The Home Machinist!

Tool geometry, feed, speed, and the chip breaker are the primary factors in chipping. I rarely have a problem chipping aluminum except on the finish cut, but I like to feed .020-.040" per rev or more. Most lathes will do this at some functional depth (.075-.100 doc) at a slow speed except the v...

So toastydeath, are you saying this 40K on a 1" cutter was achieved with DRY machining? heheh. 'True' high speed machining is done dry, so yes. But 'High speed' in aluminum is some ridiculous surface speed, and a 10k rpm spindle and a face mill are the bare minimum to get into that area. SFM i...

Cincinnati did a bunch of research into high speed machining in aluminum. They found that, as speed increases, cutter wear decreases per linear unit of metal the cutter goes though. With a 1" carbide endmill at 40k rpm, wear is essentially nonexistent. Heat is a non-issue at high speeds. It's a...

I don't have exposure to that particular brand, but ZrN is used for very high speed machining in aluminum. Aluminum doesn't friction weld (not easily, anyway) to ZrN, and so you are pretty much free to choose whatever cutting speed you feel like (or are capable of) using. Whenever you see someone cu...

I'd buy the Smithy, though I've not used either nor heard reviews. Going solely off the product specs and pictures. Bed mills have substantial stiffness advantages over their knee counterparts. Given the choice, I will always go for the bed mill. That little Smithy mill also had powerfeeds on all ax...

I was reading through some industry magazines the other day, and it dawned on me that some of the most expensive modern machines are glorified 3-in-1 lathes. http://www.mazakusa.com/productpage.asp?lngEquipID=8 http://www.visger.com/contactus.html I just thought some of the hobby people would get a ...

G and M codes vary by manufacturer. While stuff like G01 and G00 doesn't change, the particulars of the canned cycles and other stuff does. You need to contact whoever made your control, and get the authoritative g/m-code list not only for that brand, but for that specific model of control. Edit: Yo...

I'm suggesting my way because you can do it in all of two seconds at at a flea market situation and it will find errors in the plate, just not all the errors in the plate. The scrape hand who comes through our shop certainly uses this method to do checks on the surfaces he's working, and it's descri...

Stick an indicator on a known-good flat surface, like a height gauge or angle plate. Get a known flat block, like a 1x2x3 or similar. Set the indicator up so you have ~10" (5" if it's a smaller plate) or so between the base and where the indicator is, and zero it on the block. Move the blo...

This is how I set up soft jaws. I'm sure there are multiple ways to skin this cat, probably better ones, but this way is mine. Hopefully some other people will chime in with tricks and whatnot that I can respectfully gank and use myself. =) Ingredients: A small, short cylinder of metal, 1/2" to...

Jose has it right. The groove in the middle of the clip is where the divider goes. When I do it, I put one clip up on the felt and hold it there with the divider. I line it up properly, note the position, get the divider out of the way, and then put the second clip in. Install the divider between th...

I have a different problem with layout. I got a job that was going on a very manual Bridgeport (hand crank power only), and asked where the layout stuff was (being in school, I can afford precious few tools, and I have no layout gear of my own). People looked at me like I was from mars. Anyone else ...