Last weekend I attended my first model engineering show, the 14th Annual Cabin Fever Expo in York PA. It’s a three-day event but I was only there on Saturday, which is when most of the exhibitors are there and when most of the seminars are held. The show is one of the largest of its kind and I had a good time.… Read the rest
Rob
A Homemade DRO for the 7x Mini-Lathe
This article describes how I added an easy-to-make DRO (Digital Readout) to the cross-slide of my 7×12 mini-lathe. It uses an inexpensive digital dial indicator that I bought from Harbor Freight for about $25. It works very well and you won’t have to drill any holes in your lathe or disassemble it to install it.… Read the rest
Essay Contest – Machining Metal as a Hobby
Read the winning essay: Honest – all I ever wanted to do was make some stuff …
We got discovered by StumbleUpon, which suddenly brought thousands of new visitors to MachinistBlog.com. It was probably the first time that most of them had visited a web web site about machining metal and I feel that I wasted a great opportunity to try and convince them that it can be a wonderful hobby. … Read the rest
Bogstandard’s “Paddleduck” Engine Plans
This is not just a set of free plans for a working model steam engine. It’s a well-written, well-organized, profusely illustrated 113-page tutorial about machining metal.
If you’re an inexperienced machinist who at least knows the basics I would strongly encourage you to download these plans and build this engine. Don’t let the picture fool you – this is not a difficult engine to build. … Read the rest