Moved-off topic

[ChazzC]

Welcome to one of the more expensive hobbies you'll encounter. The money you've spent so far? The only way you'll avoid spending that again, and almost certainly a fair bit more is if you stop right now!

Anyway, time for you to post a couple of pics of your new possession. Don't be shy, pictures of machine tools, whatever they are, make up a good part of the air the members of this forum breathe!

As for the terms, like any technical pursuit, there's a vocabulary that you'll learn and get used to. It's a lot quicker to say "swing" than "the distance between the ways and the centre axis of the spindle" (and besides, you Americans have made the rest of the world measure it wrong anyway).

Wrong as usual (since the 1770’s): most expensive hobby is a boat, otherwise known as “a hole in the water you continue to pour money into.”

And the “English” standard of measurement (inches/feet/miles) that you developed is “wrong?”

 

[Markbinwi]

Wrong as usual (since the 1770’s): most expensive hobby is a boat, otherwise known as “a hole in the water you continue to pour money into.”

And the “English” standard of measurement (inches/feet/miles) that you developed is “wrong?”

But those inches, feet and miles put men on the moon and returned them safely.

 

[SouthernChap]

Wrong as usual (since the 1770’s): most expensive hobby is a boat, otherwise known as “a hole in the water you continue to pour money into.”

And the “English” standard of measurement (inches/feet/miles) that you developed is “wrong?”

Ahem...may I direct you to the actual words from my post:

Welcome to one of the more expensive hobbies you'll encounter.

In any case, even if I had used the word "most", my prefixing it with "one of the", would have clearly indicated I was not intending to suggest it held top spot in the expense stakes.

As for, what's wrong with US terminology, I wasn't referring to measurement systems, but the insistence that swing be measured as a diameter, rather than as a radius. After all, it's the distance to the ways that is of interest.

As I've said often, Metric vs Imperial is mostly a distraction. Well, apart from the fact that Metric does has a rather annoying gap between resolutions at a certain point: going from measuring 0.01 mm to 0.001 mm feels like a bigger jump (for hobbyist purposes), than going from thous to tenths. It's why I find myself with a minor preference for Imperial.

Anyway, thank you for playing!

 

[RandyM]

Good grief, another thread about nothing.

 

[SouthernChap]

Nah, it's another part of a thread about nothing.

To be fair, it's good that these posts were moved here really. This bit of fun banter (as friendly as it was meant) could be quite disorienting to the OP.

Think I'll go remove the 'banter triggering' bits in my post on the original post.

 

[Forty Niner]

Metric does has a rather annoying gap between resolutions at a certain point: going from measuring 0.01 mm to 0.001 mm feels like a bigger jump (for hobbyist purposes), than going from thous to tenths. It's why I find myself with a minor preference for Imperial.

Thanks for putting that into words!
That's well said and it expresses my own feelings as I try to go metric, but revert to imperial.

 

[higgite]

One of the more widely accepted definitions of “swing” is the diameter of the circular path in which one could swing an anvil at the end of a kite string without hitting the ways of an Imperial lathe with the center of rotation being the spindle axis of said lathe. You can’t swing an anvil in half a circle, hence the use of diameter rather than radius. It’s science.

Tom

 

[Chip Hacket]

Radius

 

[mmcmdl]

most expensive hobby is a boat, otherwise known as “a hole in the water you continue to pour money into.”

As an apprentice making $3.13 an hour , I bought a 70 Vette . A boat would've been cheaper .

 

[projectnut]

Wrong as usual (since the 1770’s): most expensive hobby is a boat, otherwise known as “a hole in the water you continue to pour money into.”

And the “English” standard of measurement (inches/feet/miles) that you developed is “wrong?”

I would disagree on both counts. Over the years we've had ski boats, fishing boats, pontoon boats, sailboats, canoes, and kayaks. Other than the initial investment they were all nearly cost free. The power boats did require gas and oil, but in over 50 years I doubt we've spent $500.00 on repairs and upgrades.
Machine tools on the other hand need constant care and feeding. Every project requires another $500.00 of material and about an equal amount in tooling and fixtures. Then there's always that additional operation you could do inhouse if you had just one more machine.

I started with a mill and a lathe. I now have over two dozen machines in the shop, and that's after I gave away a few that were duplicates or triplicates. I don't think I ever had two dozen boats, even if you count the ones I play with in the bathtub.

As for the math to me one is no better than the other. Being a geezer, I started with the imperial measurements. After a short period of time, they became second nature. I do most of the imperial math in my head and occasionally pull out the calculator to double check critical calculations. The vertical mill has both imperial and metric dials and a DRO. The lathes require a little brain function and more use of the calculator in that the lathes use different lead screws. The older one moves .100" or 2.54 mm per revolution on the cross slide the newer one moves 1/8" or 3.175 mm per revolution.