The Home Machinist!

I have a (bought new) Gold Shoptask 3-in-1 machine circa 1999, which looks a lot like the Grizzley G9729 and others of this ilk. Yesterday I decided to pull the 3 main parts of the carriage apart and look at oiling. The lower carriage (LC) which contacts the lathe bed has 2 oiler buttons, one for ea...

I use brake clean for many types of cleaning, and find it will cut most things. From big items to little ones, like rinsing the oil off a part I just machined. But a major down side for many of my applications is the power of the spray - way too powerful. My solution was to buy it in a gallon jug fo...

I finally have something to add. I read about the oxidation problem that can occur, and possibly leaving scale. If you want to avoid either I have something for you to try. Head over to your local big box or auto parts store and get a 5.5 oz spray can of: Blaster Industrial Graphite Dry Lubricant. S...

So I guess if the dimensions were to be rather precise, the wise person would make a test piece of the material and just a tad larger, then heat treat it to determine the effects. I'll keep that in mind. I haven't really needed the capability, but now that I've done one I may look for other things. ...

One of the things I have not done until last week was harden & temper something, a small marking punch I for a project. Many projects I read about talk about H & T items, so I've started to pay more attention to it. They typically follow the process with grinding to final dimension. My big q...

Thanks Pete, I've been to their site, but must have missed this one. I don't knurl very often, although I do like the result on some tools or handles. I'll just use mine as I've been doing and the way both of you seem to do and let life go on. And run a test piece before committing to a final part. ...

That's what I've been doing, generally successfully. My question came up because I was watching a video and at one point the presenter gave descriptions of knurl types. Made me wonder what I have and if there is any way to differentiate between them if no markings. Just one of those "mystery of...

I have several pairs of knurl wheels from Cabin Fever and other places. I recently decided to brush up on knurling and one of the first things I started to wonder about is what do I have. Some have mfg markings, a couple just a name, one pair is blank. How can I tell the difference between a circula...

Pete, The book arrived yesterday. There sure is a lot of interesting material beyond my initial area. This will take a little study to see if I can make use of any ideas. Of course, seeing something that would help is not the same as implementing, or machining, the parts. But I'll see what I can do....

I think I'll hold off on the compound until I get the book and do some reading.

Thanks again.

Other than for taper turning or during single pointing threads there's good logical arguments for removing the top slide completely and using a solid spacer block to mount the qctp to it. I have a solid toolpost that came with my machine and I do use it. I also got the QC holder from them at the sa...

Pete, I ordered the George Thomas book. I haven't bought a machining book in years so about time. Only used copies, but they say other than some wrinkles on the cover, the inside is like new. Ideally you'd want both a ball or needle thrust bearing and the hardened and ground washers decent thrust be...