Thanks Bob. I'll fine tune things if I can, but honestly, 95% of what I machine is for Hit-n-Miss engines, and older (1950 or older) engines and machinery. Most of the tolerances I am working with are in the +/- 0.002-0.003 range, so this old girl should be plenty good. However, if there are some things I can do to dial it in a wee bit better, I am all for it. I cannot tell you the number of things I have built up with weld or braze, and then machined it back to original specs. And, as I have posted elsewhere, silver solder in my best friend when working with broken cast iron!
Interesting enough, I am mentoring a young man who is going to school to become a machinist/industrial type engineer. I have 2 challenges with him. #1 is getting him to match the effort to the required tolerances. He wants to keep a 0.0001 tolerance on something that will be very good with 0.001 Now, there is something to be said about being able to hold a tolerance that close, but the "return on labor" investment ratio doesn't always add up. Bragging rights are one thing, parts delivered per hour of effort is another. The other challenge I have is helping him "think outside the box" when setting up a piece of work. He has already surpassed my capabilities machining things. However, he has a way to go with setup and work holding, and most importantly, order of operation. He is progressing well though, and while I am not a journeyman, I have done fairly well making parts for old engines that are "unobtainium". So far, nothing has been returned to me because it failed or did not work. I hope I can continue that streak...............
Bottom line, if I can nurse this thing to be a wee bit better, I will certainly invest the time. At this juncture, she will deliver 95% of what I usually do.
