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I'm probably one of the few luddites on the board that is hasn't learned to use LinuxCNC so I was very happy to receive my Centroid Acorn kit last week. It's Centroid's entry into the hobbiest/student CNC market and is a great deal IMHO. It's a made in America, seriously capable board from a...

I’m starting this thread to (hopefully) keep moving me forward on this long overdue CNC machine for my shop. The thread was named after Vederstein’s post about his saving several linear slides from the dumpster at his day job. He made me a deal I couldn’t refuse on three of them that he had...

One of my grandchil'uns is showing interest in the wonders of electricity & I've planned a few simple things for us make in the shop (electromagnet, solar fan, etc) & I was thinking about us CNC'iing an Etch-a-Sketch this coming year if she stays interested. I have some old stepper motors...

I cobbled up this widget recently from stuff I had lying around. I posted it on another forum but thought maybe someone here might be interested as well. I built it to save time when making model airplane engine venturis for a friend/customer. The venturis have 4, #58 holes in them and...

Here’s a CNC widget I built that works well for my retro’d ORAC lathe so I thought I’d post it here. It’s been finished for several weeks and has been a real time saver. It’s a Z-axis opto sensor probe that’s semi permanently mounted to the back side of the carriage of my lathe. Since...

I’m trying to make a couple decisions on a DRO for my Sieg X3 mill. Apologies in advance for duplicate-posting this on several of my favorite forums but I’m hoping someone has been through this already and has some good advice. I’d like to pull the trigger today before my tightwad alter ego...

Here's a shop-made gauge for accurately setting lathe tools on center made from scrap aluminum, ½” drill rod & an ebay dial indicator. It helps to quickly & easily set the tool on center within a thou (or less) on any lathe. I used a short travel, small dial indicator so it would be compact...

I love this fellow's work and have been keeping up with it for a few years now. You steam power people will love this! http://flashbackfab.com/pages/steam01.html

I finished this screw cutter gizmo recently and thought ya'll may be interested in it. It's made from a cheap-o HF 4" angle grinder, scrapbox rect. steel tubing and plate, 1/2" alum. plate, some misc. hardware, couple oilite bronze bushes, a bit of drill rod and some rubber feet. It works great...

I posted this on another forum but thought maybe someone here might find it useful as well. I made a big drawer to slide in & out from under the middle workbench in my shop rolling directly on the floor on 6 ball-bearing wheels saved from youngest daughter's cast-off inline skates. The base was...

How cool is this! ;D http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=7E6KglXPmTs&vq=large

Here’s some pictures I shot on a road trip last weekend. It’s a Fairbanks-Morse Model Y that sits by the side of the highway just outside of Gillett, AR. What tales this ol’ feller could tell if he could talk! It’s in amazingly good condition and would make a great modeling subject if I could...

I guess this should go here as it's part of an ongoing modification project on my Denford CNC MicroMill. Got it last summer off Craigslist real cheap. It took me a while but finally got it working pretty decent by hacking into the control and converting it from serial control to parallel and...

I didn't know where to put this so into The Break Room it goes. Mainly because if you get stuck into this article, you'll want to take a lengthy break with a large cuppa Joe and a comfy chair. It's (to me anyway) a fascinating look into the minds of some high level F2C (International u/c team...

Forgive me if ya'll have seen this story elsewhere. I've been cruising Craigslist locally for a while but 'til now NEVER found any machine tools to speak of. A local machine shop posted some great buys on several machines and I picked up this Darex TR-70 tap/countersink/reamer grinder for...

OK, who's gonna be the first to build one of these? Great website with the fascinating story about Mr. Hossack and his clever thinking. http://www.hossack-design.co.uk/

I have been drawing all my projects using 2D TurboCAD. When I needed isometric views, I manually drew them the hard way. My version of TCAD is 3D capable and I'd like to be able to have it do the iso view instead of doing it the hard way. This is for a simple line drawing, no fancy shading...

I'm unsure if other X-3's came like mine with no way of properly tightening the 3 handles on the quill feed. I've been twisting them by hand for 2 years now....the whole time saying to myself "Geez, just mill a couple flats so you can torque 'em down with a wrench." Sounds easy but I never got...

I've been using a 5C Hex collet block in the mill a bit lately for some work projects and decided to make a spanner to tighten the ring that came with the set. The knob device kept getting in the way in the mill vise. It's easier to get it good & tight now as well. I made it from a piece of a...

About 15 years ago I realized I wasn't able to see little stuff properly, even with my reading glasses on. I bought a headband magnifyer as pictured here and WOW, what a difference! It's so much easier dealing with everything in the shop...from tool grinding to reading the little numbers on a...