What did you do today?

[CCWKen]

57*F and drizzle so I came in for a coffee break. Made two flat-backs for the dial indicators I have dedicated to the mill tram gauge. The lug-backs are too bulky. I made the tram gauge frame last week. It's set up for a 4, 6 or 8" span between gauges. I'll be laying out a padded box for the tool after the paint dries on the backs. I want the box to be thin and compact so I can keep it in the top drawer of the mill cabinet. I figure the easier it is to get to, the more I'll use it and check the tram more often.

I was going to buy a couple of backs but after seeing them priced at $9.00 plus outrageous shipping, I went with the homemade brand.

[mattthemuppet]

made a 15W LED light for the garage to fill in a dark spot created after I stole that light for a cubby hole Used a piece of 1/8x2x36" alu that I found at the side of the road, 5 Nichia 219A 4500K LEDs, a 5x3W driver and some new optics I wanted to play around with. Power tapped the holes with a 3mmx0.5 spiral tap I got off Amazon for 80c and it went a dream. Took 2 hours but it's really helped light up that side of the garage.

Now I need to refit some of the other lights with those optics as they work really well.

[Cenedd]

Broke a brass finger for my steady rest. CCWKen, I blame you! Nothing to do with my own ineptitude whatsoever! *cough*
Good job I've got two "spares" on the travelling rest!

[CCWKen]

Noooooooooo. I have an alibi.

As the late and great Sir John would say; "Clumsy Bastard!".

[Cenedd]

Not clumsy, just stu....uneducated. Turns out that when you 'get away with it' once, doesn't mean you always will. Threaded hole in finger, threaded hole in axle and brass snaps when it doesn't line up and jacks apart. Will try again with a close-tolerance clearance hole for all except the last bit of the finger.

[J Tiers]

Not clumsy, just stu....uneducated. Turns out that when you 'get away with it' once, doesn't mean you always will. Threaded hole in finger, threaded hole in axle and brass snaps when it doesn't line up and jacks apart. Will try again with a close-tolerance clearance hole for all except the last bit of the finger.

Suggestion #1 .... use steel if you are going to have a roller.

Suggestion #2 .....for brass/bronze where you may not want to use the roller sometimes...... use steel ones instead, but soft-solder on a replaceable brass or bronze tip. When it wears, just melt the old one off and sweat the new on on.

[Cenedd]

What, and not screw up another perfectly good brass finger?! That sounds like far too sensible a suggestion!
Ah well, off to order some more steel then. Why is it that no matter what you have in stock, it's never the right size for what you need it for?!

[Bob Engelhardt]

made a 15W LED light for the garage to fill in a dark spot created after I stole that light for a cubby hole Used a piece of 1/8x2x36" alu that I found at the side of the road, 5 Nichia 219A 4500K LEDs, a 5x3W driver and some new optics I wanted to play around with. Power tapped the holes with a 3mmx0.5 spiral tap I got off Amazon for 80c and it went a dream. Took 2 hours but it's really helped light up that side of the garage.

Now I need to refit some of the other lights with those optics as they work really well.

This deserves a topic of its own. With pictures!

[danlb]

What, and not screw up another perfectly good brass finger?! That sounds like far too sensible a suggestion!
Ah well, off to order some more steel then. Why is it that no matter what you have in stock, it's never the right size for what you need it for?!

We feel your angst Cenedd. All of us have been there. That's why my metal supply includes lots of small dimensions and lots of big ones that can be made smaller. Even so, it hurts to mill a 2 inch across the flats brass hex rod down to get a 1 inch thick part.

Dan

[AD5MB]

drove my truck around in a circular fashion, bashin weeds in the flat part of my backyard. left the hillside weedy.
raked up the weeds in my backyard
now I have an archery range in my backyard
working on PVC bow stands. There is simply no good way to lay down a compound bow.
targets are boxes full of boxes. the people at WalMart are like, "You're still moving?"

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

drove my truck around in a circular fashion, bashin weeds in the flat part of my backyard. left the hillside weedy.
raked up the weeds in my backyard
now I have an archery range in my backyard
working on PVC bow stands. There is simply no good way to lay down a compound bow.
targets are boxes full of boxes. the people at WalMart are like, "You're still moving?"

Do you always hit your boxes? My son and I setup an archery target but with nothing behind the target except the woods. Just about every arrow I shot that didn't hit the target block was impossible to find/retrieve as they just disappear. I can't see any arrows that I shoot with a compound bow. Not sure if I blink during release or if I just can't focus enough to see the arrow in travel. I can see BB's that we shoot with CO2 powered gun but those are only something like 400-500fps. I don't recall ever seeing an arrow traveling but it's so damn violent with the compound bow maybe I'm just not used to it yet.

[machinejack]

Not machining related but have been rebuilding a GM 4L60E tranny the last couple days for a guy. I will use the money I make to buy some tool holders for my Bridgeport Boss5 with Kwik-switch 200 spindle. So I guess it is machine related after all.

[alanganes]

Do you always hit your boxes? My son and I setup an archery target but with nothing behind the target except the woods. Just about every arrow I shot that didn't hit the target block was impossible to find/retrieve as they just disappear. I can't see any arrows that I shoot with a compound bow. Not sure if I blink during release or if I just can't focus enough to see the arrow in travel. I can see BB's that we shoot with CO2 powered gun but those are only something like 400-500fps. I don't recall ever seeing an arrow traveling but it's so damn violent with the compound bow maybe I'm just not used to it yet.

Sounds like you may need your sights dialed in. Way better to do that at a range with a good backstop that is large enough to see where the shots are going. Those things do vanish in the woods, it's some sort of magical thing.

At our club outdoor range, we have hay bails set up well down range of the target bags, they won't quite stop an arrow from a good compound but they usually slow them down enough to give you a fighting chance of finding them. If they are far enough back they will often get stopped by the fletchings so you find them sticking out of the back of the bale. On the indoor range, there is a curtain made of some sort of kevlar mesh that is just a ways behind the target blocks to catch wide misses. So you in general know where they are going, anyhow.

I'm not a great shot, my sons never seem to miss.

[QSIMDO]

Conducted a futile search for machining content.

[PStechPaul]

Today I pulled my two gas mowers out from the rough shed where they have been sitting for probably five years:



Cheap plastic carburetor is pretty much shot. I found a complete assembly, including the tank, for $21:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/362180283630

And my Toro "Personal Pace Recycler" mower:



Its carburetor is also pretty well shot, along with the air cleaner flange and cover, which are partially melted. Probably from a fire before I bought it, used, about 10 years ago:


I found a new carburetor for about $8:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173207644092

And an air filter with flange and cover, for $25:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162987789778

I might start a new thread on the repair project(s).