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Several Regions have held meetups already, but others are being planned or are evaluating the interest. The Calgary Area Meetup is set for Saturday July 12th at 10am. The signup thread is here! Arbutus has also explored interest in a Fraser Valley meetup but it seems members either missed his thread or had other plans. Let him know if you are interested in a meetup later in the year by posting here! Slowpoke is trying to pull together an Ottawa area meetup later this summer. No date has been selected yet, so let him know if you are interested here! We are not aware of any other meetups being planned this year. If you are interested in doing something in your area, let everyone know and make it happen! Meetups are a great way to make new machining friends and get hands on help in your area. Don’t be shy, sign up and come, or plan your own meetup!
Mikes shop activities
- Thread starter Mike R
- Start date
Well, its been a long time since I have had shop time.
Just finished a 3 week tour of Ireland with my wife as a 25 year anniversary celebration.
We saw 26+ castles, abbeys and towers that are OPW sites in Republic of Ireland and a handful more NT sites in Northern Ireland; many neolithic ruins as old or older than the pyramids of Egypyt, wonderful panoramic views and stunning landscapes and had some wonderful food, met a lot of nice people. Got to drive on beautifully twisty one lane two way roads with 80km/h speed limits, some scarier than others (one pic of a fun one, can see all around, others were tall hedges both sides, had to creep around corners to not meet head-on with someone).
Also was driving on the "wrong" side of the road for 3 weeks when there were 2 or more lanes...(I may be dangerous here for a few days as I get recalibrated again...).
Also had a small culture shock, was little if any "road rage" type drivers, everybody doing at or below speed limit and if a farm tractor was blocking the road doing 40km/h (there always was a farm tractor blocking the road) then the vast majority waited for a clean opportunity to pass, the tractor could pull over and people flicked their 4 ways on to thank the tractor for giving way. Similar for bikes and pedestrians/hikers. No rage at them being on the road, just patience and giving clearance as they were passed. Refreshing. Need more of that here in NA but sadly its not in our go-go, me first culture.
With all that behind us I now need to get back to work Monday (boo
) and spend the next week cleaning house and garden up before I'll probably have a real chance at hobby metal work again.
To keep this post mildly metalwork related, also took note of the beautiful detail in the castings for the radiators in Kilkenny castle. Amazing work in those.
Just finished a 3 week tour of Ireland with my wife as a 25 year anniversary celebration.
We saw 26+ castles, abbeys and towers that are OPW sites in Republic of Ireland and a handful more NT sites in Northern Ireland; many neolithic ruins as old or older than the pyramids of Egypyt, wonderful panoramic views and stunning landscapes and had some wonderful food, met a lot of nice people. Got to drive on beautifully twisty one lane two way roads with 80km/h speed limits, some scarier than others (one pic of a fun one, can see all around, others were tall hedges both sides, had to creep around corners to not meet head-on with someone).
Also was driving on the "wrong" side of the road for 3 weeks when there were 2 or more lanes...(I may be dangerous here for a few days as I get recalibrated again...).
Also had a small culture shock, was little if any "road rage" type drivers, everybody doing at or below speed limit and if a farm tractor was blocking the road doing 40km/h (there always was a farm tractor blocking the road) then the vast majority waited for a clean opportunity to pass, the tractor could pull over and people flicked their 4 ways on to thank the tractor for giving way. Similar for bikes and pedestrians/hikers. No rage at them being on the road, just patience and giving clearance as they were passed. Refreshing. Need more of that here in NA but sadly its not in our go-go, me first culture.
With all that behind us I now need to get back to work Monday (boo
) and spend the next week cleaning house and garden up before I'll probably have a real chance at hobby metal work again.To keep this post mildly metalwork related, also took note of the beautiful detail in the castings for the radiators in Kilkenny castle. Amazing work in those.
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I've been thinking over (over thinking?) the repair that is needed to the table of the Craftex CX610 drill press I just bought.
I need a few bits of steel that I don't have and some time to put it together.
Or I can Frankenstein the Craftex and the Delta to do what I wanted in the first place - have a nice working drill press.
It looks like the head on each of them is just slipped over the column, and they both appear to have the same diameter columns.
The craftex is 3.617" and the Delta is 3.625" (0.008" bigger). I'm hoping the head casting isn't a precise fit...
So off with its head (and on with a new one).
That will really allow me to procrastinate on the repair of the table part, while forcing the repair of the quill handle.
Now I just need to work up the strength to lift those beasts off their respective columns (or laying them down and doing it parallel to the ground might be a smarter move).
I need a few bits of steel that I don't have and some time to put it together.
Or I can Frankenstein the Craftex and the Delta to do what I wanted in the first place - have a nice working drill press.
It looks like the head on each of them is just slipped over the column, and they both appear to have the same diameter columns.
The craftex is 3.617" and the Delta is 3.625" (0.008" bigger). I'm hoping the head casting isn't a precise fit...
So off with its head (and on with a new one).
That will really allow me to procrastinate on the repair of the table part, while forcing the repair of the quill handle.
Now I just need to work up the strength to lift those beasts off their respective columns (or laying them down and doing it parallel to the ground might be a smarter move).
Yeah right, yesterday. I can't remember yesterday.
No, I do need to get going on this project, only because the new to me drill press is in the garage, and I've just made a handshake agreement to become the owner of fairly nice 2002 MX5. Fortunately the car is about the size of a golf cart so I think I can squeeze it in without too much reorganization. So into the garage I go...
No, I do need to get going on this project, only because the new to me drill press is in the garage, and I've just made a handshake agreement to become the owner of fairly nice 2002 MX5. Fortunately the car is about the size of a golf cart so I think I can squeeze it in without too much reorganization. So into the garage I go...
Allright - Frankie is alive!
Laid the Craftex on its side and removed the head, hauled it to the basement.
Laid down the Delta and took off its head. You can see the previous owners hack job on the quill handle, what you can't see is the oval hole for it in the head casting (worn out).
Mated the Craftex head up on the Delta column, these 2 drill presses are twins separated at birth as far as the head mounting goes - same set screw locations and even size & thread.
Had my son help me tip it back up as I'm getting tired today - too much activity.
And that is the reason the head of the Delta is still in the basement - no chooch left to haul it up the stairs today.
I'm dreaming more and more of what my retirement house and shop will look like, and ground level shop is becoming more and more a priority.
Laid the Craftex on its side and removed the head, hauled it to the basement.
Laid down the Delta and took off its head. You can see the previous owners hack job on the quill handle, what you can't see is the oval hole for it in the head casting (worn out).
Mated the Craftex head up on the Delta column, these 2 drill presses are twins separated at birth as far as the head mounting goes - same set screw locations and even size & thread.
Had my son help me tip it back up as I'm getting tired today - too much activity.
And that is the reason the head of the Delta is still in the basement - no chooch left to haul it up the stairs today.
I'm dreaming more and more of what my retirement house and shop will look like, and ground level shop is becoming more and more a priority.
Added a new toy to the garage, should complement and not distract from metal work (I hope).
Its had a respray in its life but was done quite well, too hot to really get under it today (37°C without the humidity factor) but no rust holes in anything I can reach and nothing readily visible.
Needs an oil leak fixed (front main seal), should be a fun Sunday job, but otherwise is pretty much ready to go and very nearly stock except the muffler as far as I can tell.
Its had a respray in its life but was done quite well, too hot to really get under it today (37°C without the humidity factor) but no rust holes in anything I can reach and nothing readily visible.
Needs an oil leak fixed (front main seal), should be a fun Sunday job, but otherwise is pretty much ready to go and very nearly stock except the muffler as far as I can tell.