What did you LEARN today?

[Falcon Ranchero]

Learned how to fix a pocket watch; and picked up some new watch terminology - Yes I "fixed" that pocket watch I was being miserable about in the What Irked You Today thread. It still doesn't work, but everything went back in great (more or less) and at least it will make a nice decor piece until I can maybe get it fixed for real sometime down the road. I feel very proud having been able to put it back how it was. 👍

[espo]

22 hours ago, SSNJim said:

I was riding my scooter on a state highway headed to Santee, CA many years ago. The car a ways ahead of me had a mattress attached to his roof, until he didn't. It flew through the air tumbling end over end. It was a beautiful and graceful thing. Fortunately I was far enough behind that it wasn't a hazard and easily avoidable. What a sight.

We were driving on that same section of freeway today and furniture hasn't been picked up yet. Today we have a steady 40+ mph winds with some gusts even higher. We passed two guys on the side of the road that seem to have decided to try and tie down a refrigerator that was standing upright in the back of their pickup.  You just can't fix stupid.  

[johnyrotten]

4 hours ago, Falcon Ranchero said:

Learned how to fix a pocket watch

Awesome you were able to figure it out. Being an heirloom, I imagine you were dead set on figuring it out, from the research you did.  That's the only reason i cautioned you on the attempt. Tricky little devices they are, I look at them like functional works of art. Again, great job👍👍

[Mike C]

A new word: Defenestrate

It means "to throw (someone) out a window".

[JollySipper]

I learned about this awesome lady today.......... She was a test pilot during WWII, along with other accomplishments. I figured you history buffs would enjoy this short read!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micky_Axton

 

Edited May 9 by JollySipper

[Musclecarbuilder]

Learned how to play "The Four Horsemen" on my guitar today. Jeez that song is quick. 😳

[Falcon Ranchero]

Found out that if Roy Abernethey didn't angirly hit is head getting into a prototype AMC Marlin, the car's roofline would've been a few inches lower.

[meechum68]

I learned that being too good at  your job puts you in the eyes of US Director level, and they make requests, and you want to not do the project that you were overlooked for at another venue, then the US Director tells your direct Director that you will be doing x y and z period, and to figure out how to have others cover your stuff. So ... finally the addage, hard work pays off, really has.  Too bad the pay doesn't reflect it lol.

[Vettegasser]

No matter what you do or say. When your married it’s all wrong 

[Ace-Garageguy]

A learning experience.

I set up the Sherline, for the first time, in the shop where I'm finishing up the Chevelle build.

Needed to turn multiple parts, some of which have to be hand fitted, so taking the tool to the shop was the most efficient way to do it.

Interesting...to anyone who owns a Unimat too, it's obvious that the Sherline's designers had looked very carefully at the Unimat before they put pen to paper.

[peteski]

Yes, Sherline makes really nice line of miniature machining products.  I've own my lathe for about 30 years now.  Later I also ended up with a mill.

Quoting their https://www.sherline.com/about/   page:

Sherline exists because of the strength and vision of Joe Martin. Born and raised in Rhode Island, acquaintances would notice that several decades of living on the West Coast never totally erased his New England accent. He was a self-taught entrepreneur who found his way to the business world by being a hobbyist who was never satisfied with the products available. Sherline was the perfect business for Joe. His love of machine tools is evident not only in his product line but also in his modern manufacturing facility. When Joe designed a new product he did it all. This included the CAD drawings needed for production, the method of manufacturing, and the design of the tooling if needed and then he wrote the instructions.

I recall reading somewhere that Joe's design was inspired by some Austrailan-made mini lathe.  I just found that info (it seems to be hidden on the Sheline website). http://www.sherline.com/about/sherline-history/

 

[Bugatti Fan]

The Sherline miniature machine tools look like quality pieces of machinery and available. They do have a UK outlet.

I have a Unimat 4 that is an equivalent that I have had for many years and use it regularly. Unfortunately the Unimats were discontinued a few years back. The Proxxon machine is the nearest equivalent now in Europe.

To anyone starting out with a miniature lathe and/or milling machine no matter what make, I would thoroughly recommend Joe Martin's book by Sherline that will give a very good general grounding about using miniature machine tools.

Edited June 25 by Bugatti Fan

[Ace-Garageguy]

4 hours ago, peteski said:

 

I recall reading somewhere that Joe's design was inspired by some Austrailan-made mini lathe.  I just found that info (it seems to be hidden on the Sheline website). http://www.sherline.com/about/sherline-history/

 

Austrian. The Unimat.

[Ace-Garageguy]

4 hours ago, peteski said:

Yes, Sherline makes really nice line of miniature machining products.  I've own my lathe for about 30 years now.  Later I also ended up with a mill...

Yup. I've had a full size gap-bed lathe (16" max OD workpiece) since 1995. And a full size Bridgeport clone.

Bought a Unimat lathe and mill maybe 6 or 7 years back, about a 1969 issue, and subsequently collected a lot of tooling, parts, upgrades. Great little machine, good for model and other small precision work, but not sufficient power to efficiently work as large pieces as it will accommodate.

Bought a pretty complete used Sherline lathe and mill setup with a LOT of tooling back in February of 2024.

First time I've really needed it was this week, and it's impressive: well thought out and plenty powerful.

And very obviously influenced by the little Unimat.  

 

[peteski]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Austrian. The Unimat.

Sorry Bill, no, go to the link I provided.

Though the Sherline product name was taken from the first manufacturer in Australia, Ron Sher, the designer of the original lathe and accessory line was an Australian engineer named Harold Clisby. He went to electrical engineer Ron Sher for help in the motor application for the lathe. Mr. Clisby’s clever use of extruded shapes, as well as many of his other concepts, have been carried over into the Sherline lathes produced today.

In a photo from the cover of Overseas Trading magazine from March 1971, inventor Harold Clisby of Australia shows an early version of the Clisby lathe.

Nothing to do with Unimat, but maybe Mr. Harold Clisby's design was influenced by Unimat (since Unimat has been made by Emco since 1953, while Sheline was conceived in 1970).

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, peteski said:

Sorry Bill, no, go to the link I provided.

Though the Sherline product name was taken from the first manufacturer in Australia, Ron Sher, the designer of the original lathe and accessory line was an Australian engineer named Harold Clisby. He went to electrical engineer Ron Sher for help in the motor application for the lathe. Mr. Clisby’s clever use of extruded shapes, as well as many of his other concepts, have been carried over into the Sherline lathes produced today.

In a photo from the cover of Overseas Trading magazine from March 1971, inventor Harold Clisby of Australia shows an early version of the Clisby lathe.

Nothing to do with Unimat, but maybe Mr. Harold Clisby's design was influenced by Unimat (since Unimat has been made by Emco since 1953, while Sheline was conceived in 1970).

 

OK, I'm corrected.

But the means by which the lathe jaws on the Unimat and the Sherline are adjusted, among a few other things, appear to be absolutely identical.

That wasn't coincidence (though I haven't disassembled anything on the Sherline to see how far the similarity goes).

Edited June 26 by Ace-Garageguy

[peteski]

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

But the means by which the lathe jaws on the Unimat and the Sherline are adjusted, among a few other things, appear to be absolutely identical.

I assume you are talking about self-centering chucks. I have no experience with full size lathes, so I'm wondering if maybe you know how self-centering chucks are designed in those machines?  Maybe they use similar spiral jaw mechanism design?

[Calb56]

I was looking at early photos of cars at Bonneville Salt Flats online, focusing on the 50s https://www.messynessychic.com/2016/03/18/rare-kodachromes-of-1950s-hot-rods-to-send-your-heart-racing/

...and found this Corvette. 

while thinking this would make an interesting, though subtle build I tried to find any information out about it. Though I found nothing, I did find this.

Which obviously has different modifications done, including a hole probably for a blower up front, the hole in the nose/grille area looks the same.

Now either build has my interest piqued. As originally ran or as barn find?

[stavanzer]

4 minutes ago, Calb56 said:

I was looking at early photos of cars at Bonneville Salt Flats online, focusing on the 50s https://www.messynessychic.com/2016/03/18/rare-kodachromes-of-1950s-hot-rods-to-send-your-heart-racing/

...and found this Corvette. 

while thinking this would make an interesting, though subtle build I tried to find any information out about it. Though I found nothing, I did find this.

Which obviously has different modifications done, including a hole probably for a blower up front, the hole in the nose/grille area looks the same.

Now either build has my interest piqued. As originally ran or as barn find?

My Vote?

As raced!

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

I assume you are talking about self-centering chucks. I have no experience with full size lathes, so I'm wondering if maybe you know how self-centering chucks are designed in those machines?  Maybe they use similar spiral jaw mechanism design?

Yes, I do.

[Calb56]

17 minutes ago, stavanzer said:

My Vote?

As raced!

It looked like the same Vette possibly?

 

[Bugatti Fan]

There appears to be a bit of confusion in this thread about machine origins

The Unimat was made in Austria originally and I believe the later Unimat 4 was made under licence in Taiwan before being discontinued. My machine is one of the Taiwanese built Unimats and built quite well. I do not know why the parent company decided to discontinue production of those very nice little machine tools.

The Sherline was built in Australia originally, but the rights were acquired and bought out by Joe Martin and production moved to the USA.  The Sherlines are currently in production and able to take advantage of the market space now that the Unimats are no longer in production. The Sherline range is an excellent high quality package available for miniature machinists.

 

 

Edited June 26 by Bugatti Fan

[peteski]

12 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Yes, I do.

Since my question had 3 parts, your answer is ambiguous.  Is it yes to the first question or to the second or 3rd question?  Do the  full-size lathe's self-centering chucks use same design as the Sherline/Unimat chucks?

[peteski]

8 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

The Sherline was built in Australia originally, but the rights were acquired and bought out by Joe Martin and production moved to the USA.  The Sherlines are currently in production and able to take advantage of the market space now that the Unimats are no longer in production. The Sherline range is an excellent high quality package available for miniature machinists.

Absolutely no confusion about the Sheline - For the 3rd time I'm posting the link to Sherline history. It is all very clearly explained (assuming someone actually visits that webpage: http://www.sherline.com/about/sherline-history/

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 hours ago, peteski said:

Since my question had 3 parts, your answer is ambiguous.  Is it yes to the first question or to the second or 3rd question?  Do the  full-size lathe's self-centering chucks use same design as the Sherline/Unimat chucks?

When someone highlights a part of a quote with questions in it, the normal assumption is that the highlighted part is what's being addressed. As above. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And though there are some necessary internal similarities among lathe chucks, the means of adjustment, the "operator interface"...two small bars ("tommy bars") stuck in holes in the chuck and the adjustment collar...which is what I was addressing in my first post, is identical on the Unimat and Sherline 4000, and unlike the adjustment means on any conventional full-size lathe I've ever worked with...a T-handled square key that you insert in holes in the chuck, and turn to scroll the jaws open or closed.

The very first lesson in Lathe 101 is to NEVER LEAVE THE ADJUSTING KEY IN THE CHUCK...EVER EVER EVER FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER.

The first time the key hits you in the face indicates exactly why.

Big lathe, below, showing the chuck key very clearly

"Tommy bars" for opening and closing the chuck jaws on a Unimat, similar to the Sherline, below.

Edited June 26 by Ace-Garageguy