Hello:
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On Sat, Nov 30, 2024 at 07:30 AM, Peter Brooks wrote:
... a glass half-empty or glass half-full ...
Good question, one I have made to myself many times.
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The answer I came up with?
That it will always depend on the contents of the glass and (to a lesser extent), the glass itself.
Another rabbit hole ...? 8^¡ã
... (asked in the best possible humour :-)
Of course.
How else?? 8^D
... perfect (with deadly accuracy) we probably wouldn't be using Unimats.
Indeed.
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Accuracy in this specific field is, as I have come to discover, exponentially expensive.
And it always goes hand in hand with quality in that respect.
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I am old enough to have seen things being very different, but at one stage beancounters and marketing droids took over.
And that was it.
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Not that the Unimat 3 was ever an inexpensive machine.
I may have mentioned it in another post: in 04/1980, a loaded hotdog+a small Coke was US$1.00 in NYC.
At approximately the same date, a basic U3 was offered by Blue Ridge for US$345.00+tax and the 150.310 vise for US$48.00.
These days that snack goes for ~ US$7.00 ...
... simple solutions to niggling problems (following the KISS ...
... re-alignment of the milling head on the column after moving it is certainly one of them.
Along with the very limited quill travel, it was the first thing I realised when inspecting the U3 milling my purchase back in 06/2022.
That same week I decided to sell it but then opted to keep it so I took it apart, had it sandblasted and painted in epoxy.
Jury is still out on that decision.
... unlikely to ever be able to put a groove in my Unimat ...
Same here.
Problem is that this is what you have to work with.
(see attached photo)
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It is a solution I have searched for all over and also posted about on other forums.
It still evades me.
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The only (easiest to make) workaround I have seen is one, at one time marketed by Hemingway Kits in the UK.
Not available for many years now.
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This design was a spin-off of one originally intended for the Unimat 3.
... requires no machining of the Column or the Column clamping member.
... can also be rotated about the Column which a keyway in the Column will not allow on the conventional lathe set-up.
Making it will require using the proper tooling to insure that the parts that hold the rod be identical so that the headstock will register perfectly vertical every time. Maybe making one part 2.25x the height, slicing it in two and finishing them?
ie: needs a U3 mill with this same attachment or have the parts made elsewhere.
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... theorising is always fun.
Yes it is.
But eventually, cold reality (be it in the form of costs or resulting futility) rears its ugly head.
I find it rather frustrating.
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... admire the experience ...
Yes, so do I.
That said, I sincerely hope my last post has not been taken as any sort of criticism.
If at any point it seemed so, my most sincere apologies to all.
Like I said, just a thought.
... don't always understand what ...
Believe me, you are not alone in that respect.
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But if you ask you will get an explanation, always.
That in itself is very valuable.
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Thank you for you input.
Much obliged.
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Best,
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JHM
