# Look at What the Cat Dragged In.



## PhotonFanatic (Sep 18, 2008)

Well, not the cat actually, more like the UPS driver:














I've taken to really liking the use of pin gages, rather than a micrometer for measuring bores--I think these are much more precise, so I've expanded my tools with these two NOS pin gage sets.

Gotta love eBay!


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## Rothrandir (Sep 18, 2008)

Very nice, what brand and how much did you pay?


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## PhotonFanatic (Sep 18, 2008)

They are SPI products, but they no longer make such large pins. These were unused, old stock. I paid about $130 for each set--a bit much compared to the current offerings from the Chinese.


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## Mirage_Man (Sep 18, 2008)

Nice snag! I've been wanting to get some of those myself for awhile. Some day...


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## gadget_lover (Sep 18, 2008)

Wow! I've been thinking about a smaller (diameter) set. 


Great catch. 

Daniel


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## PhotonFanatic (Sep 19, 2008)

Smaller is good, too. I currently have from .501" to .916", and I just won an auction for a Starrett set of pins from .061 to .250"; just need the .251" to .50" set to complete the run. 

There is no doubt that a machinist ends up spending multiples of the cost of the lathe on tools. 

But they are worth every cent to me, the quality of the work improves when you have the right tools, imo.






Before the final turning to remove the burrs.


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## Mirage_Man (Sep 19, 2008)

PhotonFanatic said:


> the quality of the work improves when you have the right tools, imo.



I totally agree :thumbsup:.


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## gadget_lover (Sep 19, 2008)

PhotonFanatic said:


>



My first thought when seeing that picture.....

He did WHAT to that pin guage???????

Then I finished waking up. 

Daniel


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## wquiles (Sep 21, 2008)

PhotonFanatic said:


> Smaller is good, too. I currently have from .501" to .916", and I just won an auction for a Starrett set of pins from .061 to .250"; just need the .251" to .50" set to complete the run.
> 
> There is no doubt that a machinist ends up spending multiples of the cost of the lathe on tools.
> 
> ...



Awesome work :twothumbs

How do you cut those horizontal (along the head) really thin cuts at the back of the head and near the scalloped tips?

Will


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## Mirage_Man (Sep 21, 2008)

wquiles said:


> Awesome work :twothumbs
> 
> How do you cut those horizontal (along the head) really thin cuts at the back of the head and near the scalloped tips?
> 
> Will



A really tiny ball end mill?


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## PhotonFanatic (Sep 21, 2008)

wquiles said:


> Awesome work :twothumbs
> 
> How do you cut those horizontal (along the head) really thin cuts at the back of the head and near the scalloped tips?
> 
> Will



Will,

Brian has it right--I used a 1mm diameter ball nose end mill. In Ti, if you are going to try using a mill that small, it better be a good one--the lesser quality ones just kept breaking and breaking on me.


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## KC2IXE (Sep 22, 2008)

PhotonFanatic said:


> ...snip...
> There is no doubt that a machinist ends up spending multiples of the cost of the lathe on tools.
> 
> ...snip...



The rule of thumb back on Rec.crafts.metalworking (when I used to read it) and on the Model Eng List (GREAT list for us hobby/semipro machinist types) was to figure on spending the same amount you paid for a lathe/mill to tool the same machine for basic work


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