Recent content by Jersey Tom

I used to use Solidworks and Inventor fairly extensively before I became an analyst, some CATIA as well. Plenty of MasterCAM v6, v8, v9, and X. TA'd a Solidworks and CAD class while in college. When I started setting up to do some fab work at home, I thought there must be some basic stripped...

"Must have" vs. "most wanted" is a tough balance! Speaking from a balance of machine shop and home garage... (Tie) 1. Good saw. Preferably vertical bandsaw for versatility, but depends on what material you're cutting. Horizontal bandsaw or cold cut or multicut saw could be nice. Hell I'm amazed...

I have actually never bolted 1/2/3 blocks to a table, directly. My MO had always been... 1. Bolt a vice firmly (but not rigidly) down with T-slots or on a big fixture plate 2. Use an indicator to get the stationary jaw of the vice parallel to the x-axis of the mill to within <=0.0010 along the...

I'll take two, please!

I only worked in an aerospace instrument shop for 4 years in college, and have since been one of those engineer type folks (don't hate me!). In general - be it in engineering or fab, it's not so much annoying as disappointing when folks don't take pride in their work or their workspace... be it...

Just a simple start - TIG cart. All 0.065 wall 1" square tube and 16 gauge sheet, mild steel. Painted it with Rustoleum "Safety Blue" which I feel like is a pretty good match to "Miller Blue." For the first time doing any TIG in 6 years (and only a little over 1 year of doing it back then) I...

+1 to the high temperature bit... I like jet nuts. Safety wire also a good thing.

Leave OH for NC for one? ;) Ironically enough I had lived outside of Akron for about 4 years before coming down here. Ultimately everyone's path and story is unique. Being in the area helps.. can get your foot in the door either with a specific job posting, or coming onboard with a smaller team...

Where I work... (not a recent picture, not even my picture, but you get the idea for layout & look) More recent photo here.

I picked up a Diversion 180 not long ago and have been quite happy with it. While I was in college I had learned to weld on an old Syncro 300, and that thing was a beast. For the stuff I was doing at the time (0.095" wall CrMo tube at the most... 0.035" wall at the smaller end) it was total...

For what it's worth I recently picked up a large Kobalt cabinet for some garage storage. Easy to put together, looks nice from the outside.. fit and finish could be better though. Bit disappointed with that - doors don't close as nicely as I'd like.

The high contrast red / black does look pretty sharp I have to say.

I really like that pivoting caster feature. Might have to do something like that myself. Thanks!

Friend of mine who recently built a house Race Deck'd his whole garage. I had been considering doing it for some time myself, and finally pulled the trigger on it. I have to say, since doing so... it just makes the place look so much better than bare slabs of concrete, it's really motivated to...