From: muratlanne@gmail.com   
      
   "Richard Smith"  wrote in message news:m1a503cgoy.fsf@void.com...   
      
   I used to mechanic motorcycles in the   
   garage at my folks' home as a youth - and was well set-up.   
   Here it comes again...   
   As I've mentioned - maybe I could get a lathe, a little milling machine   
   or shaper, ...  Begin to make mechanical things...   
      
   ---------------------   
      
   I rebuilt old motorcycles too, made no money but learned a lot, such as I'm   
   not a businessman. Reboring worn cylinders requires a larger milling machine   
   than I have room for, I still need to send some larger work to a nearby   
   shop, which is also the source for cutoffs of steel in a size I don't have   
   and can do shearing and bending well beyond reasonable home shop capacity.   
      
   The 4" x 6" horizontal bandsaw I bought happened to be made well enough to   
   clean up and align for square cuts, their reputation is often poor. I assume   
   any decently priced used machine tool has something wrong the owner couldn't   
   fix and am usually right, but I've diagnosed, understood and salvaged them.   
   The exception has been estate sales.   
      
   My first small metal lathe has only a 4 jaw chuck and change gears for   
   thread cutting. While they make it slow to set up it still can do anything   
   within its size and rigidity limits, which isn't saying much. The second   
   lathe, all I could ask for, is a 1965 South Bend Heavy 10 with 5C collets   
   and a quick change gearbox. Its antiquated flat leather belt drive and   
   threaded spindle mount have not been problems, actually they make some tasks   
   easier, like stopping the cut right at the end of a thread by declutching   
   the belt and adding a spindle index dial behind the chuck to shave an   
   internal hex socket. The lathe was easily adapted to metric for laser   
   optics, and later making automotive special tools etc.   
      
   Neither lathe or my mill has dimension readouts beyond the handle dials and   
   for one-off custom work to my own design or to repair worn parts I don't   
   need digital readouts. I take a rough cut, measure it, and move inward as   
   needed. This compensates for worn leadscrews. The limit of accuracy is the   
   measuring tool, not the old machine.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)