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So, after all this, what have I learned? Mainly that I need more tools. Duh! :D This machine really needs a DRO. I've been pondering getting one for it and another for the Sheldon, but I've never liked how they take up room on the side of the cross slide, since at least on the Sheldon, there...

As I understand it, they're part of trash pump or dewatering pump shaft seal. Whatever it pumps, it's dirty, and the junk eventually eats the seals- I'm told these parts need to be remade every couple of years. Doc.

And DONE, with a day to spare! I did all the above on the 26th, and after the food coma wore off on the 27th, I went out and made the last few passes to bring it to size. It was better in any case that I gave it time to cool down before trying to cut to spec. After I was done boring, the...

While I don't generally do "job shop" work- I have, but it's often proven more trouble than it's worth- I had a case where a good friend needed a time-sensitive job done. And, as a rare treat, no issues with how much it's gonna cost- they need the part, the company will pay. That's not to say I...

I have a 40-ton Christensen, with a cool pressure gauge marked in Tons. I've only done one job- a spun Toyota axle bearing shell- where I used more than ten tons. At 12, the bearing let go like a rifle shot. Using things like press brakes, even on 1/4" plate, rarely takes more than 5 tons. Doc.

Makin' progress! Re-tooled the CNC- a tale unto itself- and managed to get the program written and proven to face and bore one end of all the drilled blanks, then got the somewhat more complex workin' end program written- faced, bored, chamfered and threaded. :) We're nowhere near done- I...

Evening update: I didn't get 'em all drilled, but I got a good chunk of 'em done. Too many other things calling for my attention, it's a 'one bite at a time on the elephant' sort of thing. :) I've shown this before- an insertable carbide spade drill, run straight in, no center drilling, no...

-Yes, actually. You might be surprised how well Simple Green or Purple Power work. What you're looking at is generally oil residue- partially dried oil residue, particularly from soluble-oil coolants and brushed-on cutting oils. Solvents will cut this stuff, eventually, but I've been regularly...

As noted, the old coolant system was a mechanical pump, that had been replaced by an electric submersible. I'm not 100% sure how the reservoir setup was arranged- it kind of looks like the upper chamber was a catch tray, and that went to what was probably a removable tray below that. Either...

Not the only thing I did today, but this was the big one. :) Nearly a year ago, I needed to cut some material into short bits to feed into the CNC turning center. A buddy of mine has a Scotchman "cold saw", but as I understand it, it had been disconnected (apparently, I find out, back in 1994!)...

The corrugated ones are incredibly loud, so double up the hearing protection. Doc.

Yet another Bell System tapered peen sledge: The interesting thing about this is I just found it essentially inside a wall, where I can be reasonably certain it's been since the house was constructed in the early sixties. I'd originally thought it had been rehandled, due to the light damage...

Anyone here follow my webcomic? I'm preordering my latest- and biggest yet- book, hopefully in time for Christmas, if you or anyone you know might be interested in a 200-page, 700-strip graphic novel about safecracking, time-traveling polar bears. :) I'm hoping for t least 200 orders, if...

-They were referred to as "emergency" collets- even Hardinge often called them as such- as you would keep a couple unmachined, on hand, for "emergencies". Like a rush job where you needed a special size you didn't already have, and you didn't want to wait to special-order one. Yes, more...

Yeah, I've seen that kind of thing- there's even commercial versions of it. :) But, that's also the sort of thing for shops with untrained or minimally-trained people. I've been doing this for some thirty years (bought my first mill-drill in '94) and had a machine shop instructor that harped...

I've been getting quite a bit of use out of the little speed lathe lately, turning that first reference face on several baskets full of round parts destined either for the CNC turning center or one of the turrets. In this case, since the parts are generally fresh from the saw, they'll have...

-I suppose I can buy that. It'd be nice if there was some official explanation for it, though I suppose at this late date, and given the... taint of the symbol, combined with the probably obscure use in the first place, might make that difficult. It would explain, though, why the symbol is...

-I have a hard time believing anyone would stamp a 'good luck charm' on a gas bottle. Or really, stamp anything that doesn't have to do with the tank ID. That green one I linked above, has "plus" marks after the year, I'd wager that means something, and isn't just for decoration. Doc.

-Good point. It's definitely opposite of that stamped on the V-block. But here's one pointed the other way. Inconsistent stamping? Somebody not paying attention to "mirroring" the stamp? What else would the logo be, since the other use, as noted in this thread, was largely just as a sort of...

Nope, that's a ******** all right. There's another pic, though, that shows one where somebody had "filled in" the gaps between the arms, making it into a grid of four small squares. I seem to recall the one in the book had the eagle, much like the V-block shown, but I'll readily admit it's...