What Did You Buy Today?

[tominboise]

I bought a new Dayton 3/4hp motor to go on my new to me PowrKraft lathe. It will arrive today, via ebay.

 

[pontiac428]

Which loader is that?

I haven't paid much attention to what they're doing since we got the 550B a long time ago. Don't load much, so expect a lot of trouble in my lifetime.

I do miss the catalog. Haven't gotten one in years.

It's a XL650. I bought it because I've grown weary of swapping calibers and nursing the quirks of my well-used Square Deal B that once cost $250 and now costs $750. I haven't broke pace on shooting one to two matches a month for the last 5 years, so the upgrade is well overdue. I picked it up from a friend of a friend who I've associated with for much of that time, so I committed to buying it sight unseen when he asked if I wanted it. He had two and was downsizing to fund his growing kayaking addiction. Anyway, what I didn't know about the seller until I brought the tote bin home was the fact he's one of those non-mechanical types who is brutally hard on equipment. Caked on dry grease, moving parts worn beyond what I thought was possible, boogers wiped on any edge that could transfer one away from a fingernail, bent parts, missing parts, sun-cracked plastics.. I was in such a state of horror that I let it sit for 6 months so I could fume and seethe. I "bit the bullet" and ordered all the missing and unserviceable parts and sent the base press in for refurbish. In the end, I saved maybe 15% over buying a new one turn-key. Lesson learned. But the bright side is I now have more capable progressive that takes normal dies, which allows me to eliminate the extra steps in the single-stage that I need to get the correct results that the SDB falls short on, and now I have bullet feed and case feed which should save me a lot of time at the bench. It's long overdue, but sometimes you gotta suffer to appreciate things.

The catalog still exists, in digital form. I think they are annual now instead of the monthly Blue Press of yore. Still has the nice photo spreads, but I miss the articles they used to put in it that made the catalog more like a magazine. When I was in high school I worked in a gun shop on afternoons and Saturdays, so I read through those as they came in as if I was accountable for knowing their contents.

 

[tghsmith]

Did a Harbor Fright purchase, in the middle of a shop clean and organize, it was in stock so I could look at it (HF is on my way to work) I had a coupon,, will make some better drawer deviders,,

 

[Eyerelief]

Picked up a mic stand for the office

 

[projectnut]

Picked up a mic stand for the office

Looks like a Shars special. I picked up a couple a few years ago. They're fine for mic's 4" and under. It takes 2 to hold up the 12" ones. I couldn't imagine trying to measure a 12" diameter piece of tool steel.

 

[BCNU6OF1]

Got my new to me mill home last night. I'll probably be doing a post on going through it and rebuilding it.
1896-99 Cincinnati No. 2 universal with a Bridgeport head.
I had to disassemble it partially for moving, but I have everything including the rear pulleys (minus the original arbor support if anyone has one....), plus I got a lot of extras including a 9" troyke rotary table, around 200 end mills, the original vise, the motor, transmission, and jackshaft, some stock, etc. $400, I think I did okay.

 

[ChazzC]

Looks like a Shars special. I picked up a couple a few years ago. They're fine for mic's 4" and under. It takes 2 to hold up the 12" ones. I couldn't imagine trying to measure a 12" diameter piece of tool steel.

That's what Cordax's are for: