The Home Machinist!

Thanks for the replies. As I contemplated my mistake from the back of a lawn mower I came up with an explanation. Glad to hear I came up with the same explanation you provided. Proves I'm not stupid, just ignorant...

Scared my self today. I've been working on a model steam engine lately and it requires a lot of little brass parts for rod ends and so forth. After drilling on the milling machine I had to do some light milling on another brass part. I left the drill chuck mounted (out of laziness I guess) and set u...

I like the idea of using the rotary table, but I would have milled the two parts separately. Unless you bolt them together as others have suggested you run the risk of one of them moving and spoiling the part. I have made similar parts by drilling an undersized hole in the center and clamping with a...

Man, I wish!

Kelly, this is a great topic. I use a few methods mentioned here that, IMHO, make it safe. 1. Handle required 2. Loose clothing and rings prohibited at all times 3. ****very important***** keep the end of the file out of path of the jaws**** (if you don’t grasp this concept, keep asking and thinkin...

I had a sobering moment this evening. I was using a file to touch up the finish on a part. I was being far too casual and looked down and it struck me just how dangerous it was to file next to the chuck. If the file had wandered only a degree or two to the left, the chuck jaw would have hit the end ...

Success! Got the lathe running again. Small soldering job to install the new capacitor. Opened the motor to inslect the starter switch and windings. No evidence of buring, arcing or other bad stuff. Thanks for the comments.

Ok, got the motor off the lathe. Thought I could plan out the job while waiting for the replacement capacitor. Definitely fried. Found a couple of loose screws in the electrical box on the motor, but no signs of overheating. Looks like the capacitor was soldered after the wires were pulled though th...

Electric motor problems must be contagious. Mine on the lathe started making a "sizzling" sound this morning and the shop started stinking. Had my son momentarily start the lathe while I watched the motor. Sure enough, the magic smoke was escaping from one of the two capacitors. Took the c...

Harold: could you post a picture of the modifications you made to the vise and how you use it? Sounds useful, but I'm not sure I have an accurate picture in my head. Thanks

I have used the cola method of de-rusting tools before. It is slow, but it works for the same reason molasses works. The acids in the liquid eat the oxidized rust preferentially, leaving the base metal. If left long enough, it will eat the base metal too. Don't know if it will work on non-ferrous ma...

Wow! Lots of good comments. Yes, it is mystery metal from the scrap bin, some sort of steel. The lathe is fairly new and shouldn't have any significant wear, but the comment about the tool being a little high might make sense. I thought I had set it dead on center, but it still might be high. I will...