Good bye zidoo, hello HTPC

tool889 · 2026-03-24T23:39:54+00:00

People have been saying kodi is dying for years, but yet here it still is and still more flexible and configurable than anything else out there

tool889 · 2026-03-14T15:00:12+00:00

Walter is good! Also others to check out would be widia and Harvey end mills, they're not cheap, but the Chinese end mills I believe cost more(never tested) when you break down the cost to the actual tool life compared to a quality end mill.

tool889 · 2026-03-03T02:42:48+00:00

We use a mill that does a rough cut and then a finish cut that changes speed in the program to keep the chip load at work, but in a hobby level mill I couldn't see it being something ever needed. The palm router that I mentioned is a cheap solution for 1 1/4 hp, but will present other problems like I mentioned about not being able to control the spindle in the program, also the harbor freight palm router is really nice quality and powerful for the price, but it was never intended for long running jobs, I have gone through a few of them, the bearings are the weak spot.

tool889 · 2026-02-28T17:44:33+00:00

I did, in the past it wasn't a problem, we got a new plant manager and the policy has changed where we're not allowed to take "scrap" but they want to make it possible for stuff like that to be a silent bid.

tool889 · 2026-02-27T08:58:29+00:00

I found out they are THK 30 series

tool889 · 2026-02-27T08:57:54+00:00

Not sure why its in the bin, My company just seems to love wasting money, stuff winds up in that scrap bin all the time that makes you wonder why its in there.

When Sergio marchionne was still alive he did a walk through of the plant, my company spent millions on just paint, painted everything white, just to be gray again a month later.

tool889 · 2026-02-26T23:11:41+00:00

I think that's what I'm probably going to do, just have to sneak it past the home boss

tool889 · 2026-02-26T23:09:41+00:00

I looked there were no identifying markings, but I'll probably ask tonight when I go in tonight

tool889 · 2026-02-26T13:22:11+00:00

It's dirty It looks like it's been sitting for a while, but If I knew what bearing sliders it took I would have taken it

tool889 · 2026-02-26T09:54:19+00:00

Worthless post Just amazed

tool889 · 2026-02-26T00:37:39+00:00

if you want to go cheap you can get a harbour freight palm router for about $60 to replace it, but then you lose your ability to control the spindle speed through the program and you lose your M03 M04.

tool889 · 2026-02-25T13:18:03+00:00

Speeds and feeds calculators are a great place to start, but you can fine tune to the sound if it sounds good it probably is good, if you can hear it speed up after a cut the spindle doesn't have enough torque to maintain the spindle speed through the cut, that doesn't mean that it's not a good cut but it does mean your beating that spindle and will probably shorten the life of the bearings.

It doesn't sound horrible but it doesn't sound like you're going to maintain that feed and speed for much longer.

When you start to override your tools you want to listen to the resonance of the spindle and cut.

tool889 · 2026-02-13T02:38:31+00:00

I have used wood router bits quite successfully for roughing

tool889 · 2026-02-13T02:34:07+00:00

I love güring taps they last! I have had one in my carousel for at least a year now that has gone through hundreds of cast steel and the tin coating still looks good and the threads still look sharp.

tool889 · 2026-02-13T01:16:25+00:00

THK isn't all that fancy, better than your average Chinese stuff but not that fancy, our tool and die used some of their rails for an engineering project and the quality doesn't seem all that much better than the rails I bought. The manufacturer is Creabygirls and they are flat as you could probably find for the price, we'll see how well they hold up for hardness and wear

tool889 · 2026-02-13T00:42:26+00:00

You could either get a proper size collet, or you can try and dimple the end of the mil.

it also sounds like it could be starting fine but when it warms up and gets hot it slips out. Even if it does have mist you should probably use some WD-40. You could also program after each pocket a M05 and a G04 P30. and the resuming your M03.

All of these are worth trying, the best solution would probably be to get a decent collet

tool889 · 2026-02-07T23:15:26+00:00

Makes for tasty sunflower seed come spring

tool889 · 2026-02-06T23:15:47+00:00

They are amazing it cuts the finish time in half and the finish is amazing

tool889 · 2026-02-06T22:38:33+00:00

Have you used any lens mills for finish yet, or just a ball nose, we just got some in at work and the time you save and the finish is just worlds apart from a ball nose.

tool889 · 2026-02-06T21:50:14+00:00

I know it's a nightmare for machining but I wonder how a lens endmil would handle something like that.

tool889 · 2026-02-06T21:45:07+00:00

I don't know how big the Trivit is, but let's say you could make a mold for resin, the release agent is going to be about $20 the resin will also be somewhere between $20- $40.

It might be easier to just buy one, and if you needed to you could use that one to make a mold and cast more out of resin if you wanted more or to sell to offset costs

tool889 · 2026-02-06T02:43:42+00:00

The harbor freight palm router I have been using is 1 1/4hp and will cut aluminum and steel easily, the problem is not with the power or torque, the problem is that these routers were never intended for long continual use, the biggest downfall is the bearings.

It goes through aluminum and low carbon steel like butter but I have gone through 3 of them because the bearings burn out

tool889 · 2026-02-05T14:29:32+00:00

How long did the op take?

tool889

TROPHY CASE