The Home Machinist!

Fixed!!! :D Alphageek was correct - I did not need to take off the handle. After taking out the four cap screws holding the bottom assembly the secret was wiggling the handle back and forth a bit and then it came apart. The power issue turned out to be a connector had come loose and just needed to b...

It's always hard to be clear in these posts! First, instead of 'Forward - Reverse' lever I should have said 'Right-Left' lever. To identify each item in the picture moving from Left to Right are: Top Left little button is the circuit breaker. Bottom Left toggle switch is power. The Lever and the spe...

All of a sudden the X-Axis power feed on my mill-drill stopped. No power light, circuit breaker was not popped, and it was not under any load. The possibilities seem straightforward: the switch, the circuit breaker, a fuse, or a worn wiring / swarf issue. The problem is I am wary of breaking somethi...

The turning axis is vertical. If the rod is a problem I could make the hole into a square for a piece of HSS. Either way I need to better understand how the cutter should be shaped. Also I am interested in understanding the differences between horizontal and vertical turning axes. Something to do wi...

I made a ball turner and am using a piece of 1/4" round hardened drill rod for the cutting tool. I first tried grinding it similar to a lathe tool but soon realized that only works well for one angle - when the tool is perpendicular to the piece. As I rotate the tool then the planes and angles ...

Glen - it was not a typo, rather my ignorance. In this case the length of engagement would be the thickness of the bar, 1/2" I assume the press fit works by some combination of compressing the rod being inserted and expanding the bar it is being forced into. Well, I learn mostly by doing so I w...

I am doing a project where I need to fasten a 1/2" piece of bar to a 1/2" thick piece of bar - the other bar dimensions are 1" by 4". The rod will act as a lever, needs to be rigid, take vibration, but not a lot of force. My question is how to fasten the two. One thought is simpl...

I second Pacrat. I had a Benchmaster for about 5 years - very nice small mill but too small for my needs. It uses a MT2 taper and I, like many others, used a bolt for the drawbar. As Pacrat said, take out the drawbar and tap (or bang) out the stuck collet or endmill holder using a piece of steel rod...

I think you might run into trouble with the blades. Take this with a grain of salt because I have a large metal bandsaw and have looked into using it for wood -- the opposite of your situation. Apart from much lower speeds metal bandsaw blades run on steel wheels that are flat whereas wood blades ru...

I have become a believer in bigger is better - at least for saws. Used a chop saw for 3 years; upgraded to a 4 x 6 HF band saw for another 4 years and never used my chop saw again; upgraded to a used 7 x 12 Jet about 6 months ago and discovered it was what I should have bought in the first place. Th...

The advice I took from other groups that cut metal a lot (welder / fabricators) is to use a synthetic or semi-synthetic water soluble oil. This eliminates the odor problem that arises from non-synthetic oils (hmm, would they be natural oils? I suppose so ...) I have a gallon from Enco, it is mixed 2...

I recently made a boring head which got me thinking about the possibilities of its use. Is it possible do use a boring head on the outside of the piece, rather than the inside? That is to make a disc from the outside in rather than bore a hole from the inside out. I know this is a job first for a la...