This is where I spend most of my life with hobbies. Since my garage is unfinished, unheated and my wife insists her car be kept inside my shop is divided between the basement and my garage. My basement equipment is mostly intended for clock repair, model railroading and miniature machining while the garage houses the larger machinery. .
This is my workhorse. It is a Maximat 7, made in Austria by the Emco Maier Company. It is probably more than 25 or 30 years old. I purchased it about 15 years ago. It is wonderfully built, has great repeatability and is a pleasure to use. The center-bed mounted milling head is somewhat limited by the table size on the cross slide but often comes in handy.
This is my mini machining center and consists of a Sherline lathe and mill. It is primarily used for model railroad projects and clock repair. I have been a modeler since the mid 60's and have been involved in clock repair for the last 20 years. I do this on a limited basis but will speed it up once I am retired.
This is a Childs 0000 Horizontal Mill. I purchased it at a machine shop auction a couple of years ago. I hung around a full day to bid on it. It was almost the last item to be auctioned and fortunately most bidders had gone home and there were not too many amateurs there. It was brush painted a horrible blue. I bead blasted it to remove the paint and had it epoxy powder coated. New bearings have been installed. It is missing a spindle and a drive system. However, several kind members of the Sherline e-group furnished me with drawings of the spindle as well as photos of the drive system. The table measures 21/2 X 10 inches. I am hopeing to use it for cutting clock wheels and pinions.
This is an 8mm Watchmaker's Lathe. It is one of three I have. The one in the photo is an Elson. I also have a Peerless and a Mosley lathe. I use this one for general utility work in clock repair, turning and polishing pivots, etc. I usually use HSS hand gravers but I also use carbide when necessary. I have a diamond cup wheel which I have adapted to fit on the lathe for sharpening the carbide. This is also a wonderful modeler's lathe when fitted with a cross slide and compound.
This is a closeup of the jack shaft I have on my watchmaker's lathe. The step pulleys are made of nylon and use "O" rings for drive belts. The speed reduction is about 4:1. I can run at reasonably slow speeds and retain the torque I need. The mounting bracket is made from aluminum bar stock and is attached to the motor with a strap made from an old clock mainspring. The mount is rotated on the motor to adjust the tension on the drive belts. The shaft of the pulleys can be moved laterally to adjust to the headstock.
This is a speed control for the watchmaker's lathe. I cannot take credit for the linkage system. It was plagiarized from J.M. Huckabee, author and video clinician for the American Watchmaker's Association. The linkage is made from a coat hangar. I did, however, make the speed control from a dimmer switch. It is not ideal but since the spindle speed has already been reduced by the jack shaft surging is avoided because I can run the control at about half position so it works for me.
This is my mini grinder made from a surplus 3250 rpm motor rescued from my salvage (junk to my wife) collection. The wheels are replacement wheels for a scissor/knife sharpener carried by some of the Big Box stores, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. I do not recall the trade name of the device but the wheels are of very high qualityand run very true. I use this grinder primarily for sharpening my gravers for hand turning..The grinding rests are made from angle iron bolted to a base. Nothing very sophisticated here but it works very well. A grinding dust shield is next on the agenda.
This is a diamond flare wheel I adapted to my watchmaker's lathe which I use for sharpening my carbide hand gravers or anything else carbide. I do not sharpen my larger carbide lathe tools on it. I use a green wheel on a bench grinder for those.
This is my Harbor Freight 6 inch bench grinder. It definately lacks quality. It's best feature is that the wheels go round and round. I have replaced the wheels with quality Norton wheels. However the shafts are too short and will not allow room for precision arbor washers. I mounted one on the inside of the left wheel which can be seen on the enlarged photo. I will eventually replace it with a DeWalt which has longer spindles
This is my Harbor Freight belt/disc sander. It is identical to the Delta which sells for double the price in the box stores. It is identical to the point that even flaws on the parting lines on the castings are the same. I use it for general modeling work and occasionally sharpen lathe cutting tools on it.
This is my Dremel table saw to which I have made some modifications. I have added the accurizer accessories sold by Micro Mark which consist of a micro adjustable rip fence and a back plate at the back of the saw cabinet to make the motor mount more rigid. I have added a more rigid clamp to the rip fence as seen in the photo. I have enclosed the back of the saw with masonite to contain the sawdust with a vacum port. I also replaced the blade with a carbide 3 3/8 inch carbide blade from a box store.
Can your Taig do this on 304 stainless? JUST KIDDING of course! I am a dedicated Sherline booster. Works great for the little projects that I do
This is how I do miniature boring on the Sherline lathe. I save my broken drill bits. I grind the tip to an angle as shown. Notice the tool post is slightly angled to provide relief. The holder is just an aluminum round which was drilled through the same diameter as the broken drill and has a flat milled or filed through to the bore. The screw on the tool post does the holding. These are cheeeeeap boring bars. I you are careful not to remove the temper while grinding they work well on steele also. I am showing the process in Delrin. I am making a worm gear blank for an On3 WS Shay gear box.
Click on the thumbnails to view them in a larger size.
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40, 31
