Classic English Bike?!?!?!?!?

[Sidecar Flip]

Erik:

What the hell do you mill with a Chinese mill? Fortune cookies? Real machinists have Bridgeports. A '27 South Bend? Must be a change gear lathe. I know, you have a Bridgeport copycat, a Lagun right? My 9" came in a couple of boxes covered with years of neglect. It's not that way now. I'll have to post some pictures, how about you?

 

[Erik Dinkelman]

I wish I had a Bridgeport, mine came from Harbor Freight. Didn't have that kind of money. I'll post some pics, just as soon as I figure it out.

 

[Gunshots]

Who worries about there first mill anyway, My first mill is spent I'm only guna worry about the second Mill...

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Who worries about there first mill anyway, My first mill is spent I'm only guna worry about the second Mill...

'Down by the old mill stream where I first met you......'

A new Series 2 Bridgeport Mill will set you back a lot less than a Mill....about 16 thou or the price of a Rocket. Throw in 3 axis DRO, Servo power cross feed, coloum spacer, Kurt D688 vise and the basic R8 tooling package and you are bumping 20K. Just like a dressed R3.

You can't ride the Bridgeport but it sure is handy if you need to make a part for your Rocket. I forgot, you need 3 phase power too. I believe a Bridgeport will hold it's value a little better than a R3 will to boot. Of course you can't just have a Bridgeport. A vertical miller is nice but you need a fairly large capacity engine lathe and a good surface grinder too. Then there is all the precision measuring tools needed to set up the machines and all the perishable tooling. All in all, lots of money, way more than a Rocket or 2 or 3. Of course I had to have some fabrication tools too. The Mig, the Tig, the AC/DC engine driven HF stick machine and the Baliegh Radial draw bender that I'm always running into in the shop. I almost forgot the plasma cutter. Lots better than the gas axe.

The big problem with all this stuff is the electric bill. Big motors suck big juice. Amy pays the bill but I always hear about it.

 

[busajack]

Flipper my man,Do u know what a model maker is? Whats the closest tolerance you have worked with?.Ever heard of air gauging? Ever seen the workins inside the trigger mechanism of an atom bomb..This is a test to see if u need a top secret clearance..So be nice we know where u live...Jack&coke

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Flipper my man,Do u know what a model maker is? Whats the closest tolerance you have worked with?.Ever heard of air gauging? Ever seen the workins inside the trigger mechanism of an atom bomb..This is a test to see if u need a top secret clearance..So be nice we know where u live...Jack&coke

Lets see Jack.....0.0000015" and you'd better be checking everything with a photospectrometer after the optical comparator. If air gaging (sic) is anything like wringing a couple of Webber Chroblox together, then I'm on. Finally, the closest I've ever been to the trigger of an atomic bomb is driving down I-75 and passing Fermi. I'd let you take a peek in my Gerstner tool chest to see what I have in there, but it'll cost ya.

Usually, people holding those tolerances on a daily basis suffer from brain fade quickly.

Everyday life around here is no tighter than 0.0002" which is as tight as my toolroom grinder will hold or a class 3 fit, whichever is easier. Real life is about making it work in a production enviroment with a sloppy as tolerance as is acceptable. Tight tolerances are areospace and gummit. They aren't a part of the rustbelt ecology.

I don't need no clearance. My wife already has that, remember.:bch:

Modelmakers are dinosaurs. People like Rusty have replaced them with CAD/CAM programs and technicians. It's too bad, but a fact of life.

 

[busajack]

Flip

Tight tolerances are areospace and gummit. They aren't a part of the rustbelt ecology. Dam Flip you sure know your stuff.Why work with anything closer than 5 microns if the rust belt will change it 1 micron before you can ship it. How old is your Gerstner? I'am looking for walnut. My Dad was a model maker,and yes he is a dinosaur now. (90 yrs old) In his day he worked on parts for da Bomb without CAD/CAM,(why hes almost blind from the loops)Closest I can get is about 1 mil with my paint jobs..Anyway I was thinking If you worked with Picometres or Femtometres I was gona see If you would make me some new bigger fuel injectors for the blower I want.TeHe You passed all tests except the one for your T.S.clearance,ask Amy about that... Damit how do these threads get so of track..Sorry must be because my name is HI JACK & coke

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Jack:

Jack:

In all actuality, the thread isn't off base. Old English bikes were built by craftsmen without Auto Cad or Versa Cad using vernier calipers and slide rules using production techniques that are now days considered unprofitable, but, those bikes had character and glaring flaws but that's what also made them desirable. In the old days if you needed the sine of an angle, you extrapolated it. Now, you consult a table or get it on the computer. In some ways it's better. In some ways, something got lost and I'm afraid it will never return.

I have nothing in my shop that equates to numerical control though I may, in the near future add DRO's to my machines just for convenience and my failing eyeballs. I still use vernier calipers though I do have digital mikes and calipers. My LSS Last Word indicator set is still my favorite. I've owned the set since just after high school and I still use a planer/shaper gage on the surface plate for height transfer and measurement. I prefer LSS precision tools not only because they are the most expensive but because that's what I grew up with.

I have 2 Gerstners. One is an oak box that I keep on my bench that all the instruments are in and the other is a limited edition L.S.Starrett Honduras Mahogany box that my dad bought for me when I started my apprenticeship at Standard Products in Cleveland, Ohio. That box was purchased in 1968. I bought the oak box about 15 years ago. The LSS box has never had any tools in it and it's in bristol condition. Both boxes are registered with Gerstner and the LSS box is one of only five that are known to exist. I believe a picture of it resides on Gerstners website. Gerstner values the LSS box at 5K or what the market will bear if indeed I ever did sell it. Gerstner has the first option on it. Old things do appreciate. My dad paid 80 bucks for it in '68

 

[busajack]

Did I ever tell you about the time I got caught using my dads mikes. for c clamps? To this day thats why I don't have an ass. Know what you mean about old craftsmen, like try to find a true stone mason or metal worker,even metal spinning is just a hobby now. I built walnut grandfather clocks until the plastic ones came out...Now Iam really off topic.. Later Jack

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Jack:

There is absolutely nothing wrong about stating what's on your mind here or anywhere else for that matter. It's good therapy. It's supposed to snow here tonight. Mother Nature needs some therapy too. I still have my dad's mikes. They aren't LSS but B&S and I still use them. Good tools will last many lifetimes. I sincerely hope that someone will appreciate my tools when I'm gone. My son is a book man with no interest whatsoever in working with his hands. His choice, not mine.

I'd have got my ass tanned if I used them for "C" clamps too. Come to think about it, when I was a kid they looked a lot like C clamps. My dad was a toolmaker at Cleveland Twist Drill. Cleveland Twist is still a respected name today.

You never 'have to go' until you are ready to go.