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Poor man's C1a

Frank Fusco

Frank Fusco

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12,791
Location
Mountain Home, Arkansas
As always, I fear that if I open my pocketbook, the seams will crack. So, after seeing the glowing reports of the performance of the C1a tool, I figured I could make one, or several, at much less than the C-note price of the glamor model.
I bought some spiral planer blade cutters at about $2.50 each, screws (think blue stuff ;) ) at $1.00 each and some one foot long pieces of 3/8" square cold rolled steel at less than $3.00 each. Total cost $6.50, sans handle. And that will come out of the "I can make something from this" pile of cut-offs.
As reported, it hogs wood off like crazy. Two caveats: tosses chips like crazy also. Wear eye protection. Be careful touching the cutting edges, very sharp.
 

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Do we get a discount? Where did you get the stuff Frank and what sizes...other than the steel. Thank's for the post! I'll be shopping tomorrow :thumb:
 
Jeff Bower said:
What Jim said!???! Where did you get the planer blades and screws?

Very Well Done Frank! :thumb:
Click to expand...

Blades and screws from Grizzly. The cutters are 14mm. They also have 15mm that, for whatever reasons, are twice the price. The steel came from a local steel supply/fabricating company.
I used my grinder to make the rebate in the end. If I were to make any quantity of these I would have a machinist mill them. That would increase cost. My other big investment was $4.00 for the tap.
 
Can one order steel like that online? How long did the grinding take? Is there anything left of your wheel? ;)

And, we need a link for where to get the screws... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Metal Supermarkets has stores all over and they would carry this and there is usually no minimum purchase. You can find them on line and then use the store locator.
 
Bill Lantry said:
Can one order steel like that online? How long did the grinding take? Is there anything left of your wheel? ;)

And, we need a link for where to get the screws... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
Click to expand...

Others have offered advice on ordering steel. I'm surprised though. We are a semi-rural area but there are probably four places locally where I could buy this steel stock. And, many welding shops might have some laying around.
The grinding took all of three or four minutes. The step that took longest was tapping the threads. Cold rolled is tough stuff. I had to use care and oil to avoid breaking the tap. Hot rolled is mild in comparison and is much easier to work. I wasn't sure if hot rolled would hold up to the rigors of being used on a lathe. Probably, but I dunno :dunno: fer sure. The commercial stuff is made from steels with fancy numbers or stainless so I went with just plain tough.
 
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