"Almost Done" and "Done" are not the same

[jaek]

Making tapered saddle gibs for my mini-lathe. It's been a learning process for sure. Cold rolled steel for the tapered part warps like hell, got a little turned around the first time I tried to cut the relief for the apron gear in the bracket and scrapped that. Second attempt, starting from stock much closer to finished size saves a lot of time, hot roll doesn't warp, thing goes better. Parts made, holes tapped, did fit check succeeded, cut the groove for the adjusting screw, and was in the process of hacksawing off the excess length on the gib. Turns out a workbench vise holding by the sides doesn't give a really strong grip and the thing pivoted between the jaws. Grabbed the aluminum soft jaws that have a little lip at the top, went to re-grip the gib, and the sucker was bent!

Get a little lazy at the end and it's back to square one...

 

[markba633csi]

Many parts get wrecked at the very end- happens to me too! I think sometimes it's due to fatigue (me not the part) but other times
it's just bad juju or a shadow goes over the moon for a minute...
mark

 

[Bi11Hudson]

When you're holding your mouth "just so" and sqinting one eye, sometimes a fleck of dust gets in your eye and when you reach to get it out, the machine goes wonky.