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Not all projects are made from metal –– sometimes wood is used. This is a replica of a dexterity exercise I used during occupational therapy to help me recover from a stroke I suffered in June 2007. The goal is to pick up pegs with my affected hand and put them into the nine holes in the board.
For this project, I used the lathe to cut identical lengths of ¼" aluminum rod, faced the ends smooth, and lightly knurled half the length of each peg to provide an easier-to-grasp surface. The unmachined surface is too smooth for fingers that don't function well. I made 10 pegs instead of nine, to have a spare in case one is lost.
To make the holes, I used the milling machine as a precision drill press. The X-Y table allowed me to quickly and accurately move the work to the exact position for each hole, and a stop on the vertical axis ensured that all holes were drilled to the same depth.
On the bottom, I used a regular end mill to cut the shallow track for the plastic cover, and to create the deep cavity that holds the pegs for storage. A 60° end mill beveled the sides of this track so the cover stays in place.
