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Recent content by DMF_TomB

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    machining 304 stainless steel

    most cutting tools like inserts list recommended feeds and speeds . obvious tool holder (length stick out) , part, machine vibration effects things. . 304 varies widely from annealed to fully work hardened. like 300 to 600% faster if annealed and much longer tool life . not as much as tool steel...
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    Maybe getting out of machining...

    I got laid off in 2012 (company bankruptcy) and had to look for another job. often it gives time to think about what job you want to do. too many miserable but don't want to quit a job or try anything else. save for retirement is the best advice .... monthly retirement annuities are great piece...
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    Maybe getting out of machining...

    I know a machinist didn't feel appreciated and found another job at a different company at $3./hour more pay as a machinist so even with less vacation he is better off. that's why journeyman machinist called a journeyman . old company didn't even offer a little more pay.
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    Are these cheap 0.02mm/m Chinese level vials really accurate?

    Web Conveyance roll level I made can hold on bottom, top or side of a cylindrical roller. 0.004"/10" increment level vial, held plastic tipped set screws has room for led light aluminum so light weight less likely to scratch roller with mirror finish . make your own precision levels if you want...
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    Are these cheap 0.02mm/m Chinese level vials really accurate?

    one level i had a problem with as shown it was rtv glued to grooved metal piece and glue failed one end thus the rubber band, obviously can clean and glue it with rtv again. .... i added a fine adjust to it as shown, the basic unmodified design is fairly standardized, putting florescent paper...
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    Are these cheap 0.02mm/m Chinese level vials really accurate?

    easy to test if 0.02mm/m and level is 200mm long, 5 increment is 0.1mm/m or 0.02mm/200mm 5 increment is 0.0008" per 8" roughly .0025" feeler gage under one end and .0024" (2ea .03mm) under other end. basically it reads off scale most times, it for scraping surfaces for waves or high spots. mine...
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    Why do you use cast iron vs cheap mild steel?

    . some steel parts cause tougher stronger are made thinner. cast iron cause it is not as strong or tough parts are often made much much thicker than a steel part, it's the weight and mass that helps . from experience when cast iron is less than .75" thick and especially <.5" thick it will...
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    Why do you use cast iron vs cheap mild steel?

    I use Cast Iron grade A or grade 35 usually thinner than 1.5" (tensile strength is 35000 psi) Cast Iron grade B or grade 40 usually thicker than 1.5" Ductile Iron 65-45-12 (tensile - yield - ductile % elongation limit) usually >1.5" thick Ductile iron 80-60-3, usually <1.5" thick . ...
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    Dividers Should Be Digital

    google shows them but all the ones I have seen its .01" resolution, often in wood working tool catalog . caliper points clamp on regular digital caliper usually need to check calibration that is set on "gage" with points a known distance and zero caliper, in theory if made correctly when on the...
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    Machinist Calculator Apps

    Google Sheets runs on android phone, it's free, very similar to Excel, and files stored backed up online and files also can be copied on phone when no internet or wifi. .... typically takes less than a minute to setup a formula, then only a few seconds to change a cell, recalculate on enter...
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    Sanding Fixture Plate Jig thingy - Have you seen one?

    3M stikit sandpaper is adhesive backed sandpaper in rolls, like a roll of tape but sand paper, find on Google easily . drywall sanding blocks of usually plastic with clamps to hold sandpaper are common, also used in autobody work sanding bondo. . lapping film actual plastic sheet coated like...
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    Must have had my head in the sand, COST OF Acetylene, what happened?

    acetylene is explosive, take oxyacetylene torch neutral flame put again bench to extinguish flame and fill a balloon size of soccer ball. the put balloon in a vise and pop balloon with a lit torch. .... explosion almost knocked me over, flash of light and shock wave went up and blow dust off...
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    Inherited Tools Covered In Wax

    most rest preventive compounds are mineral spirits and wax or asphalt tar as mineral spirits dries it leaves wax. even if hot dipped in wax, mineral spirits usually dissolves wax. castings weighing tons are often coated with rust preventative. I spray on M1 let soak in which is mostly mineral...
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    Not willing to change

    I am 61 years old. They had a new CNC horizontal mill 50" pallets, reads XYZ to .00001" and degrees to .0001. They got one of the younger guys about 34 to work with the programmer as head CNC operator for 4 years. they wanted to hire new people just out of school (didn't want any old guys) to be...
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    Where are the fundamental base machinists?

    . in a emergency a cnc operator would use a drill doctor or darex drill bit sharpener as if not precise enough grind it can cause problems, same with inserts are replaced and end mills get sent out to be professionally resharpened. . now a days a operator needs to look up a procedure on a...
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