MetalworkingFun Forum

Nice work Ken,
I like the idea of "Not only should they be good, they should look good"

DaveH

(04-17-2014, 06:37 AM)Mayhem Wrote: [ -> ]Excellent work Ken - you'll have to make Neil a third one to have as a paper weight, so he can admire the work. I'm planning on using mirrors on my mill, so I can see the elevating screw and nut in any position

LOL...good one!

I kind of wish I had enough remaining stock to make another for "show & tell", but the piece I got was only 4-1/4" long. Subtract two pieces that are 1.445" plus two cutoffs of .118", I only have 1-1/4" left. I'll make something shiny out of it someday when I get these two projects (yours and Neil's) off my plate.

Neil came by today to pick up the two finished pistons. While there, we knocked out a couple of bushings for the brake and clutch lever pivots on his bike. Well, two good ones and one I trashed when I turned it undersized. Just another example of haste makes waste. I ain't perfect. ;)

C'mon Ken - you know the rules: No pics means it didn't happen...

Well you're absolutely right! It never happened! I'm convincing myself I didn't spend 12 minutes making a part only to toss it in the wastebin. Right. Never happened.

LOL - not the undersized part...

Neil took both the pistons and the thin-walled bushings away with him, didn't get any photos. Sorry!

Today's project was to mount the Te-Co (brand) set of straps, step blocks, studs and T-nuts that I got brand new for an out-the-door price of $79.96 US, sales tax included. There are to my knowledge none of higher quality and I knew what a deal is was when I saw it sitting on the shelf at an industrial tool supply house in Lowell (MA.) Marked at $89.99, they know me very well and cut me an even better deal. How good? Look how much MSC gets for the same set:

http://www.mscdirect.com/product/06944847

I had to put it up on the pegboard to the left of my milling machine. To the right side on the concrete block wall is the "made in China" set I've been using for the past 10 years, and next to those is the rack of R8 collets. The China made set is mostly intact, though one of the shortest studs must have broke on my dad and he shortened one of the next size up to replace it. With that set the step blocks are so hard that a couple of teeth have chipped. The T-nuts don't have great threads, so the studs spin in on some but need help with others. No such problems with Teco products.

Here you see the other set of Te-Co clamps/straps/nuts/blocks I had bought from a Craiglist seller for $25 a couple years ago. Those in the red rack are 3/8"-16 UN thread with much smaller T-nuts. That set fits my rarely used rotary table.



I didn't want to put the new set of Te-Co stuff to the right of the 3/8" set because that would have meant getting behind the table of the machine to reach them. Where they are now is just about perfect! Easy reach, yet far enough away and high enough to stay clear of the stream of chips...most of the time. (All bets off when plowing through aluminum at high speeds.) I had to screw into the solid wood behind the pegboard along it's top, but made sure I can still get the longest studs out of the rack without hitting the cabinets above.



This makes me happy. Buying top quality stuff is the way I roll now and forever. When a bargain comes up, I grab it while I'm still working and not on a fixed income.

My Dad once told me that quality tools are only expensive if you lose them.

The list price here on the cheap Chinese sets are $150, so in my world you deserve this:

Yes, these are worth every penny I spent and then some. They are made here in the USA, top quality stuff. My saying is "buying first quality tools only hurts once, when you buy them." I don't lose tools anymore. My younger son Brian lives in the apartment right next to the shop and sometimes goes there to use it fixing things. Because I put away my tools every time I'm done for the day I know in an instant when he's taken so much as a single drill!

As for the price of these kits, I did find that KBC Tools of Michigan regularly sells them for nearly the same price that the place I bought from was selling them for on their "special sale" price.

http://kbctools.com/usa/Navigation/NavPD...DFPage=762

Interesting that only two of the three TE.CO sets carry the "Made in the USA" logo.