They are much lower force than forming wheels which may be a better option for a mini lathe.

[@artisanmakes]

Definitely will have to look into them

[@mrcpu9999]

It looks great. As nice as any of the "professional" ones I've seen made on YT.

[@artisanmakes]

Thankyou

[@peterhadfield873]

I wouldnt worry too much about the base not being hardened. My starrett surface gauge has a cast iron base, is many years old and works fine.

[@artisanmakes]

Thanks mate. How well has the surface held up?

[@peterhadfield873]

@@artisanmakes No significant wear, the odd dink in the surface which has been cleaned up with a rub with a ruby precicision stone - same thing you might do on a milling table etc. Surface plates etc were (are?) made from cast iron. For any bearing material wear is a function of speed and pressure and a surface gauge doesnt see much of either of those. Eventually wearing a dish in the surface plate is the more usual issue and a softer surface gauge is probably kinder to it. Cheers

[@artisanmakes]

Thanks for the reply, I was more worried about the occasional ding but I'm glad to hear your one hads held up well

[@bobbob8229]

@@peterhadfield873 NO --. soft metal loads up with abrasive, thereby wearing the emulated flat plane MORE.

[@honeycuttracing]

Maybe make you a piece of that 10mm plate for the bottom as a hardener, might even get better coverage with the blue, just idea 💡

[@artisanmakes]

I suspect it's more to do with the method of making it flat than anything. If I were to replace it I'd use cast iron so I could scrape it flat, or find someone with a surface grinder and get it ground.

[@metriconejkt]

Good camper ,

[@kentuckytrapper780]

👍👍👍

[@J.DiPietro]

Grab a large ball bearing as a convex bumper and let it sit in the big gap.

[@artisanmakes]

You can, but I find the pin method to be a bit easier to use. cheers

[@lukeamato2348]

I got really lucky finding a 12 x 18" plate for 60$ new .thinking about it now i shoukda got 2 or 3

[@jeffanderson4979]

Dude, you need a horizontal band saw!

[@j.dietrich]

I feel like we should pass the hat around to buy AM a bandsaw. His hacksaw montages make my elbows hurt in sympathy.

[@blakelieschke14]

Love your videos mate. Out of curiosity why do you always cut off with a hacksaw and not a grinder with cutoff disc and just mill down the rough end?

[@twistedhairball]

Next time tap a piece of round stock and screw in the adjustment screw {in this case} then chuck up the bar you mounted the screw into.

[@artisanmakes]

I thought of that, but I was a but paranoid that I'd snap or damage the fine threads. Got there in the end

[@capthowdy126]

is there any tips u can give to someone when it comes to parting tool an getting it to actually cut the parts, ive broken 2 inserts trying to use my most recent purchased parting tool cause i had thought my biggest issue was using partting tools that was to wide for my little lathe but even with the thinner ones i have now its the same thing, it will start off cutting good an shortly after a groove is started its like it stops trying to bit an if u put to much force it the material trys to climb the tool an i know the tool is center an ive tested it a touch high an low an ive still never gotten a piece to part off on my lathe, i get the groove an either give up trying with my older wider parting tools an after breaking the only 2 inserts i had i always fall back on a hack saw or my new favorite saw saw blade in a handle to hack it off while the part is turning in reverse on the lathe, i dont like doing this but its the best way ive found to get a straight cut but i would really like to figure out the parting tool so i can start using that to get my parts cut off so i have a clean finish, sometimes they are to small to chuck back up an clean up so i end up having to use sand paper. ive probably went at this all the wrong way but i got a 7x14 lathe an a couple months later got a mini mill an i love messing with the stuff an have found myself using the mill way more than the lathe but mainly cause im not able to do as much on the lathe but i want to start to use it more so i can pick u how to do more stuff with it like cutting my own threads, but right now my biggest issue is not being able to part my stuff off with the parting tool.

[@neodimium]

You should get/make yourself a scissor type knurling tool. It would be much better for the lathe. And also can make better knurl.

[@artisanmakes]

Definitely will have to add that to the list of tools :)

[@tgirard123]

I love how you use the tools you have to do the job. I've used woodworking router bits in all kinds of crazy ways. This was a cool project

[@robertkerr6617]

what a fantastic video just a question do supply plans to purchase as I am hobbyist who likes to make his own special tools. regards Robert kerr

[@gregwmanning]

Come out good looks like a bought one

[@MrCirqueMaudlin]

the hangd sawing all ways gets me! Your poor arm!

[@stormkhan4250]

Was that a carbide router bit for woodworking that you used to make the round overs on the top clamp? It sure looks like one.

[@artisanmakes]

No it is just a regular high speed steel router bit though I am sure that carbide would work well

[@williamhuang5329]

Hanzhen harmonic drive gear , strain wave reducer, robot joint , over 30 years experience

[@thefallenone7988]

How about a shop tour.

[@garlandtx10]

As beautiful and effective as case hardening is why not use 1024 so can always harden it if the work piece calls for it?

[@artisanmakes]

As much as I'd love to, the local suppliers don't sell medium or high carbon steels in this size of flat bar. That is unless I buy several hundred kilos of the stuff. Cheers

[@iolithblue]

Where did you get your surface plate

[@christianstark1055]

Has anyone ever done a documented build using 3 hardened ball bearings as the bottom of the body of the surface gauge? I don't have the ability to grind, and it seems it would be repeatable on a surface plate.

[@pirminkogleck4056]

your surface warped because when u removed the millscale from your part u reliefed a lot of tension wich was introduced when it was drawn out of the steelmill.

[@artisanmakes]

I dont think I’ve seen hot rolled warp a whole lot.

[@pirminkogleck4056]

@@artisanmakes i am talking about a few microns ,enough to get a non flat surface. But with flycutters its also a gamble...If your mill isnt perfectly trammed u can also introduce a Bowl shape

[@artisanmakes]

Yeah that’s what I was suspecting. I think it’s more some undesired flex in the set up or tram. For what it’s worth I believe it to be flat enough for basic surface gauge work. Cheers

[@trashes_to_treasures]

As to the fine adjusting screw: Couldn’t you just have turned a slotted bushing to attach on the thinner part and then put it back in the lathe? Usually, that is how I would turn screws without risking to damage the threading. Should work fine for your part, too...? Hope you know what I mean.

[@artisanmakes]

Yeah, many ways to tackle this problem :)

[@wilcojuffer5940]

Hello nice video the bottem is not flat (27:55) because the head of the millingmachine is not perpendicular , the flycutter make only one cutting groef

[@artisanmakes]

It’s about 0.015mm out of tram on one corner. Had to scrape the carriage to correct it. But the surface gauge is flat enough to work. Cheers

[@RedDogForge]

I've enjoyed your content immensely but i gotta ask. why do you stick to a hacksaw? small portasaws are relatively cheap

[@artisanmakes]

It’s just a gimmick that stuck. But I really don’t have space for a proper band saw set up and I never operate the grinder in the workshop, bad for the lathe ways and I’ve wrecked a camera lens a while back due to the grit/dust. It broke the focus motor.

[@RedDogForge]

@@artisanmakes grinder? i was talking about a small portable metal cutting bandsaw.. likely called something different down there?

[@jakobshanks3510]

How did you beat this old Tony to this project

[@lewismorris5170]

A youtuber called David wilks did a good video on how to turn long bars with no steady rest.

[@petermarsh4993]

Hi Mate, you are using traditionally woodworking router bits to shape metal. I suppose carbide tips work with both types of material. I’ve never seen that done before. How do the bits stand up to this sort of work?

[@artisanmakes]

The cut can be a little rough on steel since it is 2 flute but they hold up really well since it is carbide. Much cheaper than buying radius endmills if it doesn't need to be super precise