1) A Simple Spider: When I machine soft jaws on a lathe chuck, I like to use an adjustable spider. These aren't very hard to make but they take a little bit of time. I have found that the simplest way to make a spider is to take a hex nut and drill and tap three holes on three of the faces of the nut. I've got one made with a 1/2-13 grade 8 nut with three 10-24 holes tapped thru three equally spaced faces. I also have one made with a 1"- 8 grade 5 nut with 3/8-16 holes tapped thru the faces.

2) Cutting Oil Dispenser: Empty tuna fish cans with acid brushes work ok for dispensing cutting oil by hand. But, there is room for improvement. The problem I have with them is the brush usually goes flipping into the air like a lubed up baton and the oil cans end up on the floor and make a big mess. To fix this problem, I take a large refrigerator magnet (like the kind that have a baseball schedule on it) and cut a circle the same size as the outside diameter of the can, then I epoxy this to the bead on the bottom of the can. Don't let the magnet go up into the dome around the bead. Then I either bend the acid brush or cut it so it's just long enough to fit into the can without falling into it. Do not put more than 1/4" oil in the can because even with a magnet on it, it will end up on the floor before you use it all.

3) Some things to do with paper:

(a) I use SS tool wrap when I heat treat parts because it's cheaper than atmosphere and does just about as good a job. To do a better job, I will first wrap the part in newspaper before I wrap it in SS. The newspaper will burn off any gases that may be inside the chamber created by the tool wrap. You will have a much better finish on your part as a result of this process.

(b) By the way, newspaper and glass cleaner are the next best thing to a squeegee for cleaning windows. It leaves no lint or streaks. Have your wife try it out and you will soon have the cleanest windows on the block!

(c) When touching off on O.D. work or picking up threads on a lathe, take a plain white piece of paper and place it under the part and tool. This will give you a much better silhouette when you bombsight your work.

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