Recent content by Tom Kitta

Main issue for the scrap yard would be de-contamination - the machine needs to be free of stuff such as oil. Not sure whatever they would care about cables and such. As for the size - you can part it out a bit with some plasma torch. Main problem with scraping lathe as an example is oil - at...

https://regalauctions.com/index.php?a=onlinebidding#/sales/91341/lots/19216546 At 17300 kg it is a bit big. Supposedly in working condition when sent to auction. Worth around $4000 as scrap, all you need is a way to move this thing. To use it needs about 4m ceiling for its column and I am...

Unless a deal is a steal - like Dabler said even if it barely works its a great deal lathe you need to inspect to make sure you are not buying junk - even if it feels like a steal better to inspect well if possible - you may get an abused machine with damaged bed, broken gearing etc. That would...

Most cheap HSS is M2 and is identical to US made HSS. You really need to get old Chinese stuff or be very unlucky to get some crap HSS. It is relatively cheap of aliexpress. Also I would not recommend "too cheap" - you may get Indian stuff or the 10% of Chinese stuff that is M2 look alike. Yes...

3k for the same lathe means it needs to be in a good condition - I would not buy it without inspecting and given new price is around 5k it better be little used despite its age. 3k is not a good deal - it is "normal" price for a good used machine of this age.

At that price point I would have sent a deposit to the guy ang get it from AB without looking at it first. Main issue here is avoiding Dabbler "lathe" scam where you send money and there is no lathe.

My grandfathers war drinking story is a bit more dark. Through my grandfather was born in Berlin he served in Polish army. After he got captured he got sent to Germany as forced laborer on a farm. One night he, his friend and German farmer got drunk. As a practical joke Poles placed German...

My belt sander is powered by 2hp motor but I found out that single pulley is not enough and I need two belts. Also I recently burned out the switch with too much load. These things eat a lot of power.

Enigma was first a commercial machine later on adopted for military use. Polish mathematicians broke Enigma code and decoded messages before the war. Just before the start of the war Germans figured out Poles were reading their messages and hardened Enigma by adding extra rotor among other...

I have this box with a hardness tester. It comes with one ball, two used bars with few spots left and a bit dirty tube to observe the results. The idea is to strike a ball on know hardness surface and observe indentation size. Then strike on unknown surface and observe size difference. Determine...

Clarkson uses threaded endmills - I have two of these chucks. Collets look quite different. They have a lip at the bottom and inside thread.

Some time ago, like few years ago I got this bin filled with stuff. In the bin there was this Surftest 211 surface tester. It works fine at least against reference plate. I seen then go for a lot of money online and newer version exists which has cool display and stuff. Basic operation is a...

Well, there is not much to these machines - for ON the starting price looks optimistic at $1500. A lathe without tailstock and saddle is kind of scrap value - maybe scrap plus 100 or so for the chuck. The scrap value would be steel plus maybe a bit for the motor. I doubt some other parts can be...

Way, way too much. I know it is a nice machine in good working order but there is little market for it. I.e. it is a bit outside of usually hobby market & it is not a CNC machine that a production shop would want. Plus even on eBay you can get it for 10k less - see...

Well I would first try to figure out what it is - it may be a chunk of cast. If its not cast it is probably mild steel. Tool holders for a lathe are one thing, you can also make with it more interesting stuff for your mill - if your mill is large enough to handle it - like some kind of angle...