Recent content by trevj

If the user has the skills, and works with care, one can quite easily file to thousandths accuracy. Draw filing is as accurate as the user is... It applies directly, as a means of deburring parts too! A gentle pass with a single cut file will knock the sharp edges off, in a very controllable...

Problem, as I have experienced, is that the batch to batch consistency from even name brand files, is somewhere between disappointing, to dismal. Nicholson files that were made in the US, out of actual high carbon steel, used to be pretty good in general. Then they started selling the same...

Hells no, I was trying to make it clear that I wasn't taking offense, really! LOL! Lots of cheap and cheerful ways to get to the desired end result, a fella has to keep an open mind, and, sometimes, quit the hand wringing and just muckle on to the job and get 'er done!

I have a Milltronics CNC mill, and when I pulled the head off it for my last move, I found a shim under the lower edge of the face that the head mounts to. A strip of .005" shim stock. This is not a new idea. Glad it worked for you! FWIW, I'd rather have a side tilt than a nod, but either can...

Y'know, I figured this out in Grade 8 Shop Classes. Did a LOT of draw file work in Metal Shop classes! Good files come from wherever you can find them, and Brand Name, does not, always, make a file good... I have had some very expensive Swiss made files (like, $20+needle files) that were...

Yeah. Correct! Drilled hole to clear (barely) the pilot of the broach. But, I don't think I was so far off as to be giving bad info. :) No foul, no pack drill! :P It does take some pressure to push a broach through. Done a fair few 1/2 inch holes with a 3 ton arbor press. Usually that involved...

When I lived in Montreal, they were threatening people who put garbage on the curb in Grocery bags, with fines. Said they would search through the contents to link it to the 'offender'. A wag in one of the papers suggested that it only took a wee bit of computer literacy, to print addresses of...

You drill a round hole, smaller than the square will become. Insert the pilot align the flats to your liking, and press through with an arbor press or hydraulic press, using care to not tip the part, or allow the broach to be pressed in any way except straight, else you get to buy another...

Microfiche. LOL! Very familiar! The parts catalog for one of the aircraft I worked on at the beginning of my career was all on fiche pages. Grumman CS2-F, Tracker, aka, the Stoof. Gods help you if some clown missed the proper place to return the film to in the file index...

Special tools! LOL! Ever been around airplanes? Pretty sure, based on my long contact, that there was some clown in a back room, designing effed up tools, then issuing out the drawings requiring that the guys on the shop floor design their parts around the mangled and welded remains of a half...

IIRC, I have read that the Jig Grinders used a much finer lead screw in order to fit the levels of accuracy that they were expected to work to. Tenths of a thousandth is normal, rather than thousandths. Might make a good fit for someone looking for a mill to make fine detailed, small parts, on...

I'm not positive, but am reasonably sure that they are built different enough that they cannot readily be used as a mill, at least not in the manner that, say, a FP-1 or -2 can be readily switched between heads for different needs. Could do worse than to ask over on the practicalmachinist...

I still use my grandfather's two speed Stanley breast drills, after they were salvaged and cleaned up. The work a treat as a screwdriver, as the two jaw chuck closes down nicely on a hex driver bit. and you don't have to endure the noise interrupting yer peace and quiet. :) Used to pull the...

If you can read the serial number, hop over to Miller's website and run it through their search engine in their Manuals and downloads section. Usually only the operators manual, but sometimes that include wiring diagrams and parts lists as well. Worth a look, IMO. I picked up a Acklands...

Had a fella that was supposedly working for me, who was grossly way more experienced a welder than I, and he filled me in on a couple details. The main one, was, "The job isn't finished until it has a coat of Black Tremclad on it!", followed rapidly, by "You can hide a lot of sins under a coat...