The Home Machinist!

I turn acrylic on my lathe all the time. Real easy to make pullies.

Both machines are by the same company with the difference (e.g., # of motors) by generation. you can go to the Shoptask website and they have the history of their machines. I have the Tri-Power with manual feed , power feed , and full CNC control and 3-axis digital readout (Jenix DRO). https://www.s...

Looks like this may be the overall best option and Harbor Freight has the best prices on it: https://www.harborfreight.com/50-lbs-medium-grade-armex-soda-blast-media-65929.html https://www.armex.com/products/maintenance They also make a 220 grit specifially for giving aluminum a satin finish (turbin...

Thanks.

Any more?

At this time I am open to suggestions as to what would be the best blast media to use. As I said, the 80 grit (as I was told) seems to coarse. I've seen 150 grit in aluminum oxide as well as glass beads. https://www.amazon.com/Blastite-Aluminum-Oxide-Sandblasting-Abrasive/dp/B01DCO1QCQ/ref=asc_df_B0...

I use Scotchbrite finishes on bare aluminum routinely on race car parts. One thing that helps keep the finish nice, is to run through through grades (I don't usually bother with gray), and then buff the parts up through the usual buffing wheels and compounds, and the put the pattern back in with a ...

I tried the tumbler and after 2 hours, you could see that it was having a positive effect in closing up scratches. But this would take at least a day a piece to get significant results and who has a month of days just to clean these up? At 2 hours, you could see the "peens" in the metal. Also, becau...

Alternator for a <'69 small block Chevy, though they will work on SBCs up to '92. Originally the alternator was attached to the exhaust manifold and there were no bolt holes in the front of the heads. That changed in '69 when accessory bolt holes were put into the heads.

I was going to try the finer media for blasting, but the cabinet wasn't working. When I noted this to the staff, it didn't matter because they had now loaded both cabinets with coarse media. Figures! Of course I can bring in my own media. But..., I was remined that there is also a small vibratory tu...

Anodizing is out of the question due to expense. My profit on each of those aluminum pieces is only about $8 with my labor, and anodizing would kill that. I've had some of these sitting in a box for over 4 years and they still look like new. Once mounted, it is up to the user to keep them clean. Or,...

I tried the blast cabinet. The fine media cabinet wasn't working and I tried the course media. Interesting finish, but rough. Certainly gets rid of the scratches. Will try this one again with fine media. http://headerbracket.com/index.html Very unhappy with this "machinist." All others separated the...

I do have access to both course and smooth media cabinets, and this is certainly worth a try. Thanks.

They were not tumbled and everything you see was done on the big CNC mills; first a Fidal, then two different HAAS. I had been to the shops several times.