The Home Machinist!

Before I acquired a pink Starret I used the mill table.

I have a few machines mounted on mobile bases, but none of them are very sensitive to an imperfect floor. The bases allow for a rough adjustment to prevent rocking. Stand01.jpg I do have an old 11 inch swing by 36 inch between centers Sheldon lathe built during the Second World War. The tail end of ...

1/8'th inch 6061-T531 will cut easily in one pass, and allow the use of the whole length of the flutes. Using the upper portion of the flutes will leave the tip fresh and sharp for another job, and closer to the shank the endmill is more rigid.

A morse taper is very slight and doesn't need to be drawn in very hard to hold.

Although I work in inches, and have been able to manipulate metric bolts to good affect, it would be nice to have metric threading ability. My Sheldon has the metric change gear tag on it but no gears. What a tease! After staring at the metric and quick change tags for some time it became apparent t...

Gates, for one, recommends not using a B belt on a pulley with a pitch diameter less than 5.4". That comes out to be 6" OD. The X series is a more flexible solution for smaller pulleys. That's all. The notches don't increase traction, cause vibration or noise. Another thing to be aware of ...

The cores that get baked in the foundry I work in are baked on what appears to be clay slabs. They are heavy and brittle. I wonder if ceramic tiles would work.

I picked up a Sheldon 11" lathe in the early to mid '90's with an 'E' drive. It has the War Board tag and a tag for metric threading - but no metric gears. It was/is badly worn, although the head stock bushings had been replaced. It will still split a thou on the diameter with a double finish c...

Another solution would be to thread the holes with a tap, and use some quality machine screws.

The subject of casting iron bar stock has come up in the past. The iron foundry I work for casts test bars for quality control. They are about an inch in diameter by eight inches long. The iron is poured into molds made of 'no bake, no flask' sand. I don't know if the large amount of iron in the pou...

The seller is okay. He refunded everything...I would not run a motor with three feet, but I suppose it's possible to make a base for it and tap the case for bolts.Or not... What's the problem? If it runs w/o the fan shroud, mill an "L" shaped washer, and Rework the shroud. If I had a gamb...

Could you post some pix of the parts list and gearbox and more info on the machine?