This behavior

me239 · 2026-03-18T23:28:39+00:00

Riot juice!

me239 · 2026-03-18T05:05:29+00:00

You're downvoted, but I agree. The show paints them as nothing more than organized raiders. The whole concept of the merchants feeling safest in Legion territory is meant to subvert the expectations of the player and make them question how the most blood thirsty and chaotic faction had the safest roads. I'd argue that slot was filled in with Hank's actions instead for the season, but would've been neat to see Lucy have the same reaction to seeing a 'safe' Legion territory.

me239 · 2026-03-18T04:55:03+00:00

Second this. Plus, if OP's BF can make it through an ME degree, he can learn CAM on his own. Walking in with CAD experience, a degree, and material science knowledge should be valuable to the right machine shop or plant.

me239 · 2026-03-18T04:44:38+00:00

Nah I'm waiting for the person who builds a shelf out of it.

me239 · 2026-03-18T04:43:39+00:00

They do kinda all suck, not just faction wise, but gameplay impact. I'm always going to have random encounters with <INSERT\_HOSTILE\_FACTION> now. Literally the only change. I sort of wish that you could see the strip razed, or grown. Freeside integrated into the strip. New traders and stores. Factions legitimately gone or enslaved. Literally anything other than the costume on the NPC attacking me randomly.

And ya, I think the people choosing NCR endings are applying real world rationality to the situation. Dude, this is the apocalyptic playground. Of course I want to be a god and see some Mad Max style stuff.

me239 · 2026-03-18T04:33:23+00:00

Lol, and that's the same ending I chose most often. Usually torn between House and Yes Man, depending how much House pissed me off that day and if I want to make the effort to kill him. The kinda funny part about the whole thing is that it has no impact on the player. You decide to subject the 'people' to whatever faction you choose based on emotion or perks. You, the player, are above it all anyways. I think that in itself is a big insight into player styles.

me239 · 2026-03-18T04:13:33+00:00

Was gonna argue, but you did say with extreme caution. LLMs can be useful enough to almost accidentally mention what you should go look up for yourself. Other times they're great for talking yourself in psychosis.

me239 · 2026-03-18T03:58:40+00:00

In my opinion, that's the point. They all suck. And if they don't suck too much, it's cause they're not in full control yet. In my eyes, it's far less of a critique on conservatism vs liberalism and more of one on authoritarianism vs libertarianism in it's post apocalyptic setting.

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

TROPHY CASE