This whole question has been a lot of fun.... I'm not shocked at how many
machinist's we have on the list... nor am I shocked by the quality of the
information you guys have...
I've been lucky enough to be gifted my Great Grandfathers hand tools and
bits and pieces of his life as a master machinist... he worked on Jet
engines in the 50's and 60's... making stuff for that industry... he also
worked at a place called American Can co. during the 30-40's in Chicago...
Over a life time he collected a ton of little bits and pieces.... What I
finally got when it was shipped to me was a ton of files and bits... and
miscilanious junk... Being a "never know when your going to need it" kind
of guy, I've saved all that stuff for years.... so when Dave sent the Lathe
down I happened to have a Morse taper live center the Lathe was missing...
and a couple of hundred files to whittle on stuff with...
The best piece of it was his old tool box... it's nothing fancy... just
something that was made well and has worn well... the felt, mirror and rest
of it was in fine shape... ( if a bit dirty )... inside he had a collection
of sharpened bits for a lathe as well as center drills... ball bearings,
taps, and STUFF... lots of Stuff... shims... whew have I got shim's... ( ya
think it's to slide under a bit to center it on the part? Hmmm Other
then the common stock I've made the decision to NEVER use any of the tool
bits he sharpened... they are absolutely incredible examples of HOW to shape
and sharpen a bit. .. you guys would be amazed at the quality of his
work... it's a real treat.. and for me to wear it out without having that
example would be a waste of his lessons... ( I ground my first one
yesterday off of one of his designs and it cut like a banshee )
I love working with this thing so far... it reminds me of him... ( and how
hard he'd be laughing between sips on his PBR ( opened with a real can
opener beside the Pull tab of course )
Thanks for the tips guys...
Keith
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