Stupid trivia - she actually had a student ask her where she was from, then ask "Where in Texas is that?" Not a geography major.
I spent my life in academia. That question scores somewhere in the upper range. One would (at least) assume that the student knew Texas was part of the union. (But, I would be afraid to ask the student to define "the union.")
I told her if she ever gets that question again to say "It's near Madagascar, down by the coast." That would be assuming they even know about Matagorda Island to be confused by the response.
Chris -
http://raceabilene.com/kelly/hotrod
"Check all parts for proper condition before operation; if normal safety precautions are noticed carefully, this machine can provide you withstanding of accurate service."
Falcon67 wrote:
Eventual parking space. Going to get a little tight in there. Er, cozy. Yea - cozy. That drill press has got to go somewhere. It's pretty lonely anyway.
That stand looks a little wimpy, but hey... whatever works.
I don't see the problem, that's a genuine Harbor Freight welding stand. Certified to a chinese metric 1000 lbs. ( +/- 800 lbs ) This is TEXAS man, we gonna build a stand out of Mesquite. If it fails, we'll cook something with the pieces.
Chris -
http://raceabilene.com/kelly/hotrod
"Check all parts for proper condition before operation; if normal safety precautions are noticed carefully, this machine can provide you withstanding of accurate service."
A bit of movement on this item - managed a start on the stand. I spent a couple of hours Saturday before the race cleaning rust off of steel tubing with a 4" angle grinder. Fun. After I got the tube looking useful, I cut a bunch of the major pieces. Last night I spent a couple of hours welding together the top. The perimeter is 2x2 14 gauge. The cross bars on the head end are 2x2 8 gauge and the tail stock end is 2xd2 11 gauge. Dimensions are 59 1/2 x 20". The lip on the chip pan stands up a bit in the rear because the stand is wider than the outside edges but I figure the weight of the machine will make the sheet metal do what it needs to do. I just felt like a couple of more inches wide made for a more steady base. Legs on the head end will be 2x2 8 gauge and the other end will be 2x2 11 gauge. The 1x2 will be cross braces and such. And, I did get the tool box and will figure out how to mount it. Maybe get more done tonight.
One thing I did that might not seem logical was to fit the long sides and the cross supports before the end pieces. Since my metal chopping equipment isn't all that accurate, better to have the support beams in place and square before anything else. I have a stash of magnets out of old hard drives and they are killer for sticking pieces of metal together. Enough that some require a screw driver or pry bar to get them off. Did corner to corner until the frame was square, then tacked it up. Last things on were the ends. The 45s look nice, weld covers a lot of error -ha. No closeups of welds either. I need a cheater lens for my hood. In the mean time I use reading glasses and unless I can get my face about 12" from the weld I have real trouble seeing much of the puddle or the target. I just work slow and close.
Chris -
http://raceabilene.com/kelly/hotrod
"Check all parts for proper condition before operation; if normal safety precautions are noticed carefully, this machine can provide you withstanding of accurate service."
Falcon67 wrote:A bit of movement on this item - managed a start on the stand. I spent a couple of hours Saturday before the race cleaning rust off of steel tubing with a 4" angle grinder. Fun. After I got the tube looking useful, I cut a bunch of the major pieces. Last night I spent a couple of hours welding together the top. The perimeter is 2x2 14 gauge. The cross bars on the head end are 2x2 8 gauge and the tail stock end is 2xd2 11 gauge. Dimensions are 59 1/2 x 20". The lip on the chip pan stands up a bit in the rear because the stand is wider than the outside edges but I figure the weight of the machine will make the sheet metal do what it needs to do. I just felt like a couple of more inches wide made for a more steady base. Legs on the head end will be 2x2 8 gauge and the other end will be 2x2 11 gauge. The 1x2 will be cross braces and such. And, I did get the tool box and will figure out how to mount it. Maybe get more done tonight.
One thing I did that might not seem logical was to fit the long sides and the cross supports before the end pieces. Since my metal chopping equipment isn't all that accurate, better to have the support beams in place and square before anything else. I have a stash of magnets out of old hard drives and they are killer for sticking pieces of metal together. Enough that some require a screw driver or pry bar to get them off. Did corner to corner until the frame was square, then tacked it up. Last things on were the ends. The 45s look nice, weld covers a lot of error -ha. No closeups of welds either. I need a cheater lens for my hood. In the mean time I use reading glasses and unless I can get my face about 12" from the weld I have real trouble seeing much of the puddle or the target. I just work slow and close.
The welds look pretty good to me! My impression--based on previous posts--is that the guy who is building this is pretty conscientious and meticulous.
Lynne and I spent a couple of nights in the RV park in Hamlin a few weeks ago. I should have called ahead and submitted a request for a tour of your shop. It really looks nice!
As many have already said, this lathe looks much nicer than Enco's previous iteration. Please share your experiences when you get it up and running. I'll probably go with the PM1236, but this one is now on the "runner up" list. I'm sure other folks would value your experience as well.
You're a brave man placing that lathe on that stand.
