Hand machined mechanical pencils
 

Mechanical

2016

Miniature M3 angle brackets A quick review of some neat little M3 angle brackets from Arachnid Labs

2015

UV quartz sleeve / test tube An excellent source for large-diameter quartz/fused silica tubing, with closed end

Flymo shredder adjustment screw repair The adjustment screw in our garden shredder broke out of the casing - fixed by soldering on on a ring to hold it in place

Knurled thumbscrews using threaded rod A low-profile thumbscrew which uses a piece of threaded rod, so easy to make any length. A little trick is used to solder the threaded rod perfectly square with the knurled top.

2014

Height setting gauge A ridiculously over-engineered height setting gauge for the laser cutter. Brass, rope knurling, and red powder coat inlay!

12mm clamp shaft coupler Simple clamp-type coupler for a 12mm shaft

Knurled thumbscrews Making knurled thumbscrews from standard socket-head hex cap screws

Injection mould for belt tensioner A semi-successful attempt at making an injection mould for a belt tensioner fitting, using a glue gun to inject the plastic.

Digigrams packing puzzle A neat little puzzle where the digits 0-9 are packed together in a rectangular box. Simple to make with a laser cutter.

Laser-cut flexure translation stage Making a simple translation stage using laser cutting

2013

Damping grease demonstration A side-by-side video comparison of different damping ("sticky") greases

Adjustable microscope eyepiece holder Making an adjustable holder to allow diopter correction for a microscope eyepiece

Quartz tubing from a bulb Chopping up a halogen bulb to get some nice lengths of quartz tubing

Lawnmower repair Repairing the spark plug thread and making a new skirt from stainless steel

Bursting speed of rotating disc and its relation to rotary spark gaps

Split clamp handle Using a split clamp to make a handle thingy

2012

Valved top for drinks bottle A valve which threads on to a standard drinks bottle (PCO1810 thread) so it can be used as an air reservoir

Extruding solder wire Using the hydraulic press to extrude solder wire through a steel die.

Soft drink bottle top thread sizes Details on the thread specifications for these bottle tops

2011

Magnetron launcher Launcher for coupling a 2.45GHz microwave oven magnetron to a WR340 waveguide

Tile press mould ring A 2-part split mould for a cement tile press

Cheap bevel/mitre gears How to use cheap bevel gears sourced from a right-angle drilling attachment

Using bicycle sprockets Some examples of how to attach hubs to standard bicycle sprockets for shaft mounting

Flexible shaft beam coupling A quick and simple beam coupling

Air atomising nozzle Simple atomising nozzle for liquids

Americium 241 Source Holder A little aluminium holder for an Am-241 source extracted from a smoke detector

2010

LTD Stirling engine A low-temperature-difference Stirling engine, capable of running from a cup of boiling water

2007

Petrol to steam conversion Turning a 4-stroke petrol engine into a single-acting steam engine

2005

Helical gear A replacement helical gear made for a 16mm film projector

Roberts steam boiler Boiler made from from a MIG gas tank and copper tubing

Stuart Turner 10V Small single-cylinder steam engine machined from kit parts

Rotary valve steam engine Converting a little aeroplane engine to a rotary valve steam engine

2001

Copper pipe spudgun Pneumatic spudgun made from copper pipe and fittings - this was my first ever webpage