so waht ya doin today?
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KeithB
Resident Half Fast Machinist
I filled a 33 gallon garbage can halfway just from the chips of this job. I know because I cleaned out the mill and dumped the can out right before I started the job. When my big strong apprentice is on vacation I make sure to dump the can daily or even twice daily or else it is too heavy for me to handle.
We're still thinking of how to deal with the chip issue after we move, right now we just dump them in the trash, it is legal. We'll probably get a commercial trash service to park a bin behind the building, they can come once a month to pick it up.
On a slightly different topic, the local gas and electric service field rep told me that the gas and electric lines are close enough to our new building that there will be no extra charge for extending lines, basically the only charges will be what the private contractors charge for their part of making the connection. And another rep from the G & E service sent me some documents for rebates and discounts for various aspects of the building that are energy efficient. After a quick glance it looks like a lot of what we are already doing will qualify, i.e. the thermal insulation level, interior and exterior LED lighting, HVAC efficiency, etc. Every little bit that will save money in both the short and long term is welcomed.
We're still thinking of how to deal with the chip issue after we move, right now we just dump them in the trash, it is legal. We'll probably get a commercial trash service to park a bin behind the building, they can come once a month to pick it up.
On a slightly different topic, the local gas and electric service field rep told me that the gas and electric lines are close enough to our new building that there will be no extra charge for extending lines, basically the only charges will be what the private contractors charge for their part of making the connection. And another rep from the G & E service sent me some documents for rebates and discounts for various aspects of the building that are energy efficient. After a quick glance it looks like a lot of what we are already doing will qualify, i.e. the thermal insulation level, interior and exterior LED lighting, HVAC efficiency, etc. Every little bit that will save money in both the short and long term is welcomed.
smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
Was .002 the total tolerance or was it +/- .002? Either way, pretty snug tolerances for perpendicularity, true position and circularity.
KeithB
Resident Half Fast Machinist
The tolerance was +/-.005. I was able to hold the basic outside dimension to right on to +.002. I wanted it a little on the plus size so they can buff it before doing whatever conversion coating is used. Same tolerance on bore size and geometry. Having an accurate way to make perpendicular surfaces is wonderful.
Reloader762
Active Member
Cast up a bunch of the 30 XCB bullets yesterday morning while it was still cool, probably around 200 or so. Decide to try to powder coat one set of bullets with the gas check applied before coating and they turned out great, powder stuck to the copper gas check with no issues. Did some in a few other colors as well to fill out the tray.
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Reloader762
Active Member
They do fine, I run across a few once in a while that are a bit snug with some powders as the coating is thicker with some colors. I generally just use my RCBS Lube A Matic to seat the checks on coated bullets that are problematic and I have the matching nose punch for the mold as well. I may just start gas checking them all before coating though once I shoot a few test rds. and see how they compare.
PS. I don't usually weigh bullet or sort them but I do on occasion to check as cast weight on a random few but I was curious tonight as to how well my casting technique with the new 3 cavity mold did over the weekend so I weighed 100 of the as cast bullets of the estimated 150 I had left. My heaviest bullet weighed 167.26 grs. and my lightest one weighed 166.40 grs. most fell in the 166+ gr. range for a spread of 0.8 grs.
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smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
I have angle and adjustable angle plates, but always wanted a compound angle plate.
Also always wanted a boring/facing head - like a Narex - that allows for the machining of an internal o-ring or retaining ring groove.
Really nice parts, by the way.
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Ian
Notorious member
Gee, I thought it was hot here.
JonB
Halcyon member
I am surprised you can't find someone easily to haul your chips away for free. I'd think the right person who does metal recycling as a hobby/side gig would even provide containers and rotate them when he picks up??? just guessing.
At one jobsite (PC board assembly Co) where I worked, which was located in a industrial park, they'd get one or two random guys (unlicensed) coming around to the back door (and digging in dumpste) scrouging for scrap metal, once or twice a month. There was a period of time there, when I was in charge of a wave solder machine. This was long before I was a bullet caster, and had no desire to save that 37/63 solder dross. The main pot was never fluxed during the nightly cleanup, I was told to just scrape and scoop out the dross into 5 gallon steel pails and just throw them in the big trash dumpster. We'd generate 2 or 3 buckets each month, each full pail was too heavy to lift, in case you were wondering. ANYWAY, one time, one of those unlicensed scrap guys seen me out by the dumpster and offered to pay for them and asked me save them for him...I think he gave me $10 per pail? That was 3 decades ago. Anyway, I did that for about a year, until they transferred me out of Minneapolis.
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smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
Main problem with recycling chips out of the chip pan of a machine is, you would have to do an absolutely immaculate job of cleaning the machine every time you changed materials; I mean as clean as new. You may also be required to certify that the aluminum chips you just sold contained no other materials or contaminants.
When I worked in the machine shop at Universal Studios, because of the theme park rides, all of our raw stock had to be certified as to alloy and heat numbers included with labeling. All had to be recorded for traceability.
When I worked in the machine shop at Universal Studios, because of the theme park rides, all of our raw stock had to be certified as to alloy and heat numbers included with labeling. All had to be recorded for traceability.
On spiders,which aren't high on my conservation list having survived at least one Brown Recluse attempt on my life and another just about as potent.....
One of the reasons carrying shooting sticks* on daily walks in the woods.... besides the fact that they are the doodoo for hillbilly tacticool.... is; knocking spider webs down instead of eating them.
Another use is very gentle,steering on the Cokedog.
*Two aluminum arrows lashed together,with surgical hose slipped over the end like a golf club grip. Steel field tips.
One of the reasons carrying shooting sticks* on daily walks in the woods.... besides the fact that they are the doodoo for hillbilly tacticool.... is; knocking spider webs down instead of eating them.
Another use is very gentle,steering on the Cokedog.
*Two aluminum arrows lashed together,with surgical hose slipped over the end like a golf club grip. Steel field tips.
Wifeypoo dosen't doo gluten....
Hamburger buns come in packs of 8... where we shop at least. So,having found a pretty much no fat low sodium Turkey burger that is almost palatable if grilled well and covered with the kitchen sink of condiments....
Well,maybe 4 burgers over 2 days. That leaves 4 buns. Don't care for freezing them. What to do.....
We have this little baby cast iron skillet. It's the size of those old little ashtrays. One beat up egg,olive oil,dump in pan. Go get buns and prep them. Return to egg and flip. Add low sodium cheese,and throw a slice of tomato on. Little fresh ground pepper. Not quite as heavy as a biscuit. Two of these with coffee is a pretty durn good breakfast.
Hamburger buns come in packs of 8... where we shop at least. So,having found a pretty much no fat low sodium Turkey burger that is almost palatable if grilled well and covered with the kitchen sink of condiments....
Well,maybe 4 burgers over 2 days. That leaves 4 buns. Don't care for freezing them. What to do.....
We have this little baby cast iron skillet. It's the size of those old little ashtrays. One beat up egg,olive oil,dump in pan. Go get buns and prep them. Return to egg and flip. Add low sodium cheese,and throw a slice of tomato on. Little fresh ground pepper. Not quite as heavy as a biscuit. Two of these with coffee is a pretty durn good breakfast.
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I always wanted a conveyor for chips on our bigger lathe. Spoiled ROTTEN with custom dust collection in the cabmet shop. You can run a cpl thousand ft of mould and have maybe a coffee cup of swarf on the machines.
Just for enlightenment,Google foo automatic spray paint machines. They're about the size of old IBM copy machines. Stick moulds in one end..... comes out the other,sprayed. Anyway,they utilize a conveyor that recycles overspray that lands on the "belt" that gets squeegee'd,back into the sump. So a conveyor on a lathe just seems too easy? Too old and don't care these days but....... if I was "after it" hard; there wouldn't be any shoveling machining chips/swarf.... that's for dang sure!
Just for enlightenment,Google foo automatic spray paint machines. They're about the size of old IBM copy machines. Stick moulds in one end..... comes out the other,sprayed. Anyway,they utilize a conveyor that recycles overspray that lands on the "belt" that gets squeegee'd,back into the sump. So a conveyor on a lathe just seems too easy? Too old and don't care these days but....... if I was "after it" hard; there wouldn't be any shoveling machining chips/swarf.... that's for dang sure!
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Got the skid steer starting issue fixed...I think. The original set up was to run the switched starter power wire through a harness, into a junction, through what I think is a relay and then to the starter lug on the solenoid. Goofy setup IMO. Somewhere in the line between the junction and solenoid power disappeared. Plus, thats not really the right place on the solenoid to run the power to, in fact it's the wrong place. I even check the original diagrams from the wholesaler I got the engine from and that how they wanted it run. Forget that noise! I just ran it like normal- switched power to the start tab on the solenoid. Works fine. Not sure why they wanted to do it that way unless it was part of maybe a safety system. Got me. It works.
Repaired to large rabbit/cat cages for SWMBO. Very tedious work as you have to clip wire after wire after wire ad nauseam. I really need a good set of wire cutters for this as I do it a couple times a year. I have a nice set of Channel Lock nippers but they are the horizontal "bull nose" type and not the more common pliers shaped type. The problem comes in finding something that will handle 15ga steel wire. 10 ga copper is childs play compared to 15 ga steel. Gonna have to be on the look out.
Also repaired a screen door for her rabbit/cat shed. She had a couple cats loose in there and they'd jump up and try to climb the screen and pull it out of the splined recess. I put the screen and spline back in, added 1" chicken wire and the put screen moulding over the interface. Drilled the moulding for a 1" construction screw every 6" or so and called it good. It actually looks decent. With angora rabbit and cat hair floating around in the shed I rather doubt it will stay looking decent.
Got the lawns mowed, fixed some other little stuff, spent time watching my 10 yo granddaughter do the NASCAR thing on a riding lawn mower around the yard a zillion times and re-re-burried my youngest daughters pet bunny that died a month ago. Not sure what's digging it at the grave, but it's very determined. Nice rock pile there now. Ate pizza for supper and watched Alan Ladd bring justice to the wild west. Not a bad day at all!
Repaired to large rabbit/cat cages for SWMBO. Very tedious work as you have to clip wire after wire after wire ad nauseam. I really need a good set of wire cutters for this as I do it a couple times a year. I have a nice set of Channel Lock nippers but they are the horizontal "bull nose" type and not the more common pliers shaped type. The problem comes in finding something that will handle 15ga steel wire. 10 ga copper is childs play compared to 15 ga steel. Gonna have to be on the look out.
Also repaired a screen door for her rabbit/cat shed. She had a couple cats loose in there and they'd jump up and try to climb the screen and pull it out of the splined recess. I put the screen and spline back in, added 1" chicken wire and the put screen moulding over the interface. Drilled the moulding for a 1" construction screw every 6" or so and called it good. It actually looks decent. With angora rabbit and cat hair floating around in the shed I rather doubt it will stay looking decent.
Got the lawns mowed, fixed some other little stuff, spent time watching my 10 yo granddaughter do the NASCAR thing on a riding lawn mower around the yard a zillion times and re-re-burried my youngest daughters pet bunny that died a month ago. Not sure what's digging it at the grave, but it's very determined. Nice rock pile there now. Ate pizza for supper and watched Alan Ladd bring justice to the wild west. Not a bad day at all!
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Ian
Notorious member
For hardware cloth and coat hanger wire around the house I have a pair of Channel Lock compound leverage dikes with fairly narrow, pointed jaws that work ok. Can't find them on the internet now, IIRC they were a TSC bargain-bin impulse buy. Apex on a-zon offers exact same thing except red plastic handle overmould instead of grey/light blue. For 10- and 12-gauge high-tensile fence I use Knipex mini bolt cutters.
Got mowing to do..... we've been on the edge of brown out WRT maintaining yard/shooting range. Meaning.... we need rain.
Running errands this a.m. "seen"....
3,then 1,and finally 2 deer, looking like they got business to take care of? We,as hunters and outdoorsman need to pay attention to signs. The weather liars are spinning their usual smoke N mirrors.....
On the verge of the 50th anniversary? of hurricane Camille. If you Google it,the area hardest hit..... besides us losing family,is like drilling a big hole in the bttm of a huge tank concentrating the whole barrel into a spot about 10 miles square. I remember it well. 30" of rain,hit one spot in less than 8 hrs. Drive 20 miles up the rd and they got maybe 2".
So,even though it's dry as a popcorn fart.... the signs say rain is coming. Hopefully not at hurricane intensity....duh.
Running errands this a.m. "seen"....
3,then 1,and finally 2 deer, looking like they got business to take care of? We,as hunters and outdoorsman need to pay attention to signs. The weather liars are spinning their usual smoke N mirrors.....
On the verge of the 50th anniversary? of hurricane Camille. If you Google it,the area hardest hit..... besides us losing family,is like drilling a big hole in the bttm of a huge tank concentrating the whole barrel into a spot about 10 miles square. I remember it well. 30" of rain,hit one spot in less than 8 hrs. Drive 20 miles up the rd and they got maybe 2".
So,even though it's dry as a popcorn fart.... the signs say rain is coming. Hopefully not at hurricane intensity....duh.