On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:54:54 -0500, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:43:07 -0500, Uncle Steve
wrote:

On Fri, Mar 08, 2013 at 03:13:02PM -0500, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Delvin Benet" ?t wrote in message
.. .
On 3/8/2013 8:44 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
You just don't understand the self-reliant philosophy of R.C.M.,
do
you?

Actually, and being serious myself here, I think a lot of people in
r.c.m. take the self-reliance thing too far. They use bad judgment
in determining whether to make or buy. It would probably be a
better use of their time in many instances to buy rather than make a
part, or to hire certain work out to specialists. There is virtue
in being *able* to do a lot of things for oneself, but not always in
actually *doing* it.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I will try a job once to learn how
before I send it out. Then I can understand the fab shop when they
suggest changes to ease production. That mattered when we were trying
to push the state of the art in aircraft digital radios while staying
with commercial process limitations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_off-the-shelf

Too often electronic designers know nothing of creating the package
their brainchild must live in. Several times I've entered a project as
the lowly lab tech and bootstrapped myself up to systems integrator
after showing the engineers I could handle every aspect beyond their
initial schematic design, freeing them from its drudgery.
Proof-of-concept models I machined at home helped enormously.

Then I have to switch from building to buying as much as possible
because I'm swamped with designing and assembling all the circuit
board and coordinating the interfaces between each engineer's part of
the circuit.

The difference as a hobbyist is that I allocate more time and less
money so the balance shifts toward building. Plus each task I can
learn to do on the car brings me closer to truly owning it, instead of
it (and the dealer) owning me. My shop may have paid for itself by
making special tools from scrap to let me do dealer jobs like $600
timing belt replacements.
jsw

The difference between the men and the boys is the boys can maybe
afford to run out and buy every shiny tool on the market, but the men
can make their own tools.

Recently I had to drill through a short length of tool steel. Needless
to say, titanium-nitride coated bits didn't even start the hole. I
found some advice on a web-site which suggested using a torch to
remove the temper in the area of the workpiece to be drilled, which
was not an option in my case since the item I was working with was
about 1" x 1/2" x 1/16". Plus I don't have a forge yet. Another
suggestion was to use a wooden dowel and some grit, which is going to
take a while.

I ended up hanging a jar of coins from the drill-press handle in
conjunction with the dowel method. Periodically you have to replenish
the grit under the dowel, but it went through in a few hours.
Stainless steel is softer than tool steel, so a carbide tile bit might
work instead.


Regards,

Uncle Steve

Here's a thought to keep in mind for the future. It's the way that
gunsmiths annealed spots on (case hardened) '03 Springfield receivers,
for drilling to mount a scope.

Cut the head off of a 12d nail, or use other appropriately sized
pieces of mild steel bar. Chuck the nail or bar in your drill press
and mount the work firmly in your vise.

Get the spindle turning at a medium speed, bring the nail down onto
the work, and press down firmly. You want to make a spot glow at least
dark cherry red from friction.

Take the nail out of the drill chuck and chuck your drill bit. Drill
as deep as you need, or as deep as you can. If necessary, remove the
bit, re-chuck the nail, and do the whole thing again. The annealing
doesn't run very deep.

I've used this method to drill flat springs, and it worked great for
me. It also leaves a minimum amount of distortion and a minimal
heat-affected zone.

Thanks!! Excellent method!!

Saved!

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie