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Thanks Terry. I'm thinking about casting some parts for some RC truck and construction equipment projects that I've got lined up as future projects. These would be cast using either lost wax or lost PLA 3D printed patterns. I was wondering if I could use your bead blasting process to...

Terry: Your CNC machined parts look like sand cast after the bead blasting. I've probably asked this before, but... What's your typical stepover and depth of cut on the final pass? In particular, the corners on the exhaust header where it bends after coming out of the head, did you do any...

GreenTwin: Don't know if you've seen it or not but somebody has done a frame-by-frame of the video you first posted, starting right before the explosion. I kind of wish they would have started a few frames earlier. Don

It's amazing how many people seem to have a death wish and are willing to court disaster in an attempt to get their 15 minutes of fame - and/or a Darwin Award. This guy should rate at least an Honorable Mention in the Darwin awards. He did at least have a leather apron and leather gloves on...

Since all you probably want to do with this model is putt around a little bit, a straight axle will probably work just fine. Besides, there's an AWFUL lot of RC cars and trucks out there that are running with a straight axle instead of a differential. You can always build a differential as an...

That's a nice small-scale professional looking plating setup you've got there. It looks like you're using an aquarium pump to circulate the plating fluid. Since I see a thermometer, is it safe to assume that there's also a heater in there somewhere? Do you do any plating besides nickel? If...

Have you ever watched Dave on the Engel's Coach Shop when he's repairing a buggy wheel with solid rubber tires, it's QUITE the procedure. Yours' is much simpler, nice work. Don

Some of the Unimat DB/SL lathes had parts that were cast from aluminum and some had parts that were cast from zamak. These were all die-cast parts. I believe that some of the zamak parts would tend to "creep" if they had a cantilevered load on them for long periods of time. That's why you...

I've been threatening/wanting to get a resin printer, but one of the biggest things that keeps me from doing it is the smell of the resin. I've heard that the water wash resins have a more tolerable smell. Anybody with first hand experience want to tell me if this is true or not? Don

Don't forget to scale up your pattern parts to allow for shrinkage as the parts cool, both when casting and 3D printing. It took me the LONGEST time to realize that was why my parts were always under-size when I first started 3D printing. Don

Steamchick: What happened when you used the plaster mold, did the casting fail or was that one a success? Don

Me too! I picked up a new non-working furnace like that off Ebay last year for about 1/3 the price of a new furnace. I've been in or around industrial controls for the better part of 50 years so I knew that it couldn't be TOO complicated to fix. When I got the furnace and had a chance to do...

I've always heard that any extruded aluminum, or sheet aluminum, will be more gummy when melted, cast, and then machined. Not to mention produce more dross when melted. Car or Truck pistons, wheels, or any other parts that have already been cast, are a better source of metal for casting parts...

You going to be casting the parts or machining them from billet? Either way - Good Luck. Don

I thought of one other modification that I made to the servo drive on my drill press. My servo drive came with a receptacle labeled Lamp. I thought this was nice of them so I plugged my drill press light into it. But in its' stock form the "Lamp" receptacle was on whenever the servo drive was...

Lloyd: OK, two months in and I don't have much to report. I've mostly been drilling small holes in plastic and that variable speed is soooo nice - no more melted plastic from running the bit too fast. I haven't had a reason to try drilling any big holes in anything yet but I'm sure that will...

Got this as an e-mail from these guys today. Never heard of them, but it MIGHT be worth a look-see. Don Are you buying parts from McMaster-Carr? Fix Supply can cross reference items and help you achieve substantial cost savings. We are highly competitive with all of the below products...

You MAY have made a few more pieces??? Looking good.

I agree, if you've got the 240V power use it - there's less current to deal with on the input side. That's one of the reasons this drive is limited to 1Hp. Typically you see the Mitsubishi drives rated for a 200-240V input voltage. This particular drive is designed for locations where you've...

Don't know if this would be of interest to anybody, but last week I saw that Mitsubishi has added a new drive to their E800 series drives. It's a 120V single phase input to 240V three phase output drive, no need for a rotary phase converter. Because of the 120V single phase input this drive is...