[pete from TN]

Photoman you crack me up....

I have a theory that there are some of us for whom every factory reserves the worst unit for. Our names are known and circulated and when we order something that everyone else has fantastic luck with we get the one unit that falls apart. They laugh and chuckle as they ship it.


I had to chuckle myself at that one. Believe my I have been there. For instance the TTS tooling I recently bought from and EBAY seller. It is the same stuff and I got it here and the runout was pretty bad. Luckily I trued them up in my 12x36 lathe and they are actually quite nice now. I can get reasonable runout and if I really futz with them I can get damn near perfect runout sometimes... This whole chinese machining process sure has it's little let downs but overall with a little bit of bite your tongue and fix it you can wind up with some decent tools. I sure wish I could buy a nice quality AMERICAN made machine for anywhere near what I paid for my RF45. I guess I will just have to settle for the idea that even tho I paid good money for my machines and tooling that sometimes arrived less than perfect I can now build parts to sell that are really nice and AMERICAN made to support the hometown.... haha I got that same Shars indicator and while it is not perfect it does work pretty good for me. There is a tiny bit of wobble in mine too tho. How do you intend to true it up, take it apart and put the spindle in the lathe and true the shaft to it? peace

Pete

[hoss2006]

I've never bought anything actually from Shars, everything (and quite a bit of stuff) has come from their Ebay outlet Discount Machine.
Very pleased with everything so far.
I think one of the problems out there is expectations.
If you buy the dirt cheapest part out there, you can't seriously expect that it's going to be
a jewel. Expect that it's going to be subpar and then be elated if it turns out half decent.
If you want to expect a jewel, pay jewel prices.
Hoss

[paulsv]

I've bought lots of stuff from Shars / Discountmachine, and most of it exceeded expectations.

Pete, here's a thread on truing the shaft of the indicator:

coaxial indicator - out of calibration? - The Home Shop Machinist & Machinist's Workshop BBS

[photomankc]

I've never bought anything actually from Shars, everything (and quite a bit of stuff) has come from their Ebay outlet Discount Machine.
Very pleased with everything so far.
I think one of the problems out there is expectations.
If you buy the dirt cheapest part out there, you can't seriously expect that it's going to be
a jewel. Expect that it's going to be subpar and then be elated if it turns out half decent.
If you want to expect a jewel, pay jewel prices.
Hoss

There is definitely that. When I bought my first machine I wanted NASA grade stuff by God because it was not inexpensive. Then you learn fast that what you bought is like a copy of a Yugo and what they were using to make that video with that one part was Ferrari. You don't live in that league even if you drop $1200 on a tool. I've had decent luck with Shars on everything but HSS end mills and DTIs.

It's still a bit frustrating though when you read one guy buys Chuck A, tosses it on Asian lathe B and with a nudge here and a tickle there it's great! You buy chuck A put it on Asian lathe B and it looks like it was meant to beat bread dough. What seems to be the hardest to locate is the 'just decent' category. Not a jewel, not more expensive than the machine you own, but not a complete crap-shoot either.

I mean hell there are guys paying $10K for stuff and still having to fix issues so it's not like I'm alone in the world here but everyone who knows me knows not to ask me to place the internet order for them

[mrcodewiz]

I think when I bought my X2 6 years ago or whatever it has been that I was lucky. I just plain didn't know any better so it seemed great.

[LeeWay]

That it pretty much the mindset I had after I bought an X2 and a 7/12. They did work okay as manual machines with the normal work arounds, but for CNC, they needed to be better. Much better! The only parts of those that I still use are the head castings and spindles. Even those needed just a bit of work to make them better.

I built my own machines and totally believe if you do so, you will have something you know inside and out. Not too difficult to do or too costly for small machines.

If I buy anything now, I pretty much presume it will need some work done to it to make it acceptable. That way when gem does pop up, I am surprised and it's a good feeling rather than the other way around.

[hoss2006]

That's my mindset when buying chinese tools, think of them as tool props.
Give me something close that I can work with and mod to make it better.
Been getting some surprises though, like the co-ax I got and the zero-set holder.
It was only $13 vs $75 for a US made one, I was expecting a potmetal POS that I could use as a template and parts vehicle to make my own but it turned out to be pretty sweet on it's own.
You never know with them, luck of the draw.
Hoss

[hoss2006]

Ah, I was just looking on VXB's site and didn't see any 7007 that wasn't an AC.

I think I am going to move ahead with building an enclosure that can be heated. I was sort of holding off on the enclosure until I thought everything else was completely done but this is another good reason to build it.

Gotta agree with you, every 7000 series bearing I've seen is an AC, 6000's are radials.
Hoss

[hoss2006]

Ordered some home/limit switches for the mill, need to corral the speed before I break something.
Was looking at the Moujen switch I used before but it's just too big for where I want to put them.
Getting these sealed microswitches from Real Switch.
Real Switch: Tend Micro Switch Sealed Type TM 1704-1 Products
They are oil and water proof but the wiring needs protecting too so I added these rubber boots.
Real Switch: Tend Micro Switch TAP-Y Products
Smear some silicone in there and they should be good to go.
Not like there are going to be immersed or anything.
Using one per axis that will double as a home switch and 2 limit switches centered on each axis.
I run NC in series for safety, simple wiring and to use only one input.
Hoss

[dsdmax]

Hoss -thanks again for your tips and demo on the tramming. I havent done the three bolt head mod or machine chicks tram blocks but i did get GREAT results following your method my first try with my cheap import indicator.

See attached picture (note: ignore the circular pockets - this a scrap piece of aluminum and my first experiments with g02/03).

finish came out great - IMHO - no ridges!!!

[hoss2006]

definitely do the 3 bolt mod, really snugs the head up better.
looking good.
Hoss

[photomankc]

Completely concur. Not that hard to do and seems obvious you are going to add some nod when you tighten down only the bottom of a large flat mating surface.

[paulsv]

Can anyone tell me the actual diameter of the bolt hole circle for the three bolt head mod? I see Hoss posted a dxf file, but I get different size drawings depending on what printer I print it on.

[hoss2006]

2.988

The dxf is 1:1 on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, landscape.

[paulsv]

Exccellent, thanks!

[dsdmax]

definitely do the 3 bolt mod, really snugs the head up better.
looking good.
Hoss

its in the plan - just havent done it yet .... waiting for me bearings and grease so i can do it all at once ... have to order your DVD as well...

[tmbg]

I opened my crate awhile back but I haven't even plugged it in to run the spindle yet. Anyone know how long I have to find a motor problem before they won't replace it anymore? Hope it's not 30 days; I may be beyond that already.

EDIT: Yep, I got it in on 1/17. That'd be what, 32 days?

[hoss2006]

You've got a 1 year warranty.
Mine is up in 5 days, I better get busy breaking something.
Hoss

[hoss2006]

I got around to checking the 5 inch vise from Discount Machine (Shars), pretty dang good.
.0001 across the bed of the vise in the X and .0005 - .001 in the Y.
Hoss

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlMZ4SPEKno"]YouTube - G0704 Shars 5 Inch Vise Specs.wmv[/nomedia]

[hoss2006]

The air cylinder is mocking up pretty well.
All the machining is done, now to finish assembly.
Hoss