JHCC

They show up frequently on the HGR website. There are four there right now, plus half a dozen machines with them already mounted.

Maybe a couple of sheets of aluminum foil?

Well, NOW you tell me! (No, seriously; thanks for the tip. Noted!) In other news, but of the "What I Did In The Shop Five Years Ago Today" variety, today is the anniversary of when I first met Jennifer/jlpservicesinc in person and got an impromptu lesson in forge-welded chain.

Today, success! Since the screw extractors I’d used previously were both not quite big enough and a bit too soft, I made a bigger, harder one from a square punch. This I reground with sharp corners, hardened, and tempered just enough to keep it from snapping. Apply pipe wrench, and out it comes! I only have one punch and die set at the moment — 3/32”, to be precise — but it didn’t even blink at 3/32” mild steel sheet. Victory!

Here's some more info:

While browsing the website of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I encountered this rather delightful German post vise: Apart from its artistic extravagance, it's interesting to note that it's not adjusted with a handle on the front, but by tightening and loosening the nut on the back. Here's the link to its page on the museum website: https://www.philamuseum.org/collection/object/44387. Interesting to note that it appears to have come from Samuel Yellin's personal collection.

Good points, both.

Revisiting a long-dormant post, and returning to the question of the depth stop. As noted above, a friend and I have explored (without success) doing a 3D printed version of a depth stop, which could then be machined in steel. With that more or less permanently on the shelf, I've been relying on blocking the workpieces up to the proper height relative to the tool, which is awkward at best (especially since the blocking needs to be clamped down). However, I just found the following interesting possibility on eBay: a lathe faceplate that's threaded to 2-1/4" x 10 tpi. I thinking this might do reasonably well, with some height extensions welded or bolted on and with a slit cut in to make it compressible with a locking bolt. Thoughts?

The college has an eclipse-viewing party at the athletic fields, which is in walking distance. Assuming that there's no rain, of course, which in Ohio in April is far from guaranteed.

The problem is, that's not true skepticism. Properly, skepticism (from the Greek σκοπεῖν, "to look" (this is the same root as the word "scope", both as noun and verb)) means someone who has doubts or reservations about received knowledge. It's arguably an intellectually healthy and honest approach, since it requires examination and testing of evidence before coming to a conclusion. Notably, it does allow for the confirmation of received knowledge, should evidence and argument prove sufficient. Contemporary "skepticism", on the other hand, is little more than mere denialism, the assumption that received knowledge is false simply because it is commonly believed. Rather than serving the need for objective understanding, it serves the emotional need to feel special, to know something most people don't, to not be "a sheep". However, rather than actually looking at the evidence and arguments around some particular piece of knowledge, it replaces whatever "the sheeple" believe with mere contradiction, which itself must not be questioned or challenged. In the words of Monty Python, "That's not an argument; it's just contradiction. An argument is an intellectual process; contradiction is simply the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes." Yeah, I'm not looking forward to the madness that will descend on Ohio in April for the eclipse. https://www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyles/column-cncerns-about-solar-eclipse-are-real/

There's actually a lot of archaeological work being done on ancient glass that focusses precisely on this. Glass changes color depending on how much its constituent elements get oxidized, so certain colors often indicate how many times a particular bit of glass had been remelted. Like the minister who didn't say Grace over the casserole, because he'd already blessed everything in it. Quick tip: if you're going to use nonstick pans, get the inexpensive aluminum ones sold in restaurant supply houses (unless you need something induction-compatible). The nonstick surface will last just as long, and you won't be throwing away an expensive piece of stainless steel once it wears out. All the time. Several years back, I got a carbon steel pan from a restaurant supply place that has been my go-to midsize sauté pan ever since. You have to care for it like cast iron, but once seasoned, it's fantastic. The preferred pan of restaurant chefs, and with good reason. If you watch older videos of silversmiths or the like, you'll see a lot of older work cut up and going into the crucible. I also once saw an old video of a Japanese swordmaker who started with broken pieces of cast iron teapot, since they had been originally made from the same raw material as tamahagane and just needed some serious decarburization.

It doesn't; the final version will have a flat rail mounted on top of the loops.

Some more work on the current railing project, enough for a test fit. Also spent a lot of time trying to shift a broken die out of my W.A. Whitney hand punch, to little effect.

Well, I was able to break the rust and back the die part of the way out before it jammed again. I need to get a bigger extractor and try again.

That’s the plan. Unfortunately, I can only access it from the back, but I just picked up a screw extractor from the hardware store that should help grab it solidly.

My concern about beeswax would be that it isn’t particularly durable. BLO would be just fine once it dries.

Got home from my trip to find that a 3/32” punch and die set has arrived from eBay. (Now I just need to figure out how to remove the broken 3/8” die that's stuck in there now.)

Oh, the irony.

The website of the industrial surplus place often has listings for magnetic chucks. They always give me a moment of pause, because the only fellow I know personally who's named Chuck isn't particularly magnetic.

Roper Whitney and W. A. Whitney are two different companies, and RW doesn’t make any tooling that fits the WAW. However, tooling for mine is still available, as discussed in THIS THREAD.

Got a couple of volumes of design inspiration at a used bookstore outside Philadelphia.

Traveling for business, so doing a little “repoussé on the road”. Silly Putty makes a surprisingly good backing material.

I was very lucky that the first time I had haggis, it had been made by a Michelin-starred chef. It was exceptionally good.

Frankly, I have trouble with that anyway, mostly because my anvils are all a bit on the high side and I end up having to stand on tiptoes to hold workpieces between my legs. Switching to using my stock support with built-in holddown has helped a lot!

They also have patches you can put on your arm.