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Thread: A Roller Filing Rest. AKA, the Poor Man's Milling Machine

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    Supporting Member Mark Presling's Avatar
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    A Roller Filing Rest. AKA, the Poor Man's Milling Machine

    Many years ago, the only machine tools I owned were a lathe and a drill press. I was building a model steam locomotive at the time and it was sometimes necessary to make accurate flats, squares and hex's on cylindrical bar stock. The simple solution turned out to be a roller filing rest used in conjunction with an indexing attachment fixed to the spindle of the lathe. This post is about the roller filing rest and how it is used on the lathe.
    The tool I made is fairly basic with soft steel rollers running on hardened steel pins but more elaborate versions use brass or bronze bushes and case hardened or through hardened rollers. The advantage of the soft rollers is that they don't tend to damage your file if one or both seize up. There is a link in the video for a set of free plans to make a similar tool.
    Download plans for milling tools.

  2. The Following 18 Users Say Thank You to Mark Presling For This Useful Post:

    albertq (Mar 5, 2024), fizzloid (Mar 8, 2024), Improvised DIY (Mar 4, 2024), johnsmachines (Mar 11, 2024), Jon (Mar 3, 2024), lassab999 (Aug 5, 2024), MadTrapper (Mar 15, 2024), Moby Duck (Mar 10, 2024), mr mikey (Mar 5, 2024), nova_robotics (Mar 9, 2024), olderdan (Mar 5, 2024), PaulsGarageProjects (Mar 7, 2024), Ralphxyz (Mar 9, 2024), rlmck111 (Aug 5, 2024), sossol (Mar 5, 2024), trevor_60_r (Mar 22, 2024), tuchie (Oct 2, 2024), Tule (Mar 5, 2024)

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    Thanks Mark Presling! We've added your Roller Filing Rest to our Lathe Accessories category,
    as well as to your builder page: Mark Presling's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:



    Download plans for milling tools.
    New plans added on 12/06/2024: Click here for 2,617 plans for homemade tools.

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    MadTrapper (Mar 15, 2024)

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    A nice and interesting video, its good to see some of the old methods in use.
    I have a simple version that mounts in my vertical slide and gives precise movements which is needed for cams shown etc.
    A Roller Filing Rest. AKA, the Poor Man's Milling Machine-img_20240305_162549114.jpg

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to olderdan For This Useful Post:

    Jon (Mar 7, 2024)

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    Thanks olderdan! We've added your Filing Rest to our Lathe Accessories category,
    as well as to your builder page: olderdan's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:



    New plans added on 12/06/2024: Click here for 2,617 plans for homemade tools.

  8. #5
    Jon
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    Congratulations Mark Presling - your Roller Filing Rest is the Homemade Tool of the Week!

    This adds a lot of utility to a lathe, with an excellent finish, and the plans will make it easier for others to reproduce.

    Some more nice builds from this week:

    Battery Terminal Extensions by mklotz
    Bell Mouth Chuck Grinding Jig by Occasional machinist
    CNC Spindle Laser Adaptation by Christophe Mineau
    Bench Grinder Tool Rest by The Hobby Machinist NZ
    Lawn Tractor Loader Attachment by warsztatOdZera
    Chuck Key Driver by Guy Marsden
    Chainsaw Bar Studs by Improvised DIY
    Small Belt Grinder by My MiniCrafts
    Filing Rest by olderdan
    Hand Knob by Make Things
    Vise Spacer by Improvised DIY
    Collet Closer by thehomeengineer

    Mark Presling - you'll be receiving a $100 cash prize, in your choice of Amazon (US-only), PayPal, or bitcoin. Please PM me your current email address and prize choice and I'll get it sent over right away.

    More importantly, this is your 5th Homemade Tool of the Week win! I've just added the silver wrench-on-pedestal graphic to the awards showcase in your postbit, visible underneath your avatar.




    Great job, and you're in excellent company joining these other 5-time winners: rgsparber, rossbotics, Christophe Mineau, Brendon, Frank S, mklotz, Vyacheslav.Nevolya, brianhw, LMMasterMariner, jjr2001, Tuomas, olderdan, tonyfoale, bobs409, thehomeengineer, celsoari, Stevohdee, Dimitris Polychronis, warsztatOdZera, AB-SHOP, Occasional machinist, and My MiniCrafts.


    New plans added on 12/06/2024: Click here for 2,617 plans for homemade tools.

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to Jon For This Useful Post:

    Tule (Mar 11, 2024)

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    Okay, I haven't had my coffee yet. I thought it said "killing machine".

    That I would have bought the plans for.


    Download plans for milling tools.

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