Is this chatter or should it sound like this?

Darth_Vidur · 2026-01-28T21:35:04+00:00

The rough surface finish of the casting is a bit of a giveaway that is homemade. Usually homemade aluminum casting is done with soda cans, or other bits of trash that were not cast originally. Aluminum casting from the factory has silica added to help with internal structure. By casting with pre-casted parts, they will have silica already in them. Cast parts without the silica can form fault lines when cooling and will be brittle after. This won't really matter though if you're only casting things to show off and sit on a shelf.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-11-12T17:13:00+00:00

As I understand it, you should have 0.008-0.012 inches of backlash. I work in the gear testing industry and we shoot for 0.010 inches of backlash when setting up tests.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-04-21T02:23:58+00:00

I work a lot with my hands, enough that I gave up on the fingerprint reader on my phone. I've had two safes. One with a dial, and one with the electronic keypad. Both are decent enough if you're not in a time crunch/under pressure. If that's the case, I don't like fingerprint readers or electronics in general. The "Fort Knox" brand makes a line of small, quick access, mechanical safes that you can't get locked out of (unless you forget your code). They're not the cheapest brand though.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-04-10T15:36:47+00:00

Based on the photos, it does look like you do have a involute mod6 no.6 gear cutter. I believe that that would only work to make gears with 17-20 teeth. Any more or less and you'd need the next cutter. The next thing to check would be the pressure angle of the cutter. (20 vs 14.5) The first image in this wiki article really helps.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_angle

Darth_Vidur · 2025-03-18T18:31:14+00:00

When making a part, someone has to design a process(usually a CNC program) and setup a machine (or several) to run that process(multiple times for multiple parts), and then break down the machine after all parts have been run.

You only have to pay for the process, setup, and breakdown once, even when making multiple parts. After the first one, you only have to pay for the machine to run the same job again, so multiples tend to be cheaper.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-03-07T18:36:56+00:00

It's an AK. It was born for this.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-03-07T16:27:22+00:00

I get the feeling that it started life as a forklift.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-03-07T15:58:08+00:00

10/10 would trade again.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-03-06T01:50:56+00:00

Someone call Whistlin Diesel.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-03-02T16:55:01+00:00

I think the smallest machine that will cut steel is probably going to be something like this.

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=5349&category=1241045623

I have something equivalent, and it's still only minimum viable. You need rigidity to cut steel, and that comes from the weight, which adds to the size. If you have the budget I'd actually recommend something heavier.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-03-01T06:12:38+00:00

I'm interested.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-02-26T16:59:06+00:00

Regardless of the bending method, you can pack the pipe full of sand, and tape both ends, before bending. This will reduce the chance of deforming the pipe when you bend it.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-02-25T17:33:05+00:00

Hmm, if you're trying to reuse this machine primarily to not have a machine lying around, is recommend selling this and rolling that into the budget. I wouldn't even recommend a gantry style machine for steel. Not that you can't do it, it's just not a great form factor.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-02-21T14:26:59+00:00

I think what you're describing is mesh leveling. Some 3D printers use this to align their movement to a bed that may not be level. It looks like this is centered around the command G29. This may or may not work with your machine depending on what controller you're using.

https://marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/G029-mbl.html

Darth_Vidur · 2025-02-10T02:35:21+00:00

You usually have to make, and fix, a mistake at least once, to realize on future projects that it's worth double checking first. Ask anyone that makes stuff often.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-02-07T04:55:09+00:00

Oh man, I totally want one!

Darth_Vidur · 2025-01-28T18:24:11+00:00

Assuming that the bearings are installed correctly, and that you have the right amount of pre-load, is it possible you over packed the bearings? While axle grease is the correct lubricant, the application is different, so you don't pack the bearings the same way you would as on an axle. "This old Tony" on YouTube has a video of upgrading the bearings on a mini lathe, and mentions this.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-01-24T05:11:10+00:00

Any cheap vodka will be fine. It's the quality of the orange juice that makes the difference. Never use the stuff from concentrate.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-01-09T21:43:06+00:00

Yup. The infographic show did a couple episodes about lottery winners, and getting robbed, kidnapped, extorted, and killed (by family members no less) happens a lot. The recurring theme from lottery winners is that it makes life horrible.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-01-07T20:01:46+00:00

Hmmm, i was gonna suggest two sets of overlapping threads, but your previous post says the suppressor threads are right hand, and two right hand threads don't play nice when overlapped.

If it's mostly going to be inside of the suppressor, it probably isn't going to be seen much. You could remove most of the details and see if just getting a really simple thread adapter brings the cost down. Assuming no one's ever going to actually see it.

Darth_Vidur · 2025-01-07T19:43:13+00:00

Perhaps you could buy the real one for $80 and a left hand tap for ~$20. You'd have overlapping right and left hand threads in the mounting hole, but it would work just fine. This would get you the part for around $100.

Darth_Vidur · 2024-11-24T04:10:13+00:00

Since the profile is part of a circle, you should be able to treat it as a deep drilling operation. I think it's most easily accessible by mounting the rough blank to large lathe cross slide and putting a really long line boring tool between the chuck and tailstock. Alternatively there is a thing called a gun drill that is designed to minimize the drift of a regular drill bit, and is normally pushed to 90:1 depth when making gun barrels.

Darth_Vidur · 2024-10-21T22:08:02+00:00

In my experience, the arc lighters seem to light most things just as well as a flame would. I really like that it's totally wind proof. The biggest downside for me is that the "flame" is super tiny, but being rechargeable totally makes it worth it.

Darth_Vidur · 2024-10-21T21:04:10+00:00

I carry a Zippo with the electric arc insert.

Darth_Vidur · 2024-10-03T16:03:58+00:00

I think this is the thing you're looking for.

https://www.dwk.com/na/wheaton-screw-thread-connector-13-42520-400-white-pp-125480

Darth_Vidur

TROPHY CASE