[TowerTalk] Long shank U-Bolts

[Roger (K8RI) on TT]

On 1/3/2015 4:09 PM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote:

For safety and ability, I'd say yes you have a good point, but it 
depends on what you want to do with it.  They would probably fit the 
needs of many, or most DIYers.  There are combo lathe and mills that 
have at least a 36 inch bed and a reasonable size mill for about the 
price of a used, full size mill..  The two together can do a lot. OTOH I 
rarely see them used.

The small CNC routers are unbeatable for making small parts of wood, 
plastic, and Aluminum, but most I've seen were not up to doing much with 
steel  and larger parts.   I find them far too small for most of the 
stuff I do.  I often have local hams come over to have a plate thinned 
down and the area is too large to face cut on the little CNCs.  I also 
have a large 5" face cutter for metal that tales low RPM and a fair 
amount of torque.  I have to admit that I have to use an alternate 
method of mounting it until I get my left hand to working better and 
strength back in the arm.  Right now, I couldn't lift that cutter even 
if I had full control of the hand.

To me, it's important to match the drill speed to its size and the 
material.  It gives nice clean holes and the bits last far longer.  I 
recently rebuilt the base and raising fixture for an LM470 tower.  
(Found lots of information on TT)  I had to make new ears for the base 
which (with out looking up the dimensions)  were about 18"L X 3" W X 
1/2" thick steel plate with a row of 3/4" bolt holes to match the base 
section of the tower and raising fixture.

On the Bridgeport, I was able to do all 3 at the same time and bevel the 
edges that were to be welded.  Just crank 2 1/2 turns, or there about 
for the hole spacing.  It's not that I wouldn't like one of the small 
set ups, but I'd still need the larger mill for many jobs and with the 
keyless chuck out strips any drill press I've used.  Having worked in a 
machine shop (many years ago) I'm sure I tackle much larger jobs than 
most hams would.    OTOH, again that keyless chuck can be a challenge 
for one hand, but nearly every day I can do more with that hand though I 
think my guitar playing days may be over.

73

Roger (K8RI)


> On 1/3/2015 12:05 AM, Roger (K8RI) on TT wrote:
>> On 1/1/2015 8:56 PM, Doug Renwick wrote:
>>
>> I realize not everyone has a mill, but they are relatively cheap on the
>> used market. About 40 years ago, the company I worked for purchased 2 of
>> the same model used that I have, but theirs were strictly mechanical
>
> Does this kind of "big iron" still make sense for the home builder
> now that lightweight CNC routers are available?  I see a lot of these
> machines shown at Maker Faire's.  They are far more versatile than
> a traditional mill because they can trace out any size or shape hole.
> With conventional equipment, you go broke buying drill bits and milling
> bits for each hole size.  The CNC also replaces a Rotex turret punch
> with no punches to buy.  Until I retired I had access to a full machine
> shop at work with antique Bridgeport mills, etc and these were very 
> tedious to make large quantities of parts on.  Errors were hard to 
> prevent too.
>
> Rick N6RK


-- 

73

Roger (K8RI)


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