Confessions From A Tool Junkie...i had to say no to a tool, and i feel remorse and shame....

[bcall2043]

i'm sweating looking and drooling while looking at CL i wanna get this , just gotta get bigger shop....................B&S here u go...

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tls/3675563139.html

a nice brown and sharp horizontal mill, another deal i must pass for now:angry:

How can you go to sleep tonight? Get the machine and then you will have a good reason to enlarge the shop.)

Benny
The Orphanage Never Closes

 

[cbtrek]

You can never build a big enough garage!

With my 2 1/2 stall garage and just enough space to get the wife's car in or else, I should of looked for a new house that had more room to add on.

 

[bcall2043]

How can you go to sleep tonight? Get the machine and then you will have a good reason to enlarge the shop.)

Benny
The Orphanage Never Closes

Ulma Doctor,

I know you did not sleep well last night……… ref; PM from you just before midnight. Maybe I can put your mind to rest. You definitely have the hobby machinist problem of “metal illness”. This is a chronic illness, see def. below.

Don’t lose hope this can be treated; however there is no real cure.

The best treatment I have found is the “12 step program”. Wait this is not that old 12 step program for those other illnesses. This one will help you get the "metal illness" under control and deal with the recurrent symptoms.

Step 1 – Get a lathe

Step 2 – Get a drill press

Step 3 – Get a horizontal saw

Step 4 - Get a welder

Step 5 – Get a vertical mill

Step 6 – Get a vertical saw

Step 7 through 11 – get the additional tooling and other support equipment that will make the tools aquired in steps 1 through 6 useful. This includes but is not limited to the following: all kinds of measuring tools, all kinds of cutting tools, a tool grinder, a belt sander, a surface grinder, more welder types, a bandsaw blade welder, and books about the above.

Step 12 – Stay tuned to the friendly forum (emotional support group) for new treatment methods plus the justification for all the tools you have and/or need. Here you will get to see what others are doing to cope with this illness and all the neat projects that result.

Now all that said you know that you really NEED that, very rare, universal milling machine. Just think about what you can do with it like make drill bits, gears, reamers and all sorts of things. That’s why they called it a universal machine. See following info-clip from one of the learning books about this type of machine.


Benny
The Orphanage Never Closes

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Bernie,
here's the results of my 12 step check...

step 1: done twice, i have two lathes
step 2: had drill press before lathe, out of order but still a qualifying indicator of affliction.
step 3: i chose a slightly different path with cutting instruments, my first choice is a 3" wheeled die grinder, my second was a Milwaukee portable band saw with the horizontal bench mount, third was the 14" Carborundum chop saw, and of course to complete the cutting array a carbon arc cutter, and plasma cutter. my admissions for sure would cause any HMO to drop me from service:lmao:
step 4: check, i have these processes: tig, stick, mig, oxy/acetylene, plastic, not to mention brazing & soldering , i got this step down!
step 5:i need 5 in the worst possible way like nothing else i have wanted.
the worst part i was given a bridgeport mill but could not store the damn thing and had to pass it up:angry:
step 6: i skipped 5 and decided to to directly to 6, i work on vertical meat saws as part of my job, i converted 2 meat saws to run metal blades with very good result, so god both of the saws have been purchased
steps 7-11: done, all X 3
step 12: i'm there brother!:rofl:
thanks for the laugh,
i owe you, Bernie!
mike

 

[Ulma Doctor]

let's see if i can verbalize these feelings i have....
i'm going to trade a fully functional 50"s vintage Atlas th42 lathe for a southbend 11 lathe that hasn't run for a while (years i'm thinking) and i have no way of verifying the lathe even works until i get it home.
i know i'm going to need to do some wiring, the owner told me of this as it is a three phase unit. there may be other issues, unknown
He also told me a little of it's history, that it came from Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, Ca.
Mare Island is about 60 miles as the crow flies, from me and i'm gonna pick it up in the foothills on saturday
i don't know i'm going to sleep until saturday, i'm already planning to do a major shop rearrange to accommodate the new (to me) lathe.
i need suggestions on how to keep my mind off of this until then.......and thinking of other tools will probably not help my situation:lmao:

 

[macrnr]

let's see if i can verbalize these feelings i have....
i'm going to trade a fully functional 50"s vintage Atlas th42 lathe for a southbend 11 lathe that hasn't run for a while (years i'm thinking) and i have no way of verifying the lathe even works until i get it home.
i know i'm going to need to do some wiring, the owner told me of this as it is a three phase unit. there may be other issues, unknown
He also told me a little of it's history, that it came from Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, Ca.
Mare Island is about 60 miles as the crow flies, from me and i'm gonna pick it up in the foothills on saturday
i don't know i'm going to sleep until saturday, i'm already planning to do a major shop rearrange to accommodate the new (to me) lathe.
i need suggestions on how to keep my mind off of this until then.......and thinking of other tools will probably not help my situation:lmao:

A south Bend is a much nicer machine than an Atlas. Does it have a phase converter, if so that is a major plus. I started with an Atlas and now have a South Bend and there is no comparison in my opinion. South Bends where built for commercial use whereas Atlas is for the hobbyist and it shows. Start researching, there is a lot of info on the South Bend machines. The South Bend forum is good. We need pictures!

 

[Ulma Doctor]

:bitingnails: i was hoping to get some backup on my decision , although i already stuck my foot in my mouth and made the deal...good or bad.
i was sent some pictures and i'm sure to take a bunch of the old girl for display here.
i'm gonna miss the atlas, but i'm already in love with the southbend, just by picture! she's looking promising from the pictures.
she's coming with a ton of tooling , i can't wait until saturday!!!!!
here's a picture!

http://images.craigslist.org/3Kc3J43Nc5Lc5F85H9d3befd799ad03181f37.jpg

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Does it have a phase converter

no sir it doesn't have a VFD, i'm going to build a custom balanced RPC unit to drive this beauty as well as the rest of my shop.
i have a 10 hp 3 phase motor i'm going use as the base for the RPC, i'll make postings in the coming months.

 

[todd774]

i'm sweating looking and drooling while looking at CL i wanna get this , just gotta get bigger shop...
but for those who have room and like B&S here u go...

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tls/3675563139.html

a nice brown and sharp horizontal mill, another deal i must pass for now:angry:

Thanks for showing me that universal mill. I think I want it. He wants $720 ("lets see. I have about $1000 left in the bank. I wonder how much it would cost to ship it from S.F Cal. to Mass. Mabe I could get a 2nd job & try to score a bridgeport M head for it. That would be a nice mill for me. I think I could fit it in the middle of the shop & still squeeze aroud it.")

 

[bcall2043]

.......... I think I want it............ I wonder how much it would cost to ship it from S.F Cal. to Mass...

Take the wife on a California vacation. Drive out and then if run across a mill out there all you would need is a oneway U-haul.