The Home Machinist!

Drill and ream/bore the extension, red Loctite, assuming it's not a geared motor with bags of torque - I think going anywhere near it with a MIG will probably cook whatever bearings are in the motor, melt internal plastic parts (lots of 'em in small motors), possibly demagnetise it too...

HI Steve, I'm not really the guy to answer this, as I'm a bit fussy... I'd use "high build" primer, also known as "spray putty", it gives a way thicker coat and dries quite fast - the coat's thick enough to fill most of the pits I can see, although you may have a lot of rubbing d...

Some interest here! That floor looks really good...

I'm intending to epoxy paint a concrete floor, what preparation did you do? I planned scrubbing with a strong detergent and thorough rinsing, is an etch or similar required?

Easiest way is to imagine it scales down by the shrinkage,so if it shrinks 1/8" per foot, that applies to the whole casting - so your pattern needs ALL its dimensions scaled up (including the inside of holes) by the same factor, 97/96ths... This is surprisingly easy to do in most CAD software! ...

Hi Matty, interesting project, and something I'm working towards! What's the desired use, heat-treatment / annealing, melting for casting, investment-casting burnout, enamelling or ? Running from 120v/20A will limit the heat input to your oven (and hence loss through the oven walls becomes significa...

A bit of persistence got my Trav-A-Dial (the early "silver bullet" that looks right on a 50's lathe) from the 'Bay for about £25 ($40 US?), with the mountnig but missing the dial glass - pretty simple to make one and fit it, admittedly the majority go for serious money... Re the micrometer...

Hi Ctwo, Might be easier to watch Ebay for a Trav-A-Dial[1] - it's like the dial of a dial caliper that bolts to the lathe carriage, with a hardened wheel that runs against the front shear, has a dial graduated 0-100 in thou" and another in 10ths of an inch - I have one and it's very accurate o...

definitely avoid emergency stops! Dave, I now understand your name. :lol: Can you recommend an alternate maneuver? Most of the emergency stops I have made were brought about by an influence beyond my control. If an unavoidable emergency stop presents itself to me I hope I'm not driving a little lan...

I've moved my 4500-pound (2 tons in English money) lathe several times, using a rented Landcruiser and a 4-wheel "plant trailer" - these have a sturdy steel grid drop-down tailboard and a winch over the hitch, I roll the lathe up on lengths of scaffold pole, then strap down with a minimum ...

Negative Waves aside, something that can blow your hand off if you make a mistake is probably NOT a good choice of beginner's project... Just like safety-critical structural parts of a car or motorcycle.

A couple of possibilities - ok, three... Make that four... First, the bore for the router isn't square to the mounting plate - how was it cut? Flexy endmill in a flimsy mill? Off-square on a faceplate with a boring bar? Second, the bore to flat distance isn't identical on the two plates ( it would n...

I've had an enduring and trustworthy rule of thumb re cuts, free-machining steel ( not tough stuff like you're cutting), large, rigid, industrial machine, HSS tooling, about one cubic inch per horsepower per minute. Halve or worse for the Chinese '0.6 hp' motor, halve,again for a lightweight machine...