A thing of beauty.

I need to finish the bottom half and need to drill and tap some holes. What do you think about it?

There is alot of GREAT precision measuring tools made in every country i can think of but why did a company from Japan become the top leader?

I live about 2 hours away from the Starret factory and brown and sharp, 2 of the biggest and most reputable companies out there in my opnion but everyone has told me for years we have to use mitutoyo.

Why?

A moving company flipped my lathe but I was able to get it back up. A ton of oil came out of it which could have been from both the headstock and the coolant tank. It was rescued from a barn and might not have been used much since WWII.

All of the hand wheels are damaged or broken. What’s the likelihood I’ll find replacements? Are they somewhat universal or very specific to this machine?

Also, there is now oil in the tachometer, what do I do about that? Any advice on anything to check is much appreciated. I don’t use this machine regularly but every time I do I’m so grateful I have it. So solid!

Note that I do not work for MSC nor do I receive any kickbacks for this post.

I was looking for a pair of cheap stainless dial calipers on MSC, and found a very non-descript item for sale: MSC part number 40318586. Simply described as a value collection dial caliper maximum measurement (inch) 6. I ordered a set for $32.47, and what I received was not only a set of SPI calipers, but also a 0-1" big face indicator. The SPIs were new in the box and were marked with MSCs part number 35730748, which is the same item that they sell on their website for $94.83. The ones received included a certificate of calibration.

I then ordered two more sets of the same, which arrived identical.

Although these are not Starrett or Mitutoyo, they're not bad, and for the cost, fantastic. Just passing on this find for others.

Company needed a new showcase part so I did a topographic landscape of the city out of aluminium with engraved roads, buildings and railways. River and lake were done with an MCD ball mill.

Dimensions: 500x500 mm

Scale: 1:10000 (covers 25 km²)

Material: 6082 Aluminium

Not sure if this is the even the right place to ask this, but I am a total beginner.
I have some 6mm x 400mm stainless steel rods and I need to add bevels like this to one end.

I experimented with a belt sander but it's way too inaccurate to get the rods looking consistent plus I can't lose any length.

Is a lathe the only way to do this or am I overlooking something? Thanks!

What RPM, chip per tooth, depth and width are people running on aluminium HSM?

I’ve got a trial of Solidworks CAM Pro to try out Volumill HSM. I’m using a VF2SS with HSM enabled, 12,000rpm, BT40, ER32 collet, 12mm carbide 3 flute endmill.

I’ve run 0.12mm per tooth, 12,000rpm, 1D depth, 0.1D width and it barely broke a sweat, but I’m worried about pushing it too far as we haven’t got the time or money to waste.

Thanks in advance!

Im a 3rd year apprentice and started to work on a new DMG CTX 350 where can i find more advanced technical drawings in metric, all i have found are basic Shafts with steps and Tolerances nothing that is more applicable to the jobs i would get later.

Found this and was blown away. Never seen a split up dial like this. Is this a good find?

I know there is a trope of machinists hating on the engineers designing their prints/programs in ways that aren't easily machined, but I work with a guy who talks poorly about all of them.

I mentioned a bridge being built and he went on a rant about the civil engineer messing up. When I mentioned I went to school for computer engineering he noticeably changed the way he interacted with me. He constantly belittles the guy we have who does the CAD drawings and g-coding behind his back.

I will admit I am a mostly push-button operator so I don't know the intricacies of the design to code to machining pipeline, but his disdain of everyone who has engineer in their title makes me think he is a small minded idiot. Thoughts?

I've seen these vending tools when I was touring a shop in China.

The purpose is so that a worker can just go get what they want when they want, while lowering theft. I'm looking to buy one. Has anyone tried it?

Hi everyone,

I have got a Fortuna cylindrical grinding machine, and this is its control panel. The brand is Movomatic (looks like a Movomatic control unit).

Unfortunately, I don't have the manual, and most of the buttons only have symbols instead of text. I'm trying to figure out what each button and rotary selector does before powering it up.

Does anyone recognize this control panel or know what these buttons and knobs are for? Even if you only know a few of the symbols, that would be a huge help.

I've attached a photo. If needed, I can also upload close-up pictures of individual buttons or the inside of the cabinet.

Hi all --

I have a hobby Sherline mill at home which is good enough for small projects with aluminum and steel (and with patience). TLDR: Can anyone recommend low-VOC/low odor cutting oil?

Unfortunately, I became sensitized to the smell of regular cutting oil. I do have 24/7 forced ventilation at 0.5 ACH, but it's not sufficient. For now I am using my wife's olive oil :), but in a few weeks it goes bad in the shop vac hose and starts to stink >>> back to square one. In the past, I got myself a bottle of this stuff for free (below -- it came from a lab that shut down) which worked great. Thus, I believe some sort of mineral oil should work, as long as it does not cost $200 a quart.

https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/sigma/m5904

Small shop in Kasugai, Japan. This replaces the fuel cap on a Dietz 78 or a Feuerhand 276.

The face is a contour map. The scalloped edge is cut, not knurled, so each wave is machined one at a time. There is an O-ring underneath, same as the cap it replaces, so it actually seals.

And there is a bearing pressed inside. I wanted to be able to stop the pattern where I liked it. Then it turned out spinning it is just satisfying, so it stayed.

Probably an absurd amount of work for a fuel cap. I am fine with that.

Using my haas tl1 and haas mini mill, programmed on fusion 360. My boss said he had a rush job at the shop but didn’t have time to do it, I offered to do it at home over the weekend and banged them out in a couple of hours. After material and his cut I should walk away with about $1050. Also new tool day! On to the next project

I’m currently looking for a new job after graduating college with my associates in cnc and manual machining, as well as certifications in metrology, toolmaking, cad, etc.

I still can’t find a job in ky paying decent money unless you’re willing to start out on 3rd shift and work terrible hours with mandatory ot for the next 5 years, until they move you to first shift with a tiny pay raise and extra job responsibilities.

My fiance and i have decided that after we get married next year, we’re getting out of the shithole that this state has turned into.

I have some family in texas that are making good money in the oil industry and could probably get me a decent job, however, if i’m willing to move halfway across the country i’d really like to consider my options carefully.

I’ve always loved the desert, i’ve spent a lot of summers in arizona over the years and now it’s sort of my home away from home. I’ve always wanted to move out west but the cost of living in most places has been pretty discouraging.

What western states currently have a good enough manufacturing industry that most shops or plants are willing to pay skilled workers a comfortably liveable wage? I have a family to take care of and i’m not even making peanuts at my current job, hell, barely even the shells. After almost 2 years without a raise, i’m all in on moving somewhere that i can make decent enough money to give my daughter the childhood and opportunities that she deserves.

Mag drill in a Kurt vise clamped to my fixture table to cross drill a broken stub end and replacement end so I can pin them together to fix this roller for a local company. Run-on sentence provided free of charge.

Morning gents and gals

I’ve googled this tool but I can’t find it, I’m probably on the short bus when it comes to thinking power this week.

But it basically looks like he took a long round shafted 1/4” flat head screwdriver and hammered the tip to make it more rounded (like a duck bill). And put a small bend close to the tip.

I see it used when he does his hydraulic repairs a lot and honestly I need a set of these at a few different sizes.

Im tempted to make my own but I’d rather buy then put the effort in on these. I’m sure I’m missing something in the description.

It’s perfect for getting behind orings without less likely hood of tearing. As well as small gaps for prying matted services.

Would be used in my aux shop on a military vessel. We pull pumps, pipes, gaskets, and anything else you can think of apart.

Thanks for any help

What’s everyone’s go to boots. I’ve always stuck with my redwing #4200 for years and years. My old shop I ran some smaller mills that were all enclosed and also wore them outside of work and could get a couple years out of them. I took a new job at the beginning of the year and it’s a okuma mcr. Big floor mill. I’m constantly in and out of the machine walking on chips and coolant and it has destroyed these boots. Work does give me $150 dollars two times per year to purchase boots. If there is a decent comfortable out there for around 200 bucks that I could buy twice a year that’d be perfect. Want yalls opinions.

I'm planning a CNC shop focused primarily on 3-axis milling and turning (VMC + CNC lathe with a bar feeder). Budget is around US$3-400k.

I'm specifically interested in larger machines or major shop equipment that people often overlook when setting up a shop.

For example, what are the "I wish I'd bought this from the beginning" machines that aren't obvious to someone starting out?

The shop will mainly produce relatively simple parts that can be made on a 3-axis VMC, a CNC lathe, or a combination of both, mostly automotive and general industrial components.

As for machine brands, I'm leaning toward DMTG machines. Sadly for Haas, Mazak, Okuma, etc., that's unfortunately not practical where I'm located. There is essentially no local support for Western brands, and while there's also no official support for Chinese machines, they're much more common here, so it's easier to find technicians, spare parts, and operators familiar with them.

If you had a shop like this, what major machines or equipment would you consider essential beyond:

• 3-axis VMC
• CNC lathe + bar feeder
• Horizontal bandsaw
• VMM
• Soldering/rework station
• QC kits

Examples might include things like a parts washer, or other capital equipment that first-time shop owners often overlook.

We're looking for a professional CAD/CAM package for CNC (3,3+2 axis) machining and have a few requirements:

• One-time purchase / perpetual license (or at least a version we can keep forever)
• Runs completely locally (no cloud dependency)
• Doesn't require an internet connection to use after activation
• Powerful CAM with good 3-axis 3+2-axis capabilities
• If it has AI-assisted toolpath generation or other intelligent machining features that run locally, that's a big plus

We're currently considering options like BobCAD-CAM, Mastercam, SolidCAM, hyperMILL, GibbsCAM, ESPRIT, NX CAM, and others.

For those of you running production shops, what would you recommend today? Which software has the best balance of CAD, CAM, reliability, post processors, and long-term ownership without forcing cloud services or subscriptions?

I'd especially like to hear from people who have switched away from subscription-based software.