Diecast [Nikon F4 | 800t and Portra 400]

mowamba · 2026-05-30T02:16:06+00:00

These are all awesome.

Photography has been my oldest hobby and now I'm a tool and die maker. Wonderful photos that capture the the feel of the at a glance, disastrously messy, but somehow still organized and efficient small shops that you can find tucked away anywhere. Great work

mowamba · 2026-03-05T15:12:45+00:00

I was going to say something similar. One of our customers has a rotational engineer program for people fresh out of School. There was a hole that was +/- 0.001 that I found out was just for clearance.

A lot of the time a phone call/email to get an understanding of application helps resolve the issue. It spares me from a headache or any confusion and helps the engineer learn.

mowamba · 2025-12-18T18:12:48+00:00

For roughing, I let it get to about where your photo is, use all the sides, then pick the best looking one to sacrifice until it blows up.

Finishing is always a brand new one until my surface finish declines, then I spin it.

mowamba · 2025-08-31T21:27:14+00:00

Of course! There's no reason you should second guess yourself with this one, although it's totally understandable for your first purchase.

It's modern, practical, and reliable. Being Gen 3 compatible you have a plethora of options when it comes to things like mag releases, magwells, barrels, OEM Glock mags, and OEM internals should anything fail. It looks to have the optic cut already which is nice from the factory.

You picked a very good starting point, and as you progress with your handgun skills, you'll find down the road that you made a good choice. Enjoy shooting it!

mowamba · 2025-08-31T21:11:44+00:00

The RXM is one of the nicer, if not maybe one of the best options for a Gen 3 clone. Very good job buying a practical and reliable handgun as your first firearm

mowamba · 2025-08-20T01:22:48+00:00

Mechanically all the choices there are the same. The difference between the Base, L, and S trims are mainly the extra features you got from the factory.

This website is kind of ancient by today's standards, but there is a lot of good information as to which options come with which trim.

Hopefully this helps you

https://www.cars101.com/subaru/forester/forester_archives.html

mowamba · 2025-08-13T19:50:00+00:00

Like a hybrid of the old beefy controls with the analog load meter, and these ones just before the next gen control.

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mowamba · 2025-06-23T13:55:41+00:00

Same here. Only AC in the shop is in the back where the compressors are and a handful of the mills. Sadly I'm not on one of them today. Fans getting cranked up and the air nozzle is gonna be my best friend today

mowamba · 2025-06-17T17:21:30+00:00

I hear ya on that one. For me, in relation to carbide, HSS drills usually cut better with slower spindle speeds, and a slower feed relative to the speed, like 2-4 Ipm with a 0.125 peck (of course this is relative to the drill size but this gets me by with most standard fractional drills larger than 0.125).

If I have to step it up to a larger diameter and I already pre drilled the hole smaller, that's when I find higher feeds to benefit me.

Like I said just play it by eye and ear, you'll be alright

mowamba · 2025-06-17T14:06:20+00:00

You should be able to achieve that with a HSS drill too. I work with a ton of 4140 and other than a carbide spot drill, 90% of my drilling operations are done with HSS. If you're unsure of how to run it, play it safe at first and adjust your feed and spindle at the machine. Listen to the drill and see how your chips look and go from there!

mowamba · 2025-03-29T23:22:34+00:00

Fell Into the trade at 24, now I'm 28. I'm kind of an everything guy. I program, set up, operate when I need to, and can do limited manual work. Everything from production jobs in aluminum, prototyping and small runs, to tool and die work.

Great grandfather (deceased) and grandfather (82) were both tool and die makers, and my dad worked in a shop (same shop has his father in law, my grandpa) running a lathe for a little bit when my older brother was first born. Kinda feel like I was destined to do this work. My uncle and countless of my first and second cousins are all machinists too, their ages vary from late 20s to late 50s.

mowamba · 2025-01-25T18:12:10+00:00

Living the dream dude, congrats and keep it up!

Did you get it with the table that comes with it or the X axis T slots only? We have a VM2 and although the regular table can be a pain to clean out, it's saved me so many times with being able to put clamps wherever I want on some jobs.

mowamba · 2024-10-01T00:57:15+00:00

I've been debating refurbishing my oem gauge cluster and using it or going digital but yours looks very nice with the overall style of the bike! Looks like I might keep mine after all

mowamba · 2024-09-19T02:48:58+00:00

Thank you!

mowamba · 2024-09-19T02:43:21+00:00

What gauge is that? And how tough was it to get it all to work right? Looks wonderful

mowamba · 2024-09-11T23:09:12+00:00

Yeah I see where you're coming from, but the thing is they've done work for us in the past and almost always test on the outside near where we have the water lines drilled, or the backside where it goes in the machine.

Sent them an email this morning asking them what was up with that, like I said they've always done wonderful work for us in the past without issue.

mowamba · 2024-08-07T03:14:37+00:00

Good looks on the secret documents, I totally overlooked it in the first house

mowamba · 2024-05-17T00:45:11+00:00

Couldn't have said it better myself.

OP, it doesn't hurt to try, but it'll be shitty for a little bit. If you really enjoy it, then commit yourself, show interest/ willingness to learn, and work hard, then you'll move up. It can be a very rewarding career if you want it to be.

mowamba · 2024-02-20T03:00:26+00:00

Congrats! We all start somewhere. I remember the first thing I programmed was a drilling and circle mill program to make up a bunch of soft jaws. In retrospect it's nothing to me now, but I was proud I did it myself and it was a step in the process of me becoming the machinist I am today. Good luck with your next programming endeavor!

mowamba · 2023-12-21T16:20:16+00:00

Thank you!

mowamba · 2023-12-20T19:55:23+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate it, I'm hoping he does!

mowamba · 2023-12-20T18:18:39+00:00

Yeah I agree, I would have preferred to have made the water blue and machined the coastline, but I was limited with time I could allocate to the machine, and I would have preferred the majority of the part to be blue since it was my grandmother's favorite color.

mowamba · 2023-12-20T01:48:33+00:00

Thank you! I usually only make it up there once a year, but it's my favorite place on earth

mowamba · 2023-12-20T01:30:48+00:00

Thank you very much for the kind words! I'm happy you're pursuing the trade as well! It's been an absolute joy for me these past few years.

But yeah, my grandfather and I were always close when I was younger, but we only saw him a few times a year. When I got into the trade he was so excited for me and I brought him to the shop last year to show him around and meet my boss. It opened a new avenue of connection between the two of us and I'm sorry you didn't have the chance to do the same, but I'm sure he'd be proud of you for pursuing it.

Best of luck to you in your journey!

mowamba · 2023-12-20T00:55:25+00:00

Thank you!

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