# My Shop And New To Me Machines



## Elmo (Oct 6, 2015)

I mostly have my shop built. It is 24'x 40'. I have acquired a few machines. I have a Craftsman 109, a South Bend 9", an Enco 13 x40 gap bed lathe and an Enco mill drill. The SB And Craftsman are still in storage. I moved the Encos in this week but haven't leveled and mounted them yet. I haven't ran a lathe in 50 years until today. I just had to try the lathe so I threaded a piece of  1/2" drill rod 20 tpi. Wasn't bad for the first time in a long time.


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## thomas s (Oct 6, 2015)

That is a nice size shop. I am sure you will enjoy your time in  there. thomas s


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## tomw (Oct 6, 2015)

Elmo,

Congratulations on the new shop! I share your thrill, as I am putting in a new shop now (but about a third of the size). I must say a very nice thread.

Have fun.

Tom

p.s. Also nice pipe!


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## Elmo (Oct 6, 2015)

Elmo said:


> I mostly have my shop built. It is 24'x 40'. I have acquired a few machines. I have a Craftsman 109, a South Bend 9", an Enco 13 x40 gap bed lathe and an Enco mill drill. The SB And Craftsman are still in storage. I moved the Encos in this week but haven't leveled and mounted them yet. I haven't ran a lathe in 50 years until today. I just had to try the lathe so I threaded a piece of  1/2" drill rod 20 tpi. Wasn't bad for the first time in a long time.


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## Ulma Doctor (Oct 8, 2015)

nice size shop, nice equipment= hours of fun times!


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## Elmo (Oct 8, 2015)

Thanks I still have a lot of work to do. I have been without a shop for 20 years and I am trying to make up for that.
  Elmo


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## Charles Spencer (Oct 8, 2015)

tomw said:


> Also nice pipe!



Yep.


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## Elmo (Oct 9, 2015)

It is a Petersen Mark Twain and I love it and it's two brothers. 
 Elmo


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## wrmiller (Oct 9, 2015)

When I decided to get back into machining, I started with a couple of little sherline machines. You decided to skip a few of my steps. Wish I'd done that. 

Do you have any specific goals in mind (I get asked this every time I buy a machine) now that you have your machines, or are you just going to 'wing it' and make whatever pops into your head?


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## Elmo (Oct 9, 2015)

Well I didn't exactly skip any steps. My first lathe was a craftsman 109. I could pick it up and walk with it. Then I was given a really good 9" Southbend lathe made in 1951.
   I an going to use my machines to make tools and parts and work on guns just for myself. I don't intend to get another FFL and work for the public because I probably don't have enough time left to even do my own stuff as I am 69 this year.
Right now I am making a mandrel for an 8" bench grinder. I know the dangers of a mandrel grinder and am willing to take the risks. I do not need all the safety gurus on here to lecture me, rant over!
  I guess your last sentence describes me perfectly. I do have a couple of friends that are very accomplished machinist who will give me advise when I need it.
  Elmo


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## wrmiller (Oct 9, 2015)

Yea, it gets a bit out of hand around here sometimes (I caught myself a time or two on the wrong side of a conversation), but for the most part it's a pretty good place to hang out. I too have crossed paths with some of the "I know more about this than you do" crowd, but I've learned to apply what's useful and ignore the rest. 

But having said that...there are a ton of people here with all kinds of experience levels that love to help and oftentimes come up with some really cool ideas. It's all good. 

I also do gun/pistolsmithing for myself (modifications, building competition guns, etc.) and whatever else comes to mind. One of my projects for this winter is to make a precision (more precise?) grinding platform using an old Craftsman grinder and a custom table for shaping small parts. I'll be interested in seeing how you go about making yours.

Welcome aboard!


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## Elmo (Oct 9, 2015)

Thanks for the welcome WR. I did IHMSA (international handgun metallic association) matches until it went downhill. Also did NRA black powder silhouette for a while. The helpful and knowledgeable people are the reason that I joined after lurking for awhile. Almost anybody knows more than I do. Just hate trolls!
  Elmo


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## Silverbullet (Oct 13, 2015)

Hi Elmo , and welcome I've only been on here a few months myself , I've also done lots of gunsmithing and shooting myself. Nice to have a place to figure out problems with others who understand things like we do. Like you said at your age the saftey nazis don't know everything. So hi from jersey.


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## Elmo (Oct 13, 2015)

The guys that I was in the service with called Jersey what sounded like Joizee. Thanks for the welcome!
  Elmo


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## carlquib (Oct 13, 2015)

Hi Elmo, just curious were you the one that posted about building a grinder here a while ago? If it was, before I could answer with pictures of my shop built grinder the thread disappeared. The safety Nazis do get out of hand occasionally. If you really want to set them off ask a crane question. 
-Brian

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## Elmo (Oct 13, 2015)

Yes that was me. The thread has been deleted. I would like to see pics of your grinder. I have made a mandrel from a piece of 1" shaft, turned the ends  to 3/4" and threaded one end 3/4X 16 tpi right hand and the other the same but left hand.​


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## carlquib (Oct 13, 2015)

Here are some pictures of my grinder. It has been in service for about 25 years. I hope I can remember how to get the photos to post. It is swinging a 12 inch wheel and wire wheel.















-Brian

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## Elmo (Oct 14, 2015)

Thank you for posting the pictures. What is the horse power and rpm of the motor? Also what is the diameter of the shaft? Are the pulleys the same size on the motor and shaft? I haven't figured the rpm for the grinder wheels yet I will be using eight inch wheels.
 Elmo


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## carlquib (Oct 14, 2015)

I'm running a 5 horse 1750 rpm motor the pulleys are the same size. The max speed on the wheels is 2070 rpm so it works well at 1750.  I'll have to measure the shaft size when I get back to the shop later today. When you get wheels they will list the maximum safe rpm then you can get your motor and pulleys so you end up just a little lower than that speed. 
-Brian

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## carlquib (Oct 14, 2015)

My main shaft is 1 1/2 inches in diameter and the threaded ends are 1 1/4" x 7 tpi. One side is right hand thread and the other end is a left hand thread. 
-Brian

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## Elmo (Oct 14, 2015)

That is a heavy duty grinder.  Nice job! Thanks for taking the trouble to post.
 Elmo


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## carlquib (Oct 16, 2015)

I use it a lot. Any time I need the wheel width or need to really lean into something. It doesn't really slow down even when really being pushed. The wire wheel is a real plus too when I need to clean something quickly.
-Brian


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