Hey Buckshot..I'm mad at you........

[JohnK]

I got that Delta lathe working. Had to put a new starter on it. Works great!!!

I spent about 5 hours making an $18 powder compression tool to fit my 45-90 expander die and absolutely had a ball and it fits and works perfectly! Need a little more practice on threat cutting....they are just a little bit rough. I used an old fan motor shaft for raw material so its probably a long way from tool steel but I think it will do the job.

Now this morning at 5AM I found myself searching Google for machine tool catalogs and its all your fault. :-D

[shooter575]

Buckshot,buddy you better avoid JohnK.If he or his better half figures out how much you getting him involved into making chips will realy cost.....
A buddy of mine bought a smithy,then went to local CC for clases.Got more equptment,got a part time job with the CC as a lab tech.Had to buy a house to keep his shop in.He hardly get to shoot anymore.But every time I see him he has this big ol smile :razz:

[Buckshot]

..................John! Dude! I'm sorry, man. :-) Get the South Bend book, "How to Run a Lathe". Best way to cut threads is use dark oil and go fast! Best if you can thread from the backside with the spindle going clockwise so you run away from the chuck or whatever you're holding the piece with. If you're going toward the chuck, never ever take your hand off the half nut lever.

Threading low carbon 'merchant stock' (supposedly low carbon 1018 and such but who knows?) is kind of hard to get really really nice threads. The crap can be gummy, so use a well stoned SHARP tool for suspect mystery metal. Or cut the threads 50% or a bit more and then cheat! Use a threading die.

It's an illness John, just like guns can be. If it gets in your blood you won't be satisfied until you've done your best to aquire one of everything (or 2 of really usefull items) in the MSC catalog.

One of my weaknesses is endmills. I really don't even have a milling machine to speak of. Someday I will! But for some reason these works of wonder capture my attention like a Crow goes for a shiney button. Wholesale tool (www.wwtool.com) sent a sales flyer and in it they had a whole half page devoted to M57 Rougher endmills at REALLY GOOD prices. Ahem!

I told myself I was buying now for the future. After I placed the order I felt like a drunk who'd fallen off the wagon. I'm over it now and they should be here by Thursday :-)

BTW, the Rockwell lathes, while good machines are not well supported for parts and stuff. There are some out there. Not that it's prone to breaking or anything, but a word to the wise.

...............Buckshot

[boogerred]

just got myself an old unimat pretty cheap and im having a blast with it. havent made anything but chips and mistakes yet but i am having fun learning. it looked like a rusty boat anchor when i got it but i took it apart,cleaned it up,greased the bearings and now it looks and runs like its 10 yrs old instead of 40.it also has a milling attachment but i havent tried that yet.buying tools for that little machine is very confusing..

[Oldfeller]

Getting back into motorcycling again is a lot cheaper than getting into lathe/mill machining, plus you get to use the bike all the time by riding everywhere you normally would drive that big old gas guzzling car.

When you buy a set of saddle bags ($70) you have bought all your accessories that are needed for full useage. $70 bucks ain't really much money compared to a steady rest or a precision 4 jaw chuck .....

Plus it's lots of fun scraping pegs on them low speed turns and eating bugs at night (full face coverage helmets with clear shields make this part of the hobby much less painful).

And you really chuckle when you fill the bike up once a week for five bucks and some change. (70-90 mpg for most smaller bikes)

Yes, you remember the sensations when riding at speed -- you really can fly low to the ground on a bike. And now you are old enough and cautious enough to do it "more reasonably" than you did when you were a teenager, plus the bikes available now as crusers are much better, safer and a whole lot better handling. (require much less maintenance too)

The population of old fart motorcycle riders is quite large -- we constitute over half the population as a matter of fact. We got back into it because we want to have FUN with the rest of our lives instead of just muddling on through it.

So, for those looking for your new next hobby -- consider one that you liked a whole lot when you were a kid. You still remember how. As far as your health goes, if you left foot and ankle still work and you can throw your right leg up over a 27" saddle height (seats are lower now than they used to be) you are good to go .... if I can do it so can you.

Oldfeller

[45nut]

"Plus it's lots of fun scraping pegs on them low speed turns and eating bugs at night (full face coverage helmets with clear shields make this part of the hobby much less painful)."

I agree there,I just pulled my 1980 CM200T out of retirement and have been having a ball. Much,much easier on the wallet to fill the bike for 6 bucks vs 60+ to fill my truck. And for 80% of the summer runs the bike will do just fine.

[StarMetal]

Well for me it's tractors. I just got me a Allis Chalmer WD45. Blame Jumptrap for this. So alot of my time now is going to be devoted to this tractor. Hmmmmm....will my 400 hp 350 cubic in Chevy engine fit in this.............

Joe

[threett1]

Now Oldfeller, doggone it!! You got me thinking about the early 70's and my 750. Back when I didn't have any responsibilities and thought I could do anything. Its 2006 now and all the kids are on their own. Don't have a lot of responsibities anymore. Does this mean I need a bike again???:roll:

[shooter575]

Well now that you all mention it.I have a old BSA settin in the barn.Psudo basket case,but allmost all there.A JD 60 gas that I use but needs a paint job.My dads old AC "C" that I want to restore.I got a Index vertical mill that needs to be put back together.My SB 8" needs headstock bearings.My shop addtion needs to be finnished.Got a whole pile of project guns.3000 of pure pb to ingot up.And the wife wants me to work on my unfinished house projects.
Fellas at work keep saying"you will get board when you retire" Yah right!

[Oldfeller]

Yep, if your responsabilities are now just you and your wife -- you may find she doesn't care all that much if you do go get a bike again. I think mine took out an insurance policy on me in case I went splat in the first few months, but she seems to have fallen back into the same mode that she had when we were dating -- just don't ask her to ride on the back of it and she's fine.

Riding is something you can still do, you can still do it well and you can enjoy it while you do it. Saving a few centavos while having some fun is just icing on the cake.

I ran around all day today chasing an oxygen sensor and the tools to get the old corroded one off the catalytic converter back flange (it was a major pain in the butt to get thru all the heat shields just to get to the old sensor -- finally involved grinding a slot in the heat shields to get a 22mm wrench in there to BFH hammer on to break it free)

Fringe benefits of riding a bike again is increased hand eye coordination and faster reaction speeds. Your physical condition actually gets better over the first 3-4 months too, my back hurts less now that it did previously and I can swing a leg over a motorcycle without even thinking about it -- now that's improvement !!!

Live !!! Enjoy !!!

Oldfeller

PS the Chinese bikes are coming in now -- inexpensive and they are EXACT rip-off copies of some of our favorite '70s & '80s Japanese scoots.

See, you can go home again ....

[bruce drake]

Spent a year in Iraq in 2004. One of our civilian contractors bought one of those Chinese knock-offs in the market. It was labelled "TONDA" in english on the side, but you'd swear it was a Honda 250cc from the early 70s. It ran fine on LEADED gas. Just had to buy the gas on the local economy because the US Govt doesn't produce leaded gas for our military engines anymore. Its funny how some country's claim that the US is polluting the world because we didn't sign the UN's Kyoto Accords but yet you still see Lead Gas Engines banging away in these third world countries.

Bruce

[Oldfeller]

http://www.hooperimports.com/zoom_img/LF250Cruser_1140030898.jpg

http://www.bmikarts.com/shop/index.php?shop=1&itemid=1458&passedfrom=thumb

Yep, the one I like best is the Chinese Li Fan motorcycle Company -- they do contract work building small motors for Honda (yep, Honda outsources to China too) so Li Fan BOUGHT the design rights to several older scooters from both Honda and from Yamaha. So the Li Fan bikes are not rip-offs, they own the design rights now.

Here is a link for the cheapest "best" bike coming in from China. It goes 70 miles per hour top end and gets over 90 MPG and it only costs two grand to get you one. I still like my big 650cc Savage thumper better, but that's a personal taste thing. This one looks good, weighs less, runs smoother, goes faster and gets better gas mileage.

Two grand for a new bike is an astoundingly good price here in the USA. Hooper Imports will ship the scoot to your house in the crate for about $200, which is about par for dealership prep charges you'd have to pay anyway.

Parts are available locally at your Yamaha dealership. Li Fan bought the design rights for the old Virago 250 and they followed the prints exactly so you can pick up a Yamaha piece locally or order them direct from Li Fan in Dallas Texas for a good bit less money.

Oldfeller

[StarMetal]

Who's the world's largest bicycle builder? Yup, you guessed it, China. Company called Giant. Fitting huh? When I was in the bicycle trade, Giant supplied alot of American bicycle companies with bikes.. like Sears for example. Then they got the idea why not market under our own name, thus Giant. Pretty darn good bicycle for the money too.

Joe

[454PB]

I've been visiting here less often now that motorcycling season is really here.

I have a GL 1800 GoldWing, and filled it the other day. It took $16 worth of fuel. If somebody had told me you could get $16 worth of gas in your bike back 40 years ago when I started riding, I would have laughed in their face!

[btr-cj]

Picked up a 1982 Honda CB900 Custom. 5 speed trans with a 2 speed sub trans. Thats right a 10 speed! Shaft drive and 42 MPG.

$8 fillups are better then the $45 for my Dakota.


Thanks,

C.J.

[broomhandle]

Hi Guys,

I'm 65 & retired about a 6 months now.
WOW! I was thinking about a bike too! I had a Matchless 500cc updated to 600 cc single in the 60s. It's gone now.

Thanks for the post about the Chinese bikes, are they reliable? I'm going to check it out!

I was thinking about a URAL with a sidecar or the Chinese copy of one.
I bet most of you have seen them. The URAL is a Russian copy of a BMW military bike used in WW2.
It's the one you see in the old movies with the machine gun mounted on the sidecar! I figure it would be a cool place to put the pistols & rifles & stuff when I go to the range.

The sidecar wheel is also a drive wheel. It is suppose to be very rugged & comes with a tool kit that you can take the whole bike apart with.
I figure the top speed of 50mph will keep me in the safe zone. It is low tec so a old gear head HOT RODDER should have no problem working on it. No need for all sorts of special tools.

Be well,
broom

[georgeld]

Think about this a bit, might not matter to some. But, consider it anyway, ok?

Do those chinese pay into FICA to help support us old farts drawing S/S?????

Dad's got a cartoon on their fridge. Couple guys driving a Toyota: Driver's telling the other guy; "I can't imagine why Ford laid me off!"

Wish you well in retirement, you'll discover quickly it ain't what they promised us.
may it be a long healty and happy one.

George