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Jswain's active projects

I would like to pick up a bottle of tapmagic thick to try out. Looks handy is certain situations

It is. I got it to try because the Vipers Venom is really hard to get in Canada. Venom is a thick clingy fluid that doesn't fling off easily and lasts several passes. The Tap Magic thick is similar so I'm trying it as a replacement for the Venom.
 
Wanted to make one of these since I got the lathe. Plasma cutter circle guide, should be good for circles or radius' from ~2.5" to 34"ish. Doubt I will ever go anywhere near that large but the weight hanging on the back kind of balances it and makes for a nice handle.

Think I will also make a magnet centre, we'll see how this one works. I'm thinking a heavy centre punch should keep it put, or an 1/8" hole
 

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This is the best stuff I've ever used for machining ferrous metals. But Canadian supply has disappeared. If anyone ever finds a Canadian supplier I'd love to know about it.

Screenshot_20240304_071954_Chrome.jpg
 
They ain't all pretty....at least in this thread. Wanted a 36mm wrench for my collet chuck without having to leave my adjustable in the mill cabinet.

Side note the way covers & table covers worked amazing. Very quick vacuum in the end & she's cpean
 

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Side note the way covers & table covers worked amazing. Very quick vacuum in the end & she's cpean

I love the T-slot inserts.

But I feel compelled to point out that some guys use covers to prevent chips from falling into the slots, and some guys use them to protect the table from damage. I don't think those covers handle the second goal. I'll prolly keep using cardboard or preferably corrugated plastic if I can ever find some.
 
I love the T-slot inserts.

But I feel compelled to point out that some guys use covers to prevent chips from falling into the slots, and some guys use them to protect the table from damage. I don't think those covers handle the second goal. I'll prolly keep using cardboard or preferably corrugated plastic if I can ever find some.
I would never think that they would protect the table from damage.

However they make cleanup much faster, which was the goal.

Someday I will cut an aluminum sheet or something for the table, for now I'm just careful.

Drop a large vise or rotary table etc you're probably doing damage either way so what all do you protect from

I dooooo want to make some for the Southbend tho, as I believe my printer will cover the narrow span and I could build them thick enough to throw one on while swapping chucks etc. maybe a narrow one for when I'm turning cast or rusty crap.
 
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Drop a large vise or rotary table etc you're probably doing damage either way so what all do you protect from

Oh, you would be surprised. It isn't dropping the rotary table or vise. You are right, it ain't gunna protect against that. But a flying broken end mill, a dropped collet, a dropped TBolt, pair of pliers, can of whatever. It doesn't take long to accumulate battle scars. I accept that it will never stay flawless, but I want to reduce the damage with reasonable preventive measures. And I think that a piece of heavy corrugated plastic is the perfect answer.

Not long ago, I was discussing corrosion with a guy who visits machine shops and I suggested plywood. He instantly said it wasn't that good a solution because wood products harbor chemicals that can do as much damage as rust. He recommended corrugated plastic. I use cardboard now, but I'll switch to currugated plastic as soon as I can find some.
 
Wait until the next election cycle. Call all local candidates and tell them you'll put up a yard sign, and then immediately use them for table covers. Best use for em.

I LOVE IT! I dunno about letting them use my yard but I might try and swipe a few signs from elsewhere right after the election!
 
Hmmmm..... Thinking maybe I'll start looking for a few old cutting boards too. Or maybe a few new ones and swap with my wife for hers. That looks PERFECT!

I think perhaps better than the corrugated plastic board. Best of all, I could be up and running in weeks instead of waiting for an election.
 
Hmmmm..... Thinking maybe I'll start looking for a few old cutting boards too. Or maybe a few new ones and swap with my wife for hers. That looks PERFECT!

I think perhaps better than the corrugated plastic board. Best of all, I could be up and running in weeks instead of waiting for an election.
You could get fancy and mill the underside of the cutting board so that it locked into the mill table slots.
 
Hmmmm..... Thinking maybe I'll start looking for a few old cutting boards too. Or maybe a few new ones and swap with my wife for hers. That looks PERFECT!

I think perhaps better than the corrugated plastic board. Best of all, I could be up and running in weeks instead of waiting for an election.
It may burn in a bit with hot chips, maybe not, but it should do a good job protecting the table. It's 1 piece and sticks on there pretty good, if it moves around too much I may screw one of the tslot covers to it on each side so it snaps in

Best part was the price, free
 
You could get fancy and mill the underside of the cutting board so that it locked into the mill table slots.

Interesting idea. My cardboard hasn't moved. If I was gunna do that I'd take a shortcut and just add a few tabs - one would do since I would contour the end to fit my vise like @Jswain did.
 
It may burn in a bit with hot chips, maybe not, but it should do a good job protecting the table.

Burning or melted chips is always a possibility. It's even happened to me with cardboard. As long as I can pull the odd one out with pliers, I can live it. If it became a melted chip magnet it's life would be over.
 
After probably a year I finally decided to clean the printer bed on my ender & put on some new tape to hold the glass bed.

Made some mounts for the South bend lathe cover outta clear PETG.
 

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Nothing crazy here but I have seen a few members talking about tool centre height gauges for their lathes. Got me thinking closing the jaws and eyeballing it wasn't enough :confused:

Never knew how the hell I could measure it accurately to make one and a Joe pie video happened to pop up on YouTube, stupid simple.

Chuck up an end mill (I used 12mm) and on your tool side use one half the size(6mm for me)

Few trips back to the mill later taking a bit at a time and now I can centre up the tools properly, especially when I have something in the chuck

DTI may have been more accurate? But I trust the accusize more then my 19$$ DTI :cool:

Added a link to the video:
 

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As you can see me eyeballing it wasn't very good... Excited to see how much difference it makes
 

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