Cold outside, close to where you are at. Beyond that, getting ready for a day of Christmas shopping and decorating and other related holiday hoopla. Joy, joy, joy.
BetterHalfK and I are mostly doing okay, t’anks, Sven.
As you may recall, I don’t much care for the “holiday season”, so I’m glad we’ve got less than two weeks to go before it’s over for another (almost) eleven months.
Still pretty pissed about the hurried Spend & Spy vote in Congress so that those shitheels could leave for their farking Christmas vacations on-time.
I worked quite a bit with chainsaws in the early 1980s and while it can take a fast cut when used to do so it can be surprisingly subtle. Like cutting disks in a Dremel tool it can be used like a contact dis-integrator to remove material delicately and make complex or precise shapes.
Looking at this full screen it can be seen that the big thug does have a gun and fires back but he seems to find it distracting to have bullets fired into him by his victim.
Elena was surprised to see the guy run off after being shot so many times. It led to a good discussion about the need for adequate power and good shot placement and renewed her interest in practicing with the laser. All good things.
Fatwa, I once had to make some precision grooves inside a pocket in some aluminum parts. These were about .027″ wide. I did not have the time or budget to get saw blades of this size so I made a flycutter type tool from a round blank. It looked like a golf club with the head being .025 to .026 wide. The side and bottom edges could be done on a super fine diamond wheel but there was not enough clearance above to do the top edge that way and it had to be relieved on two angles so I used a cutting disc in a Dremel tool, working under a lighted magnifier. Once made it was chucked in a collet and spun at high speed and fed CAREFULLY through the work by hand. As I turned the feed wheel I learned the true meaning of “pucker power”. As a number of parts had to be made I made more than one tool. I had done this often before but not for such a thin groove. It was for a part for Sandisk. I really loved machining.
Teh “Surprise!!!” video certainly demonstrates just how fast an attack can occur anywhere; ditto how an aware -- and prepared -- potential victim can turn things around.
Also the upside of having security cameras.
Had look-up “flycutter bit” to really appreciate your 11:43 comment. AFAIC, that kind of work qualifies as “applied magic”. Criminy!
Sorry. A regular flycutter head takes a single square section lathe bit and is used for finish cuts over surfaces, but any tool that uses a single cutting edge can also be called a fly cutter. I used to buy old circuit board drill bits. These had a 1/8″ round shank made of high quality carbide. I would break off the drill section and grind the shanks into cutting tools. I made holders for the mill, lathe, and hands to use these bits. The mill holders were small fly cutters and when a special shape or profile was needed it was easy to grind a bit to match and mount it in the holder. Really small cutters like this were ground from solid. The lower part of the shank was ground down to a smaller diameter and a round disk shaped section remained at the bottom. All of this was ground away leaving just one “pedal” sticking out, thus the golf club shape. To cut properly the edges had to be relieved back on two angles, making the joint with the center shaft the thinnest part, as well as tapering vertically so nothing rubbed on the metal. When carefully grinding the last parts it was not uncommon to have the head just disappear, being caught by the wheel. Bad words were used.
Yes…Mac said that he loved machining. Which is likely a significant part of why he’s good at it.
Had to go run an errand; hence teh delayed response.
I know a fair amount about woodworking, as Dad enjoyed it and was pretty proficient. But machining -- and metal working -- is something I find fascinating because IT’S FREAKING METAL!! 😉
And even more so than with wood, it was such a long road to simply acquiring it, learning how to do the most basic things with it, building equipment able to properly heat it, metallurgy, machining, etc., etc., etc.
Years ago, I was a fairly regular viewer of “American Chopper” for just that reason. (I did not find the cast very appealing, but watching the design and fabrication process was.)
Happy Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Fatwa, Sven, and Mac!
Love the sculpting vids (although the ice sculptor failure was predictable once the guy started removing the support piece).
I woke up a little after 1:00 a.m. to the sounds of someone yelling for help on the street down below us. It was very consistent, about 20 yells per minute. I called 911 and waited for the response, meanwhile, the yelling continued at the same rate and intensity. Two units arrived, I heard a deputy tell the guy to get down, a supervisor arrived, a few minutes later the yelling stopped. Paramedics and an ambulance arrived -- the yelling started up again, then they got him calmed down. I don’t know what the guy was on, but it was definitely not a good trip. The arrest record lists a male, age 43, occupation: contractor.
Paddy, that’s a bad night. Hope tonight goes better.
Fatwa, I understand about the show. I watched it a bit as well, some time ago. I never got along well with wood, it seemed to have attitude. I much prefer plastic and metal, especially stainless steel. 303 stainless was about my favorite. When a customer called for mild steel I usually offered to use stainless for the same price. The extra cost of material was more than made up by the easier machining. Most customers were happy with this.
That doesn’t sound like a very restful night; damned contractors!!1!
I am reminded of a saying from my youth: “Reality is for people who can’t handle drugs.” 😉
Mac --
Re substituting stainless for mild steel: Given that you obviously perceived a benefit to your business in offering stainless over mild steel at the same price, why would customers request the latter at all?
Which may be a dumbass question, but I know effectively zilch re machining, so I’m asking it.
Not dumb at all, quite astute. The two main reasons I encountered for wanting low carbon steel was if the parts were to be blued or plated and for the magnetic properties (303 stainless is non-magnetic). I made some gages for Sandisk that included a 3″ by 4″ by 1/4″ plate that had to be smooth and flat within two ten thousandths of an inch. Stainless is rather porous and it would tend to leave grey marks on the paper labels of the parts so they were nickel plated, which was cleaner and did not mark the parts. It would have been much easier to get the required finish on stainless but they paid the extra for tool steel. There was also the aspect of hardening as 303 will not harden. That takes high carbon steel or stainless tool steel which is another matter. I did work with stainless tool steel but it is much more difficult than 303. 303 cuts as easily as low carbon steel but much cleaner and smoother. Low carbon or mild steel tends to tear, leaving a rough surface and requiring much more finishing work.
Much obliged, Mac; made sense the way you explained it.
The older I get, the more I realize that I know so very little that’s of practical use in a “shit hits the fan” situation. Guess I’d better hope that technological civilization holds together until I take my dirt nap. (Although I suppose I could be useful as fertilizer. Or bait.)
Without electricity, a blacksmith would be much more useful than a machinist. My hobby training would probably be useful. I had to do a lot with hand tools and I have done a little blacksmith type work, very little, but enough to be useful. I have long been intrigued by “the riddle of steel.”
You can do amazing things with a hammer, an anvil, and a simple forge.
Happy Caturday from Larryville where it’s currently a toasty 38ºF, GN!
Waffles also make a swell iguana costume for cats.
I feel for that cat’s owner…payback in 3 2 1.
Hi Fatwa.
Hey, Sven!
How are things at teh Mountain Redoubt this morning?
Cold outside, close to where you are at. Beyond that, getting ready for a day of Christmas shopping and decorating and other related holiday hoopla. Joy, joy, joy.
How are you and the lovely Ms. Brenda?
When is Sven going to make one of these in his yard?
Good morning, Mac.
Good morning, Sven.
43 here now. We have had lows near freezing the last few nights but it will warm up some this week.
Couldnt see the video at first, Mac, but wow: that is really cool! What an artist.
Mornin’, Mac (and Elena)!
BetterHalfK and I are mostly doing okay, t’anks, Sven.
As you may recall, I don’t much care for the “holiday season”, so I’m glad we’ve got less than two weeks to go before it’s over for another (almost) eleven months.
Still pretty pissed about the hurried Spend & Spy vote in Congress so that those shitheels could leave for their farking Christmas vacations on-time.
Mac --
Cool “Svens-appropriate” video…needs moar peacock. 😉
I worked quite a bit with chainsaws in the early 1980s and while it can take a fast cut when used to do so it can be surprisingly subtle. Like cutting disks in a Dremel tool it can be used like a contact dis-integrator to remove material delicately and make complex or precise shapes.
I’ve seen sculptors do amazingly delicate work with chainsaws…I find that very counter-intuitive. 😉
Surprise!!!
Looking at this full screen it can be seen that the big thug does have a gun and fires back but he seems to find it distracting to have bullets fired into him by his victim.
Elena was surprised to see the guy run off after being shot so many times. It led to a good discussion about the need for adequate power and good shot placement and renewed her interest in practicing with the laser. All good things.
Fatwa, I once had to make some precision grooves inside a pocket in some aluminum parts. These were about .027″ wide. I did not have the time or budget to get saw blades of this size so I made a flycutter type tool from a round blank. It looked like a golf club with the head being .025 to .026 wide. The side and bottom edges could be done on a super fine diamond wheel but there was not enough clearance above to do the top edge that way and it had to be relieved on two angles so I used a cutting disc in a Dremel tool, working under a lighted magnifier. Once made it was chucked in a collet and spun at high speed and fed CAREFULLY through the work by hand. As I turned the feed wheel I learned the true meaning of “pucker power”. As a number of parts had to be made I made more than one tool. I had done this often before but not for such a thin groove. It was for a part for Sandisk. I really loved machining.
Teh “Surprise!!!” video certainly demonstrates just how fast an attack can occur anywhere; ditto how an aware -- and prepared -- potential victim can turn things around.
Also the upside of having security cameras.
Had look-up “flycutter bit” to really appreciate your 11:43 comment. AFAIC, that kind of work qualifies as “applied magic”. Criminy!
Sorry. A regular flycutter head takes a single square section lathe bit and is used for finish cuts over surfaces, but any tool that uses a single cutting edge can also be called a fly cutter. I used to buy old circuit board drill bits. These had a 1/8″ round shank made of high quality carbide. I would break off the drill section and grind the shanks into cutting tools. I made holders for the mill, lathe, and hands to use these bits. The mill holders were small fly cutters and when a special shape or profile was needed it was easy to grind a bit to match and mount it in the holder. Really small cutters like this were ground from solid. The lower part of the shank was ground down to a smaller diameter and a round disk shaped section remained at the bottom. All of this was ground away leaving just one “pedal” sticking out, thus the golf club shape. To cut properly the edges had to be relieved back on two angles, making the joint with the center shaft the thinnest part, as well as tapering vertically so nothing rubbed on the metal. When carefully grinding the last parts it was not uncommon to have the head just disappear, being caught by the wheel. Bad words were used.
Sorry. When Mac talks machining he runs on. Did I say I loved machining?
Yes…Mac said that he loved machining. Which is likely a significant part of why he’s good at it.
Had to go run an errand; hence teh delayed response.
I know a fair amount about woodworking, as Dad enjoyed it and was pretty proficient. But machining -- and metal working -- is something I find fascinating because IT’S FREAKING METAL!! 😉
And even more so than with wood, it was such a long road to simply acquiring it, learning how to do the most basic things with it, building equipment able to properly heat it, metallurgy, machining, etc., etc., etc.
Years ago, I was a fairly regular viewer of “American Chopper” for just that reason. (I did not find the cast very appealing, but watching the design and fabrication process was.)
Happy Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Fatwa, Sven, and Mac!
Love the sculpting vids (although the ice sculptor failure was predictable once the guy started removing the support piece).
I woke up a little after 1:00 a.m. to the sounds of someone yelling for help on the street down below us. It was very consistent, about 20 yells per minute. I called 911 and waited for the response, meanwhile, the yelling continued at the same rate and intensity. Two units arrived, I heard a deputy tell the guy to get down, a supervisor arrived, a few minutes later the yelling stopped. Paramedics and an ambulance arrived -- the yelling started up again, then they got him calmed down. I don’t know what the guy was on, but it was definitely not a good trip. The arrest record lists a male, age 43, occupation: contractor.
Paddy, that’s a bad night. Hope tonight goes better.
Fatwa, I understand about the show. I watched it a bit as well, some time ago. I never got along well with wood, it seemed to have attitude. I much prefer plastic and metal, especially stainless steel. 303 stainless was about my favorite. When a customer called for mild steel I usually offered to use stainless for the same price. The extra cost of material was more than made up by the easier machining. Most customers were happy with this.
Hey, Paddy!
That doesn’t sound like a very restful night; damned contractors!!1!
I am reminded of a saying from my youth: “Reality is for people who can’t handle drugs.” 😉
Mac --
Re substituting stainless for mild steel: Given that you obviously perceived a benefit to your business in offering stainless over mild steel at the same price, why would customers request the latter at all?
Which may be a dumbass question, but I know effectively zilch re machining, so I’m asking it.
Not dumb at all, quite astute. The two main reasons I encountered for wanting low carbon steel was if the parts were to be blued or plated and for the magnetic properties (303 stainless is non-magnetic). I made some gages for Sandisk that included a 3″ by 4″ by 1/4″ plate that had to be smooth and flat within two ten thousandths of an inch. Stainless is rather porous and it would tend to leave grey marks on the paper labels of the parts so they were nickel plated, which was cleaner and did not mark the parts. It would have been much easier to get the required finish on stainless but they paid the extra for tool steel. There was also the aspect of hardening as 303 will not harden. That takes high carbon steel or stainless tool steel which is another matter. I did work with stainless tool steel but it is much more difficult than 303. 303 cuts as easily as low carbon steel but much cleaner and smoother. Low carbon or mild steel tends to tear, leaving a rough surface and requiring much more finishing work.
Much obliged, Mac; made sense the way you explained it.
The older I get, the more I realize that I know so very little that’s of practical use in a “shit hits the fan” situation. Guess I’d better hope that technological civilization holds together until I take my dirt nap. (Although I suppose I could be useful as fertilizer. Or bait.)
Without electricity, a blacksmith would be much more useful than a machinist. My hobby training would probably be useful. I had to do a lot with hand tools and I have done a little blacksmith type work, very little, but enough to be useful. I have long been intrigued by “the riddle of steel.”
You can do amazing things with a hammer, an anvil, and a simple forge.