I believe they have already been paid, but have no way to actually tell. If I'm going to be a moderator, it hasn't happened yet, so don't have access to the Admin page.?
I am working a deal whereby I may actually get a Unimat SL, which would be cool as heck, but that's going to take some time, too. At least then, I'd have real reason to be a member of this group. I joined because a) I have wanted a Unimat for a long time, and b) because techniques that work on a small lathe will work on just about any lathe. The first lathe I actually laid my hands on after a 1 semester class in high school, long ago, was a Harbor Freight 7x10. Compared to the Unimats, they're a giant, but compared to the sorts of lathes you find in a real machine shop, they're still tiny.
Since I got that 7x lathe, I've also acquired a few others. I got an Atlas TH42 (10x24) lathe in good working order, and a South Bend Heavy 10L restoration project that led a hard life, and that I'm working on fixing. And my brother bought me a Smithy CB-1220XL 3-in-1 machine that I'm in the middle of getting back in running order. I also started another class in machining. Over 6 years ago. Not quite finished, but I've only been going part time for most of that time. The classroom lathes make my 10L look like a small lathe, and it weighs over 1000 pounds.?
Why do I need a 5th lathe? It's a sickness! ;) Somewhere here I have a photo of a 9mm Lugar barrel that Mert Baker made on his Unimat. I want to be able to do stuff like that! While you can use the same techniques on a bigger lathe, it's sometimes harder to do stuff on a small lathe. You have to take shallower cuts, and slower feeds, so things take more time. The bigger lathes will let you brute force it, where the smaller ones take finesse.?
Hi! My name is Bill, and I'm a Toolohaulic!
Bill in OKC
Bill in OKC too