The Home Machinist!

If you can find a mobility scooter or motorized wheel chair, you have just about all you need to power a box cab. My mobility scooter is powerful. If I run into a piece of furniture, it will push it aside. Look on E bay or craigs list for used scooters.

You can always make an offer on the Birmingham. He may want to get rid of it quick. I would start with an offer of 1600 and negotiate from there. It looks like a good lathe to me and well cared for from the picture.

I would use polyethylene self adhesive strips 1" wide applied from front to back on the bottom of each drawer and if you want, repeat the strips on the top of each shelf in line with the drawer strips. You want to avoid the metal to metal contact for smooth operation. That is what I would try.

Ken Schroeder wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 10:33 pm Keep looking. Neither is worth the money or effort.

I second it.

Drill bits larger than 1/2" are usually sharpened by hand. It is a skill that every machinist needs to learn. I learned to sharpen drills larger than 1/4". smaller than 1/4" are generally tossed in the scrap bin as they are not economical to sharpen.

Has anyone heard from John Knox formerly of Sheldon Lathes. Last I heard, he was not doing too well.

While we are on the subject of calipers, I have a 6" dial caliper made by Helios that I bought new over 65 years ago. I wonder if anyone has an idea as to how much it's worth.

I work my projects using thous of an inch. That is because my calipers and mics read in thous. I try to work to a thous, but if I miss it, I just keep going. To me it's a hobby. I don't have to make a living at it. I doubt that I could even make something to a tenth. At 88, it's too late for me to s...

When measuring rope, wrap a strip of paper around the rope and mark where the end meets the mark. Divide this by Pi (3.14) and that is the diameter of the rope. A tape measure is not good for this purpose. You can also use a tape used by sewing people. It can be wrapped around a rope easily.

Bill Shields wrote: ↑Fri Oct 07, 2022 10:13 pm
This is where loctite had its benefits. 400F in the oven and everything falls apart.

Are you saying full size railroads use loctite for tires?

Welcome to the forum. If you can't find it here, its a good chance you wont find the answer elsewhere; a lot of smart guys here. (I'm not one of them)

If you reach the limits of heat/cooling to affect a press fit, how do you do the reverse, remove a press fit? Like how to remove a tire from a drive wheel without destroying the wheel. Applying heat to the tire would transfer heat to the wheel and prevent the tire from being removed. In some cases, ...