Ducati 900SS Bevel

This is the second of the simple gadgets that dramatically improve the handling of my milling machine. The Arbor Lock here gets straight to the issue and holds your tool arbor fast when you need to tighten and remove your tool bits. This is technically and practically better than a spindle lock of the type that locks the spindle. Note that this exact mod may not work on all mini mills. It requires this type of drawbar and spindle. Note also that the 5mm bit in the 5-6mm collet was a 5.5mm bit. The point of that demonstration is the regular need for a third hand to manipulate all the bits and pieces. This video is 14 mins of me assembling and discussing the mod, followed by a selection of sped up machining clips and an interesting point made at the end. Be sure to watch the related Drawbar Lock video here: https://youtu.be/kCvrrFmNBCk Royalty Free Music by CreatorMix.com P.s. My eyes are bloodshot because of the hours I spent standing there reshooting the same material over and over again.

This is the first of two simple but unique gadgets I've made to vastly improve the handling of my milling machine. The drawbar lock deals with the painful and difficult removal of tool arbors and greatly eases insertion and fastening of the same. In addition, it frees up one hand in certain situations. The video of the second gadget will be out shortly. This video is 17 mins of me assembling and discussing the tool, followed by 10 mins or so of sped up machining clips. A link to the next video will appear here as soon as it's ready. Royalty Free Music by CreatorMix.com

A simple gadget, easily assembled and greatly enjoyed! This is a 22 minute video demonstrating the why and wherefore of my vise jaw saver. The tool could be made in many many ways and I'll be interested to see if anyone else makes one.

15 minutes of video to save you time if you're trying to setup your new mini lathe. Don't waste time on leveling or tailstock adjustment until you do this. This may be obvious to some, but for a beginner it's easy to get things in the wrong order when following everyone's YouTube videos... so here's another video to set it straight.

Watch this to find out how to get a 4K-All-Day workbench video setup. In this video I discuss the Panasonic Lumix GH5II video camera, the Feelworld LUT6E HDMI monitor and how I have set it up to do overhead video recording in my workshop. The discussion about finding the camera will help anyone looking to do the same. The overhead recording setup is also adaptable to any workshop. I note that the sections of video shot with the GH5M2 are not quite as sharp as they are here on my computer. It's close but not quite. That's just the degradation involved in YouTube.

About 40 minutes of video showing how I made a new drawbar for my Optimum mini mill. This was necessary as the included drawbar is not suitable. The process includes my first attempt at blueing a metal part. I just realised I forgot to deflicker parts of this video.... oops! Note that unlike many other YouTubers, I do not plan or script these project videos and simply record what I'm doing as I go along. Every minute is me figuring out what I'm going to do and learning along the way. The resulting hours of footage are heavily edited to be a short as possible whilst containing all details I believe are relevant. Not a penny of profit is made from this as there is no monetisation. The videos are what they are.

Ten minutes of footage showing a Monarch getting a second chance at life after breaking its wings. This was recorded several years back on my old GoPro Hero 4. I found the footage recently and thought I may as well post it. The butterfly popping out at the start is not the one with the broken wings. Note that this is not my usual content. My channel contains videos about home engineering and my classic Ducati motorcycle.

This is an 11 minute show & tell about a tool I did not think I would ever want, but then realised what it is really for... and that makes it genuinely useful.

This is 20 minutes showing a small lathe project to improve and replace the plastic bushing on the Ducati's fairing cross brace. The sloppy fit of this part has always bugged me and so I was pleased to be able to use my new tools to make a much better replacement.

Just a few minutes of video discussing and showing how I fitted various MT2 tailstock arbors to my Optimum TU2004v mini lathe. Surprisingly to a novice, these things never seem to fit properly out of the box and need to be modified to release and to gain maximum workspace on your tiny lathe. I'm unsure if this also applies to the Sieg type lathes, but someone may tell us in the comments.

This is a quick 4 minute zero-depth video showing how I ran into a Sieg C3 lathe in person and was able to gain a quick impression of how it compares to the Optimum lathe that features here on my channel. There is no endorsement here. Just giving an opinion in case anyone else is looking at both.

This is about 25 minutes of a show & tell about the Optimum MH22V milling machine. There 's only a couple of videos of this mill on YouTube and none going into any detail. This mill replaces my previous BF16V of the same brand. Of note is that this mill also replaces the BF20LV which is the much more common local variant. In the video I go over some of the points I like and don't like and I follow it with a quick tram - Quick because it was nearly perfect.

This is 33 minutes of me re-making a vise-lock modification that I came up with for my 4x6 bandsaw a while back. It still took forever to do and several things went wrong, but I learned plenty and finally sorted out the parting issues. If I still have this part 2 months after posting this video, then I will think of some sort of channel giveaway.

Be aware that this is 48 minutes long. I touch on many of the important tools and accessories for typical mini lathes that I as a beginner obtained and found to be vital, or very useful with my Optimum 2004V lathe. Most of these are cheap or cost-effective and the information is intended for beginner hobby machinists who may be overwhelmed by all the details and don't have money to burn. This is a companion to a similar video on my channel about accessories for the mini milling machine. The video mentions: Dial indicators, quick change tool post, feeler gauges, brushes, 4 jaw chuck, face plate, steady rest, follower, live and dead centres, tailstock tap and die holders, chucking reamers, hand reamers, knurling tool, hss and carbide insert tool bits, drill sets, white grinding wheels, whetstones, parting tools, ER32 collet chuck, drill sets, lighting, magnifiers and reading glasses, bore gauges, tap and die set, digital calipers, micrometers, oils and cutting fluids, marking blue, scribes.

Six minutes going over options for storing metal rod in my garage. The latter half shows the choice I made and how I built it - greatly sped up for brevity. One big benefit of this design is the ability to rearrange stored items depending on how many different lengths are present. It can hold 2m lengths as easily as it holds 30cm lengths. The other benefit is the compact fit against the wall, standing only 6 inches out. Everything along that wall needs to be very narrow. Near the end I suggest the backing panel might be 9mm, but it's only 6mm as I noted at the start.

This 8 minute video shows me further modifying the acrylic protection screen that I made for my Optimum BF16V mill in part one. I make it fit my new Optimum MH22V machine instead. It has me marking and cutting the screen and then I install rubber edging. The overall outcome is good and I'm just pleased I was able to reuse the screen for this. View part 1 if you want to see the screen being made.

In this 15 minute video I decide how I'm going to make a protective screen out of Acrylic for the rear and sides of my Optimum BF16V mill... and then I make it. Very simple and effective design. Less simple to make, but still easy. In the follow-up video to this one, you can see me I wreck this again to make it fit my latest mill, the Optimum MH22V.

About 43 minutes of me getting into the details of the dashboard, panel lights and wiring, the ignition and then the instrumentation. This is old footage from 2015. It covers the initial work I did on my original dash, the issues I had with a replica panel, and then the refurbishment of an NOS dash I found later on. There are no tutorials here, but plenty of detail and information for anyone working on their own 900SS.

View 12 minutes of me taking pains to reuse the angled spade plugs on the rear brake light switch. These are tough metal plugs and may be difficult to prepare for rewriting and reuse. It should be of interest to anyone trying to do similar work. Bonus clip of a surprisingly loud fan at the end. Note that this is old video footage, recorded about 3 years before publishing this to YouTube. The camera angles are terrible... can't be helped now.

A quick minute and a half showing what I use to lubricate the chain on my bevel. This may or may not suit others, but I do find it suits my needs. This is not a commuter bike and I am not looking for maximum chain mileage. Rather I'm looking for something I can use often and doesn't make a huge mess of the sprockets. Thought it might be of interest to someone.