Shop Nerd tricks, tips and tools

Haha! You should see how I catch it with my hand when there is no hole! :devil:
 
Posting in this thread today reminded me of Barry's post about covering the lathe. Today while I was at HF I picked up one of the smaller & thinner movers blankets to replace the old raggedy beach towel that I use. Not bad for $4.07 OTD.


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Good idea Will, But what keeps your mill warm at night? :thumbsup:

:laughing:

I only cover the lathe for the same reason Barry stated, to keep dust & other debris off the ways. Hate when I oil the ways after use, then all kinds off crap settles on it & I have to wipe it off then re-oil again before using.
 
I don't recall where I saw this mentioned; forgive me if it's already in this thread;


I present a 1904 version of this thread. A book titled "Shop Kinks" by robert Grimshaw. The link will bring you to a page that includes a PDF , plain text, online (a well done reader) or kindle. http://openlibrary.org/books/OL7055765M/Shop_kinks_...

The terms are sometimes archaic, but with a bit of puzzling you can figure them out. The "ring doctor" mentioned on page 38 in the paragraph "To take a Hog cut" appears to be in fact a steady rest.

There is a lot of wisdom sprinkled around too. For instance, he talks the need for a large tool holder. His justification for demanding a 1 inch shank was simple; it dispersed heat better. Overheating was a major problems when using steel bits in the late 1800s.

I have not read the whole thing, but I'm enjoying the read.

Daniel
 
It's been a while since I checked in, but here are some words of wisdom gleaned from my seasoned coworkers, and a few of my own.

-Shop the scrapyards and scrap bins of local CNC shops for material. The cost is usually the going rate for scrap.
-Ask around at your local CNC shops and see if you can browse through their scrap tooling. You can usually get inserts and drills that are still very useful in a hobby setup that are useless for a CNC setup. That goes double for shops that don't re-sharpen drills and mills. Many shops will give this away, or sell it cheap.
-Commercial egg cartons are supremely useful. Uline sells them here http://www.uline.com/BL_1907/Egg-Filler-Flats
-Iscar Picco tools are very handy. They come in a variety of styles, and are fairly easy to make a holder for.
-A good set of stones if invaluable. I use boride edm stones daily at work. I highly recommend the T2 variety for steel.
-Scotchbrite, Scotchbrite wheels, and cratex will fix most minor defects, such as chatter, clamping scuffs, and small steps.
-Don't waste money on cheap measurement tools. You get what you pay for.
-Check estate sales and craigslist for old machinist toolboxes. I got an original run Kennedy toolbox with about $1500 in tools for $300.
-Always check under the drawers when you buy a used toolbox. You never know what you might find. I found over $5600 in that $300 toolbox ;) (and about 1000 allen wrenches)
 
Well I finally retired my cheap third hand. I had planned on building a loc-line third hand, and then I bought this because of the price.(Picture below) To me it seems like a good deal considering what you get.

I paid $49 shipped. I will add more about the quality when I receive it.

 
I received the 4th hand tool and must say that I really like it! Here's some pictures.

Metal threads embedded in the concrete.


Holds things nice and snug!


Surefire C2 for size reference.


I also picked this up to replace the old soldering sponge. This is so much better!
 

I purchased a few of these last year. Amazon has great prices on them. I'll throw them on if I know I won't be using a machine for a few days but mostly to keep dust of freshly oiled surfaces & but use them mostly when I need to protect them from grinding, sanding, overspray, etc. They really work great & I ditched that moving blanket, much more breathable but humidity isn't an issue here. Luckily the small one I had for my old bandsaw is still big enough of my new bandsaw.

Thanks Barry.


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10X is enough for most work but more magnification (or younger eyes) may be needed to see really tiny details. The chart below compares different magnifications:

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My OptiVisor has the 10-diopter lens (3.5X) when used alone. Swing down the OptiLoupe and the magnification is 8.75X. Not nearly enough for me to inspect the .0625" (1.59mm) end mills used used to mill trit slots. Either a 2X or a 4X magnifier, placed between the work & the OptiVisor, gives 17.5X or 35X.

17.5X is sometimes enough if the lighting is just right. These are 4-flute tools & it's tough to pick up the tiny edge details that determine if the tool is good for another go.

Both my welding helmets have an OptiVisor lens plate attached to the inside of the viewing window. For in-shop welding a 2.5X plate is used. For portable welding a 2.0X plate gives less magnification but wider field of view:

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For 25 years, I have been looking thru some kind of lens, and I can say the Nikon 10X Loupe is just wonderful! I also have a $500 Schneider loupe which is just perfect. Also, for reading Nikon makes wonderful magnifying glasses. I have all of them around the studio, shop, briefcase and house so I can pick up one in a second.

The Belomo, is from the former Soviet Union, stick with Japanese or German glass.

When it comes to optics and critical work, be it photography or machine work, always go with the best in glass.

To test a loupe or any lens, look at the edges and the sharper they are the better the glass.

Hope this is some help.

Best,

NR

PS...if you want a nice crystal clear loupe for next to nothing, go to an old camera store, and find an old Nikon or any high quality manual 50mm lens, and use it backwards. You put it to your eye like ant loupe and bring the item up to you, or keeping it at your eye, go down to the item. Even with all the fancy loupes I have placed around my work areas, on my desk I still have the old Nikkor Nikon 50mm 1.4 I started with as a photographer.

It it makes a first class loupe, and old camera stores must have tons of these. Don't get an auto Focus one, manual only. I say Nikon because if you can find one from the 70's, Nikon made the best glass back then. Try for a 1.4 from the 1970's last one I bought was $20.00.
 
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