Hints and Tips

[RaisedByWolves]

Thank you. I missed the point the first time.
If I understand correctly, the tiny breather hole is in one wall of the tube and inside the bottle.
When squeezing to dispense, a small amount of fluid bleeds out of the breather hole (but back into the bottle) and when finished dispensing, the breather hole is above the liquid level, so the air volume is vented to atmosphere and won't "pump" regardless of delta T.

That is an excellent solution to the OEM PITA I described. I wish I had thought of it and I can't believe it's not an OEM feature.

Correct.

don't know why, but I don't have the problem with mine. One has Alcohol, and the other WD-40.. neither leak out.

I don’t have an issue in my basement shop, but when I would take that bottle into the garage it could sometimes be an issue and with it being a volitile liquid it took paint bubbling on a piece of equipment to know it was even happening.

 

[ChazzC]

Get yourself some needle tip bellows applicators go your cutting fluids and coolant.


It saves on fluids as you only put it where you want it and as a bonus there’s less mess to clean up.

At work I’ll just blast whatever I’m working on with WD-40 and if it gets all over the mill it’s no big deal.

But at home where I’m paying for the fluids and have a real possibility of tracking them into the living quarters this is a big help on both fronts.

You can get that needle right into the flutes of day a tap you’re using verses all over the surface of the part hoping it will get where it’s needed.


There’s actually two in this pic if you look, one is the micro mark cutting fluid diluted as per instructions and the other is really old WD-40 that would not come out of the can as it lost pressure.

Why it turned black is beyond me, but it still works OK.

I don't like the bellows bottles for anything that is thin: too hard to control the flow. For thin liquids I use smaller poly bottles with blunt hypodermic needle tips, or slightly larger poly bottle with "applicator" tips for stuff that won't flow through the needles:



For Acetone, I use a cute little Justrite bottle:


Not cheap, but it doesn't leak and no fumes/vapors.

 

[helmbelly]

you know those political signs.
They make great work boards to keep your bench clean

I save pizza boxes bc unlike corrugated plastic they absorb the grease and solvents used for a benchtop teardown. And they close up like a book and take all the refuse with them to the trash. Course I eat a lot of pizza cause my son owns a really good pizzeria! A split cardboard box will get you to the same place.

 

[helmbelly]

Next time, proceed under the cover of darkness!

What are they made out of?

corroplast, corrugated plastic. USPS makes baskets out of it. it's fantastic material in the shop, incredibly strong and durable. Get it from my plastics supplier in town for about $17 per 4x8 sheet, black or white color.

 

[woodchucker]

Old COVID test kits have nice vials for storing 3/8 and smaller end mills

 

[machinistnoob]

"Don't step on Superman's cape, Don't spit into the wind, don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger". Mike

And you don't mess around with Jim

 

[toprecyler]

I have one of the Vortec air coolers like mentioned in another current thread. Was using it today, and thought I would share this idea.

Notice the smaller plastic tube in the bottle nozzle? I add this to make a longer straw to put the oil/ coolant on the tool where it is needed, without having to get my hand too close to flying chips.

We have been buying tap magic in 1 gallon bottles and refilling the old bottles from when we used to buy the squeeze bottles.

But now I only fill the bottle just under 1/2 way at a time. This way I can just lay the bottle down on the mill table ( it liked to fall over anyways when one edge was set over the clamping grooves). 2 things this helps is easier to grab the bottle and add oil to the bit, and if for some reason I get a hole in the bottle, I don’t lose a whole bottle.

Here I was milling a 3/16” keyway. The Vortex air gun was keeping the chips blown away, and helping cool the mill cutter, and I was just putting a drop of oil occasionally into the air stream and it was being blown onto the end mill.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[toprecyler]

Todays tip.

Use a plate across your lathe ways and mount your magnetic stand with Dial indicator to a heavy chunk of metal. Can easily reposition indicator to different spots.

Note, my lathe has harden bedways. If yours does not, you may want to be extra careful not create any extra wear on bearing surfaces.

When I indicate stock in, I usually start with the indicator near the tail stock side and rotate the chuck and see how much run out I have then I will move the indicator close to the Chuck jaws and check run out there. If there is more run out near the tailstock I will then reposition the indicator there and then tap the high spot with a chunk of aluminum to help align the bar stack straight in the chuck if I end up getting to run out about the same in both spots with same chuck jaw ( I have my jaws numbered with a stamp so I can quickly identify them) then I’ll tap the high Chuck jaw itself in order to reposition the work so the work will be running true with the spindle axis.

I always try to use one hole to tighten the jaws initially. And usually it is the same two jaws that I need to tap to get the work true to within .001- .002” runout. If I need closer than this, I put in the four jaw Chuck.


Hope this kinda makes sense.

Before someone says I should not have tools in top of the lathe headstock, I know, I know. But this is not the typical small lathe. It weighs in over 6-7,000 pounds, and I get very little vibration so nothing moves up there.

However, last week I was running a cut that was creating more vibration than I usually allow, and I did have a rod slip off the bed and fall onto the floor. Oops. Luckily it was the old one I was making a new one for. But did have coworkers looking to see what happened.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Janderso]

I was about 14 years old in 92. But according to the internet, he did. The plot thickens though. He was referencing a flash card prepared by a teacher! It was sabotage!! Ha!

The teacher was probably a democrat

 

[Janderso]

I have one of the Vortec air coolers like mentioned in another current thread. Was using it today, and thought I would share this idea.

Notice the smaller plastic tube in the bottle nozzle? I add this to make a longer straw to put the oil/ coolant on the tool where it is needed, without having to get my hand too close to flying chips.

We have been buying tap magic in 1 gallon bottles and refilling the old bottles from when we used to buy the squeeze bottles.

But now I only fill the bottle just under 1/2 way at a time. This way I can just lay the bottle down on the mill table ( it liked to fall over anyways when one edge was set over the clamping grooves). 2 things this helps is easier to grab the bottle and add oil to the bit, and if for some reason I get a hole in the bottle, I don’t lose a whole bottle.

Here I was milling a 3/16” keyway. The Vortex air gun was keeping the chips blown away, and helping cool the mill cutter, and I was just putting a drop of oil occasionally into the air stream and it was being blown onto the end mill.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What mill are you using?
Never seen one like that