# OK, I'm broke again....



## Rbeckett (Nov 8, 2013)

Been mining on Ebay this morning gathering tools and stuff for the mill to arrive.  Still cant decide whether to go 6 or 8 on the rotary table, but everthing else should start arriving soon and by the time the  mill gets here from CT I shoul be tooled up and ready to get busy making scrap metal.  I found a really nice ER32 set, and bought the pneumatic vice that was relisted, and got a hold down kit so I just have to decide which rotary table and I chould be done gathering for the time being.  Bill put in a riser on the column, so it should not crowd the cutter or quill because it is an extra 4 inches taller already.  Any suggestions?  Also want the dividing plates and that accy to go with the rotary so I can do round and arc shapes too.


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## DAN_IN_MN (Nov 8, 2013)

Rbeckett said:


> Been mining on Ebay this morning gathering tools and stuff for the mill to arrive.  Still cant decide whether to go 6 or 8 on the rotary table, but everything else should start arriving soon and by the time the  mill gets here from CT I should be tooled up and ready to get busy making scrap metal.  I found a really nice ER32 set, and bought the pneumatic vice that was relisted, and got a hold down kit so I just have to decide which rotary table and I should be done gathering for the time being.  Bill put in a riser on the column, so it should not crowd the cutter or quill because it is an extra 4 inches taller already.  Any suggestions?  Also want the dividing plates and that accy to go with the rotary so I can do round and arc shapes too.




WoW!  You've been busy!  

Define what cluttered is! ?? (referring to your sig)  Hope you have some space! LoL!


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## xalky (Nov 8, 2013)

Hey, Bob. Don't buy a rotary table yet. I know someone that has a 6 inch for sale here in CT. Send me a PM and I'll give you his phone #. I don't know anything about it except he offered it to me a few days ago.


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## Rbeckett (Nov 8, 2013)

DAN_IN_MN said:


> WoW!  You've been busy!
> 
> Define what cluttered is! ?? (referring to your sig)  Hope you have some space! LoL!


I moved an entire off site truck repair shop into my home 20X20 shop building on my way to Iraq.  I got sick in Iraq and have been 4 years getting to see the floor of the shop again finally.  I gave all of my Mechanics tools to a young fellow I know who is struggling to make a living without paying the tool trucks too.  So I gave him about 75 grand worth of tools, boxes, carts, advanced diagnostics, scopes and test gear to get started out.  I figgered I was never going to use them again and no sense them sitting here rusting when he really needed a hand, so I just fixed it so he can get ahead.  It's a good Karma thing, because as soon as I made the move to do that Bill found me a cherry Clausing mill and did a rebuild on it too.  so what goes around comes around sooner than you think.   But I will never ever let my shop get away from me like that again either....

Bob


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## Bill C. (Nov 8, 2013)

Rbeckett said:


> Been mining on Ebay this morning gathering tools and stuff for the mill to arrive.  Still cant decide whether to go 6 or 8 on the rotary table, but everthing else should start arriving soon and by the time the  mill gets here from CT I shoul be tooled up and ready to get busy making scrap metal.  I found a really nice ER32 set, and bought the pneumatic vice that was relisted, and got a hold down kit so I just have to decide which rotary table and I chould be done gathering for the time being.  Bill put in a riser on the column, so it should not crowd the cutter or quill because it is an extra 4 inches taller already.  Any suggestions?  Also want the dividing plates and that accy to go with the rotary so I can do round and arc shapes too.



The bigger rotary table will weight more then the smaller one. If you have a transfer table to move the rotary table on and off the milling machine then go with the bigger one.


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## Senna (Nov 8, 2013)

Bill C. said:


> The bigger rotary table will weight more then the smaller one. If you have a transfer table to move the rotary table on and off the milling machine then *go with the bigger one.*



I agree.

You can do small work on a big rotab but you can't do big work on a small rotab.

I've had 8", 10", 11" and 12" rotabs and find that only the 12" was difficult to handle.


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## Rbeckett (Nov 9, 2013)

Senna,
Thanks for the ideas.  I have a pushcart that I will be storing the heavier items on so I can move them around the shop safely.  It has 2 drawers so I can put the ER32 set in one drawer and do a full drawer of the different tooling I have been accumulating.  I am also planning to build a shadow board for hanging the rest of my tooling in plain sight so I can tell at a glance where everything is.  I really think an 8 inch table would be about the optimim for a 2/3 size clone.  I am afraid that even though it has an added spacer it would start crowding the quill if I go much larger.  Bill put in a new Quill and upgraded the motor to 1 1/2 HP so I expect it to be a monster once it arrives and I get the enclosure built.  I figured I could go ahead and start ordering the tooling and accessories I want now so that they will all be here and ready to use once the mill arrives from CT..  Then I can immediately turn perfectly good metal into scrap with no waiting.  Now I just need to concentrate on making this one final decision and start working on getting some quality roughing mills for hogging out the initial shapes and lay outs.   Hope you have a great day and an even better weekend ahead.  It's Saturday in the shop if I feel up to venturing out this morning.  Still a little tired from the hospital last week, but I am back on the mend so I should be much better again soon.

Bobber


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## Terrywerm (Nov 9, 2013)

Rbeckett said:


> I moved an entire off site truck repair shop into my home 20X20 shop building on my way to Iraq.  I got sick in Iraq and have been 4 years getting to see the floor of the shop again finally.  I gave all of my Mechanics tools to a young fellow I know who is struggling to make a living without paying the tool trucks too.  So I gave him about 75 grand worth of tools, boxes, carts, advanced diagnostics, scopes and test gear to get started out.  I figgered I was never going to use them again and no sense them sitting here rusting when he really needed a hand, so I just fixed it so he can get ahead.  It's a good Karma thing, because as soon as I made the move to do that Bill found me a cherry Clausing mill and did a rebuild on it too.  so what goes around comes around sooner than you think.   But I will never ever let my shop get away from me like that again either....
> 
> Bob



Bob, you are a special person. Not many folks would be so giving. Hopefully the young man that you assisted realizes what a boost you gave him, and is able to do something similar for someone else someday.

As for the rotab, I have also been on the fence as to what size to go with on the Clausing 8520. I like the idea of the 8", but don't want to overdo it. A 6" table would most likely be too limiting so I am leaning in the direction of an 8".  Let us know what you end up with and what you think.


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## Rbeckett (Nov 9, 2013)

Wermie,
I'm thinkin since bill added the riser in to the column I am going to go to the 8 inch.  There should not be any issue with crowding the quil or the head since he installed the riser block at the same time as the new quil and motor upgrade.  1.5 HP should pull up to a 3/4 endmill with no issues at all and a fairly good size face or shell mill too..  I found a 8" on Ebay for 249 plus freight, but I am trying to get rid of some of the exces freight costs before I pull the trigger...  You know I am so cheap you can see the buffalo on my nickel through my pants pockets so I will let you know how low I can get it.  

Bob


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## Terrywerm (Nov 9, 2013)

Rbeckett said:


> Wermie,
> I'm thinkin since bill added the riser in to the column I am going to go to the 8 inch.  There should not be any issue with crowding the quil or the head since he installed the riser block at the same time as the new quil and motor upgrade.  1.5 HP should pull up to a 3/4 endmill with no issues at all and a fairly good size face or shell mill too..  I found a 8" on Ebay for 249 plus freight, but I am trying to get rid of some of the exces freight costs before I pull the trigger...  You know I am so cheap you can see the buffalo on my nickel through my pants pockets so I will let you know how low I can get it.
> 
> Bob




In other words, if you and I were to go out for coffee, I'd have to buy??   :roflmao:


Actually, Bill is graciously making up a 5" riser for mine also, so I am probably going to go with the biggun too.


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## Rbeckett (Nov 9, 2013)

I chickened out on the price difference.  I went with the 6 inch for a 100 bucks less money so I can afford the dividing plates too.  It was hard, but I think a 6 inch will still be quite acceptable and it stretches my tooling dollars a little further.  My poor Paypal account is reeling.  Never knew what hit it till it was too late.  But I'm about done tooling up so my debit card can come off of overheated for at least a day or two... Looks like Bill hit a honey hole full of machines, I'm really glad he has a connection like that it saved me a ton of cash already..

Bob


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## twr (Nov 24, 2013)

Bob giving your tools to that young guy to help start out is great, i am still wrenching after 27 years i wish someone would have helped me out like that when i started  just thinking i hope something good happens to you for doing that.


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## LEEQ (Nov 24, 2013)

Wholesale tools and Grizzly have the same kit for abt same $. $300 WT, $330 grizzly. 6" table, tailstock, dividing plate set, and even some hold downs. That's the route I'm going. That, and I found an old 12" cheap. That happens a lot too. Watch your fleabay. I'm hoping that does what I need, it's all I could afford.


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## Rbeckett (Nov 25, 2013)

Watch for a Grizzly discount code.  They usually have an ad in outdoor types of magazines like Bow Hunter or field and stream.  If you could get it down to free freight that would be a pretty decent savings.  Shipping on RT's is not cheap.  I think I ended up paying 29 bucks in freight to get my 6 inch here from Illinois.  Delivery was fast and arrived 2 days before it was scheduled and came packed in a very nice form fitting Styrofoam cradle inside a very sturdy box wirh strapping in both directions.  I am pretty happy with my outcome and ended up spending a total of 228.00 freight and all through Toolprecision on Ebay.

Bob


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## LEEQ (Nov 25, 2013)

Due to the Springfield store I would have to pay the 7% sales tax as well as the $30 higher price. I would have to save quite a bit with Grizzly to make up the difference. If I could do that I would prefer to go with them. I doubt I can make that happen though.


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## LEEQ (Nov 25, 2013)

If that was just the table and you need a divider set for the table LMS has one on closeout for 60 or $70.


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## Rbeckett (Nov 25, 2013)

The dividing plate set was 65.00 delivered which was why I chose to go with the 6 inch over the 8 inch.  For what I have invested I could only get the 8 inch and no accy.  The 6 inch and a set or dividing plates was almost exactly the same price as an 8 inch without dividing plates.  So from a purely economic point of view I chose to go that way to stretch my tool and accy dollars as much as I could.  The difference in diameter is not significant enough to cause much concern for me at this point in my education.   Now if I could just find a similar good deal on as large of a milling vice as I can find I will be all set tool wise for at least another day.  Decent quality milling vices are also very expensive to ship and I may end up going to a larger city nearby like Jax or Orlando to get one and save the freight.  Only problem with that is I will have to drive my old truck and it only gets 19 miles to the gallon, so I can spend a bunch on gas pretty quick too.  Ah well, it just makes shopping for tools and accessories more interesting is all.  

Bob


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## LEEQ (Nov 26, 2013)

Same reason I think real hard abt driving to Springfield, right down to the same mpg. happy hunting


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## kevinpg (Mar 8, 2014)

Rbeckett said:


> I moved an entire off site truck repair shop into my home 20X20 shop building on my way to Iraq.  I got sick in Iraq and have been 4 years getting to see the floor of the shop again finally.  I gave all of my Mechanics tools to a young fellow I know who is struggling to make a living without paying the tool trucks too.  So I gave him about 75 grand worth of tools, boxes, carts, advanced diagnostics, scopes and test gear to get started out.  I figgered I was never going to use them again and no sense them sitting here rusting when he really needed a hand, so I just fixed it so he can get ahead.  It's a good Karma thing, because as soon as I made the move to do that Bill found me a cherry Clausing mill and did a rebuild on it too.  so what goes around comes around sooner than you think.   But I will never ever let my shop get away from me like that again either....
> 
> Bob



That is a rare thing you did there. I/we give away all manner of items and even cash to those we see in need. I know I have given up thousands in resale over the years and I am in no way 'well off' but we no longer struggle to meet ends and it is a much better feeling to have then a few more dollars in my pockets. Karma is cool too! there are tons of tools and supplies I could have used the proceeds for but I know how hard it is to get by and I honestly do not know how young tradesman starting out do it these days with the cost of everything.


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