Monday, September 14, 2009

Sharpening the bit worked,

and a bit of experimenting proves both that, and that I've got a lot to learn.

Along with another piece of pvc, I found a piece of small-diameter aluminum rod and faced it, then turned it to a step. Which all worked nicely. Helped by having it fairly well centered; a tool store called Steve's Wholesale had a sale this weekend on a dial indicator and magnetic stand so I now have a basic one. Adjusting that four-jaw chuck isn't too bad, just a bit time-consuming, and once I get used to it that'll go faster(you were right, Gerry).

Looking at the little chart for what gears cut what threads is enough to cross your eyes. Unfortunately, the manual I found doesn't have an enlarged chart, so I'll have to blow it up a bit.

In other news, from afternoon Saturday till now my rain gauge shows right at 2", and it all(for a change) came down slowly enough to soak in; the few times it came down heavy it only lasted a couple of minutes, then eased off. The bad thing is the grass in front looks like it grew about three inches since Friday, and the back's almost as tall.

Son's currently out west at Fort Irwin and is enjoying 60's at night and 90's for highs; which should be just wonderful while wearing armor, helmet, etc. At least the humidity looks to be low. And daughter's starting a new job soon, which she's excited about. So if I mangle myself on the lathe("You did this on something that small? Moron") I hope to be able to get one or the other to take care of me. And drive me to the range and such("Ok, I'll hold the bullet in place in the case mouth, and you pull the lever down...AHHH!")

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The most likely lathe injury is flying swarf getting into your eyes. If you don't wear glasses, invest in a pair or two of inexpensive safety glasses. Few things hurt as bad as a steel sliver in one's eye. As Junior says. That is bought experience.

Take an old skinny, loooong, preferably cheap screwdriver, heat the point and make it into a smallish hook. Use that to pull away coils of chips coming off the workpiece. DO NOT use your fingers. That hurts, badly. (And is humiliating at the ER.) More bought experience.

Gerry N.

Anonymous said...

Well, God forbid something serious happens with the lathe.....but, if it does...we'll graduate you to just blowing things up. We'll run the wire, you can push the button. How's that?