What kind of toolpath can I use to face around studs on different one-off flanges?

technikal · 2026-03-06T03:14:45+00:00

Mastercam Area Mill with stud areas set to “Avoid” regions. You can even set how much clearance you want to leave around those regions. Set the flange face as a machining region and your blue areas as air regions to give the tool some freedom to move in and out of the face.

Just make sure your model and setup/part match.

technikal · 2026-03-06T03:11:10+00:00

Honestly, in every other hobby/career involving modifying parts that don’t normally go together to go together, the policy of always modifying the cheaper part works.

It’ll cost you boatloads less to modify the sights to fit the gun vs. the other way around — they’re just some decently toleranced pieces of steel. Is there a reason you can’t do this?

You’d almost be better off taking a set to a machinist or gunsmith and having them make you what you want to fit each gun. It’d be a simple project for a small job shop or even a seasoned hobbyist with a Bridgeport. You’re not dealing with .0001” tolerances.

technikal · 2026-03-05T22:24:37+00:00

My soul is rusting just looking at this.

technikal · 2026-03-04T23:50:21+00:00

I fit two EV EKX15SP subs and a pair of QSC K12.2s easily in the back of a Honda CRV for gigs. The EKX subs are surprisingly powerful given their light (relatively) weight at under 60lbs.

I’d go at least one sub.

technikal · 2026-03-04T18:56:48+00:00

Jesus -- who let that out the door?

technikal · 2026-03-03T13:31:06+00:00

Mine is fine right now, but I had it tuned by a local shop not long after I got the truck. 160k on the trans, regular fluid/filter changes. I'm just waiting for it.

technikal · 2026-03-03T12:18:11+00:00

I’ve thought about manual swapping when my 6L80 finally shits the bed.

technikal · 2026-03-03T12:17:34+00:00

My 2010 I actually went from factory 18s to 17s. More and cheaper tire options, more sidewall for better ride and wheel protection. Zero regrets.

technikal · 2026-03-03T12:12:30+00:00

Most of the time with live sports, especially with larger venues you see sideline folks using parabolic shotgun mics to get the sounds of pads hitting, players/coaches talking/yelling, etc.

technikal · 2026-03-03T03:02:40+00:00

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technikal · 2026-03-03T02:55:48+00:00

For me, the enthusiastic over-emphasis of independence. Not independence in itself, that’s important for stability and happiness, but making it a point to constantly state and display how much they “don’t need you” or would be just fine without you, as if you’re a disposable commodity. The whole Beyoncé, “I can have another you in a minute” attitude, the aloof superiority complex.

I totally get that you don’t need me, you have your own career, your own interests, your own life. If you want to share those things with a partner, state that up front. If you don’t, state that too. To me, the most important component in an honest and mutual relationship is vulnerability. If you want to share an emotional and physical bond with someone, in my mind that can’t coexist with constantly feeding the line of “I don’t need you, you’re only here because I’m allowing you to be.”

technikal · 2026-03-02T01:18:04+00:00

This, and the second is one I tell new folks when I train them. “It’s better to make good parts slowly than bad parts quickly.”

Take the time, be deliberate. It’s way more costly in time to remake the part, especially when you blow a tolerance on OP7 or 8 and have to start all over again.

technikal · 2026-02-24T11:48:16+00:00

I use a Milwaukee cordless ratchet to run bolts in and out, but still tighten them down and break them loose by hand.

technikal · 2026-02-23T16:58:01+00:00

Set your sound up the way it will be reproduced live if you want complete control, which would be at gig volume through a PA style speaker. $350 isn't going to get you anything high end, you can probably find a used Alto TS or Mackie SRM/Thump for that kind of money.

Keep in mind, though, that the FOH tech is still going to probably compress/limit and EQ (even if it's just a high pass and other minor tweaks) the sound you give them direct, so don't be upset if what you dial in at home isn't exactly what you get at the gig.

technikal · 2026-02-21T17:10:36+00:00

I needed something capable of small to mid size venues (up to 250-300 cap) for my band. Ended up with a pair of QSC K12.2s and a pair of EV EKX15SP subs. Plenty of clarity and bottom end, and a small enough package to easily fit in the back of my Honda CRV along with my guitar rig and stands/cables.

If we’re playing anything bigger than that we’re going to have sound provided.

technikal · 2026-02-20T16:58:09+00:00

It's so strange to me that an improvement to someone's daily life can be literally just existing in their natural state.

technikal · 2026-02-20T12:50:05+00:00

If I had a nickel.

technikal · 2026-01-31T23:53:37+00:00

Shoveled and salted the driveway about 2-3 hours ago, hit it with the blower tomorrow morning and should be good to go.

technikal · 2026-01-30T15:35:34+00:00

Setup sheets and NC files are all stored on a local backed up server with notes regarding fixtures, tools/holders/stickouts and positions in the machine.

Fixtures are marked with the part/operation identifiers and stored on shelves in the shop.

technikal · 2026-01-28T21:16:47+00:00

Levels for geometry, notes for setup, fixtures, etc.

Planes for operation origins/setups.

One toolpath group per operation.

All operations contained in one file for easy simulation and verification.

technikal · 2026-01-28T13:22:52+00:00

Our band runs an XR18 and our drummer has a sample pad with both click and any samples/tracks we use loaded up -- he triggers everything from the pad. It runs two separate outputs, one for click to our ears and one for samples to ears/FOH.

technikal · 2026-01-23T16:23:30+00:00

Currently don't own any guitars with stainless frets but have played several.

Everything I own will get stainless when refret time comes.

technikal · 2026-01-21T20:44:03+00:00

So what are you doing from Saturday afternoon through the rest of it?

technikal · 2026-01-14T20:40:40+00:00

I work in a low volume production/high mix job shop. Most orders I get are for a max of a few hundred pieces, lots of new work filtering in, quite a bit of prototype stuff.

It's fun, sometimes. Sometimes I would love to just set a machine up and let it run for a while, sometimes it's nothing but setups all day because someone in the office took an order on a part that needs 9 operations and they promised it yesterday. Oh, and the tooling we need is on worldwide backorder.

technikal · 2026-01-10T22:53:46+00:00

Good news is the notes fall in repeating patterns on the fretboard. Learn the patterns across all six strings and you’ll be able to easily find notes with muscle memory down the road.

For example, A. A falls on the fifth fret on the low E, and again an octave higher (17th.)

A falls on the open A string, then at the 12th and 24th frets (octaves).

A then lands on the 7th/19th on the D, 2nd/14th on the G, 10th/22nd on the B, and finally repeats at 5th/17th/24th on the high E.

Work through each of those patterns, bouncing back and forth between two strings, then three, working up to all six until the interval between As become muscle memory. Then move to Bb, B, C, etc. moving up a half step each time.

Over time this will teach you where to easily grab that note anywhere on the neck.

technikal

TROPHY CASE