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Machine Shop Tool Making, Machining A Finger Plate Clamping Tool – Part 1, by Clickspring.

A Finger Plate clamping tool is a valuable tool in any workshop, and is a great mini mill and mini lathe project. You can also modify the design to suit whatever stock you have in the shop, which means you can finally use some of that scrap you’ve been saving up for that special project.

In this first video of a 2 part series, I build the base for the tool, the cross hole jig, as well as the brass clamping nut. You will see plenty of knurling, lathe turning and milling. Visit the Clickspring website for other mini lathe projects.

Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed the video please give a thumbs up, and leave me a comment. Be sure to check out part 2 of the series.

If you would like to help support the creation of these videos, then head on over to the Clickspring Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/clickspring

For more info on this tool build, as well as other tool making info, visit the blog site at https://www.clickspringprojects.com

Project Plans available from the Clickspring Store:

https://www.clickspringprojects.com/store.html

Other Videos to Watch:

How To Make A Clock Part 1 – Making The Frames

How To Machine A Small Lathe Carrier

https://youtu.be/zB9XhqzBNJs

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Transcript:

00:17 If a small part is too small to be held safely by hand, there’s often no easy way to hold it in a vise either. That’s where this Finger Plate Tool can help. It clamps the workpiece firmly to the tool base, and then the whole thing can either be hand held, or clamped on parallels in a vise.
00:41 Now the dimensions are not very critical, and can be modified to suit whatever stock you have at hand. For example I made my dimensions to suit this rod stock and this piece of scrap steel.
01:05 I roughly trimmed the raw stock for the base, and then squared it up on the mill.
01:25 The hole and groove have to be dead on with each other for the jig to give accurate results. The holes were opened up with a twist drill, and the counterbore for the bushing holder was put in with an end mill.
02:23 I would have liked to have used a double angle cutter to do this, but I don’t have one. So I tilted the work to 45 degrees, and then used a standard end mill.
02:42 I won’t know how successful I was with this,
until the very end when I do some test drilling. The V shape was then roughed out on the band saw. And then the cut was tidied up on the belt sander.
03:44 Next up is this bushing holder, which holds the little bushings to guide the drill for cross holes. The first step is to turn the basic shape on the lathe.
04:25 The center of the part is then drilled out
to the correct size, to accept the cross hole bushings. And then while its still attached to the parent stock, its taken over to the mill to put in that cross hole.
05:14 I wanted this hole to have a good surface
finish, so although I started the hole with a twist drill, I did the final sizing with an end mill. Back on the lathe, a light touch with a file knocks off the burr from the cross hole, and its ready to be parted off.
05:53 The parted surface needs a light facing cut and chamfer to clean it up. And I used a hand chamfering tool to knock the edges off the inside hole. A drop of loctite holds it in place.
07:17 I want this to have a nice knurled finish,
so I made a light pass to make sure the pattern was going down well, and then the knurl was taken to full depth. Once the knurl was complete, the excess was trimmed away, and the tapered profile of the part was formed.
08:49 Thats about half of the work for the tool
completed. In the next video, I’ll finish off the tool by making the lifting screw,the drilling jig bushings and the clamping finger.

References:

Finger Plate Clamping Tool books and plans (let me know if you are aware of any others):

“Workshop Practice Series Number 31″ Stan Bray

https://www.teepublishing.co.uk/books/workshop-practice-series/

“Tools For The Clockmaker And Repairer” John Wilding

https://www.ritetimepublishing.com/

“The Model Engineers Workshop Manual” George H Thomas

https://www.teepublishing.co.uk/books/in-your-workshop/model-engineers-workshop-manual/

“Model Engineer Magazine” Edition Vol 104, Issue 2596, 1951 Commander W.T. Barker

https://www.itech.net.au/modelengineer/

“The Machinist’s Bedside Reader” Guy Lautard
pages 88-91

Machine Shop Tool Making, Machining A Finger Plate Clamping Tool – Part 1