The Home Machinist!

I use a jeweller's saw for screws that small. Not the thin circular saws used in a mill; these look more like coping saw frames but the blades are much thinner and finer toothed. It's quieter and spews a lot less dust than the Dremel. It's alse faster for one offs because I generally already have a ...

I've been using TurboCad for several years now. My wife says she can tell when I'm using it by the increase in cursing. Personally, I think it's the worst $100 I've ever spent (and I've made plenty of mistakes in my life). I have a fairly old version so some of these issues might have been fixed but...

May I recommend removing the hard anodize before machining? I use Walgreens brand liquid drain opener to remove anodizing. It takes about 12 minutes at room temperature. I use frisket film to mask areas I don't want stripped; it's basically a clear masking tape with non-permanent adhesive, available...

Well, my airplane is a daytime VFR only airplane so it really isn't an issue for me but the concern is not just the potential eye damage (which would not actually take very long) as much as interference with night vision (which can happen in a fraction of a second and takes several minutes to recove...

I changed ISPs since the original post and hadn't uploaded those photos to the new ISP. Also, this board forgot about my existence at one point and I had to re-register, which is why the original post lists me as a guest. Here are links to the photos: http://users.isp.com/jutz/External/Parts.JPG htt...

I'm not Kermit but I also have the Smithy 5C collet chuck. The runout is less than 0.001 on mine, once I get the collet fully seated. Personally, I'm not very happy with the collet chuck. It uses a ring around the front of the collet to push the collet into the chuck and close it. This makes it very...

According to the drawing for the adapter I made for a 4" chuck for my Smithy 1220LTD, the recess in the plate is 3.935" diameter and 0.125" deep. That translates to 99.949mm diameter and 3.175mm deep so it would probably fit.

I have been using PowerTwist belts for several years now and I like them better than any other belt I've used. (Yes, I have used premium belts, I'm not even bothering to compare them to Chinese belts.) The PowerTwist belts run just as smoothly as any other belt I've tried and a bit cleaner. Fenner s...

If you use increments of 0.001" with a 1/8" endmill, the jaggies in your curve will be so small they will be difficult to discern from the roughness left by the endmill itself. With a spreadsheet, the simplest way to generate circular arc coordinates: R is the radius of the circle; X is th...

Personally, I would create a spreadsheet of coordinates and use manual numerical control. A DRO would make the operation relatively easy but I don't have one so I just work with the dials or a pair of indicators if I need it really precise. Assuming the inside of the corner has a radius of 0.25"...

0.00003937"

Mine included forms so I would say yours was a mistake.