Topics include, Machine Tools & Tooling, Precision Measuring, Materials and their Properties, Electrical discussions related to machine tools, setups, fixtures and jigs and other general discussion related to amateur machining.
dpeterson3 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:08 pmMy bandsaw is a craftsman 10" made by rikon. I have been unable to find suitable metal blades for it yet. I don't have a spot welder yet. Would investing in one be worth wild for making blades for my saw?
Even if you have blades that are suitable for metal, the speed on a wood bandsaw are too high and you will just chew up the teeth. Your blade speed, in feet per minute, should be (if I have this remembered correctly) about 100 feet per minute. For aluminum, you can go quite a but faster.
When I inherited my dad's Wallace bandsaw, which is variable speed, I gave my old 12" shopmaster to my brother along with a right-angle drive speed reducer and some pulleys. We set it up exclusively for metal and have two pulley pairs with a low for steel and a high for aluminum.
As to blades, once you get brazing equipment, you can make your own. Search the board and you'll probably find threads on how to do that. It's very easy and you won't be trapped by having to get custom blades. You can buy leftover coils of blade stock cheap with enough in them to make a few blades for your machine in different widths and tooth pitches. One suggestion I have is to find someone selling a bunch of different ones on ebay and get them all at once for one shipping. I did that and I have about 10 different blades I can make up at any time.
Glenn Brooks wrote: ↑Thu Jul 09, 2020 3:23 pm
In terms of getting acquainted with machining, you might look for Mr. Pete’s machining videos on you tube. AKA ‘Tubalcane’. He has produced a lot of good stuff. He is an old time HS shop teacher. So his videos are well organized, very explanatory, and focused on a specific subject.
Mr. Pete is very good for a lot of the basics. He also has courses on Atlas lathes, South Bend lathes and Bridgeport milling machines that include content specific to those machines that are not on the web. If you get one of those machines, it might be worth getting the course.
I would recommend against an Atlas machine (unless the name also includes Clausing) as they are not rigid enough for a lot of what you will need to do (I know, I have one).
As to learning, another shop teacher is "That Lazy Machinist". He has a bit more of the technical explanation than Mr. Pete.
Abom79
Lot of real-world machining, particularly the older videos when he was working for a machine shop and he had to do a lot of customer work. http://www.youtube.com/user/Abom79/videos
I'm in the Mobile, Al area, so it is fairly industrial area. I have been watching for used machines, but not much coming up. I might be looking in the wrong place. I have been checking Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace (seems to be a lot more active). Is there somewhere else to look?
My first lathe was a beautiful old example of a Big Iron dog. Completely clapped out and trashed. The ways were worn down substantially in three different spots. Never could even get it leveled due to the wear. I struggled and rebuilt it for years. finally had enuf and went looking. Nada. So broadened my search to 2000 miles on Craigslist and used a freight forwarder to ship in to me. Works great and even with freight cost, your total cost of ownership can be close to nothing, sometimes. For example, I bought a nice crystal lake cylindrical grinder in Phoenix, Ar for $200, paid $250 to have a freight company pick it up and deliver to my door. So $500 total for something I could never find locally.
So, lesson I learned was buy GOOD equipment- wait, wait, wait for it, then go get it, if the price is right, where ever it is.
Glenn
Moderator - Grand Scale Forum
Motive power : 1902 A.S.Campbell 4-4-0 American - 12 5/8" gauge, 1955 Ottaway 4-4-0 American 12" gauge
Ahaha, Retirement: the good life - drifting endlessly on a Sea of projects....
So, lesson I learned was buy GOOD equipment- wait, wait, wait for it, then go get it, if the price is right, where ever it is.
Glenn
Someone on this board has a sig line that reads: "I can't afford to buy cheap tools." So true. A lesson I learned from my dad, who always bought the cheapest stuff. I learned how to cuss from him.
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
So, lesson I learned was buy GOOD equipment- wait, wait, wait for it, then go get it, if the price is right, where ever it is.
Glenn
Someone on this board has a sig line that reads: "I can't afford to buy cheap tools." So true. A lesson I learned from my dad, who always bought the cheapest stuff. I learned how to cuss from him.
Cheap tools are like cheap wine. The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of the low price.
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Music isn’t at all difficult. All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!
Depends. Some time ago I needed a snap bore gauge to measure a tractor engine cylinder so that I could order a replacement piston (and I needed it ASAP). I bought the cheapest set I could find (buying a set was cheaper than buying the single gauge I needed). It was adequate for the task and, not yet being into machining, I didn't touch those gauges again for at least ten years.
Now that I am actually using the things from time to time I'm finding them increasingly irritating (the smallest fell apart and is unrepairable) and I will eventually replace them with a set of decent quality. I don't think that it was a mistake to buy them, though. They solved the problem they were acquired for at a reasonable cost. The additional use I've gotten out of them is a bonus and gives me time to shop for a decent set at a good price.
Hello all.
These are great Ideas the way it worked for me some of the older guys in our live Steam club needed help , lifting stuff ,loading trains on trailers, etc fixing a automobile ,a train trailer or truck full of trains , as well making things for club projects. I call it the train point system. You learn by putting in time as they work you like an apprentice helping them and making train points ,you see what works, so your now getting ideas for a shop which took the old guys years to build up. Not a problem for a single guy with a good job order a shop on line . But balancing $$$$ for a hobby can be difficult with a family keeping life fun. I tried my best to get an allowance or budget sometimes it worked. I guess you have to figure what works for you and what doesn't work, the old guys will usually ask if you need help on a project. TIME TO CASH in those TRAIN POINTS you can make more. Or just ask them for help .
PS you can use a table saw to disc sand, cut straight steel or aluminium and even wood, Be careful use ear protection, face shields, safety glasses, heavy sleeves because shrapnel is not your friend it goes everywhere! Ask the old guy if he done it that way. LOL .(really light cuts for metal multiple times noisey!!!)
Best thing ever a good 6x48 belt sander really comes in handy for wood or metal Too. Have fun think Safety....
Scotty
