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Hobby Machinist, Step On In.

Lilyota

RIP 7/22/2023
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
26
Messages
1,221
Loc
Bolivar MO
I don't know a better group of people to ask these questions.

Lets build a thread for the peeps coming into the fold that want to ask questions and become educated. (I myself included)

I know some of you guys do this for a profession and have a ton of answers and opinions but lets keep to the basics and the tooling for the hobbyist please.

If it turns into a dick swinging contest I'll delete the thread.

Kind of an introduction into machining if you will.




Thanks guys.
 
I'll start off.

I'm looking for a coaxial indicator.

I know what I would like but it really isn't reasonable for me. So what would be a suggestion for a guy working in his garage doing occasional stuff?
 
I use a clamp thing on the quill with a 0.005" indicator to indicate parts in centered. Works well for the few times I've needed to do that.
 
Coax indicators are piles of shit. I would not let one in the shop.
Mostly this. I have one and occasionally use it to get close, but it's far from perfect if you're looking for any reasonable tolerance. If you have a DRO, you can get as good or usually better results with an edge finder.

Personally, I bought a Haimer "3D Taster" for my cnc mill. For in inside bore, all you need to do is eyeball it to center, touch x left and zero the dro, touch X right and split the reading in half to hit center of X. Then do the same thing for Y. Once you get to the center that way, they recommend doing it a second time to dial it in near perfect but I usually find it's within a couple thou the first time.

I actually bought a QC tooling adapter for my manual mill so I can use this and all my other tooling from the CNC on the manual machine.

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Interapid indicator is far quicker than a coax, and afaic what quick set up guys use.
 
Tram a vice and dial a hole with 1 tool, thats what real machinist's do. coax's are for rookies who think they know better
 
For a hobbiest I would suggest an edge finder and a good finger dial will do anything you need for finding locations.
 
You guys using Blake co-axes or copy’s?

We use them often for making die steels and while not perfect, their good enough for most work.

A Blake will get you within one, which is plenty close on most machines all things considered.

For the hobbiest there’s generally a lot more standing in the way of accuracy than errors in measuring devices.
 
I've got a question - anyone found a good source for sopko style grinder hubs/adapters? I need ~2 of the most generic size (3" tpf, LH, 1.25 wheel). I see used ones for about 50-70 on fleabay, real ones for ~150. I'm just surprised not to find some India/paki/chinese ones for 20-30 ea.
 
We have those at work, good for certain things, I still prefer good .0005 and .0001 indicators for what I do
Can't really edge find with an indicator....which is 90% of what I use the haimer for. I have a tool setter for loading tool offsets since I haven't taken the time to make a jig for the haimer. I have a pile of Interapids....and probably a total of 20+ various indicators that all have their place, but the haimer is stupid easy on the CNC mill.
 
Interapid FTW. I used to have a last word and a B&S, but over the years I've reduced down to just Interapid. I have 3-4 of them, that I use all the time and a couple speciality ones that I've used 2 or 3 times.
 
Interapid FTW. I used to have a last word and a B&S, but over the years I've reduced down to just Interapid. I have 3-4 of them, that I use all the time and a couple speciality ones that I've used 2 or 3 times.
I responded to a guy selling a B&S .0001" on FB for $50. When I was talking to him he said "I have more tools for sale if you're interested." Yes. Get three and he has a full Kennedy box plus a bunch of other stuff on a table. I let him name his price....$300.:eek: Ended up with 3 Interapids, two B&S plus a bunch of digital mics and calipers and some analog stuff. I like the black face dials on the B&S better, but you can definitely tell the difference in quality when you pick up an Interapid.

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I responded to a guy selling a B&S .0001" on FB for $50. When I was talking to him he said "I have more tools for sale if you're interested." Yes. Get three and he has a full Kennedy box plus a bunch of other stuff on a table. I let him name his price....$300.:eek: Ended up with 3 Interapids, two B&S plus a bunch of digital mics and calipers and some analog stuff. I like the black face dials on the B&S better, but you can definitely tell the difference in quality when you pick up an Interapid.

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Holy shit!

18 pennies to boot.
 
I've seen one of those lock covers on a Kennedy before, personally I wouldn't work at a shop if I need that level of security for my box.
 
I've seen one of those lock covers on a Kennedy before, personally I wouldn't work at a shop if I need that level of security for my box.
Fun fact, there’s only about 10 different keys that cover all Kennedy boxes.

Some guys here install the round vending machine type locks, but this is not for keeping co workers(Other maint guys) out, it’s in cast the riff raff on the assembly lines wander in.

I only lock my box with the expensive shit in it, the rest they can have or wouldn’t even recognize as tools.
 
Had to look around a bit for this vid as I forgot the name of it, but this guy gives a good breakdown of how running an indicator in a collet can induce errors in your indicator. Hes not much of an artist, but his theories are sound.

Its mainly about center finders, but the info about collet runout vs the spindle is something a lot of people overlook.

No your collets are not true, yes you can run an edge finder in a drill chuck.

He also shows the quill mounted indicator holder that GLTHFJ60 mentioned in use.

 
We use co-ax indicators in horizontal boring mills to combat the "sag" on gravity on a regular indicator when sweeping a bore.

For most other I like a test indicator and Indicol holder
fits on the Bridgeport spindle and such
 

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New mill at work has probes, fuck edge finders lol.
 
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