Taking it apart - before even using it! ??

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graham-xrf

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H-M Supporter Gold Member
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Are you the sort who ever does that?
Suppose you have shelled out the money for (say) a new Chinesium mill vise, do you head straight for the mill table, and look for T-nuts, and start tramming?

Umm - so why do I first disassemble it into all its bits, and start peering at it all using a headband magnifier? Yep - that's what I did. Next, now that it's in pieces, I think I may as well put it onto my freebie granite surface plate, and practice all that "measuring up" stuff like Stefan does. I even get to thinking I need a "proper" quality dial indicator, and I wonder how good is the "engineering square" I got from eBay. Even when it makes it onto the mill table, would you try an check out how much it distorts in various ways when you tighten down?

There is something wrong with me! :(
 
Are you enjoying it? This isn’t a production line!

My stategy is a bit different, I tend to evaluate a bit, then start disassembly. I like to stage the process so I can go back to a working machine, keeps me from feeling in over my head.
 
I've totally done that before! Requiring minds want to know! If you can't open it, you dont really own it ;-)

Plus, if it's used off of the fleabay, it probably needed love anyway...

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
Weldingrod1 said:
Plus, if it's used off of the fleabay, it probably needed love anyway...
Click to expand...
I some ways, I do treat eBay stuff which I know is lower cost, and risks a degree of crappiness - as a "kit" base all ready for some home inspired re-works, yielding a known, much improved item, still for less than a huge chunk of funds.
It is less of a bargain if (say) the vise was cut from a casting without any stress relieving treatment, or maybe maybe was simply ground once and shipped with the stress-induced bowing still there. A whole surface regrinding, squaring, etc. may make up more than the difference in paying for the quality part. The trouble is, for some of us, the price of the high end item may be an unreasonable fraction of the cost of the whole machine!

It is true I have plumbed the depths, once buying 105 so-called "cobalt" dill bits for peanuts. They were crazily, appallingly bad. I complained, and got an instant refund with sale cancelled and no need to send them back. They do this to avoid the negative feedback, and stop a review.

More recently, I bought a cheap digital caliper that looked identical to a previous (cheap) one that I had dropped, and injured some of the display digits. I had "worked on" the original somewhat, stoning off the sharp edges, and taking the play out of the sliding bar to yield a caliper which was very useful. I could reliably "zero" it with a reasonable pressure every time. One could not casually slap it it around like my OriginCal, or a Mitutoyo, but for less than fifteen pounds, it was OK. The "replacement" was truly the pits - except that it clearly had the identical circuit board!

So, I took it all to pieces, and discovered the little "differences" in the body, including the not-so-little-difference rough machining, and the fact one could see light through the gaps in the closed jaws. I hit negative feedback, and informed seller it was not fit for purpose, but I would be keeping it because I had gained value from using only the display electronics, which I had transplanted into my previous caliper. This too, resulted in instant refund, and cancelled sale, but I ended up with a fully working, reasonably OK digital caliper + a handful of "caliper junk".

I know that Chinese stuff tends to be swanky pretty, high end looking, on the outside, and the corners are cut where you can't see. Arguably, buying cheapo Chinese, and then taking it to pieces and "working on it" puts in the added value that you might have paid for.

Even so, I have a varied history of stuff I have taken apart. Almost never do I find an item that does not need a few "improvements". Some I regret. My attempt to "improve" a telescopic bore gauge from a cheap set resulted in some bits suffering spring-loaded launch trajectory to some place in the room where they evaporated!
 
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Seems perfectly normal to me.
Plus, it's a good opportunity to fine tune your measuring skills.
Heck, you may as well surface grind the uneven surfaces.
What, no surface grinder? You'll have to add that to your need list :)
 
Janderso said:
Seems perfectly normal to me.
Plus, it's a good opportunity to fine tune your measuring skills.
Heck, you may as well surface grind the uneven surfaces.
What, no surface grinder? You'll have to add that to your need list :)
Click to expand...
That about says it all. Except that I need a solid concrete floored shop to put a prospective grinder in.

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