The Home Machinist!

Had a slight mishap on a small mill I have and slightly damaged my vise. Appears cosmetic, but not sure, so asking here. After loosening the head on small mill, the vertical head pivoted about a horizontal axis, swinging down and hit the vise on my mill table. I tried breaking the fall, but could no...

Please see the attached photo of my dial indicator parts. Most of it will not fit together, evidence that there is little standardization, or my ability to play the equivalent of tinkertoys is quite limited. I really can't see how much of this fits together, leaving me wondering if I need to buy mor...

For this mill, an old Rotex, no new acme nuts are available, so would have to construct a way to mount a new generic nut. But, noticed on other thing and welcome comments. First, the diameter of the threads is distinctly larger on one side of the nut (backside, opposite crank wheel) vs the front. I ...

As a newbie with experience with several mentors, I would only say try and make sure the person meshes well with you. That is, their instructional style and approach, patience, priorities, personality, etc. are a good fit. Everyone is different, and none are wrong. Some may be systematic in laying o...

If interested, I can tell you my experiences and lessons learned as a novice picking up an old Southbend 9.

- Phil

I got it off. I moved the grinder and stand next to a tall cabinet in the garage. I held a long crescent wrench on the nut and then spun the wheel (and wrench) as quickly as possible, with the wrench hitting the cabinet door. A few impacts and the nut was loose.

- Phil

I just got a new Jet JBG-8A bench grinder. Both wheels wobble (one badly) and just from looking at it, I can see some of it might be due to the stamped steel flanges that clamp the wheel. But, not sure until I remove the wheels. Given threads run in the same direction on both ends, using one wrench ...

This does help, but it has to be cinched down quite firmly. This forces a narrowing of a slit along a part of the side of the tailstock to bind against the spindle. Moving the spindle in and out against that will no doubt cause even more rapid wear, so have been reluctant to use any more tightness t...

The base on the casting looks good. The ways show evidence of use, but no ridges or obvious heavy wear. Putting a dead center into the lathe spindle and tailstock spindle and both are at the same height. I did not measure if there was a height differential if when the quill was locked vs loose. In a...

Got it. Pretty ingenious. The ways and the carriage on the lathe show wear on the scraping, but no ridges at all. That said, this approach sounds quite doable...for someone other than this novice. - Phil What am I missing here?l Assuming that the bore is through and not blind... You would use a bori...

I will have to take it apart to measure quill wear. I have heard the quill is relatively soft. I have no "new" dimensions to compare, so could only discover differences along its length. I would certainly like to rebuild it, but this is way beyond me. No steady rest yet. Would not a follow...

My Southbend 9 has a worn tailstock which needs repair. With the quill extended 2", lateral slop at quill end is easily .005". With the arbor, drill chuck, and center drill added in, the movement doubles. As soon as the center drill contacts the rotating stock, it walks off center, using u...