This morning I decided, 'To heck with it.' Being that I'm now living by myself, soon to be single, all my bills are paid, it's a 5 paycheck month (I figure my bills on a 4 week month, so some months I get an 'extra' paycheck), plus I got my usual Christmas bonus... I decided it was about time I bought myself a few Christmas gifts that I've been needing/wanting for quite a while. Usually, when I had the money to spare, I'd find less selfish things to spend it on. Like paying extra on the mortgage, truck, or credit card payments. Responsible things.
This time, I'm spending a chunk on myself, and dang it, I will *NOT* feel guilty about it. (like I did when I purchased the Atlas arbors, but if tools4cheap is going out of business, I figured I should grab them while I could)
So, I purchased for myself:
A 3" machinist vice. It'll be easier to use on the Atlas horizontal mill than a regular milling vice, as I can orient the machinist vice with the jaws perpendicular to the spindle, vs parallel. And a 3" vice will fit the table nicely.
A set of telescoping bore gauges. I am tired of inconsistent readings when using digital calipers on a bore, plus I can only measure the very end.
A center gauge. Now I can easily check my threading tool's grind, and more easily align it to the workpiece.
Indicator tips. I've been using #4-40 screws ground to whatever shape or bent to whatever angle I needed to get into hard-to-reach areas. Now I'll have a set I can simply select the one I need.
A 6" dial caliper. All the rest of my calipers use batteries, it'll be nice to have one that doesn't.
I still have some money left of what I decided to spend on myself, so there's a few other items I'll be buying once I decide what it is that I need the most. I'll post some pics once the stuff gets delivered, and I track down the other items I want.