Shop made micro-adjustable plunge base

[Bruce Page]

Dev, as anyone that has read my posts knows, writing and syntax are not my specialty. Also, I didn’t take any “action” shots except the one rotab shot that I thought would be interesting to the folks here. I haven’t read Home Shop Machinist so I don’t know what they’re looking for but other than chasing the 7/16-20 class 3 threads (which I haven't done in years!) the machining on this was pretty basic stuff.

Jay, if I had a CNC machining center, I could kick butt on MF’s asking price (their patent attorney might want to have a talk with me tho…) I would loose my shirt producing these on my conventional, non-CNC mill & lathe.

Greg, I didn’t keep track of the hours but I probably have 25-35 hours at a hobbyist pace.

[Bruce Page]

Well, here is your new blushing avatar, Bruce! hahaha

You're too much Chris!
LOL!!

[Dev Emch]

Dev, as anyone that has read my posts knows, writing and syntax are not my specialty. Also, I didn’t take any “action” shots except the one rotab shot that I thought would be interesting to the folks here. I haven’t read Home Shop Machinist so I don’t know what they’re looking for but other than chasing the 7/16-20 class 3 threads (which I haven't done in years!) the machining on this was pretty basic stuff.

Jay, if I had a CNC machining center, I could kick butt on MF’s asking price (their patent attorney might want to have a talk with me tho…) I would loose my shirt producing these on my conventional, non-CNC mill & lathe.

Greg, I didn’t keep track of the hours but I probably have 25-35 hours at a hobbyist pace.

Yah, the CNC approach is the way to go. That is why you can buy really nice conventional machines like bridgeports for a relative song. They are just too expensive to run any more outside the context of a prototype shop. I got my hardinge HLV-EM lathe from Hewlett Packard when they switched their prototype shops over to CNC machines. In with the HAAS and out with the obsolete and useless Hardinge HLV-EM gear. Oh well, its progress and your not getting any complaints from me. At any rate, HSM is intended for the home shop machinist. That would be you. Folks just starting out with model engineering and, ironically, making parts for old woodworking machines. Hah, I knew there was a reason wood butchers are buying subscriptions to a magazine showing them how to make accurate stuff out of metal.

[Bruce Page]

Yah, the CNC approach is the way to go. That is why you can buy really nice conventional machines like bridgeports for a relative song. They are just too expensive to run any more outside the context of a prototype shop. I got my hardinge HLV-EM lathe from Hewlett Packard when they switched their prototype shops over to CNC machines. In with the HAAS and out with the obsolete and useless Hardinge HLV-EM gear. Oh well, its progress and your not getting any complaints from me. At any rate, HSM is intended for the home shop machinist. That would be you. Folks just starting out with model engineering and, ironically, making parts for old woodworking machines. Hah, I knew there was a reason wood butchers are buying subscriptions to a magazine showing them how to make accurate stuff out of metal.

Dev, I would love to have a HAAS or Fadal with say a 20"X40" table! Maybe someday...

[Peter Pedisich]

Bruce,

Have you tried www.centuryspring.com ?

Pete

[pat warner]

Terrrific skill and talent, excellent photos. A Sudden and delightful impact for this tech.

[Bruce Page]

Bruce,

Have you tried www.centuryspring.com ?

Pete

Pete, ya, actually I did look at them and they have the spring that I need (.040 wire) but you still have to buy 20 of them. I plan on looking around some more and if I don't find anything I'll go back to them. It's funny, the 2 springs that I bought from HD were made by Century.


Pat, thanks from another tech!

[Joe Mioux]

Bruce: That is outstanding!

Joe

[Gilbert Vega]

All I can say is WOW! It has been my dream to have the skills to do something like this. For now woodturning is about my limit.

Just curious, what is the minimum investment one would have to make to have the tools to do this? (counting my pennies)

[Dev Emch]

Not a dime. I had foot surgery last November and was off for six weeks – plenty of time to dream/draw this up. My best bud owns a large machine shop here in town and I order all my material through him. The ONLY involvement Sandia had in this was the borrowed tap, which was returned. As far as machinery, I have no need to use Sandia’s, I have my own.
edit:
I want to add, I very much resent your inference!

ME TOO! That was a below the waste hit! And for your information, check out Bruce's finished shop photo he posted on this site. Look in the corner to the right and you will see a croped but ever present series one knee mill. Could not identify it as a bridgeport or a clone. You think the oliver guys are crazy, you should see some of the home shop machinists. I personally own a 20,000 pound DeVlieg 3B-48 jig bore mill, two kearney treckers and the venerable Brown and Sharpe Omniversal #00 tool and die makers mill. Truth is, when uncle sam needs anything anymore, he needs to come to us cause we scarfed up all the toys. The reason uncle sam cannot replace the space shuttle with a new one is that we now own all the machine tools used to make the original shuttles in the first place!

[Dev Emch]

All I can say is WOW! It has been my dream to have the skills to do something like this. For now woodturning is about my limit.

Just curious, what is the minimum investment one would have to make to have the tools to do this? (counting my pennies)

That varies. Its often been said that the QUEEN of the shop is the metal lathe. If you can find an old south bend 9 in or other smallish type lathe, that would be a start. You can also look at used Taigs or other desk top units. Bruce, what is that desk top lathe with the black anodized body and red dials. Very popular but the name slips me right now.

(I knew it would come to me... SHERLINE)

At any rate, a milling bracket can be used with the lathe until you find a small milling machine. Visit machine shop auctions and other sites. Stay low until you learn a bit. At first, its like drinking from a fire hydrant. But then it levels out.

As your learning, you dont need to purchase super accurate machines for now. One ideal machine would be a used myford from england. I would first start by buying a copy or two of Home Shop Machinist from the local news stand. Read it and see it this is something you might like to try.

Another thing to pay attention for are metal shapers. They weigh a bunch and often are three phase. But you can change them over to single phase if you wish. The small ones are still the most valuable because they are useful and convenient to the HSM gang. When they reach 16 and 20 inches, they weigh 1000 pounds or more. These can be useful because they are often next to free if you find a shop that wants it removed. These have little value to industry anymore. But a metal shaper can do many tasks that a milling machine can do.

Hope this helps a bit....

[Jack Hoying]

Bruce,
That is truly a work of art. Nice job!!!
Jack

[Jim Becker]

OK FOLKS...back on track. There is no point in further comments about a particular offensive post. It just takes away from the tremendous skill that Bruce has evidenced and the intention of this thread.

SMC is a friendly place and responding in-kind to something you deem offensive isn't necessary. Just click on the exclaimation point in the red triangle at the top, right of any post you feel needs moderator attention.

[Bruce Page]

Just curious, what is the minimum investment one would have to make to have the tools to do this? (counting my pennies)

Gilbert, it’s hard to say. Machinery cost varies by locality, usually cheaper on the west/east coast or big cities like Chicago. Around here you can pick up a decent (but not great) used Bridgeport knee mill at around $2500. If you want table power feed or digital read-out add another K or two. Light duty lathes like the Southbend or Atlas go for around 1-2 K. When you start adding vices, rotary tables, boring heads, cutters, drills, etc, you can easily add another 2+K just for the basics. Wood working equipment/accessories are cheap when compared to the Machine shop world.
Try looking at the business/industrial section of eBay to get a feel for the cost. Also, this stuff is very heavy, so shipping or just moving it across town can be expensive. Like Dev said, check out HSM to get a feel for it. I will never be without a lathe & mill. You wouldn’t believe how many times they come in handy, especially if you know what they can do.

[Barry Wixey]

Bruce:

That is a fantastic looking piece of machining! Are you looking for work??

Barry