Name that Tool

[Runs With Scissors]

Welcome to the new show called…….”Name that Tool”…where you can win valuable prizes and vacations and stuff…..(NOT)

Hi…..My name is Runs With Scissors, and I am a “Tool-Aholic”….

So the other day, I was sitting at my desk, and a Gravitational Vortex ripped the fabric of Space-Time (yes, it's all one word…ask Einstein ) , and I got "sucked into” an online tool auction……and as “they” say….well…….The rest is history.

Now I have a “Butt load” of/more tools,….some of which, I am unfamiliar with or have questions regarding the value/usefulness/quality….


However; Before the show starts, ladies and gentlemen, here is an “easy one” ………………..Who the hell buys one of these? (I am currently “threatening" to install it in the living room…..)

(It was a “joke bid” for 1$….but I ended up “winning” the F’ing thing…….no more “joke bidding” for me, because apparently those auctioneers take “all" bids “seriously”…..)

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Now for the some “serious questions”.

(Oh and a little background, it was a “machine shop”, the guy was/is retiring from)

EDIT: It was the cleanest ‘shop’ I have EVER seen…..You could almost have performed surgery in there…..Crazy clean…….

What are these blocks called, and what it the purpose of the “ridges” cut into them?

They do not “lock together”, so I am wondering what the purpose of them might be.

 

[Motion]

You're going to love that water cooler once hooked up, no cups, ice, spilling etc. I installed low ambient cut outs, so the head pressure doesn't run too low in cold weather. I've got one in the home shop and one in the country and a spare at both locations. Another plus is either you or your friends won't put a sweating glass on your machines.

 

[hagrid]

Thread rolling dies.

 

[Pawnee]

I don't know what those blocks are but I'm pretty sure they are not machining related.
Sometimes you come across material too good to throw out, some gets used, some ends up behind a water cooler and winds up in an auction.

Edit: Posted before I saw Hagrid's, looks like I'm wrong again

 

[hagrid]

Hang on, now... Im just guessing.

 

[Lil Foot]

Never seen any thread rolls like that, but I suspect Hagrid may be right.
Note the "pitch angle" of the ridges.
The material they are made from might help with the ID.
From the pics they look cast, then ground? S.S. ? Tool Steel?
Are they hardened?

 

[Hugo Habicht]

Parts of those blocks look strange. Why would they cut a thread and then cut the block in half.

wasn't an ordinary drill bit either ...

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Thread rolling dies.

$600bucks worth of dies when new!!

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

You're going to love that water cooler once hooked up, no cups, ice, spilling etc. I installed low ambient cut outs, so the head pressure doesn't run too low in cold weather. I've got one in the home shop and one in the country and a spare at both locations. Another plus is either you or your friends won't put a sweating glass on your machines.

Water…say whaaaaat? I was thinking beer, but I was worried about foam, so I’m thinking bourbon.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Thread rolling dies.

Ding ding ding….I think you are correct sir.

A file won’t even scratch it, so it must be some sort of hardened material.

My 14 TPI gauge fits it perfectly….

A 1/4-20 bolt threads in perfectly too

Well least I learned a little something……..


I wonder if the holes that are “drilled and tapped” in it were for some sort of “special project”…..kind of a “one off” thing?

Well, their new job(s) will be “general purpose spacer blocks” I guess.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Next up, came from the same auction lot.

I am guessing that they are also some sort of "general purpose” spacer blocks….but lets take a look see.

Again, a file does nothing to them.

However the holes do not appear to be particularly smooth or precise.

A cursory “Duck Duck Go” search provided nothing of value.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Parts of those blocks look strange. Why would they cut a thread and then cut the block in half.

View attachment 165126

wasn't an ordinary drill bit either ...

As you point out, those “flaws” might be some sort of damage, and possibly they got “repurposed” as some sort of “special tooling”?????

I wonder what could have damaged these things????? They are hard as hell.

 

[Lil Foot]

Looks like someone's handmade special size version of "1-2-3 blocks".
Having multiple sizes can be pretty handy for setups, blocking, and the like.
Here are some of mine, also got a set of "3-4-6 blocks" around somewhere.

 

[gmbc]

Hi…..My name is Runs With Scissors, and I am a “Tool-Aholic”….

So the other day, I was sitting at my desk, and a Gravitational Vortex ripped the fabric of Space-Time (yes, it's all one word…ask Einstein ) , and I got "sucked into” an online tool auction……and as “they” say….well…….The rest is history.

Now I have a “Butt load” of/more tools,….some of which, I am unfamiliar with or have questions regarding the value/usefulness/quality….


However; Before the show starts, ladies and gentlemen, here is an “easy one” ………………..Who the hell buys one of these? (I am currently “threatening" to install it in the living room…..)


View attachment 165118










(It was a “joke bid” for 1$….but I ended up “winning” the F’ing thing…….no more “joke bidding” for me, because apparently those auctioneers take “all" bids “seriously”…..)

So true. I entered an online farm auction and bid on three hay wagons and an old antique horse dran wagon. Bid quite losw and figured someone else would bid so no worries. You guessed it I ended up having to tow all these home with me. HAHa. I finally did get them sold

 

[Hugo Habicht]

Nice, polyurethane pallet truck wheels

Just bought a set for mine, they were falling apart.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Nice, polyurethane pallet truck wheels

Just bought a set for mine, they were falling apart.

Oh, my friend, that observation is of paramount importance.

(I do find it ironic/strange/curious/puzzling that people focus on the “background” of pics…..I strangley enough, do the exact same thing …….I wonder why???? Is it "Human nature” to “look around”???? )




Those wheels are for my new “machine skates” that I bought, and am going to modify.

And I need them for this “bad boy” that I bought at that last damn auction.


TaaaaDaaaa!!!!!!!!

This thing was/is heavy !!!!

Both my SIL’s (and my grandson) helped me move it, and it was all this little machine could handle.

My “big” SIL was needed for “ballast”, even with all the "suitcase weights” installed.


In the end, we still had to remove the “turret” in the parking lot, in order to lift it onto the trailer.

I’m pretty ”geeked up” about it.

I have wanted a “Real Bridgeport” for 35+ years, but for whatever reason, I would never “pull the trigger”.

Now I just gotta get it “downstairs”……..New thread??????

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Oh…..and who the hell needs 4 damn vise's

So after I “won” the Bridgeport, I decided/reasoned/figured that since I am going to have to drive down there to get it, I might as well make the trip “worth it”.

So my “internet auction paddle” came to life, and here is some of the carnage…..

Who the hell buys 4 vise’s?????

I just could not pass up the “deals”…….

Call me crazy/stupid/undisciplined/……..but here is the “back story” behind the scandal I will name “ViceGate”. (I purposely used the wrong spelling)


So the BP was pictured with a vise on it, although it was not “explicity” called out in the description.

So I figured that because it was pictured, I could/would argue that it was part of the deal.

Well I also figured that there was a “chance” that I could lose that argument….small chance, but none the less….a chance.

So they put 2 more vise’s in “one lot” and the winning bidder had the opporunity to buy one, or both at that price.

Well I’ll be damned, but my $50 bid won.

So I had only a few seconds to “decide”……My mind was racing from all the crap I had been bidding/winning, and in those few seconds my “gut reaction” was to buy them both at 50 bucks each.


THEN, when we showed up, (we were the 1st pick up appointment), low and behold there were 2 vise’s on my machine, not just the one.

The rest as “they” say…..is history.

So I went from having a “little Chi-Com mini vice” for the past X # of years, to having 4 “full blown Bridgeport” vice’s………

Strange how life works out sometimes…………...

 

[lynnmor]

The Bridgeport brand vises are not the best, you want the type in the lower right position in your photo. The BP vise has no support for your workpiece at the outer edges and the rear jaw will lift when clamping a piece near the top.

 

[Lil Foot]

Agreed, Bridgeport brand vises will generally "jack up" parts (a little or a lot depending on wear)
and often allow parts to move under heavy cuts.
Kurt mill vises are the way to go, but beware, there are a lot of Kurt look-a-like clones from the asian world out there.
We had a job that required a large vise (12" jaws) and a buyer substituted a chinesium clone for the Kurt brand we ordered.
It was the biggest POS I've ever seen.
Once we found out how bad it was, it was relegated to bench vise duties, where it had trouble holding parts for hacksawing or filing, and even those parts often shifted.