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There is a up side. when the nice 20 in DRO fails go on line and buy a 6 in digital caliper with a head that looks just like the bad one and swap them. In other words, if you do kill it, you can fix it for $10 and 30 min work. I have done it, It isn't hard. Frank

I am another of the many using these inexpensive calipers for a DRO A couple of notes. I thought long and hard about two common problems. The caliper I can afford is not long enough. How do I connect both ends in a stress free way. I solved these by connecting just one end. That way I can use a...

There is a shop nearby that makes nothing but tiny parts most much smaller then a pencil eraser, none bigger then a 1 in cube. They have done this for many years, and all of there machines are standard size. (Bridgeport, Hardinge, ETC) Frank

Rant on A old boss of mine said if you want the shop to hit it with a file, then write "Hit with file" Great advice. Working definition of Geometric tolerance, Three people sitting at a table arguing. I have done a test sending out the same part to 9 vendors dimensioned 3 different ways. mill...

What does Ref mean. In mechanical design we are not to dimension anything in more then one way. (From one end to the hole, from the hole to the other end, and the total length is bad form. Each dimension carries a tolerance and tells the maker of the part what is important. BUT some times the...

1144 seems to be available only in round stock. Because the crank has only one throw I was planning to make it from 3/4 X 2 in plate. Frank

Thanks, I should have added that this is for a "steam engine" that will probably only see compressed air. It was designed around a 5 piece crank but I would rather try one piece. Frank

I want to make a crank shaft from one piece of steel. Stock will be .75 X 2 in X 12 in I can get 1018 or 4140 steel What do you think? Frank

A friend of mine has had good luck buying obsolete full size CNC mills with non working and to old to fix electronics. He buys then at auction for pennies (2 for $100 and one for $400) He keeps the metal, the motors, and the amps and power supples and converts them to run from PC based software...

Attaboy Well done, Wah hoo Frank

I knew a great machinist once who showed me a 1.5 in cube of steel, He explained that it was 1.5 in to within .001 in in every direction. I was impressed, then he explained that as his final exam as a mechanist in the British navy he had made it with a hacksaw and a file. My point is that you...

Flashlights have gone from a annoyance to a wonderful thing. A few years ago I bought a Streamlight Task-Light 3AA LED It has a single 1 watt LED and I ahve come to accept that it just works. Every time, no mater what, I never even think of it failing to work. I bought it because it was aimed...

Nice, Clearly I didn't have a new idea but it appears it was a good idea ;D Frank

I had to align two disks for a crank shaft so I could press in the crank pin. The 1/2 shafts get pressed in next. I didn't have a shaft to put through the center hole to hold the two disks on the same center. Then I thought of using 3 rods. I played around with rods from my index of drill rods...

Arv I just noticed that your Vice holder has pins to go into the holes in the jaws where the Cap screws are. Nice touch, and safer then just clamping. I am going to use it. Frank

For the best finish tighten the Gibb lock on the two Axis you are not moving. Frank

Not many of us get to build a house but just in case any of you do, here are a couple of suggestions. When my house was laid out there was about 4 ft of distance between the garage floor and the first floor of the house because of the lay of the land. When my wife saw the plans she said "Why...

I use a free AVS DVD Player http://www.avs4you.com/AVS-Media-Player.aspx Frank

Thanks all. Pardon if I went too far. I haven't seen her since Feb and I want to show her what I've learned (amongst other things). 33+ plus years and I won't apologize to anyone for it. Frank That's great, Congratulations. 40 years here. Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds what is good...

zeeprogrammer, You had said (I think it was you) that you want to see videos of how things are done. I just ran across a link from Tin Falcon to old South Bend videos. I watched a couple, and they are great. I also learned why my last cut is often to big. (Spring) here is the link...