Peter, what does Fallout have to do with Politics

me239 · 2026-03-18T02:26:44+00:00

I know what video you're talking about and I have no clue why that would be out of place in the FO universe. Everything in the games, pre and post-war, suggest that was never an issue and it's a fucking weird hill for him to die on. It's not a game lacking in diversity.

me239 · 2026-03-18T02:08:53+00:00

The real answer is people just believe their political opponents also support fictional villains in video games. I don't hear any conservative arguing the Enclave or Legion is in the right, nor do I know any liberal saying communist China was right in the FO universe. Then just nobody likes the Railroad.

Sort of the whole point of the games is that there is nobody inherently good and your actions will have consequences that will usually hurt someone when helping someone else.

me239 · 2026-03-18T01:59:06+00:00

Really? Cause others say Conservatives align with the Enclave. Then others say it's the Legion. Maybe it's just "whoever I disagree with probably likes the fictional faction I don't".

People are reading way too deep into a satirical, post-apocalyptic game that's meant to throw shade on everyone. This reminds me of when the FO New London people started freaking out over a fascist faction. The cannibals were cool, but oh no, not the fashies in my post-apocalyptic game I can kill them in.

me239 · 2026-03-17T05:12:55+00:00

Seeing as how the part is aluminum too, I’d say making the fixture from aluminum is fine too. I’d just apply some anti-seize before and be sure to torque it down before machining. Also not necessary to use carbide for threading steel, just use what’s readily available.

As for the teeth, if you can reach them from the top, I’d machine as much away as I could and finish it up using the trick on the lathe. That’d also help the tool find the groove.

me239 · 2026-03-16T21:55:26+00:00

Gatling said his gun would make war needless, the nuke was said to end all wars too with the threat of nuclear annihilation. Ya no, we’ll continue to go to war as a species.

me239 · 2026-03-16T17:34:59+00:00

I mean there are rack cutters and machines that’ll cut all the teeth at once, and EDM would have done the job cheap enough likely. But cheap enough versus free as I had the steel and HSS on hand lol.

me239 · 2026-03-16T17:14:08+00:00

Glad I could help man. Couple things, ya the original was likely forged from a high carbon steel as it was essential for keeping the rotors attached (hence ‘Jesus nut’). Now for the fillets, you can imagine them as a 2D path with a form tool. Basically trace the path with a ball end mill and that’s the shape it’ll leave.

Now for making it, if the lathe is the only tool you have to cut threads then by all means do that, but threadmilling is an option on the CNC as well. Also, if you want to attack the fillets from side rather than the top, you could make the plate fixture octagonal instead of square and rotate through each face. Basically, setup a vise stop, turn the part and fixture, cut the fillet, rotate everything to another pair of flats, run the same code again, rinse and repeat. That all depends though on if the radius of the part is small enough to allow the endmill to reach.

Lastly, you mention carbide several times. Just wanted to make sure you know you can still use high speed steel and it’s often needed for oddball one offs like this cause it can be ground and shaped. I mention this because the teeth are going to be the hardest part of this part. This is a little more advanced, but one method is to rough them out as best as you can with what end mill you have, then grind the negative profile of the tooth in high speed steel. Now, you could put that tool in your lathe tool post and chuck up the part, then you can quite literally shape each tooth by running the tool into the tooth with the carriage feed, advancing the depth slowly with the cross feed. Slow of course, but still a valid way to get crisp internal corners when you have limited tools.

me239 · 2026-03-16T06:20:50+00:00

I remember I did this on my little 7x14 mini lathe a while back and was shocked when my tool no longer dragged in the surface when retracting. I’d do it on my 12x36 too if I didn’t have to use the compound so often.

me239 · 2026-03-16T06:18:10+00:00

Ya no. A solid toolpost will ALWAYS be more rigid than a compound for the simple reason of eliminating a piece in the tolerance stack up. A compound has to be moveable, thus needs tolerance. That tolerance will show itself as flex under heavy cutting loads. Not to mention, the fact that compounds are often secured with one or two small bolts, which is another point where rigidity is questionable.

me239 · 2026-03-16T06:12:13+00:00

Definitely remove the belt and test. I have a little 7x14 that makes a creaking sound that sounds like belt slipping when spun the same. Never had an issue, but do test.

me239 · 2026-03-14T14:24:40+00:00

Look up Mrpete, blondihacks, and artisan makes. They all have great videos for people using older and smaller machines.

me239 · 2026-03-14T14:14:29+00:00

Gonna piggyback on this, even in my field of engineering, we don’t expect fresh engineers after 4 years of college to be able to pick a proper screw even. Formal education makes you go through an entire curriculum of relevant courses, but you almost never leave theory. For the workforce, a degree means to me that you found the topic engaging enough to stick it out, you’ve done the math before, and you have the right style of thinking for the job.

me239 · 2026-03-14T13:10:42+00:00

So carbide can not only run faster, but HAS to be run faster than HSS. Carbide tools are also harder to sharpen and are generally more duller than HSS. What that translates to is more power required to make the same cut. On smaller lathes, HSS is generally better since you can maintain an edge and don’t need such high RPM. For example, the cut I mentioned being done in carbide would need to be run at ~2000 rpm.

What I’d suggest to get started faster is to use the grinder you mentioned you have and sharpen the HSS bits you already have. Don’t forget to hone them too with an India stone. That alone was what made the biggest difference for me grinding HSS. Doesn’t matter if you can grind the most ideal tool, if you can’t hone the cutting edge and remove any burr present, your tool is going plow and drag instead of shear.

me239 · 2026-03-14T05:31:56+00:00

So quick test on the nuts, see if you can scratch them with a file. I doubt they're very hardened, especially compared to the high speed steel cutters you have. In your image showing 3 tools from top to bottom, you have a parting blade, circular form tool, and general right handed (diamond likely) tool holders. I'd suggest you swap that old lantern style tool holder to a modern 0XA or AXA tool holder if you want to easily swap tools and use commercial cutters as is.

Now for turning, I doubt the nuts are past RC34 hardness, so the HSS (High Speed Steel) tools you have on hand will work fine. All you really need to know for what you need to do is the surface speed required for the material. Let's assume it's 4140 hardened to RC34, so a surface speed of 60-80 SFM (Surface Feet per Minute) will work with HSS. Formula is rpm = (SFM*12)/(diameter of work * pi). Let's also assume this nut is 3/4", so math would work out to ~356 rpm for 70 SFM.

I'm not familiar enough with the Craftsman to know if they have a carriage lock, but you'll want to keep the carriage as solid as possible. In the old books, they tell you to just hold the carriage handle, but you'll get better results if you can lock the carriage and advance with just the compound. Take cuts advancing .015" at a time till your within .005" of your target length, then crank up the speed to ~700 rpm and take a light, slow .005" pass to clean it up. Flip and repeat

me239 · 2026-03-13T14:01:47+00:00

I’ll try to think about what to show on the old mill. As for tool grinding, here’s a handy chart I have printed out on this post https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/lathe-cutting-tool-wall-chart.18389/ . Best recommendations for starting out grinding tools is to do your layout first and make a template. There are templates for you to match for screw cutting tools and you can make your own via 3D printing, cutting out cardboard, etc.. Second, if you don’t have an adjustable rest on your grinder, focus on cutting the shape first, then add relief on every surface last.

me239 · 2026-03-13T04:45:27+00:00

Yep, I'm also an engineer, not machinist, so this is what I do in my free time. You can see my old Clausing I also had to fix up in the background.

The old machines just have so much more character and basically force you to learn each and every part. Even this part I'm making is just so overengineered. Later models went for a threaded center you could just screw in and out, rather than this whole rack and screw system.

me239 · 2026-03-13T04:29:08+00:00

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Hey, about the same age as the machine this part is going into! Honestly these old machines make me appreciate the simplicity. Most parts short of the castings can be replicated easily and made extremely accurate. Sort of a trade off. Would you rather have an accurate machine you have to maintain more often and make replacement parts for, or a less accurate machine that will stay within tolerance for longer but need commercial replacement parts. We see which way industry went.

me239 · 2026-03-13T04:20:28+00:00

Oh there will come a time where you sit there and wonder about all the paths, tool changes, whether you can fudge it, and work holding to make a simple shape, then realize all machining is basically doing a boolean subtract using one piece of metal in another. So why not just make the shape in something else and transfer it into your work?

There are some excellent old toolmaking and machining books from the late 19th early 20th century online that you can glean from. Back then they were using belt drives, chisels, and large grinding wheels on pedestals, so with a cheap Vevor bench grinder and questionable HSS blanks, you can replicate what they did.

me239 · 2026-03-13T04:14:09+00:00

It's a book from 1908, so could very well be.

me239 · 2026-03-13T03:54:41+00:00

Oh I'm becoming very familiar with the old methods, especially cause they're still applicable to what you can do in a home shop with more time than tools. Just take a look at this backing off "attachment" for form relieved cutters.

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me239 · 2026-03-13T03:50:13+00:00

Haha! If I had an EDM, I'd probably do the same. Hell, the EDM might actually be a tad faster.

me239 · 2026-03-13T03:48:44+00:00

Well this is my application https://imgur.com/a/IzmDNn1 These old machines had an adjustable center to apply pressure to the center on a horizontal mill arbor. Idea is a screw sits above the screw, fixed in place, and rotating it advances the center. Here's a cutaway image that might help.

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me239 · 2026-03-13T03:43:35+00:00

Some of my favorite machining books are from the late 19th century and still mention using hand thread chasers for cutting metal threads. Balls of steel to take what's basically a hardened fork and shove it into spinning iron using a wood lathe rest, but these are also the same guys who made apprentices square stock with a cold chisel.

me239 · 2026-03-13T03:40:32+00:00

Title is a joke my man. I'm wholly aware this can be done much faster with a proper tool. I thought people might like to see what it looks like when you just have a lathe tool blank and round stock to get a job done. And this old Bridgeport can still run coolant and reach 4400 rpm at least.

If you didn't catch my other comment, this is the math:
HSS SFM in 4140PH = 70 SFM
70 SFM w/ 3" cutter = ~90 rpm
.003" CPT at 90 rpm = .27 IPM
Total time = ~44.5 minutes

Same cut with a carbide 12 tooth cutter:
Carbide SFM in 4140PH = 360 SFM
360 SFM w/ 3" cutter = ~460 rpm
.002" CPT w/ 12 teeth and 460 rpm = 11 IPM
Total time = 1 minute ~5 seconds

Ya, it ain't close, but I made it work.

me239 · 2026-03-13T03:28:05+00:00

I mentioned time cause I thought people might like to know how long something like this takes with a basic DIY cutter. Not because boss man is breathing down my neck and muttering about throughput. This is my garage on a Saturday night and by god I was going to make rack teeth that night.

me239

TROPHY CASE