The case hardened surface of Thomson shaft is hard (about 60 RC) and will quickly ruin high-speed steel cutters. If you heat up an area of the shaft to a dull red and let it cool slowly, that area of the shaft will cut easily with a standard cutter. This technique works great for machining set screw flats which are features commonly used on this type of shaft.

Angle-lock vises work well for holding material snug against parallels because they are designed to exert a downward force on the floating jaw that is proportional to the horizontal force applied. With constant use, however, the floating jaw may become loose.

You can easily re-adjust the floating jaw for a closer fit with the base by tightening the setscrew at the back-center of the jaw.

One easy way to extend the reach of a boring head is to install a fly cutter in the cross slide of the head. Coarse diameter adjustments can be made by adjusting the position of the cutting tool in the fly cutter. Precise diameter adjustments can be made with the boring head.