Are mini-machinist jacks worth it?

[ctwo]

I've never needed them, but then I've never had them either. Inspired by random youtube video and that someone put out a free box of cabinet knobs... I saw machinists jacks in them and made this. 1" diameter and 1 to 1.5" range.

How can I make them better?

[NP317]

Use them!
RussN

[Glenn Brooks]

Nice work. I’ve found them handy supporting long work that hangs out over the end of the vise. I bought a pair of antique jacks with swivel heads. Haven’ figured out how to do that in the shop - make the head swivel...

Glenn

[ctwo]

I thought about a swiveling head, or even one that just rotates as sometimes I did not like the tilt feature. I've put those swiveling pads back on c-clamps before and ran my punch around the rim to secure it. The ball and socket seems easy to make.

[jcfx]

NICE !!
Never thought of using cabinet pulls as bases for machinists jacks.
My only thought on improving them is changing out the screw for a hex head
bolt with a beefier thread, face off the hex head so it's flat.
What you have looks like they might be 6-32 or 8-32, go up to 1/4-20 if the knob can take it.

[whateg0]

I find the swivel head to be more of a pain most of the time. It seems when I need a jack, it's always with round stock and the swivel head makes the jack want to go off to the side. They are fine for flat surfaces, though. I used a set of Starrett screws and made my own bases. I want to make some more, but don't really have the need for them often enough to do it yet. Those look kind of cool.

[pete]

Those should be handy Ctwo. You could easily add 123 blocks to those if you ever find you need more extra height.Years ago there was a post on the massive Shop Made Tools thread over on HSM and whoever made them went completely over the top to far better than even Starrett ever produced. Square male & female threads, artistic and beautiful but still subtle shaping on the jack body's. The nicest set of machinist jacks I've ever seen any where. I really should have saved those pictures. With that Photo Bucket fiasco who knows if the pictures are even there now. But they were probably way too nice to even use. Machinist art in my opinion.

I think like any tool, it's what work you normally do that dictates the need. I bet the guys building live steam locos need and use them a lot while machining there frames. I've sometimes used my adjustable parallels to fill in for the jacks I don't have. I do remember seeing a picture I think it was of some older English made jacks with that swivel style head that had a drilled and tapped hole and brass tipped set screw that could be adjusted to set some light tension against the ball so the head didn't flop around while setting the elevation. I also think machinist jacks were just about standard equipment for planer tooling and any company that was machining large parts and castings. Probably having a set is well worth it since it would be a pain to first have to make them before you can do the job you started out to do. Plus there a lot faster and more convenient than trying to shim something that might barely work to the perfect height.

[jcfx]

I'm not a fan of the swivel headed jacks either, like you it's usually flat or round stock I need to support
I made mine at various heights with a hex head bolt some were just plain faced others I milled a V groove.

[whateg0]

I've got a bunch of those, though I never really called them machinist jacks - just jack screws. I use them a lot on the bandsaw when I need something for the other end of the moving jaw to press against. Cheap and easy to make. Most of mine are just a bolt and an all-thread coupler.

[liveaboard]

More fabrication jobs for me then...

[pete]

How's your electrical issues with that mill progressing Liveaboard?

[liveaboard]

I've had other issues so I haven't had time to get into it.
I ordered some relays from the UK but they got stuck in transit due to Brexit, I don't know if I need to order again (not from UK obviously).
I've started working on making space for it in the metal shop. That's sort of like one of those little puzzles where you move 8 little squares around a 3x3 grid until they're in the right order. Except my squares are best moved with a forklift...