2015 POTD Thread Archive

I scored a 2-3" Mitutoyo micrometer on eBay for $39 this weekend.
This fills out my set of Mitutoyo micrometers from 1 to 3 inches.
First in a pawn shop, the second two on eBay. About $70 for the set of three,
although the first one was purchased back when the moon wasn't any bigger than a nickle.
I think I gave under $10 for it.

View attachment 111593

I have a cheap $60 USD Chinese set of five metric mic's and also a $20 USD , digital caliper .

Prompted by Charles comment and the video link I decided to check them out last night to see how they compared .

Big surprise when using the 25 mm test piece on the caliper & the small mic ........ they both read the 25 mm test piece consistently at 25 mm .. either I'm very lucky and have an accurate set of measuring tools or they are both reading wrong .
The finish on all of then is a very high quality one .
 
After owning the lathe and only cutting mild steel for 2 years I tried some Aluminium and some some Brass in the last week.

Quite amazing the difference and all the glittery sparkling bright swarf was a treat for the eyes.

Am making a dead blow "Marv Klots" hand hammer from an old brass fire hose fitting.

Bill
 
After many years of putting up with a sloppy undersized vise in the garage, I finally upgraded to two new vises, one 4" unit at the end of the movable welding table and a 6" beast on the end of the work bench. I've been looking at the bullet vise's that are so highly praised on the net, but their high price and the fact that we had one at work (6" approx. that only lasted a couple months before cracking like a walnut when miss-struck with a 12 lb. sledge), replaced with a 6" Ridgid. I decided to buy two Ridgid vises. These Ridgid vises are made in Germany by Peddinghaus, who are famous for their drop forged steel anvils. The vises have both stationary and movable jaw assemblies that are made of the same anvil steel and don't have replaceable jaws. The vise jaws are guaranteed for life against breakage. The moveable jaws have an allen key adjustable nut assembly that maintains tight and perfectly aligned jaws.
I decided I wanted to put copper jaws on the smaller vise as I had a foot of 1" square copper I recently acquired. I milled a section out and cut the piece in two. WD40 worked beautifully as a cutting oil. I dismantled the vise and set the moveable jaw in the mill vise to drill and tap for two holding screws. This is where the trouble started. Dulled a starter drill. Rounded the end of a cobalt drill bit. Used a carbide 4 flute center cutting bit to drill the hole to depth then a cobalt bit to widen the hole a few thou. to 5mm. tap size. Broke the first tap half way in. Drill out with carbide end mill and finish tapping to depth. Second hole same as the first but no third tap. Enlarge holes to 6mm. Break two more taps and ruin two end mills drilling out holes and broken taps. What a PITA!!! These jaws are like tool steel. Finally got to mount the copper jaws. That Ridgid vise at work withstood horrendous beatings with 4lb. sledge hammers and the occasional 12lb'er., removing cobbled up steel from rolling mill guides and was still going strong after 4 or 5 years when I retired.

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I've used the flat tyre aerosol repair rattle cans to seal my tyres & tubes from the inside but there is still a few pounds pressure loss over a year or so .. it could be due to the low quality neoprene rubber seal in the inflator valve .

The problem I see of them and their inability to seal completely is that most pneumatic tires around the shop and yard don't spin fast enough to get the sealer in all the spaces with enough force. I use them in my riding lawn mower and it works over the summer but by spring it takes another can to keep it going. Just my thoughts. I have a horse boarding facility and own many wheel barrows, as the pneumatic tires fail I replace them with the hard rubber ones from HF.
 
I dismantled the vise and set the moveable jaw in the mill vise to drill and tap for two holding screws. This is where the trouble started.

Wow, I guess if you make the jaws non-replaceable _and_ offer a lifetime warranty on them they had better be strong.
-brino
 
Not today, but finished today. I made a coupe of stops for my lathe, one on which I can mount either of two indicators



A 1/8 travel Ames, or a 1" Chinese

Indicator mounting.jpg

Bad image, hard to see the indicator tip.

I also made one for positive stops, each screw (.036 per turn) .006 per wrench flat, has about 1/2 inch length adjustment. (Allen head in end)

Multibpe stop.jpg

I have to admit to borrowing these ideas from previous posts. I figure time well spent.

Tom
 
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The problem I see of them and their inability to seal completely is that most pneumatic tires around the shop and yard don't spin fast enough to get the sealer in all the spaces with enough force. I use them in my riding lawn mower and it works over the summer but by spring it takes another can to keep it going. Just my thoughts. I have a horse boarding facility and own many wheel barrows, as the pneumatic tires fail I replace them with the hard rubber ones from HF.


If you feel you need speed to spread it around inside the tyre inner tube , put the wheel on the lathe and run it for a few minutes or use the side of a closed up chuck and power drill to rotate the wheel on the axle when the barrow is turned upside down .

I found that the sealant slowly drips and slithers around inside the barrow tyre for several months I've never found any bare patches inside when I've renewed the tyres due to them splitting/ cracking due to old age .

It only seals solid when it is exposed to plenty of air .

If you know other wise please tell me , as I have seven pneumatic tubed wheels with it in , the barrows have had it in for over five years & the small two wheeled trailer with a spare tyre for three years .

On thing that is proffered by the tyre fitting companies and is also recommended by lots of tyre manufacturers and fleet hire companies is to use nitrogen to inflate the tyres as it does not degrade or permeate through the synthetic rubbers like compressed air does.
 
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