Evening all
I don't often post in the "tips and jigs" section as I must admit I feel a little bit of a fraud offering tips on things to this esteemed crowd. I am fairly certain that if any of you saw how I went about making stuff you'd probably spend a lot of time frowning and scratching your heads. However there is one thing I have learnt, (I've actually learnt 3 or 4 things), but this is one that I only properly embraced fairly recently and I wanted to share to see if others can relate because it has made a difference to me.
It came about when I was making a new mandrel. I've made a few in my time and, for my needs, all they are is a piece of brass rod with a threaded area on them that allows me to screw a cap or barrel onto it so I can shape it on the lathe. A very plain looking thing a bit like a headless bolt. However their simple and somewhat boring appearance belies the amount of work and accuracy required to make them to ensure they are concentric and don't wobble, (wobbly mandrel = wobblier pen).
Consequently, even though they always took a fair amount of time to make, I have been guilty of not giving them the care and attention they deserve when using them in the past - often just throwing them in a box with other stuff and then bemoaning the fact that they get bent and dented and I eventually have to make replacements.
So when I made this one I did something a little different; I added some knurling. It serves no functional purpose at all, I just added it because I thought it looked nice at the time.
However that small useless feature has made a big and unexpected impact on how I treat it. For it would appear that I am a sucker for a little bit of bling, as it seems to subconsciously imply higher quality to me, (even though it's still me that made this). Every time I pick it up I instinctively treat it like a "proper" tool and take much more care of it compared to the older style (I haven't replaced them all yet). Be it when removing it and replacing it from its special place in my drawer, or when I put it in the chuck. I always take extra care not to mark it and make sure to wipe it down after use. All this is just because of that little bit of knurling that took about three minutes to add.
I am pretty sure that, as a result, this mandrel will last a lot longer and retain its accuracy much better than my old style. Meaning the extra bit of effort will pay dividends in the long run.
So in summary my tip is to try to make the important stuff look as nice as you possibly can, within reason, because it's true what they say folks - looks really do matter!
Cheers
Ash
I don't often post in the "tips and jigs" section as I must admit I feel a little bit of a fraud offering tips on things to this esteemed crowd. I am fairly certain that if any of you saw how I went about making stuff you'd probably spend a lot of time frowning and scratching your heads. However there is one thing I have learnt, (I've actually learnt 3 or 4 things), but this is one that I only properly embraced fairly recently and I wanted to share to see if others can relate because it has made a difference to me.
It came about when I was making a new mandrel. I've made a few in my time and, for my needs, all they are is a piece of brass rod with a threaded area on them that allows me to screw a cap or barrel onto it so I can shape it on the lathe. A very plain looking thing a bit like a headless bolt. However their simple and somewhat boring appearance belies the amount of work and accuracy required to make them to ensure they are concentric and don't wobble, (wobbly mandrel = wobblier pen).
Consequently, even though they always took a fair amount of time to make, I have been guilty of not giving them the care and attention they deserve when using them in the past - often just throwing them in a box with other stuff and then bemoaning the fact that they get bent and dented and I eventually have to make replacements.
So when I made this one I did something a little different; I added some knurling. It serves no functional purpose at all, I just added it because I thought it looked nice at the time.
However that small useless feature has made a big and unexpected impact on how I treat it. For it would appear that I am a sucker for a little bit of bling, as it seems to subconsciously imply higher quality to me, (even though it's still me that made this). Every time I pick it up I instinctively treat it like a "proper" tool and take much more care of it compared to the older style (I haven't replaced them all yet). Be it when removing it and replacing it from its special place in my drawer, or when I put it in the chuck. I always take extra care not to mark it and make sure to wipe it down after use. All this is just because of that little bit of knurling that took about three minutes to add.
I am pretty sure that, as a result, this mandrel will last a lot longer and retain its accuracy much better than my old style. Meaning the extra bit of effort will pay dividends in the long run.
So in summary my tip is to try to make the important stuff look as nice as you possibly can, within reason, because it's true what they say folks - looks really do matter!
Cheers
Ash
