The Home Machinist!

Can anyone ID the lathe of this steady rest? It is lightweight, sized for a 9" lathe, the center hole is 2 1/2" diameter. The base of the rest is unusual because it fits a dovetail . You can see a nut at the left that clamps on to the dovetail. ( Dovetail dimensions 4 5/16" at its wid...

Picked up an old grinder at a garage sale - the type that has slow rotation and uses a white swheel that sits in water - for tool finish grinding. There is a tool rest at one end and the wheel rotates toward the tool rest. This is exactly the opposite of my regular grinders that carry the chips away...

How do I see pictures that are posted on the forum? There must be some setting I do not have set properly.

Thanks

I am building a monster burner using plans via the web. 2" reducer to 1 1/4" pipe that is 12" long. I have a small 5 gallon propane tank and am not planning on using a blower. I am designing the gas orifice so I can screw in a Tweco welding tip. Does anyone have an idea of the correct...

A few years ago I purchased what appeared to be a large circular saw blade - about 3' in diameter. The teeth are not sharp and the metal is an unknown alloy - silvery grey but not Al and not any kind of steel. I was told it came from a lab and it was a 'tuning saw.' It was used somehow to align mach...

I'm using a type K thermocouple which has that temp range. For some reason when I was looking a few years ago on eBay thermocouples were a lot cheaper than pyrometers. Mine gives me temp readings and I can also set it to give me an alarm when it hits pouring temp. If you go this route you need both ...

Kiln wash is a kind of a creamy consistency - apply with a (cheap) brush Hold the crucible or ladle over / in the furnace and it dries immediately. I rinse the brush in water and do not use it for anything else. I think the way it works is that the heat bakes the wash into a protective coating. I on...

Kiln wash is the way to go. Buy it at a ceramic shop or on-line. Comes in a powder that yiou mix in small batches with water, goes a real long way. I use it coat my steel crucibles and it keeps them from burning up in the furnace. Gingery has a fomula that starts with grinding up glass to a powder a...

My cousin has a large motorcycle dealership and several mechanics to handle repairs. But she sends all her machine shop work to a small machinists job shop. The guy is good, reasonable, and most of all - reliable. I agree with others - in person is best. You should print up a business card (can do t...

I've made a few holders for indexable inserts - not that hard to do. If you don't have a bandsaw you can buy keystock, do a little grinding, drill and tap a hole and you are set. I looked at the catalogs to understand how they are made, and buy the parts to hold the insert in place. I am using a rou...

MSC owns Enco, and alas, just bought J & L Industrial (my favorite). Enco is more oriented to the hobbiest / small shop than the other two and sell many things in smaller quantities. You can get a gallon of way oil from Enco, but the smallest quantity from MSC or J&L is 5 gallons. I've bough...

First, thanks for all the advice. Every new process I try is a great learning experience. To answer the questions: nice distinction between precise and accurate. The project is a stready rest 'kit' for my lathe. The kit consists of iron castings that need to be machined. These are the only precise h...