The Home Machinist!

I am a novice and am perplexed over how to create a lever that fits over a door lock deadbolt shaft. I could probably buy one, but thought I would make it. More of a challenge than I thought. The shaft that sticks out from the lock face is rectangular when seen from its end. It is .426" wide x ...

Using my small milling machine, I noticed that when I mill a longer piece of stock (5" long piece of aluminum bar), the mill appears to take a deeper cut at the extreme ends of the stock. This happens as the table and stock move along the X axis. I thought maybe the mill was worn enough so the ...

I made a tight fitting spacer out of some scrap. About .625" ID (close to shaft diameter) and around .575" long. I put a bevel on the inside edge of the bore on one side and left a sharp edge on the other side. The non-beveled edge results in the spacer having a gap at the outside edge of ...

Well, DTI indicator readings are nothing special. I measured at 90 degree rotational intervals. These are 0, 90, 180, and 270. All radial runout readings shown are in that manner. For the sake of clarity, the reading at "0" degrees is .000" 1) Measured close to grinder housing. .0000&...

OK, here are the pics. The Jet grinder shaft on left side, and the two flanges. When a flange is pressed up against the shoulder, it easily rocks. Maybe due to the small shoulder, or something not right with the shoulder. - Phil

I'd like you to inspect the shoulder, looking for an inside corner radius. I assume it has one, although they may have provided an undercut instead. In any case, don't trust your vision, even magnified. Place the tip of a DTI against the shoulder, then rotate the shaft. It's important to determine ...

It may be that the cut that creates the shoulder on which the inner flange bears is not at a right angle, or it may have been a cut terminated without dwell, so there's not a square shoulder, but a helix on which the flange bears. I suggest you remove the armature from the motor, then make a setup ...

Well, I am completely stymied. A grinding wheel on this grinder, even with machined flat flanges , looks like a potatoe chip spinning around. It wobbles, badly, just as badly as it did before I machined the flanges. I did more testing, without the grinding wheel. Axial runout on the grinder shaft fl...

This is such an embarassing question and puzzle I very nearly did not even post it. If I can't solve this, I may need future help tying my shoes. I recently acquired a Jet 8" bench grinder and the stamped metal flanges were not flat, so decided to start making new ones. But, at the same time, d...

Aluminum machines quite nicely, especially with positive rake and a chip breaker. Pick a speed at which you are comfortable, then try taking .100" per side, per pass. Juggle feed rate if you find the machine runs without effort, or if it struggles. If it struggles, even when reducing feed rate...

I have a Southbend 9", with a square piece of 3" x 3" x about 4.5" long piece of aluminum in a 4-jaw. I need to turn this down to a 3" diameter round bar. How much can I take off per pass (would be 2X this for total diameter reduction). I am new, so not sure how far I can pu...

Finding someone to work with is a big plus. Ask me how I know. I met two good people here that have helped me out. As the previous poster said, there is a lot to learn just by visiting this forum.

- Phil