I may have gone a bit crazy this week.
I bought the large endmills to use at my Makerspace, since the mill there actually has the grunt to use them. The empty black box to the left of the dial test indicator is a very overpriced 1-2-3 block case that I regret buying (I was expecting actual wood, not particle board). To the right of the DTE is a set of 1/32" thin parallels. I'm really great at drilling into my parallels and I'm tired of doing it, so I finally splurged and got a cheap(ish) import set. I'll go into some of the other stuff in more detail below.
As an aside I've uploaded the above picture to an external image host that doesn't do any compression, so you should be able to zoom in on it. I've also uploaded a copy to the forum as an attachment in case that image host goes away. All of the remaining photos are just uploads to the forum, but they're closer shots so it doesn't matter if they get downsized.
More drills. I now have WAY too many drills The only reason I can give for why I keep buying them is that it
always sucks when you don't have the right drill for the job. Being able to punch a 3/4" hole all the way through a 12" long part without needing to flip the thing is just wonderful, and since my lathe only has a 1.5 HP motor, I have to be able to step up to that size progressively. Some day I'll invest in some proper core drills...
This is what I'm most excited about. I've wanted an Interapid dial test indicator for as long as I've been into machining, but I could never justify the price. There was always something else that seemed more important so I made due with cheap import stuff, or I rolled the dice with eBay finds. I actually lucked out and got a VERY nice Compac DTE, but the dial is painfully small (probably 3/4" in diameter). This Interapid has a 1.5" diameter dial and the difference is night and day. I got it brand new from MSC which had the best price I could find.
I also picked up this Eagle Rock scissor knurling tool. My lathe doesn't have the rigidity for a bump knurling tool, so I've been making due with a
very cheap import scissor knurler. I already feel confident that my knurls suck because I'm not any good at knurling, but now I'll be able to make crappy knurls with a nice tool.
I have no need for carbide tapered end mills right now (I have no plans to make molds), but This Old Tony has a set of them and I thought they were just super cool. I'll probably never use them, but they were cheap, I was on-call and bored, and I'm a terribly impulsive spender when I'm bored.
