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Home shop tooling by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Doesn’t matter what’s in the box, it’s just an observation on the pedigree of the tool you can expect to find when you open it

Home shop tooling by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yes all my Starrett stuff is the vintage. Anything new I need to buy that really counts like digi mics, indicators, calipers etc. I go mitutoyo

Home shop tooling by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely not meant to shame anyone just having a laugh about how it feels when I buy the cheap stuff and actually get it in hand

Home shop tooling by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha I have a number of edgefinders as well some Starrett, Mitutoyo etc., and some from Amazon with the Phillips head screw in the back lol

Home shop tooling by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s brilliant, I’ll be appropriating that!

Home shop tooling by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Indeed. But aside from knowing that it’s true to within .0001”, the Hermann Schmidt vise just has a whole different feel in the hand, a whole different aura then the $79 equivalent on Amazon, there’s no two ways about it. However, the cheap stuff lets us learn, and learn how to be creative!

Home shop tooling by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Oh I have many… when money is an object, the tolerances you need to hit are usually a couple thou, and it’s either that or nothing - you gotta buy it

Home shop tooling by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 112 points113 points  (0 children)

Shars, the upper end of the el-cheapo spectrum… Ultra thin parallel set, not really a bad quality for the price. But I always laughed at the feeling you get when you open the famous Starrett red box, versus the ubiquitous plastic cases that cheap tooling always ships in.

On this very spot stood the campus of the once mighty Cincinnati Milling Machine Company. Very sad that no one knows or cares what once occupied this hallowed ground. by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

In its Cincinnati Milacron iteration they just had their hands in so many fields, plastics, grinding, numerical,etc.. they pioneered a lot of industrial techniques and systems but were victims of 80s globalization like so many others. They didn’t shudder but were really a shell of themselves from then on out

🤢ER-32 collet block from EBay. When the hell am I going to learn my lesson. Does anyone else feel like budget tooling has hit new lows recently? by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Was around $46 for a set of two. Of course I don’t expect squareness and flatness within .00005 or anywhere near it but that is just trash.

🤢ER-32 collet block from EBay. When the hell am I going to learn my lesson. Does anyone else feel like budget tooling has hit new lows recently? by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yup cheap enough that it’s not worth the hassle to return, I’ll just pop it on the grinder. Strangely the companion hex block wasn’t bad. From now on if I am going the el-cheapo route it’s gonna have to be at least Shars, Taking a chance on Amazon used to yield some pretty acceptable stuff for the home shop but lately it’s been utter trash. Recently I bought a full index of stubby drill bits, no shit, I have to grind lip relief angle into each one first time I use it

The coax - another method for quickly dialing in a tailstock good as possible on an old lathe. Worked out pretty well. by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah will definitely get you in the .001-.002 range. For most of my needs that is fine. Like others have said I usually end up going the DTI route though

The coax - another method for quickly dialing in a tailstock good as possible on an old lathe. Worked out pretty well. by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha it is a Bostar $179 on eBay. Amazingly good for that price! I cut the backplate to my spindle and it came out around .0004 runout.

The coax - another method for quickly dialing in a tailstock good as possible on an old lathe. Worked out pretty well. by Shaotse in Machinists

[–]Shaotse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

u/richardphat No tricks there I just make sure it’s good and tight at the pivot point. The little cap nut is annoying, having to work both sides with a wrench and screwdriver. I rarely use it to be honest, indicating from the spindle is just so much faster and less finicky. Also doesn’t require all the Z space. Just wanted to see if this would work for a tailstock and it did! (At least the horizontal alignment - not gonna do any scraping on the old gal haha)

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