A great product to NOT buy.

[projectnut]

I would say that 60-80 thousand miles was holding up pretty well given the millions of cycles that represents. It just didn't hold up well enough to beat cast-iron.

Nikasil has replaced hard anodize in aluminum cylinders, It's claimed to be 10x harder than CI.

I think Cadillac was one of those touting the hard anodized cylinder linings. Not too many owners were happy when their engines failed at 60,000 miles

 

[woodchucker]

I think Cadillac was one of those touting the hard anodized cylinder linings. Not too many owners were happy when their engines failed at 60,000 miles

and lets face it, that's the failure point, not when it started going. It started deteriorating very quickly, it became untenable at 60k.
Military spec is one thing. But lets face it, this $14 tool is not going to stand up to a few drillings. If you think it will, then go for it.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

I would say that 60-80 thousand miles was holding up pretty well given the millions of cycles that represents. It just didn't hold up well enough to beat cast-iron.

Nikasil has replaced hard anodize in aluminum cylinders, It's claimed to be 10x harder than CI.

I always get tickled with this type logic. 60 to 80 thousand miles.... Chevy put an aluminum engine in the Vega's in the 70's and those had a bad habit of melting down. When you discuss miles/cycles in the Aluminum vs. Cast Iron there are factors that come into play beyond simple materials such as rod angularity which plays heavily into the life span of an engine so if the Aluminum engine block has a shallow rod angularity 60 to 80K, which sounds extraordinary, is would actually be bad in comparison to say a cast iron block with a steep rod angularity with the same mileage results...

 

[woodchucker]

Y'got me recalling my first work session in 2021 with the Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec, working on a flatcar restoration in Antonito, CO. Found out there's actually 3 types of carpentry: 1) finish, 2) framing, and 3) railcar

They were drilling 1" diameter holes through 14" timbers, important to have the other end come out the right place in order to hang things like airbrake reservoirs. To do this, they fabricated a drill guide:

View attachment 473811

It's the yellow thing under the hoist hook. I wish I'd taken a picture of it in use; one person just holds it in place and the other stands on the timber and guides the drill using it for angle reference. Once you get a few inches in you're committed to the vector, so the guide is removed to complete the hole. It still didn't guarantee perfect alignment, 14" is a long distance to propagate a small angle, so there was usually a bit of reaming of the hole to shape it to fit.

Fast forward to this past summer, doing a baggage car restoration a bit closer to home in Colorado Springs. Replacing rotten sills, had to drill holes at an angle to accommodate steel reinforcing rods. We'd have spent more time fabricating a one-off version of the yellow thingy, so we ended up just free-drilling with two people to guide the start: one on the side to call 'up/down', the other standing overhead to call 'left/right':

View attachment 473812
Pardon the orange cast, the project is housed in a canvas shelter. This is after the guiding is done, note the line drawn on the timber.

Of note, that little Milwaukee drill got a lot of disparaging comments at the start of work, most were used to using larger drills down at Antonito. But, it just trundled right through the timber, like watching a physics-ignoring cartoon...

Proof's in the pudding, here's a new rod segment inserted in the hole and sleeved-up with the original we had to cut to remove the sill:

View attachment 473813

I used to use, and probably still will my V blocks. I don't have long ones, but they are still good to set the proper 90. I do have a portalign, but it doesn't fit into all locations. nor does it take large bits. It's light duty.

 

[jwmay]

Stop thinking of it as anything but garbage.. I am surprised how many might think it would work, even for wood.... NO.

I just keep coming back to this thread because I’m so tickled by your passionate hatred for the item in question. lol

I’ve been aware of that tool for years. Figured I’d pick one up at a flea market or auction for a dollar. But it’s far from a stand out example of garbage for sale imo. There’s cargo ships full of crap just as useless that cost a bunch more. An Apple Watch, for instance. A watch that does everything my phone does? Amazing! Lmao!

Sent from my IPhone…

 

[woodchucker]

I just keep coming back to this thread because I’m so tickled by your passionate hatred for the item in question. lol

I’ve been aware of that tool for years. Figured I’d pick one up at a flea market or auction for a dollar. But it’s far from a stand out example of garbage for sale imo. There’s cargo ships full of crap just as useless that cost a bunch more. An Apple Watch, for instance. A watch that does everything my phone does? Amazing! Lmao!

Sent from my IPhone…

I guess you don't remember other threads where I admit I beat a dead horse.. I'm sorry, I can't help myself...
I've been to beat a dead horse anonymous, and they were unable to work me through it.

I am not against the type of tool, just a tool that won't stand up to the task. It will wear quickly.. it's throwing $14 away. Spend $28-32 for the gator, at least it's hardened. Or make your own, it's easy. Realistically all of them do not contain the important sizes.. The basic common use sizes, and tap sizes.

I would have responded earlier, but we lost power and my phone was just barely powered.

 

[dkemppai]

No it can't. Anodizing is not that tough.

Anodizing aluminum makes aluminum oxide. The same stuff that grinding wheels are made out of. I would argue that is pretty tough stuff. It won't grind carbide, but will grind most things. Drill bits included.

It's probably a matter of how thick the oxide layer is formed. If the part is truly hard anodized, it's a thick layer. If it's just enough to supply pores for coloring dyes, then not enough.

 

[woodchucker]

I didn't really think of that. But again, $14..

 

[dkemppai]

Hard anodizing shouldn't be particularly expensive. I've seen it on heat sinks on very inexpensive motor drives. In that case used as an insulating layer on the heatsink so they didn't have to add 50 cents worth of sil-pads into the design. So, my guess is it would be within reason for a $14 part.

Not arguing the tool in question is good or bad. Just pointing out that anodizing CAN be done well. Like coated carbide tools, $3 coated end mills aren't the same as $30 coated end mills. That isn't a coating chemistry problem, it's how thick the coating it applied.

 

[Shotgun]

Ruby or Sapphire? I'm not buying that. then why didn't the cylinder blocks hold up?

The anodizing is good and hard. The aluminum it is attached to. . . not so much.
Reminds me of the conversation I had with a PhD. "What is so difficult about non-stick surfaces?" she asked. I responded, "You need to think more about how to get the surface to stick to the non-stick coating."