Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Astrolite
Jun 29, 2005

Ero Ninja Gundam!
Pillbug

kapalama posted:

Metal working questions

When filing/shaping aluminum, is there some trick to not fouling your file other than keeping a piece of scrap steel at hand to run your file over once in a while?

dv6speed gave most of the advice I know, however I think I heard an old machinist mention that you can drag a piece of chalk along the file. I guess the idea is that the chalk will settle in the crevices in the file, preventing shavings from sticking there. Haven't tried it myself though.

Furthermore, I'd like to add that a lot of fouling can be prevented by using the correct file coarseness. Very coarse files tend not to foul so easily, and will often give surprisingly good surfaces. You can never have too many files.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Astrolite
Jun 29, 2005

Ero Ninja Gundam!
Pillbug

His Divine Shadow posted:

Got myself a 2 ton shop crane and assembled it last night,

Funny, I've got that exact same crane and used it to assemble my own lathe+mill. And I also had to modify it to make the feet wider. (did it in a lovely and dangerous way, no pix)
The wheels on my crane were out of round by a mm or so, enough that once I had several hundred kgs in the air it became almost impossible to move. Had to turn them down.
I've still got mine and have used it a lot but I don't really think you should come too close to the load margins.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply