The Home Machinist!

If I remember right, McMaster Carr had some to chose from in stainless steel only. Still not inexpensive.

Dry tooth powder works as well, if you can still find it. My brother used it to polish aluminum parts when he did the Fisher Body competitions in the early 60s.

Sometimes you may want someting your local hardware store doesn't have, and sometimes there are other reasons not to want to use a set screw with an allen socket. Sometimes you may not want to wait 2 days for your product, either. I have found that sometimes the torque limiting factor of a slotted s...

May be, but how often, these days, do you see or find such a screw with a regular slotted head?

Go looking for a set screw today and they are all socket head.

"Grub screws" as they are called are a bit uncommon in the states, but could be fabbed with some threaded rod & a slitting saw. A little more fancy work could leave them with a radiused top close to a shaft diameter, or flat topped as one might choose.

some GM cars used what appear to be identical spur gear oil pumps. Don't know what Ford used, but Chrysler used a rotor type where lobes moved in and out of suitable cavaties as the pair of parts rotated. There has got to be an easier way because you're going to need to make a housing for the gears ...

since no one has asked, whats wrong with buying an oil pump instead of looking for gears to make an oil pump?

Several years back I had a temp job for an aircraft parts mfgr operating a press brake. On each machine there was a chart/graph that one used to determine bend allowances/"setbacks" for a variety of metal thickness and top die (punch) nose radii. Anyone have such a chart or know where one ...

Jim is correct; they could be made with a mill, but think how easy it is to just place a 4'x8' sheet in a waterjet and let it run. A very large mill could do it, but a smaller one would have workholding issues...need to fit the stock to the table, hold in place etc. Multiple sheet sized and bolted t...

Its not going to be cheap to make your dieset. Material for the dies if you choose this route along with a die shoe will make you think twice I'm sure. Waterjet will be most likely the cheapest route. If you don't like the waterjet Idea, look for a stamping house to do your work. If they make the di...

You can also use Loctite 290, described as a "wicking" thread locker and sealant. Appplied after assembly is made. I used to use Blue Loctite on my car... tie rod ends, ball joint fasteners. I never had anything come loose, but mechanics would have a fit when they saw no cotter pins. Even ...

I think when the serial# is put on. I once worked for a manufacturer, and the serial number was put on the item somewhat late in the process. This was in 1995 or so. I don't know if things have changed much since then.