Making My Own ADJUSTABLE CRESCENT WRENCH! Part 3

[@JimGriffOne]

Here's a thought. Why don't you create your own lathe tool out of HSS like Abomb does? Bit of grinding and sharpening and you'll have the perfect tool to lathe with. :)

[@jackjericho7503]

I've been banging my head on the table with every next step of his process. Just make the cutter!!! Amazing that he hasn't hurt himself yet🤣

[@paulhawkins6415]

Considering Alex spends most of his time at the grinder, an extra 15 minuets would not have been the end of the world

[@magoshighlands4074]

My question was why not just cast some of the more complex parts? I find it unlikely Alec doesn't know someone who can help

[@hacksaw434]

Completely agree. A 3mm ACME thread cutting tool isn't that hard to make.

[@KittyCatInAMicrowave]

Could be his lathe ain't got the torque

[@antimaterie6431]

Your Endmill sticks way to far out of the collet. But nevertheless, just grind yourself a threadcuttingtool out of highspeedsteel and use it like you are cutting normal threads on the lathe. Additionally keep the stickout of your part minimal and support it with a livecenter. Feed in with your compound slide so you follow the threadangle. Use your crossslide to back off when you reverse your lathe.

[@HelenaOfDetroit]

Came here to say the same. Great advice for Mr. Steele

[@utubeboris]

Exactly this, just a combination of the acme thread cutting vid and tool form vid of ToT

[@CrawfordAutomation]

Yep, the backlash mattered and all but rigidity was really the main issue; both the workpiece and the tool...

[@dan3458]

You don't actually think "threadcuttingtool" and "highspeedsteel" are single words right?

[@Watsy]

@@dan3458 no one asked

[@Jeff121456]

The amount of effort used to avoid doing it the right way was amazing. Kudos.

[@b-radfrommalibu]

Also the dedication to stick with it even after you proved to yourself that you were doing it wrong.

[@Argosh]

@@b-radfrommalibu it's like watching a 16 car pileup on the Autobahn.

[@kumoyuki]

it almost feels like doing it wrong was a bit...surely he must know

[@luckythegerman]

get a piece of HSS (Highspeed steel) Grind the tip to be 3 mm wide, make some simple relief angles and shape up the sides. Then just do single point threading as usual. no grinder or broken endmill. Thats what HSS is really great for, Shapes that are expensive to buy, or where you only have a couple of parts, in materials that HSS is suitable to cut.

[@Redchew10]

One of the first lessons in my high school machining class was learning how to grind our own bit out of high speed steel and learning how to cut threads. The starett machinist handbook is an extremely valuable tool.

[@americaM60]

Alec, the reason the cut is larger than the diameter of the end mill is inherent in the set up, not a machine issue. Because you're using the side of the end mill at a 90° angle, it will be slightly larger. If you match the angle of the threads (6ish degrees off 90) you will make an actual 3mm cut. This is because your not cutting at a point, meaning there is a depth AND length to the cut. Basically its a cosine issue. Hope this helps!

[@npavento]

Even worse if you look at 8:07 I think he is 6ish degrees off 90 but in the wrong direction. The angle on the bottom side of the thread is opposite of what we see on the top making the cut even wider.

[@AidarIslamov]

@@npavento correct. Alec set this angle for usual thread direction and when he switched the direction on the mill he forgot about the grinder angle.

[@NicksStuff]

This

[@kaydog2008]

Like everyone is saying. Abom79 has an episode where he showed how to measure and grind your own ACME single point cutter out of high speed steel.😎👍

[@chrisjarrett4767]

For any acme threads we would grind a parting tool in to the shape we wanted, then use a tiny shim to kick the carbide holder on a slight angle to compensate for side load caused them the high pitch thread

[@tristansimonin1376]

Use a dial indicator to have a precise measurements with no backlash involve and funky spinning dial

[@CarsonDarling]

Many people have mentioned grinding a HSS cutting tool, and that's probably the best solution. However, you could also use the die grinder setup you have, just do the full depth of cut with a single pass by turning the lathe by hand while the lead screw is engaged. That makes it so that your bungee is never near a powered lathe and the rigidity of your die grinder is a much less of a concern.

[@c6q3a24]

That is a fantastic idea that deserves more attention!

[@duodot]

Hey Alec, love your channel, but as a machinist, let me give you some advice and clear up a few misunderstandings: You correctly identified that the rigidity of the die grinder was way too sloppy to mill threads like that, and although your initial idea wasn't half bad, this entire problem could have been avoided by grinding your own HSS thread profile cutter. That is a chapter in itself, but the problem you attributed to the lead screw was not the leadscrew's fault. The backlash in the screw is not an issue because it's always being forced one way, backlash really only matter on the X axis or on mills (depending on the correct setup for the pitch direction ofc). The problem you were facing when trying to use the side of the mill is that as the workpiece rotates, the parts of your mill not located exactly on the YZ plane will cut parts of the sides when moving in and out of the YZ plane, although the effect diminishes as the sides of the thread move away from the cutter in the Y direction. This occurs even if you angle the endmill to the pitch angle, because you are now milling an ellipsis. Try CADing it up and you'll see what I mean. HSS blanks man, rarely used, but a godsend to have. Love you man, you're a huge inspiration. Keep up the good work. You are truly a remarkable human being.

[@JThyroid]

I use HSS for most of my tooling. Granted it's on an old lantern type hobby lathe. I do have a few Harbor Freight carbide inserts. My most difficult threading that I've done was for a propane fitting into an adjustable high pressure regulator for my forge and foundry. I had left a ladder propped up, and the wind knocked it down. The ladder hit the regulator on the brass fitting that connected to the tank. That thread was a 1/8 BSPP thread type. 55 degree tooth profile, but thankfully parallel threads. Couldn't find any fittings to replace the broken one, so I bought one that had a larger thread on the correct end, turned it down on the lathe, ground a 55 degree thread tool, and carefully cut in the new threads and o-ring groove. I think my o-ring groove might have been too wide, but 2 o-rings took up the slop. Did a leak check and had no leaks. Been working fine ever since.

[@ontic2354]

As a non-machinist, the problem of side milling that thread in the lathe resulting in widening and ruining the desired thread profile was blindingly obvious to me the second he proposed it. Very surprised he missed it.

[@dexterm2003]

That was probably the most difficult way to attempt to do that. You would have been better off using the parting tool or a custom ground cutter. You could have even ground three cutters to cut the three faces of the thread and then just offset it on the cross slide. Also if your dials on your cross slide are not holding you can always throw a dial indicator on the saddle of the lathe with a mag base and touch off the cross slide to get an accurate measurement of its movement. You could do the same with the saddle if you need. You are only limited by the range of your dial indicator.

[@madmodders]

8:34 You must angle the grinder the other way. You know, the threads angle the other way on the underside. :)

[@pthelo]

I like watching Alec. It feels good to know that with all he knows- with all that any of us know - we're all just making it up as we go along!

[@pneumarian]

I hope I finally finish figuring that out before I'm a complete doddered.

[@CarJaco]

As a 27 year old with no machining experience, (I have a Wen drill press in my 12x12 shed) I love how much information you share about your thought processes when you are figuring stuff out! I am sure a lot of people act like they never make mistakes or have learned everything in the world, but I feel a lot of us appreciate it!

[@Dr.Cosmar]

...Yep, he went ahead and did that the most complicated/dangerous of ways. Don't be afraid of the chips. Start using your laithe like a laithe and not sideways rotary mill.

[@greengiant1172]

Electrical engineer here and as soon as he started with the side of the end mill I was yelling at my screen "You need to turn the grinder to match the thread, it cannot be perpendicular to the shaft or the slots will be pointed rather than squared at the top"

[@matticus500]

You could also grind a custom cutting tool out of high speed steel blanks

[@chillmonkey6782]

These videos where you “clone” an existing item are honestly my favorite builds you do. It reminds me of the Khyber Pass and Mystery Jungle Shop guns that Forgotten Weapons reviews from time to time!

[@mayapapaya4952]

I really enjoy these multi episode builds. They're really fun to watch

[@thompsonhangen6666]

Longtime watcher with no mechanical skills whatsoever, but I love this series in particular because it's so fascinating to think about how individual parts get made for everyday products.

[@seanc8054]

you are the way you are because you are awesome and everyones loves it and nobody would have you change anything, you motivate people, you motivate me, and i'm like an immovable object kinda person.

[@gfresh353]

Makes me appreciate buying tools from the manufacturer. Interesting to see Alec working this problem out.

[@Hawk013]

A lot of people have nailed it. A machinist would normally have HSS lathe bits on hand, and will grind whatever profile is needed for the cut. Just like you will dress a grinding wheel to grind a profile, or grind a drill bit to a new profile for different materials, or even make a custom single lip cutter out of drill rod for a unique profile. Learning to make the cutting tools is an important part of machine work.

[@primemac3dstudio18]

One always appreciates the little technology that is created after one attempts to re-create it yourself. With my 3D projects it is always interesting to show the challenges and issues that needs to be solved during the project process. The best project is try and see how it is.

[@andrewjustus4346]

See watching you make things it shows you that if first you don’t succeed try many times until until you do. Never give up !!!

[@southronjr1570]

I have into into lash issues on my mull one time and discovered it was my tool actually deflecting. You can simply modify you cutoff tool to cut the tread. My machining instructor had us make our own lathe cutters the first week and once you realize you just have to do the grinding slowly and to keep the piece cool it goes pretty easily

[@Talos422]

This Video is the devinition of your Merch: It's not stupid if it works! You're something inbetween insanly mad and an absoloutly brilliand Genius!

[@sillygoose7646]

Genius and madness often go hand in hand.

[@jonmurraymurray5512]

@@sillygoose7646 describes Colin Fruze.

[@urkince26]

The amount of dedication to not just using a cutoff tool is astounding 😂

[@Dr.Cosmar]

ILol, it's kinda heartbreaking to watch honestly. The amateur machinist inside me knows he could just fix up some highspeed steel using maths/geometry and get a much better result.

[@Basement_CNC]

no, using the cutoff tool would t work eiter, since the insert would just fall out of the holder since it has no way of being retained axialy nor a cutting edge

[@Joern8910]

@@Basement_CNC have you ever used a lathe before?

[@rossherman4515]

@@Joern8910 The cutoff tool would definitely not hold up. It is only designed for load (radial) in one direction. Side loading the parting tool will kill it. Felix is right

[@Dr.Cosmar]

@@rossherman4515 yeah, the angle on the cutoff tool is non-existent. It would snap in no-time. Needs something that looks like a fucked up nipple-claw on a thick piece of highspeed.

[@notold37]

All I can say is bloody brilliant Alec, its impressive to watch you build your own tools, I'm loving this series of making, 👍🏼👍🏼🇦🇺🇦🇺🦘🦘Cheers from Melbourne Australia

[@mothman411]

Saw you and your Mrs at the N&N today. Hope all is well with you 👍

[@gratshor]

Sophisticated project is the reason to bring your equipment in to perfect or at least good conditions.

[@rickklein9031]

As a retired machinist this was very entertaining, Love the channel and your can do attitude Alec!

[@ihak707]

the reason acme thread is used is mostly for the comfort of turning the screw with your thumb

[@tsunamidelta1351]

The reason that an acme thread is used is because it's a ridiculously strong thread that can take a lot of torque and load before failing. Most machine tools use an acme thread for that very reason. Comfort is legitimately that lowest priority in something that like, the ability to knurl the top is bonus compared to strength. Sadly, his sloppy-make it work-screw will likely fail at the worst possible time during use because it's sloppy and shite.

[@ihak707]

@@tsunamidelta1351 but you usually don't use a crescent wrench in a situation that requires large amounts of torque, and I doubt the force is completely transfered linearly into the screw to cause the threads to strip. But I do agree that Alec's botched threads might be too weak

[@rabadgett]

Always a good day when ya get a Alec video

[@DanielEleveld]

I love how myself and all the other machinists knew the exact chain of events that was about to happen the moment he first said “3mm pitch” on the mill and our hearts died a little. Welcome to the pain of learning machine craft, Alex. You are in our prayers

[@TalkinAboutTheDude]

Love watching you conquer!

[@v1p-3r]

was watching (listening) to another vid at 2x speed, clicked on here and was still at 2x speed... Alec at double speed is a mood with this background music :)

[@ricvanesh9445]

It was a bad setup , but not a "angle grinder stuck in the lathe” kind of bad. I honestly love your way to solve those questions btw.

[@saulcervantes1532]

Generally, for threading and facing I like to keep my compound slide at 30 degrees. Set the zero on my X and Y and use the compound to form the thread. Since I use imperial, I feed every passing thread at .005, depending on the material of course. Hope this Helps, looking forward to the next episode!

[@joeltham1979]

I think you are amazing. I have no idea what it all means but thankfully you now understand what you are doing.

[@dw600]

I love this , if you think about it he's building multiple tools to make one tool ruthlessly awesome!!

[@Michaele1991]

Big fan, but I love watching you struggle. It ultimately means learning for both you and I.

[@jackbales2619]

Understood very little in this video, but still absolutely loved the process. Thanks for blessing my feed today Alec❤️

[@Reneva95]

Hey Alec, you should make a damascus version of nesting knifes. You could even make a theme for each one. Love your videos. nice work out there👌

[@antbymcnair4297]

I enjoy watching you work through the engineering challenges! Good episode

[@jd.prestage]

I'm so impressed with your challenges you face. You exercise your brain like none other.

[@jamesdennett196]

Really enjoyed this episode. I think because it is always great to see you solve a problem. And when it involves bastardising a few machines, so much the better 😄

[@ScottieBMan]

Make you appreciate how we have come this far with tool production

[@TheBluealan2000]

Another great video, usually a great fan of "it's not stupid if it works" but tbh I have some doubts today 😅 next episode 1 master machinists turn up and confiscate your lathe?! Seriously though thanks for another great vid 👏

[@xmetal280]

I like that you needed to use tools to take apart and fix a tool, all to make another tool. Very Inception.

[@saltypotatoe2905]

To make acme threads like that in the past I’ve silver soldered a lathe external acme carbide insert to a hardened shaft, I used this in a cnc mill, but it would definitely work on the lathe

[@Dr.Cosmar]

ToT does exactly that when he cuts acme threads if I recall. Just uses a highspeed carbide bit, sometimes he makes his own tooling to get the pitch and channel width just perfect.

[@CarpioTheOnlyOne]

Loving it. Warts and all filming!

[@mrsockyman]

An idea for the handwheel numbers: set up an indicator to get a real measurement of the top slide, you can back out as far as you like to clear the thread and reverse, then wind in 1 rotation of the dial as your starting zero, then its easy to track your depth

[@austynstoerzer2648]

I was gonna say we used to use a dial indicator on a mag base from the apron to the compound to get measurements for depth of cut when the compound dial is being weird.

[@martylawson1638]

Excellent project so far, but you could have avoided hours of fitt-up if you'd aimed for sloppier fitting parts. Also helps keep the tool from binding up if sand or chips get in it. A diametrical clearance of about 0.01" is a good start.

[@GlorifiedGremlin]

Wow physically switching the gears in a lathe is so cool

[@patrickmcguire9663]

Some of the backlash problem can be alleviated by leaving the half nut engaged and using the engine to back it up. Once you are in gear leave it there until you are finished. On some lathes you have to do that anyway for metric or english threads with a 1/2 in it.

[@thebigb3ard]

6:30 actually spat out some Guinness when you said about "slept on it". Just caught me off guard. 😂

[@snimo2851]

His way of problem solving and making me believe I understand what’s going on even though I have no idea, is just remarkable. Keep up the amazing work Alex! Been watching you for years!

[@adrianpitt1102]

Great to see Mr steel in the workshop

[@davidklug5623]

Absolutely outstanding

[@JDPyrotechnics]

As a person who also does some incredibly sketchy things, I too ask myself "why am I the way that I am?" Often enough. But then I continue doing what I do. Love your content.

[@BraxxJuventa]

Thanks for this video Alec. 👍😁

[@Matthew-id8uu]

3:41 you are the way you are because it works!

[@Curleysound]

Love it! Make an old school Italian Switchblade next? They have a really cool mechanism, and a good damascus blade opportunity.

[@emmitstewart1921]

When I was growing the switchblade knife was the preferred weapon of the common teenage ruffian. Pulling out a switchblade and flipping the blade out in one smooth motion was how you said, "I'm a really bad man, and you don't want to mess with me." A switchblade with a Damascus blade and an ebony handle would be boss. Making that long narrow blade and the necessary mechanism would be a real challenge.

[@jonathanschubert9052]

i recommend graphite based dry lubricant on those adjustable wrench contact points

[@BlackBearForge]

Fun stuff

[@wuerfel_schmied]

You should start to make your own lathe tools. There are blanks from high speed steel already squared up for the tool holders. Just a bit of grinding and you can make every sort of cutter shape you want.

[@ExcelConstruct]

big love to ya's...👍🏻

[@JoeTheBlacksmith13]

Love these clever and interesting projects. Helps me appreciate the genius of everyday tools and such. Nice break from the killing tools. 😋

[@TheChiefSmeg69]

Oh man, I completed all apprenticeship (1985) as a centre lathe turner and I absolutely detested cutting acme square threads. The worst ever was a 2 start that was not into an undercut, had to manually wind out at the end of each cut. The amount of cutting tools I snapped that day was insane!

[@teropiispala2576]

If you use grinder to grind threads, you can turn the lathe spindle by hand and still have proper feed from lead-screw. It propably help a lot to compensate lack of rigidity on a grinder and give better feeling on the feed speed. It looked like your end mill teeth were binding into the work piece because feed speed was too high.

[@simcoespring]

Time to call @Abom79 he might know a tool to use for your thread pitch. There is probably a simple solution that I sure can't think of.

[@MrMaccaMcdonald]

I enjoyed the struggle and brain work in this video.

[@jamesnizzy9774]

I actually love it when i see a new video! Keep it up Alec!!

[@teeoemm]

@This Old Tony would be a great resource for you TIG and Lathe work, match made in heaven

[@frankierzucekjr]

At 3:02 the wasp. Lmao. Wasn't expecting that hahahaha. This is AWESOME, can't wait to see this finished

[@شەنیەرناصح]

you can use diamond grooving tool for making the screw on the lathe

[@robproctor3006]

That was crazy. In such an amazing shop I'd think you had a piece of HSS and a pedestal grinder.

[@Silver_Semtexagon]

20 years in the future: today we're making a full damascus milling machine.

[@U014B]

My bet is 20 months.

[@Myxril]

*stainless damascus :P

[@TheEmpatikOne]

@@Myxril Woah man, you just bumped that to 40 months.

[@simcoespring]

Sounds like a challenge.

[@flo5865]

Ive made my schoolarship 3,5 years on almost exact such a machine. With the gears and everything! Maybe still not too late: If your scale on the diameter-axis isnt working as shown in your video, you can use a dial gauge to get the exact movement of your upper support! Set it up on your main support and place it in direction of the diameter infront of the upper support. You can see every single 0,01mm movement! Not sure if the scale is big enough for a 6mm screw tho :)

[@adamdax]

Great work as usual ty for the content

[@whyfencepost]

You should have reamed out the hole for the moving jaws, drill bits cut a slight bit undersized, but a reamer cuts to the right dimeter.

[@SchysCraftCo.]

Hard work pays off.

[@andrewbraithwaite1365]

An Acme thread is used where a longitudinal force is expected as it gives far greater shear strength.

[@stormrider2575]

I love the pink sweatshirt

[@CrudeButEfficient]

It is so impressive what csn be done in a machinist shop!

[@lotuselanplus2s]

What i have done before is to mount my angle grinder with a cutoff disc to the tool post and use that to do the work. Much more rigid than the small die grinder.

[@Paullyb79]

Watch the amount that the endmill flexes. Makes the cut all skew wiff.

[@DNSforge]

But if advice, get you some High speed steel tool bits for times like this. Grind your tool until it matches the shape of the screw you’re trying to do. That being said the way you worked around and figured it out, as a machinist, I couldn’t have been more proud when you figured it out.

[@kzarnold3678]

Nicely done

[@mckutzy]

Setup some dial indicators for direction of travel inward.... a sticky back(magnetic) indicator mounted on the back side of the compound slide will do....

[@StarScapesOG]

Hey Alec, you could have reversed the teeth and the worm gear and it would work the same, but you could have done it without grinding down the bolt.

[@HashTagDan1]

"I slept on it. It was not super comfortable and it was a little bit oily, so I had to have a shower this morning" Hahahaha love that

[@GrantS112]

Please please please make a cutter out of HSS, I make all my own turning tools and while it doesn't last quite as long as carbide, it should take an hour or two at most for someone who hasn't done a heap of it, I'd imagine less time for an experienced blacksmith with fantastic tooling too use. I love the ingenuity of making a die grinder fit, but it could be so much easier and better. Love your work mate!

[@jordanshumway3679]

love the videos. can you make some blacksmith puzzles?!?!?!

[@MudOilnGears]

The simplest way of doing this is grinding the correct tool from HSS. That will give you the exact profile you need.

[@c6q3a24]

When you are cutting those screw threads on the lathe (using the side of the tool) your width of cut is greater than 3mm because the end mill is angled towards the chuck. The first cut will be 3mm, but every subsequent cut will be wider than the last. The easiest way to visualise this to look at your plunge cut (07:00). Put the mill and the very bottom of the cut. Now try to angle it towards the chuck. It's impossible.