The Home Machinist!

motor oil is just the kind of oil NOT TO USE. the purpose of motor oil is to prevent metal touching metal and wearing out the engine. Even for drilling or tapping it is just barely better than nothing. better go to enco and order a proper metal cutting fluid. Or even thread cutting oil from a home d...

I love it, you know the basic configuration of it reminds me of an old jig borer. I have never seen a drill press like it. do post finished pictures.

I used to run one of those at work. You are right that massive fly wheel does not stop for nothing. They got a new one now that is hydrolic and about half the size of the old one. and it punches thicker metal than the massive old one. That old iron worker can get a whole lot of work done fast. Just ...

it was more of, i had one offered to me for free, and i wondered if it would make a better surface plate or lapping plate. Guess i will save it for lapping

is there any reason why i could not use a new lapping plate as a surface plate. No abrasive on it. How do they stack up for flat, any problems etc. thanks in advance.

I had a relative who made a gyroscope out of the flywheel off of a hay bailer. Then he cut up a car to put it in. It only had two wheels side by side. The gyro kept it up when it moved. Not practicle for anything but parrades. but a real attention getter.

you can get bearings reeeeel cheap on ebay. i would suggest 6201,6202, and 6203 bearings for most things with a radial load only. and then you can go into 7201 etc for radial and axial loads. (same physical size) Those seam to be the common bearings used. They are metric sizes but you can get them a...

the only suggestion i can make is to turn the whole thing between centers. either make a mandrel (kind of like a dumbell in shape) or make end disks and tack them inside the pipe, like a half inch inside the tube. Then you can turn all three important faces without changing any settings. Off course ...

Sorry NP we were referring to the buffalo that was on the back of a nickle. You have to be an old timer to remember them. So no animals of any kind were injured by our frugality.

Good guess on the handle suggestion, Not only are they diamond but they didn't even fit the 6 handles i ordered. I however do own one handle that they fit in. The cost was inconsequencial as it was put in with an order for 2000 foot of heat trace cable. (to keep water pipes from freezing) That was l...

You know the dog legged shape bits that spin around in a handle to deburr a hole. Some chuckle head ordered the wrong part number and I ended up with 20 diamond coated deburring tools. Anyone got an idea as to what they are supposed to be used for. Or has anyone ever used them. They came from McMast...

come on guys, We all know that it would be a waste in my hands, but as long as you are dreaming you might as well dream big. Just thought it would be interesting. I was just complaining that i couldn't reliably do tenthousands, and these guys so up with a mic that does microns.