Thread: home made dome washer

Was looking for razors and found this instead. For $2.00 I could not pass it up, and I like old tools. Drilled 1/16 hole in the 0.020 brass sheet first then the pin on the punch centers on that. Put them in a doming block and you got a dome washer. smash um flat and you got a thrush washer. It is a little big a 9/32 but I am going to see about getting some other size punches for it. Might be a lost cause since it is about 100 years old. Tim

maybe the different size punches can be fabricated by a machinist if you have no luck finding them. I have no idea if that's possible; the extend of my knowledge is watching American Restoration and they fabricate stuff all the time

You think it's still under warranty?

If you have a budget like American Restoration any thing is possible
I think the warranty is up, but it still works.

Thank you all

Tim

Its a power punch...I use one for my washers too. You can pick up a brand new one at Michael's craft store for $20 comes with six or eight different size punches. Dapping block is exactly how I round out the dome.

Sorry that I don't have pics for this......

To reduce the diameter of the washers put a bunch of them on a 1/16" rod. Cut 2 pieces of tube with an inside diameter of 1/16". Each piece about 1/2" long. Put those on each end of the solid rod & push up tight on the washers. Next get some small collars w/set screws that will fit over the 1/16" rod. Put them on each end and push up tight against the short pieces of tube. Tighten them down. Now take 2 more pieces of the tubing on put on the rod. These 2 pieces will be free wheeling and what you hang onto as you bring the washers up to a spinning sanding wheel.

I do have to take a pics of this. It makes it much easier to understand.

Pics would be great,Thx

OK, here are the pics of the process. This is pic heavy.

This is the tool, available from Harbor Freight.....

I used a big die for picture clarity and punched out a bunch of washers from brass sheet with a thickness of 0.01



That gave me these washers, kinda rough looking

Then I put them into the doming block



after the doming block ( sorry, forgot to take a pic but it cleaned them up a lot)

I cut some 1/16 brass rod, some 1/16 brass tube and the collars with set screws then pushed the washers onto the rod and tightened down the collars. Here is a pic of it assembled....

Then off to the sander....



But the wheels were freewheeling to much so I took off the brass tube and cut some thick aluminum tube so there was more friction against the collars so they did not free wheel as much..