The Home Machinist!

So after lusting for a long while, I finally purchased a surface grinder project machine (though I don't quite have a place to put it yet...). A DoAll VS618. Been sitting for 10 years, previously used in a plastic injection shop. Something I didn't expect, the ways have plastic (Ryton?) strips epoxi...

FYI - The products you buy at Home Depot and Lowe's are not the same as those sold at your local hardware store, plumbing supply, tool store, etc. When Home Depot decides they want to carry a new product, they approach the manufacturer , offer the manufacturer a very lucrative contract/purchase but...

It looks like you can press off the bearing using studs on a plate thru the windows in the spur gear. The use a gear puller, legs thru the spur gear windows again to pull off the gear by the inner diameter.

As an alternative to making an off-center arbor (or moving the part in the 4-jaw chuck), do you have a mill in addition to the lathe? If so, turn the OD and flange, then mount it in the mill, find the center, and then offset the desired amount and drill/bore the center hole and screw locations.

Yeah, it's a Emco. My first though was that it a Emco PC Turn with the CNC steppers removed. But looking around it seems to be the manual version of the Emco Compact 5, missing several parts (chip pan, milling head) with a bodged on replacement front control panel.

So the key says SB3 is the foot switch, SQ is the stoke switch, and SB2 and SB4 are just "button". So after you have power on the control side, SB2 needs to be pushed (this is a "start" switch? or maybe a closure switch on the safety guard?) to activate the safety circuit. Then S...

Do you have the component key to go with thew wiring diagram? I can read it but kind of guessing at component designations. Debugging wise, I would start with the following: 1) Does the control circuit have power? The diagram has a light between the transformer terminal 0 and the fuse FU2 terminal 5...

See also:
http://www.tools-n-gizmos.com/specs/Tapers.html#B-Taper

Some places say the number represents the pounds of aluminum that the crucible can hold, others say it is the kilograms of red brass/copper it can hold. Seems like everybody has a bit different definition and you need to look at the actual dimensions as a #50 on one site may be virtual identical in ...

As Bill says, an actual LCD may be susceptible to freezing and cracking, but anything you are likely to find is probably LED digits or a LED-based screen these days. I've been running a Sino SDS6 on my lathe for several years without issue, it's been down to freezing a few times and spent months at ...

According to the guy at our local hardware store, youncan’t get real Map Gas in the US anymore - the formula was changed a year or two ago, and replaced with a lower BTU product. Hence now, no better than propane. Not quite true... real MAPP gas is a mix of propyne (methyl-acetylene) and propane. Y...

Arizona. Right now on Craigslist there is a: - Tormach 770, that's 7'x14" travels, for $11750 - Tormach 440 for $10000. - Supermax CNC'd 9x42 mill for $11500 - Bridgeport 9x42 manual mill for $5250 - Hass VF4 in nice shape for $23000, that's probably the sweet deal of the current crop - and var...