# "Thinking Outside the Box"



## darkzero (May 30, 2019)

Saw this video today in my IG feed... 


__
		http://instagr.am/p/ByFzTvzBBzz/


Got me thinking, let's try a new fun thread (if not then it'll go poof). Hobbyists are know to come up with crazy ideas to overcome their limitations to get the job done. What crazy unconventional things have you done? Pics please or we might not believe you! 

(I realize some ideas may not be safe & we don't encourage unsafe practices here, so a pre-disclaimer, don't try some of this stuff at home kids!)


----------



## C-Bag (May 30, 2019)

When I decided to put new bearings in my lathe I didn't realize until I had it apart that the rear bearing seat on the spindle needed to be a slip fit. Which was around .0015 press fit from the factory. And here the lathe was down. So I'd already made a slip fit piece for my hand wheel for cranking the lathe for threading by hand so I used that to put in my drill press to drive the shaft with my lathe bullnose live center for the bottom. Clamped to the drill press base and had at it with mill file and flat stone. Took a while but came out perfect.


----------



## jbobb1 (May 30, 2019)

Did a lot of unconventional set up/machining at the job I had that were hard to believe. Sorry, but no pics!


----------



## savarin (May 30, 2019)

Does this one count?








						The Giant Binocular
					

Savarin- you, sir are a magician!    Or at least one of our membership who makes the most of the least!




					www.hobby-machinist.com
				



post 164


----------



## darkzero (May 30, 2019)

savarin said:


> Does this one count?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## vtcnc (May 30, 2019)

savarin said:


> Does this one count?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yes! Really enjoying that out of the box project!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## westerner (May 30, 2019)

savarin said:


> Does this one count?


Yes, I believe it does. I also believe many of us here have done such things. We were simply  too busy watching or scheming, or doing, and trying NOT to get hurt, to take any pics. Surely not gonna get the wife or kids to snap some shots, right?


----------



## darkzero (May 31, 2019)

westerner said:


> Yes, I believe it does. I also believe many of us here have done such things. We were simply  too busy watching or scheming, or doing, and trying NOT to get hurt, to take any pics. Surely not gonna get the wife or kids to snap some shots, right?



Or just too embarrassed to share it. But please don't be embarrassed to post pics here!

Sort of like this. This was the first time I held something this large & heavy on my mag chuck, an 8"Ø chuck back plate. I threw together what I had just in case the thing came loose. Yeah I was a bit scared at the time but turned out I had nothing to worry about.


----------



## C-Bag (May 31, 2019)

westerner said:


> Yes, I believe it does. I also believe many of us here have done such things. We were simply  too busy watching or scheming, or doing, and trying NOT to get hurt, to take any pics. Surely not gonna get the wife or kids to snap some shots, right?


+1. I suffer from equal parts ignorance and lack of proper tooling. The only reason I took the pic of my drill press setup was because I had this whole Rube Goldberg setup I was planning. With a treadmill motor and belt, the arbor out of a dead table saw and the bull nose live center all somehow clamped to my welding table. As I was going by my oh so practical neighbor down the street on my usual afternoon dog walk I mentioned what I was trying to do. He looked at me with a quizzical look and said why don't you use your drill press? At first I dismissed it because I was totally into my Rube Goldbergian mode but as often happens on our walks the whole thing unfolded in my minds eye. He was so right. So I only took the pic to send to him. 99% of my cobbled setups go undocumented although I'm getting to the age now where I need to do something I've done before and don't remember how I did it, d'oh!


----------



## mmcmdl (Jun 1, 2019)

Can't tell you how many times I had to stretch the 120" TOS grinder into a 136" grinder . Headstock and tailstock hanging off each end of the table . It was always a pleasure trying to pull the taper out of the shafts . Seems like if you breathed on either end your taper re-appeared . I think back and I believe the darndest set-up I can remember was on this same grinder with a 4 jaw chuck grinding a very large cam . The machine would rapid in to .050 of your part and the chuck would automaticly turn on and spin . This worked real well with shafts but when you forget you have a larger lobe from CL on so mentioned cam , it doesn't work well at all . I believe I mentioned this on this site in the past . I found out just how many small pieces were in a Starrett Last Word indicator that day ………………..thank God it was my bosses' ! 

Another great piece of work was when my co-worker thru a thrust reverser elbow for Martin Marietta off a G and L HMC 5 ft away from me . I heard the hold down chain break and cut the wind just before the thing hit the floor . Wrong code input . G0 instead of G01. ( He was in training ) . I calmly packed my box and never returned . I could not even think about doing that BIG stuff at this point , it scares the crap out of me .


----------



## C-Bag (Jun 1, 2019)

Having never worked as a machinist in a machine shop I tend to think of everything being kind of straightforward (like in the training films on YouTube) because you have the proper equipment for the job. But in talking to my brother actually worked in the field no matter how much tooling or how big the machine a job always comes through the door that's a bit beyond what you have and it's time to be creative.


----------



## mmcmdl (Jun 1, 2019)

C-Bag said:


> Having never worked as a machinist in a machine shop I tend to think of everything being kind of straightforward (like in the training films on YouTube) because you have the proper equipment for the job. But in talking to my brother actually worked in the field no matter how much tooling or how big the machine a job always comes through the door that's a bit beyond what you have and it's time to be creative.



This is standard duty in a job shop . Make it happen .


----------

