The Home Machinist!

Ancient Rome once taxed sunlight! [see: "A Golden Thread : 2500 Years of Solar Architecture and Technology" by Ken Butti and John Perlin, 1980] Americans *do* have a dislike for taxes. It was one of the official reasons we aren't part of Britain any more. And when the New Bosses turned out...

Well, how important is the ground finish, then? How about honing? Could I just make a few strokes with a ball hone and call it good? Or will any finish do as long as it's not too rough?

I need to make an internal taper to take a collet. According to my reference books, this type of thing should be hardened, then ground to final size on OD and ID. I don't have a toolpost grinder. I could fake it pretty good on the OD with some flat stock and sandpaper, but the inside has me stalled....

I've seen the "orange juicer" tools for cleaning big ISO tapers, and some for Morse tapers. But is there any tool that is useful for cleaning R8 and 5C tapers? I used to blow them out with compressed air, but the new neighbors and the compressor aren't compatible. Bottle brush? I can't see...

The one place they have high value ... is in calibration. After my comment earlier in the thread, I realized I have more than just calipers and micrometers to measure. I now have several cheap import DROs and a collection of old/worn equipment and cheap import equipment, who knows what errors there...

Looking at some of the import 12x36 lathes, one of the variations I've seen is that some come with a "foot brake"; a bar near the floor that looks like the pedal on a metal shear. There are many things I've wished for when running a lathe, but "foot brake" isn't among them. What ...

For longer drills, I don't have enough quill travel to reach the workpiece with a center drill. edit: I hate it when someone posts while I'm typing in a reply! [tries for Squint of Irritated Disapproval, winds up with nervous tic on eyelid...] I didn't know center drills came that long; all mine are...

So, I decide I need some spot drills, and go off looking for them online. Okay. They are available with 120 degree points, 90 degree points, and some don't say, but from the pictures look like maybe 80 degrees. I looked through my collection of old machining books, and none of them even *mention* sp...

Back when I worked in a machine shop, one inviolable rule was "absolutely NO threaded rod in place of proper studs." Nobody seemed to know why, but the supervisors were adamant about it. It was such a big deal I reflexively avoid it in my home shop, but... is there any real reason NOT to u...

Kurt's web site has a "scratch and dent sale" page; they offer blemished-but-accurate vises for a substantial discount, brand new.

I'd already bought a new import vise before I remembered that... [sigh]

Green Mountain will sell barrel blanks in common sizes drilled and reamed, but not rifled. Pac-Nor and others will make any weird-Harold ID blank you want.

In this case, it's because I want to do it for myself.

So you want to bypass this and use spray mist. Hey, it might work, but how is the drill going to stay rigid ? What is the spray mist flow ? That's why I'm asking. Sterling, which is a long-time gun drill manufacturer, is selling two different air systems now. Their site doesn't mention anything abo...