We used to use cerro pretty extensively many years ago to establish good roundness on the first turning ops, but GE forbade us to use it anymore because they felt it contaminated the parts.

quote: I read an article awhile back about holding odd shaped parts in ice. Sounded farily labour intensive though. Ice, huh? Hmmmm... the building that the machine is in isn't directly heated, so maybe we can wait until January for the stuff to freeze?

Hello brother Rob! We're going to use the Rigidax WS formulation that liquifies at 180 degrees and is water soluble. Is that the 'low melt alloy' you were speaking of? Thanks for the kudos on the machining. It may help in dispelling the nightmares this part is causing. Tom at Smiths (not the cough-drop king)

We're trying to run a job here that's giving us fits. We refer to it not-so-lovingly as The Tuba. It's a titanium case casting with thin walls, providing little support for machining. Chatter like you wouldn't believe. Deflection and instability off the chart. We're considering using a wax-type filler called Rigidax in an attempt to stiffen things up. Anybody here have experience using this stuff?

quote: 0.0393700787401574 Spock: "Computer." Computer: "bee-up whirr beep." Spock: "Calculate to the last digit, the value of Pi." Computer: "Beeeeeee......" Pffffft.

Situation can be summed up in two words: Outsourcing and China

We've cut a few magnesium parts in our day, and learned the hard way. Fires abound on finish cuts, and most of the coolants we had on hand stained the surface pretty badly. Although the operators bitched to high heaven, we ended up using a magnesium-compatible OIL coolant that drastically reduced sparking tendencies. There is a class "D" (flammable metals) fire extinguisher available that should be kept nearby. Being a dry-chemical type though, cleanups are a PITA, but consider the alternative...

I do woodworking a a sideline business from my home. Custom furniture, cabinetry, etc., but all my machines are strictly traditional human-guided. Would LOVE to try my hand at CNC stuff, but man, I gotta sell a lot of radiator covers to cover the cost.

That could have been my sister-in-law, who also made the local paper some years ago by burying the family Taurus wagon up to the door sills in freshly poured concrete. What made it all the more newsworthy, she was a city building inspector. Not too observatory, I suspect.

Dig innumerable holes. Fill with mass quantities of cement. Erect vinyl fence. Pass out from heat prostration. Enjoy a few Coronas upon regaining consciousness. Relapse into unconsciousness.

Forget the "Shrimp-on-the-barbie"....Is it true that you've got to eat (and enjoy) vegemite sangers?

I was using the Aussie/N.Z. version at one time. Got too many headaches, what with the blood running to my head... http://img51.photobucket.com/albums/v156/F...Tom/4060052.jpg

Teamsters: Six. "Ya gotta prollem wit' dat?"

quote: Is there anything else you can't drag? Dimensions and leaders, too. One of the issues is the ability to place invisible lines in your drawing that only show up on the plot.

Man, it's the greatest invention since (fill in the blank). I'm still amazed at how many of my acquaintances don't realize the convenience of the system. Phone rings? Dog's gotta go out NOW!!!? Blinked at the wrong time? Couldn't hear what he/she said? Pause... Replay... One-touch (or even no-touch) recording... Stop me before I hyperventilate!!

I'm looking for machining data (speeds & feeds) for a unique alloy known as C101. I recall many years ago that we ran two parts made of this stuff, but the program and other data has been lost. Web searches have turned up nothing pertaining to this particular alloy, which I believe is nickle-based. There is an alloy of copper known as C101, but that 'tain't it. The stuff was a bear to finish, with the surface finish resembling an orange, no matter what depth of cut or feed rate we used. Bore taper was also a big issue. Anyone care to share?

Leave a fairly heavy cut for finishing, .025 or so on a side. You'll be most of the day trying to get .003 off the stuff, the rest of the day will be spend unwinding the string-chip off the chuck, workpiece, tool holder, etc. Yuk.

The night shift at my place looks like the cast of the Road Warrior. About the same mentality, too.

...and then you have this fellow who makes more in ONE DAY than you do in a year, 'trying' to hit a ball with a stick. Hell, where's the incentive? Where else in the world can you fail 7 times out of 10 and still be considered a success?

1. Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible. 2. You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house. 3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English. 4. Your child's 3rd-grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Breeze. 5. You can't remember...is pot illegal? 6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor. 7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian. 8. You know which restaurant serves the freshest arugula. 9. You can't remember...is pot illegal? 10. A really great parking space can totally move you to tears. 11. A low speed police pursuit will interrupt ANY TV broadcast. 12. Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the US 13. A man gets on the bus in full leather regalia and crotchless chaps. You don't even notice. 14. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing the baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney. 15. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment. 16. Your hairdresser is straight, your plumber is gay, the woman who delivers your mail is into S & M, and your Mary Kay rep is a guy in drag. 17. You can't remember...is pot illegal? 18. Its barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH 2004." 19. You have to leave the big company meeting early because Billy Banks himself is teaching the 4:00 pm Tae Bo class. 20. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cells or pagers. 21. It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents. 22. Hey!!!! Is Pot Illegal???? 23. Both you AND your dog have therapists. 24. The Terminator is your new governor

Oooooooooo Gooooooooood!!!!!!!!! My anterior-locking, positive discharge, nuclear fissionable discombobulator has finally arrived!!!

Is there some kind of glitch in MCAM (v9.1, SP2) that causes the dimensioning function to misfire? I can get 2 or 3 vertical dimensions on screen before the program messes up. It will either throw and lock the dimension text at some odd place on screen, not allowing me to place it where desired, or it won't do a vertical measurement at all, rather displaying a angle between two entities. The only cure I've found so far is to back up to Main Menu, and row through Create, Drafting, Dimension, Vertical and try again. Just when I start to get comfortable.... AAAARRRGHHH!

The Panthers have two more games? Au contraire, mon frére. Their road ends in Philly next weekend. Yo Iggles!

Below is photographic evidence of the aerodynamic principle that "Given a large enough engine (or two), even a brick will fly."

This is rich. Replying to my own post. Gotta be too early in the morning. This is what the pic was supposed to look like. Early-morning, pre-coffe-jolt