I knew something was up when Jay was watching This Old Tony’s video about making Quick Change Tool Holders. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching This Old Tony’s videos. However, the fact that he specifically chose this video meant that he was mulling over an idea. And he was.

This is one of his current holders for his lathe.

When I asked why he decided to make his own he said it’s because he needed more. I guess he could have purchased a set of four holders, but he only needed two in the set. The other two were ones that he already has a bunch of and doesn’t need more. Also, he said that he wanted to challenge himself to build multiples of a part that requires tight tolerances.

He started out with a single block of material.

He cut the block down into individual pieces. That was loud. I was in the bedroom, which is directly above his metal-cutting bandsaw, and the floor was vibrating. Bob was not impressed.

One of the tough aspects of the holders are the dove tails that are necessary to fit onto the machine and lock into place.

This required a lot of measuring, removing small amounts of material, measuring some more, etc.

This was rough and took a lot of time. Then a box showed up on the porch and inside was a material waterer.

Somehow this helps the metal piece to ripen.

I guess it’s just a little mister to keep your material fresh.

The other part of the holder includes some bolt-like things. So Jay made some of those, too.

“Gnurly, dude!”

And there you have it… four new tool holders for his lathe.

And apparently they all fit and have been used.

Way to go, Jay!