I've wondered a couple times whether I'd get better results and/or less work, if they were supplied as raw castings, or the 'semi-finished' state they're sold as now.
I've wondered the same thing! It would certainly be more profitable for the manufacturer to just sell kits. It saves them on the assembly, machining, customer support, and shipping costs. They could also partner with resellers who add their own value by machining, customizing, and assembling the finished products.
Maybe, but probably not. After all, the castings still have to machined down to get a bearing surface before scraping. The finish was too rough, but this was done. I suspect that the pieces were machined very soon after casting as they had warped a bit and the set up prior to machining was not done with enough care so there were other minor errors. Even if you took a raw casting and machinied it 'properly', I don't think it would save much time compared to the time spent scraping
People like www.hemingwaykits.com/ do sell raw castings (another plug for the two part vice!) but I think a small table kit like this would sell in too small a volume to be of interest to them. The other issue is price - I could have made patterns for these parts, but I would have paid 4 or 5 times the price that I did for this 'kit'. Their retail pricing would be similar I suspect to that.
@@occasionalmachinist I see quite a few machinists in UA-cam cast their own parts, but it's almost exclusively aluminum. Casting iron is the way to go, but many find it intimidating. Interestingly, there's a video of Africans recreating the process of making steel from ore using a foundry and pumped by workers taking turns. It was quite humbling to see how they willed technology without the most common of modern conveniences.
@@bobweiram6321 Strangely enough, I've not had anything cast in aluminium yet. Those fixture blocks I had cast in cast iron, and the two piece vice is in CI too. I have a video coming up in a round a month where I replicate a CI casting by machining, but usually for Al, machining is my 1st choice method of production.
Thanks, I very much appreciate this series - I'm about to start improving the fit and precision of the cross slide of my Jet BDB-1340 lathe, a very similar job to this one. Also, I'd really like to know who makes the 2-piece mill table vise you have (starting about 3:50)? I want one! .... Never mind, I went a bit further in the video and you've answered my question - I'll be chasing that down!
The two piece vice comes from Hemingway kits (link in the video description). Not hard to make up, and comes in really handy for longer jobs - just like this.
@@flyfr8rs1 You should try getting something in the US or Europe shipped to Australia - that really hurts! In the mean time you may have to keep your ears open for someone coming back from the UK who could bring one back for you.
The 'chunky XY table' is the table of my mill with vice removed and spindle out of the way. I do know someone who bought an old mill to use for just this purpose. I haven't got the space for that but do use my mill table as a solid work surface for things like this as it is... solid.
looking forward to the next one! i saw that milling head and thought it was one of those,, pretty fancy tool cheers👍👍
Good job😊
I've wondered a couple times whether I'd get better results and/or less work, if they were supplied as raw castings, or the 'semi-finished' state they're sold as now.
I've wondered the same thing! It would certainly be more profitable for the manufacturer to just sell kits. It saves them on the assembly, machining, customer support, and shipping costs. They could also partner with resellers who add their own value by machining, customizing, and assembling the finished products.
Maybe, but probably not. After all, the castings still have to machined down to get a bearing surface before scraping. The finish was too rough, but this was done. I suspect that the pieces were machined very soon after casting as they had warped a bit and the set up prior to machining was not done with enough care so there were other minor errors. Even if you took a raw casting and machinied it 'properly', I don't think it would save much time compared to the time spent scraping
People like www.hemingwaykits.com/ do sell raw castings (another plug for the two part vice!) but I think a small table kit like this would sell in too small a volume to be of interest to them. The other issue is price - I could have made patterns for these parts, but I would have paid 4 or 5 times the price that I did for this 'kit'. Their retail pricing would be similar I suspect to that.
@@occasionalmachinist I see quite a few machinists in UA-cam cast their own parts, but it's almost exclusively aluminum. Casting iron is the way to go, but many find it intimidating. Interestingly, there's a video of Africans recreating the process of making steel from ore using a foundry and pumped by workers taking turns. It was quite humbling to see how they willed technology without the most common of modern conveniences.
@@bobweiram6321 Strangely enough, I've not had anything cast in aluminium yet. Those fixture blocks I had cast in cast iron, and the two piece vice is in CI too.
I have a video coming up in a round a month where I replicate a CI casting by machining, but usually for Al, machining is my 1st choice method of production.
That's going to be the most accurate Chinese xy in existence.
Certainly the smoothest
Thanks, I very much appreciate this series - I'm about to start improving the fit and precision of the cross slide of my Jet BDB-1340 lathe, a very similar job to this one. Also, I'd really like to know who makes the 2-piece mill table vise you have (starting about 3:50)? I want one! .... Never mind, I went a bit further in the video and you've answered my question - I'll be chasing that down!
The two piece vice comes from Hemingway kits (link in the video description). Not hard to make up, and comes in really handy for longer jobs - just like this.
@@occasionalmachinist Ouch! the only shipping option shown to USA costs more than the castings! That's a shame, I really like the design....
@@flyfr8rs1 You should try getting something in the US or Europe shipped to Australia - that really hurts!
In the mean time you may have to keep your ears open for someone coming back from the UK who could bring one back for you.
Where did you find that chunky XY table? Looking in the usual places I can only see the spindly variety.
The 'chunky XY table' is the table of my mill with vice removed and spindle out of the way. I do know someone who bought an old mill to use for just this purpose. I haven't got the space for that but do use my mill table as a solid work surface for things like this as it is... solid.