The Home Machinist!

Hi Guys
Have not posted here in ages and am really feeling guilty, not having done so.
Anyway, as atonement, here's some smaller Jacks I fabricated, copied from pics I had seen on another Forum.
What was interesting to start with,was the Rust Removal by Mr Pete 22222's method using common household White Spirit Vinegar.
Man, does the simple method work. Eyeball da pic for Yourself.
It was a totally rusted piece of "mystery Steel", soaked in Vinegar for a couple of days, and Man did the crud come off in layers with just little elbow grease and a wire brush. The heavy pitting can be clearly seen on the original Piece in the back. And the finish on the turned items required hardly or any polishing at all. Just beautiful to see what a lousy-looking, rusted old grimy piece of iron turned out.
Was a pleasure turning this.
Only hard time I had was the Threading. Although I cut very fine 1.0 mm Threads it was a real battle and thankfully we broke no Taps.
I was not satisfied at all with the two extra Male fittings in front from a different stock, so we re-turned these from the stated rusted piece
All in all it was a most enjoyable project, albeit minor in comparison to the grandiose projects completed here
Thanks for looking
aRM

Nothing wrong with that, nice work. Time to find some more of that rusty bar! Much nicer than anything I've produced in the last year or so.

Seems like all I have time to do is a quick part turned from whatever mystery metal is handy. When I first started this hobby, I took time with each part. Even if the part didn't need it, I needed to learn, so even an adapter spacer with exceedingly loose tolerances got made to exacting specs, polished, nice chamfered corners/edges, nice fat fillets where they didn't interfere, some artistic touches perhaps including knurling, and so on. Now it's just wham-bam see ya later...

Very Nice!

What Glenn said!
I'm impressed with the knurls you created. I am not a fan of incomplete knurls, preferring they have distinct sharp crests, as yours do.
If I had to venture a guess, it would be that your "mystery metal" is likely leaded. The weird pitting and superior surface finish after machining is in keeping with the qualities one discovers with such an alloy.

A tip. Once you've finished chasing an A thread, touching the major diameter with medium polishing cloth will improve appearance, as well as remove any traces of burrs that are common when creating threads. Very little is removed in the process, but if you're concerned about the major diameter, simply start with the nominal diameter. The thou that will be removed leaves the part on the top end of tolerance.

Harold

Even better is to run a Cratex stick over the threads.

John Hasler wrote:Even better is to run a Cratex stick over the threads.

Good thought, although I've not seen Cratex used much in the machine shop. The years I spent refining precious metals, however, exposed me to its use, as jewelry benchmen use it routinely with their flex shafts. They were my primary customers.

Harold