The Home Machinist!

Harold, I just made one of my time/pride decisions, and the answer was obvious: keep the parts (I need them last week, preferably sooner, and the difference is purely cosmetic). I rough cut six plates about 0.1-0.15 over size hoping that after I cleaned up all of the edges, I'd have enough metal. Th...

The punch: the question is whether I will end up punching metal with it or myself for buying it ;) I bought it from Challenge. They were very helpful, and far cheaper than Greenlee, which charges way too much IMHO. The advantage of Greenlee is that they have a punch that requires only one hole. The ...

Richard, Do you mean screws driven by an Allen wrench? I use them a lot, especially where I can counter sink them. Here I am hoping not to use enough metal to allow that. What in particular leads you to recommend them for this? Interesting development this morning: a second machine quit today, and t...

Jim, There are too many connectors and insufficient depth to keep covers free of wired gizmos. Also, the connectors can appear only top and bottom. I agree with you part way though, and that is another reason I want the covers to come off in pieces (and one in particular should be hinged), but that ...

Not so fast, guys :shock: Vinegar and salt??? Am I falling for a prank, or does that really work? One thing I did not see mentioned is how to avoid the problem in the first place. A blind hole is a little tough, but I was having trouble with 4-40 taps breaking and somebody recommended thread forming...

I got tired of cutting slots for Sub-D connectors, so I bought a punch for them, reducing the mill work to drilling and (more importantly) simplifying the drafting. A few remaining holes are windows that I still can use practice cutting, and there is hope of finding suitable circular replacements. B...

Hello all, This is one of those things that *should* be easy, and no doubt is easy to do a lousy job of it. The problem is to package some pieces such as http://www.wdlsystems.com/modperl/view_services.cgi?r=detail&prod_num=1JSMC70&aisle_id=786 http://www.wdlsystems.com/modperl/view_services...

I'm afraid Harold hit it: pay and roll the dice at the same time. I have a mill-drill that is wonderful with a few quirks, and I more recently bought an Enco 12x36 lathe that serves, but has a few problems. There is enough right about the lathe that I decided to keep it rather than hope a replacemen...

I have a Phase-II H/V and it is an amazing product. My understanding about the vertical-friendly units is about retaining oil, not that the table needs gravity to hold it together - of course, this is free advice worth everything it cost you. If you use a horizontal-only unit in the vertical orienta...

What about roughing it with a pipe cutter? Then I would be willing to consider chucking it for facing the ends, giving me an excuse to use the 6-jaw chuck I don't have

Bill

Someday when budget allows i´m gonna get a sherline mill. I´ll post a few pics of my little shop. A Sherline might be the perfect machine for you, but have you considered other options? I have a mill-drill that is extremely capable. There are bench-top knee mills that are more flexible but do not o...

Try QCad. I have used it for a while now, and am very happy with it.

Bill