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

[Mark Presling]

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.

[DIYer]

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:

Roller Filing Rest by Mark Presling

tags: filing rest

[olderdan]

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.

[DIYer]

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:

Filing Rest by olderdan

tags: filing rest

[Jon]

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.

Demagnetizer by Mark Presling

tags: demagnetizer

Quick Change Indicator Holder by Mark Presling

tags: dial indicator, QCTP

Parkerizing Setup by Mark Presling

tags: finish

Float Lock Vise by Mark Presling

tags: vise

Roller Filing Rest by Mark Presling

tags: filing rest

[TheElderBrother]

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

That I would have bought the plans for.