On 2010-11-27, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:
Ignoramus18541 fired this volley in
:

This is really a winner, then. You have a beautiful piece.

Mechanically, it is nearly perfect. Cosmetically, it's a little rough.
Most of the machine's pretty nice, but the stuff from knee level (mine,
not the machine's) down looks like it got in a hail storm but with rocks
instead of ice. I don't know exactly what could beat it up that badly
below-level like that. Everything inside is spiffy-clean.

The only REAL ugly thing is that at one time or another the decimal point
key failed. It's a TI-style "dome switch" membrane covered keyboard, and
not repairable unless you replace the entire switch sheet. So whoever
fixed it GLUED another dome switch onto the _outside_ of the decimal key,
and routed the wires down across the face of the panel under some tape to
disguise the wire. It looks stupid and carelessly done, but it works. I
know I can't fix the membrane, but I might find a better-looking
miniature switch to fasten in place of the decimal point.

It probably _wouldn't_ be a good idea to drill through the panel for lead
wires -- you never know where the other switches' runs go.

I may eventually use the machine to cut a bezel that matches the switch
layout, and go with some better switches for the whole thing.

Sounds great. This sort of iron is far and beyond cheap imitations
or beat up VMCs, so it has a lot of potential.

Can you watch youtube movies on your milling machine's control while
it is milling metal? ;-)

i