What did you do today?

[Bented]

Single pointing 2" NPT threads in SS. Damn near perfect gaging.

In the past I have single pointed large NPT threads on a manual lathe using a taper attachment, a complete PITA. The threads on these parts had a 52 second run time each.

[PStechPaul]

Today I had two large dead trees taken down and cut into 12-18 inch logs. $800. Another tree guy quoted $1300.

Here is a tree that has entwined with a vine, probably Honeysuckle:

[Bob Engelhardt]

...
Here is a tree that has entwined with a vine, probably Honeysuckle:

Bittersweet does that.

[Cleve C. Dixon]

I finally got a ''poor man's dro'' made for my logan made. I'll probably end up replacing the little brass knobs with larger Delrin ones, but for now I'm happy. I got the idea from one I saw on the forum a while ago. I can't remember the name though. Thanks for the idea whoever it was.

[Cenedd]

Cleve C. Dixon I like the pivoting clamp on yours. Top tip though. Make another hole for a stop rod. Partly it's useful as a stop then but more importantly the carriage will hit that before the indicator runs out of travel and goes p'twang in a flurry if colourful language. No prizes for guessing!

[Cleve C. Dixon]

Cenedd. Thanks for the tip! I'll probably add that before I start using it too much.

[Cenedd]

I've been using some of my larger dies lately - I say large, I think they're only an inch and a half but they're larger than my tailstock die holder or the die stock in my set will take.
The die stock I have isn't bad.....but the screws are AWFUL. Proper cheese-steel, require a screwdriver to (un)mount a die and the slot isn't ever centred on some of them. So, I made these for it. Why two-tone? Well, most likely due to over-thinking if I'm honest. Brass was (in my head) too soft for the tip of the screw so it needed to be steel...and therefore some strong steel. So these are EN24 (similar, if not identical, to 4340). I thought that'd be tough to knurl so that bit could be brass and then I glued them together with Loctite 638. Lesson of the day is: make sure you've thoroughly cleaned any Loctite off the threads before you screw them in! Luckily I just got away with it before it went off like rock.



Also been 3D printing some T-slot covers to keep the chips out. Why the delightful shade of green? I was printing some extraction adapters from a Festool extractor to a Bosch Click & Clean tool and this is as close to Festool Green as I could easily find.....and I couldn't be bothered to change it out for black. They work identically well though

[Cleve C. Dixon]

Nice! I have a couple with the little flat heads too. you may have just given me an idea of next weekend's project. I think the green and red go well together😁

[Dave C]

Bittersweet does that.

Wisteria will do that too.

[J Tiers]

Wisteria will do that too.

Wisteria can tear apart a typical frame system put over a patio to grow vines on. Grapevines are somewhat less destructive, but a bit messier.

[PStechPaul]

I'm pretty sure this is a honeysuckle vine, but I also have lots of large grape and poison ivy vines. The twisted wood is often used for walking sticks and brooms:

https://broomcompany.com/products/honeysuckle-twist

https://owat.wildapricot.org/Sys/Store/Products/265937

http://caneman2.com/honeysuckle/honeysuckle.html

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/552816922988577608/

https://thea.com/Walking-Trekking-Sticks-Vine-Twisted-Walking-Stick/

Lots of info and lore about Honeysuckle:

https://thehazeltree.co.uk/2021/09/06/honeysuckle/

A poem about the Honeysuckle:

https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft4580069z&chunk.id=ch4&brand=eschol

[Dan Dubeau]

I have a tree like that on my property too, along the south roadline. Pretty neat.

[lynnl]

I don't think that's honeysuckle. All the honeysuckle vines I'm familiar with have a fibrous, flaky, paper-like sheath covering. That picture shows a much more durable, firm bark.
It looks familiar to me, but I can't recall just what, or where I've seen it.

[ChazzC]

Cleve C. Dixon I like the pivoting clamp on yours. Top tip though. Make another hole for a stop rod. Partly it's useful as a stop then but more importantly the carriage will hit that before the indicator runs out of travel and goes p'twang in a flurry if colourful language. No prizes for guessing!

Great idea! I have a stop/indicator holder (purchased from a small shop on eBay and adding a front locking screw location - easier to access than the one on the top) that I use mostly as a stop:



But sometimes insert an indicator in the 8mm rod hole:



I purchased a second upper piece and modified it to accept 3/8" shafts for "standard" indicators and a micrometer head, adding the second cross-screw to lock the mike spindle using an M3 PEEK (plastic) SHCS & Shear-Loc knob:



Based on your excellent suggestion I'm going to add a fixed stop next to the stop/indicator holes on the upper pieces to save on indicator replacement costs (just hope the drive faults before the gears do!).

[Cenedd]

I think ChazC has similar ways to mine. Cleve C. Dixon has the luxury of ways that extend back into the headstock for clamping an indicator or stop to. Mine stop dead at the headstock so if I'm close to the chuck, I have to mount the indicator to the right of the carriage. An extension rod helps there - you can buy one cheaper than the odd-sized tap and die you'd need to make one. When you then run the carriage quickly to the right to get it out the way for a caliper (or some other reason) that's when I collided with it hard.