The Home Machinist!

Since the bearing outer races are in pretty close contact with there bores, you'll certainly get some lag of temperature change between what the actual temps the bearings are at verses the castings or bores there sitting in. Plus the higher volume of surrounding metal will dissipate that heat transf...

Depending on the effort anyone is willing to go to with one of these dovetail column mills and how much previous Google checking they've already done? There's quite a bit of information about using what's called an Epoxy/Granite mix. It's based on some pretty good industrial based results of cold ca...

Yep I hadn't thought about the available room and assumed Randydan had already checked that Bill. If he hasn't then he'd better do so before deciding on any motor. And again true about that back gear. Without it and the standard pulley ratios, the extra torque might be handy. Maybe not enough to jus...

I won't say 3 hp is too much on that 12 x 36 lathe. 2 hp would probably still be enough. But the extra will come in handy when your adjusting the VFD to operate the motor into a lower rpm, lower torque situation. However with my mill, I made my own personal choice that if I need below about 40-45 hz...

As John said, the REAR screw on the gibs thin end get's backed off and the FRONT and gib fat end to be moved in to reduce excess clearance. It's the fat end of the gib moving either in or out that reduces or increases clearance. The rear screw does or can make an adjustment by moving the gibs fat en...

Yep same for mine Bill. If I'm not going to be using the machine in the next few days I unplug the VFD or throw the breakers if I'm gone for awhile, even with the inline power shut off switches, as well as the dro etc just for the safety and those power surges that aren't exactly unknown around here...

Yep thanks and those will work Bill. And yeah tapered gibs. That's roughly about the same size as my mill. By the looks of your second picture, that's your gibs fat end, so tighten the fat end of the gib screw and loosen the narrow end screw to decrease clearance. That moves the gib IN. Your knee lo...

100% on what Bill just said. As a safety, I like having a good industrial rated on/off before the VFD. That of course switches the power off to the VFD when making machine adjustments, tool changes on the mill etc. I can do it at the sub panel in my shop, but breakers aren't really made for that. An...

I've seen the watch making term loosely used while building 3.5" gauge loco's and smaller more than a few times Bill. As always Ron great work. Chris (Clickspring) makes the heat blueing of screws look effortless, I'll be interested in how easy you find it.

Ok for those highly worn machines, I can see the any old oil including chain saw working. For one's not quite there yet, I've gotta agree with Harry. Except that any other oil I've tried from 3 n 1, hydraulic, or even up to 90 wt. gear oil. (real bad idea) None of it did work as smoothly or stay on ...

Enco didn't make machine tools, they were a dealer large enough to have machine tools made with there name on them. However EMCO did and does make excellent machine tools in Austria, a completely different large step up in quality, fit, finish, accuracy with them. The two should never be confused ju...

I always forget to check back here often enough Patio. Like Ed said, what a way to end the year. A denture story that some might get a chuckle out of. Shortly after I got mine they would bother my gums a bit, no problem at home, but at work and 12 hr shifts I'd wrap them up in a clean paper towel an...