Every Shop Needs a Milling Machine

The Grant St. Garage has a rather complete set of woodworking tools, but they are usually the cheaper version, often bought used, and that sometimes makes for compromises. My Delta 12" planer is a good example. This little benchtop machine has planed thousands of feet of lumber without complaint, and it works great. But when it was designed, chip collection was not a big part of the equation. Delta did offer a bent sheet metal attachment, and I bought it to hook to my dust collector. It works more or less adequately, but its design is poor compared to more modern equipment like the Dewalt 13" benchtop planer.

Anyway, today I noticed that the duct had pulled loose on one side. The thin metal, held by a pair of tiny wing nuts, was just not up to the task.
In this photo, I've already pounded the bent metal flat again, but you can see the wrinkles. It's one step from tearing in two, and then it would be done:

What I needed was some reinforcement, but the area where this attaches is rather tight. I cast about, and realized that a custom set of washers could be made to spread the load. I clamped a pair of fender washers (which have a smaller hole than regular washers) into my mill vise, and basically "whittled" them to fit. No measuring, just eyeball what is needed, and make it look like that. When done, here's what I had:

And here one is in place, with the matching one on the other side. This should spread the load so failure should be forestalled.

Yes, of course I know you could do that with a vise and hacksaw instead of a milling machine. But where's the fun in that? I just gave you an excuse to go buy a new toy - get to it!