The Home Machinist!

Pretty work! Material looks to be 316 stainless. Do you have any idea of the alloy? Non-magnetic, I suspect.

I could use a muzzle brake on my 458 Winchester magnum. A real punishing rifle.

H

Dick_Morris wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:38 am Could part of the reason that steam seems to be more popular in the U.K. than the U.S. be that they retained steam on their railroads longer there and the die-off of those who lived with steam is delayed by a few years compared to the U.S?

That's in lock-step with my thoughts.

H

Some things to ponder. Drills are hardened only at the flutes. The shanks of drills are soft, by design. and would not serve well as a cutting tool, although the short portion just beyond the flutes may be hard enough to perform as needed. You can see the difference by trying to file the shank at th...

but if you put a VFD on it, you can make it go faster..... Chuckle! I suspect you have something in mind, but speeding up a shaper, unless it was one built for carbon steel cutting tools, most likely wouldn't be a great idea thanks to surface speed requirements. Over speed when machining most metal...

Looking very good!
Please continue with your excellent work and keep the board posted.

H

What Glenn said! All of it! The resulting part appears to be very well done. It is good shop practice to keep **all** turning tools as short as possible. As Glenn suggested, that helps limit chatter, even on external cuts. Your setup would have likely been VERY troublesome had you been boring a toug...

what kind of coal burner do you have harold? I don't actually own a coal burner, although I have a dismantled Little Engines Pacific that had been converted to oil burning (used to be a coal burner) long ago. The engine was owned and dismantled by Lee Carlson, who willed it to me upon his demise. H...

YMMV
Your mileage may vary.

That I hold strong feelings doesn't mean others must share them. I speak ONLY for myself.

H

It is obvious, at least to me, that the hobby is definitely changing (or has already changed), and for good reason. How many readers can honestly say they remember live steam when it was the norm on the railroads? The younger generations have no memory of them, so they have less of an interest, alth...

probably slower, can't say. Correct. They cut less than 50% of the time due to the return stroke and overrun. some skill is required to get the grind on the tooling right. Also correct, but virtually the same as for lathe operation. Skills that anyone who claims to be a "machinist" should...

Well done, Kelly.
I suspect your work won't interfere with the proper performance of the caliper. You did good!

H

Good shop practice typically suggests that any piece that requires close alignment should be roughed before finishing. Leaving an item oversized and then processing to eliminate or limit stresses that encourage movement when the item is altered (by machining or other functions) is always a good idea...