On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
IN Handy Man's Workshop of April 1st, there was a description of a method of machining ball and socket joints. The writer is of the opinion that the tools used in the method described would be apt to Device for turning balls to gage. become dull in a comparatively shol t time, and then could not be sharpened without altering the gage. A friend of the writer recently designed tre device shown in the accompanying sketch, which overcomes the difficulty. The cutting tool used is shown in perspective in Fig. 2. It will be observed that it consists of a bar with a channel in the upper surface which is of such shape that when the bar is cut off at an angle of 45 degrees, a cutting edge will be formed that will be a true semicircle. The tool is used in a device somewhat similar to a pair of pliers, as indicated in Fig. 1. In one of the jaws of tho pliers is a bearing block with a pyramidal socket to receive the baU, while the cutting tool is mounted at an angle of 45 degrees in the other jaws of the pliers, with its cutting edge oentrally disposed under the bearing block. With the shank of the ball end secured in the chuck of a lathe, the pliers are placed over the ball in the pOSition indicated, and then the handles are pressed together until stopped by an adjusting screw, the tool in the meantime cutting the ball to standard gage. When the tool wears down, as will be the case after a few balls have been turned, it may readily be sharpened, provided the same angle is always preserved at the cutting edge
