The Home Machinist!

Beautiful work as always! Assembly wise, I got about as far as you are before I put it aside for "later", and never got back to it. Mine is by no means rehabilitated as nicely as yours, but it functioned very well as far as I could tell. The remaining tasks I never got around to completing were desi...

It doesn't cover all points of run-on failures, but I have a 3/4" ball valve right off the side of the tank before a short length of 1/2" hose that feeds my routing manifold (itself with various ball valves). I left it on pretty much 24/7/365 for years with no problems. And with the throw of a leave...

Yep, always good to find deals that support projects. Good luck.

Unless I'm missing something, to use the QC for filling, you'll need a gender swap coupler, but easily managed.

I've acquired B7 threaded rod in various sizes for some of the high strength stuff I've done in the past. But don't expect to get anywhere near those high end studs, which are highly engineered with specific alloys and complex heat treat (and related) operations to achieve that result. The end resul...

There are some very quiet small compressors that should work well without a lot of trouble. Compressors used in doctors offices, airbrush setups, and others may provide what you want. And I don't know much about the small pneumatic model engines, but I don't think they need much pressure to operate....

The insert size on the larger shanks (1" and greater) is generally larger. I'd very much like to avoid that. Any holder that demands an IC beyond 3/8", the tool would most likely be poorly suited to my use. Sorry about the earlier confusion, i should have included a quote to make the context clear....

That method for rounding square plate is new to me too. I'll be putting that to use, and wish I knew it sooner. As always, thanks!

You can easily get larger shank insert holder tooling, and just mill off the bottom. I've got a few 1" and 1.25" Kennametal (my preference) that were cut down to 3/4" to fit my tool blocks. They often go for 1/2 or more under price of the 1/2-3/4" identical holders. But, if a person were to have mac...

Yes on all points. I checked when I took the picture, and the shaft is actually 7/8. Chosen as the practical limit of a typical R8 collet, and keeping it as close to the spindle bottom bearing as possible (quill fully retracted, ram slid back as far as practical). And the cutters were configured spe...

Ok, I found time to review my original post, and it is correct . I suggested the shown tool was left handed, and it is. A right hand tool is used for turning towards the spindle when square corner is required. Turns out I am NOT losing it. Well, at least not totally. :wink: Sorry, it was Bill who i...

I would suggest that only if you have a relatively robust machine, and power feed. While you may achieve success, they are not cheap, and hand feeding can easily damage inserts, or the pricey blades.

Thanks. And I completely agree both that it could have turned out differently (and I feared it would), and the warning was certainly based on bad past experience. There is also that the dire warning caused me to be very thoughtful in how it was constructed so that it stayed very balanced, and I acce...