The Home Machinist!

Any decent milling machine would have ratings for the suggested maximum weight loaded onto the table. From the manufacturers point it's a combination of overall machine design type, table rigidity, way surface area and feed screw size. That rating assumes that any load is directly over those way sur...

Rich Carlstedt set me a couple of pictures, in one of them I spotted his use of heavy shop wipes laid flat around the bottom casting that supports the Z axis feed screw that collect the excess oil. That saves it from filling up the sump and becoming an all around pain to get out. Sort of adult diape...

There's a very logical reason oil is preferred over grease on some types of machine tools RSG. If grease could be applied frequently enough and then forcibly flushed through with fresh injected grease and doing that often enough once it picked up wear particles or contamination there would probably ...

Late to this, but yeah a specific set of circumstances that result in just the right natural frequency to create the problem just like Spro mentioned. If you do a search for natural frequency of vibration etc you'll quickly find out how lacking most peoples knowledge and understanding is about it. M...

An impossible to properly answer question because it depends mostly on what you plan to do with that mill. There are some general tools that are almost always needed by most though. This might get a bit long. No.1 and most important, the tool you have between your ears, use it wisely and it will sav...

100% agree about that zero built in safety factor for sure. I'm no welder and don't even own one. But a bit more food for thought about those cheap engine hoists. Since my mining jobs have always had a convenient supply of welders around I started surveying them about 15- 20 years ago when the cheap...

Those engine hoists work well at what they were designed for, re/re automotive engines. Where they run into real issues when used in a home shop is getting the suspended load up to and onto at least the center of a bench top if the bench has a base that doesn't allow the horizontal legs to roll unde...

That drawing reminds me a bit of the Swiss made Tripan system Earlgo. Supposed to be as rigid as an Aloris or Dorian with the big advantage over them of having a lot more clearance when getting the tool post and holder in tight to the tail stock casting on our smaller lathes. http://anglo-swiss-tool...

If the column isn't as true as possible then it's obviously going to be tilted to some degree. That can be in a single axis or even a combination in both X and Y. Not to go too far OT from the original question, but compounding the issue is the column is going to deflect differently depending on whe...

Fwiw and from what you've indicated it seems the important parts (quiet head, low feed screw backlash) are ok. Direct replacement for the missing OEM parts are probably un-obtainable without knowing the exact manufacturer. Even then there's no guarantee parts made in the last year or two would still...

Afaik OSHA rules and regulations only cover the equipment being used and the employee's working at any job site. There authority does not cover what can and can't be sold throughout the U.S. or whatever Harbor Freight and others happen to be selling STRR. If it did you can bet any equipment meeting ...

Replacing with a new one depends on what you currently have. While it can be great deal of work, if the machines original quality was high enough a full bed and slide re grinding can be well worth it because you then know exactly what you have verses possible unknowns with a lower end new machine. I...