A Belated Introducton
 

Greetings to EcoRenovator! This introduction will be a little different than most, first because I'm not exactly a new member, and second because I am not in any way shape or manner an environmentalist, a Green, or whatever it is being called these days. I am interested in effective, financially sensible and practical improvements to my life.
I actually signed up here this last summer looking for quick information on an electric mower conversion I was considering. Technical difficulties and a blown gearbox in the mower I was going to use killed that project. The mower in question was disassembled and recycled, and I ignored this site for awhile. Recently, I have decided to make some improvements to my house, and realized that I needed more information. And here I am, back at EcoRenovator.

Here's where I am coming from:
My concern with the natural world is keeping it outside where it belongs. I LIKE and enjoy without guilt central heating, air conditioning, indoor plumbing, rapid private transportation, high technology, and the infinite information access of the internet. Politically, I am a free market libertarian leaning heavily toward the anarchist side of the spectrum, an individualist in a rapidly collectivising world. As such, I am perfectly happy to let you do your thing as long as you don't try to do it to me. I believe people of good will can disagree without hatred or screaming at each other. We can share knowledge and each use it for our own needs.
Part of my interest in this site stems from the realization that many of us here are situational recyclers and restorers. Rather than buy new high efficiency or low pollution things, we rehab, rebuild, restore, retask, and renew. It may be financially necessary, or we may love old stuff, but we try not to waste. I have noticed that there is very little 'I bought it on credit cause it was flashy, cool, and new' mentality here.
I realized a while back that my hobbies have unconsciously bent this way. I am a machinist, gunsmith, and bibliophile. I like old tools, old guns, and old books. While some were bought new, all have aged until they are collectable--except me. I try to maintain and improve them as my skills allow.
There should be a balance between the old and the new. My machine tools average forty years old, but I constantly search for new and useful developments to apply to my interests. I am writing this monologue on a high performance laptop connected to the internet by a dsl line that was technically impossible twenty years ago. I use it to learn how to update a fifty year old house and repair hundred year old guns. This is what I mean by balance. I have many old books on subjects I enjoy, and many more I have downloaded from the net.
I ineed to learn more about increasing the insulation and energy efficiency of my home. In return, I offer what experience and knowledge I can bring to bear to assist others with their efforts. It shouldn't be hard to get along here, as there seems to be a minimum of political bs on this site.
I hope I can be of use and learn here.

Welcome to the site toolingjim. We all have our reasons for being here. Thanks for being up front about yours. As you've seen, despite differences in motivation we all help each other out around here. :)

Fellow shootist?
 

Welcome back Jim. Seems like you and I have a lot in common. But, I must be younger. :p

Since my little shop has cheap, Chinese made tools.
But maybe that's because I never had the time to develop any strong machining skills.. :o
So, why buy a race car when you don't have the talent to do right by it?

And, there's the books.. My book pile is just sitting there gathering dust.
My weekly hours of reading books and turned into hours reading the web..
I used to buy at least one book a week, then it became one a month. :(
My current reading, is the manual for the TriStar TS-45 Charge Controller.

Anyways, it's nice to see a Recycling-DIYing Brother in Arms, as it were, here on the eco forum.

Cheers,
Rich

Maybe you are younger. I'm 58, just changed my profile to show that. My reading is mainly internet these days, mostly because books have gotten expensive and I'm out of shelf space.
My machine tools are old because they were cheap but solid, and I have learned how to bring them back to life of necessity. I have two lathes, a shaper, and an rf-30 chinese/tiawanese mill drill I bought used. There is no old american iron that corresponds to the far eastern mill drill.
If your equipment isn't true junk, you should do fine. By that I mean that your tools are capable of machining accurately if you learn how to work with them, and within their window of capability. One of the biggest problems I have seen is that everyone is in a hurry to get stuff made. They try to take heavy cuts like a commercial machine tool and are disappointed when parts get ruined. It is better to take 20 minutes to make a good part than 19 to make scrap. Oh, and lots of racecars are maintained with machine tools that modern industry would sneer at.
I have always thought that home shop machinists were true recyclers. We recycle parts, materials, tools, tooling, and often extend the life of equipment that would otherwise have to be scrapped and replaced.
If you want to talk more, send me a private message. I don't have enough posts to pm yet. I don't know if extending this discussion is appropriate under the introductions thread, so I guess we should go private.


Look forward to hearing from you soon.

My Drill-Mill is the Big Red model.. My lathe is the little Blue.. ;)
My Chinese band saw is the tool I use the most. That thing has paid for itself in hacksaw blades..
Well I do use the belt sander a lot too.. And the grinder.. Gee I've been working down there!!

Anyways, I love shooting HP rifle and got into air rifles a while back..
I was shooting a lot of Field target matches before this summer..
Got so busy being retired, I can't get much hobby stuff done.
My wife hates when I spend money on match rifles or RC airplanes
and then get too busy to hobby it up..

Anyways, my first lathe was so old, (a Stark No. 5?) it wasn't much good for much..
The new one really spins! :)
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/Xringer/D054.jpg
In this picture, I'm using a home-made tool holder to make another home-made tool holder.. It seemed endless!! ;)

Man am I beat.. Can't seem to hit the right keys..

Later,
Rich

Yeah, I was in that mode for a long time-- make the tool, to make the tool, to make the tool... I finally got past it awhile back except for special tooling.
I am also a gun nut. Haven't done much shooting the last few years. Mauser 98's are my first love, but I am currently working (slowly) on a Remington rolling block in 45-70. I will soon have the barrel in the lathe if I can ever get back to a standard work week. I also have an M1 Garand that I need to rebarrel. Way down on the todo list are several rifle actions I have squirrelled away that I hope to build into shootin' irons some day. I decided years ago that if I cannot afford some of the classic firearms I would like to have, I would just have to build my own. I now have the skills and knowledge to start creating them. I just need to find the time and energy.
I forgot that I also have one of those 4"x6" band saws. It's hard to think of it as a machine tool, but it sure saves the old arms. I have a Boyar-Schulz 6x12 surface grinder, but it has issues, so I can't call it ready to use.
The lathe you put in the pic looks like a solid machine that should do good work. I can't tell the size, but you can often sustitute ingenuity for capacity. For instance, I am going be machining a 32 inch octagon barrel in a 10x24 logan lathe and a mill drill with a 28 inch table. Impossible? No, just improbable.
Well, it's late and I have work early tomorrow. I hope doax doesn't slap me up for this off topic message. I'm pretty sure restoring a 120 year old rifle action doesn't qualify as ecorenovating!
talk to you soon.

Haha, its your intro to tell us about yourself, interests, why you're here. This is exactly what should be here. :)

This is the intro section.. Where we learn about the skills of others.

And, one never knows when he might need the metal working knowledge to install
a Picatinny Rail on a 10/22, when the existing tapped receiver holes are stripped.?. :p

Anyways, my next mill-drill job might be making some aluminum
terminal (like the ground strip in your breaker box) blocks that
will clamp onto LA battery terminals. (Are the 1/2" and tapered?)
I was thinking of some 1/4-20 holes for the fat wires and a couple of 10-32s
for the skinny wires.. I have a whole box of 10-32 set screws that might work..

Here's my drill-mill.. The stinkin Chinese vise is too small for woodworking!

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...uns/Astock.jpg

Holding work like that is definitely a two pipe problem, Watson. The vise might be adequate with a bit of help. You might stabilize the stock by making a weldment or boltup that can clamp to the top front end of the stock, that drops down to the table top and bolts to the table, kind of a Z plate with right angles.
I don't recognize LA battery terminals. Is that the standard tapered automotive battery terminal? In the absence of the proper reamer, I usually do tapered holes on the lathe. It's easy to set the proper angle by slewing the compound around. Mount the part on the faceplate or in the four jaw chuck, drill, and have at it with a boring bar.
If you are talking about clamping similar to a regular terminal strip, I only have two suggestions. First, the screw threads are usually fine thread, as they are less prone to loosening. The 10-32 is fine but 1/4-28 is better in the large size. Second, the screw tips should be reduced in diameter so the end doesn't mushroom and lock into the block. That's about all I know about terminal blocks.
The picatinny rail has always interested me, but I don't have anything to put it on currently. You've got to admit that it would be a bit strange looking on a classic 1910 Oberndorf Mauser sporter. If I ever build a modern rifle (M4, HK91, FNFAL) maybe I'll do one.
Maybe you're right about daox needing my help sometime, but he looks to be pretty capable. IIRC, he builds conveyor systems to support his renovating habit. I'd be happy to help him if I could be of any use, especially as he is about 20 minutes up the road from me.
Got to get some sleep now, or I'm liable to machine something off besides metal tomorrow. These 50 hour workweeks are getting old.

Hi toolingjim, I have to say my interests are pretty much the same as your's I just don't have the tooling to roll my own. I'm not even sure where to get started on machining if it involves more then a hacksaw, file and my cordless drill.

Anyways what projects are you looking into for on the house? Anything specific or just looking to see if something interesting jumps out at ya.