"In the world of spuds today"

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

As for stripdowns, I've never had a piece of chinese gear that wasn't chock full of grinding dust. Just saying, like.

Removed the bolts from the top of the headstock but it wouldn't budge, there appears to be some sealant or something... looks like some frequent initial oil changes are going to have to do.

[mrfoo]

Oil changes in the headstock , check. I wouldn't try tearing the headstock down unless you're replacing the bearings, which will be el-cheapo versions. Replacing them with "good" bearings is almost certainly not cost-effective. Change the oil regularly, flush out all the crap.

What I'd be more worried about are the slides. On, and I don't want to come across as condescending here, "quality" machine tools, all the sliding surfaces are ground to size, and then hand-scraped to high tolerance. That's why my 1949 Schaublin still holds 1/100mm tolerances. However, that skilled manual intervention comes with a cost, in both time and monetary terms, and it's not a cost that can be borne when you're punting out thousands of lathes at 800$ (or more, given that yours is somewhat larger than the classic "mini lathe"). Chinese machine tools, at least the "affordable" ones are ground, and then slapped together. Much of the grinding happens *on the machine*. The cleanup and final finishing simply doesn't happen, as can be witnessed by the shocking number of non-deburred edges on new Chinese tooling. In most cases, the mating surfaces don't mate perfectly (which is bad for long-term accuracy, as the high points will wear off, in short order and a non uniform fashion, leaving slop all over the place), and are usually full of grinding dust, which mixes with your oil to form grinding paste...

Oh, and the chuck. Tear down and clean the chuck.

I'm in no way slamming chinese machines here. It's the profit-driven functional dive to the bottom, which as a very positive side effect means that people like you and I can now afford to buy machines that would have been way out of our price range before, which causes this, and those machines are currently coming from China. But you have to understand that a machine tool at an affordable price point must be considered to be "user completion required" if you want it to give, and carry on giving, good results. Or, in the case of a second hand machine, "some repair required".

There's a video out there of a mini lathe teardown by that german guy whose name I forget. He's very OCD in terms of accuracy, but it shows exactly where the corners have been cut.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

I couldn't find a port to fill the oil and the manual was no help so I contacted Busy Bee customer service and it turns out it goes through the top, so I'm going to need to take the lid it off anyway.

What I'd be more worried about are the slides. On, and I don't want to come across as condescending here, "quality" machine tools, all the sliding surfaces are ground to size, and then hand-scraped to high tolerance. That's why my 1949 Schaublin still holds 1/100mm tolerances. However, that skilled manual intervention comes with a cost, in both time and monetary terms, and it's not a cost that can be borne when you're punting out thousands of lathes at 800$ (or more, given that yours is somewhat larger than the classic "mini lathe"). Chinese machine tools, at least the "affordable" ones are ground, and then slapped together. Much of the grinding happens *on the machine*. The cleanup and final finishing simply doesn't happen, as can be witnessed by the shocking number of non-deburred edges on new Chinese tooling. In most cases, the mating surfaces don't mate perfectly (which is bad for long-term accuracy, as the high points will wear off, in short order and a non uniform fashion, leaving slop all over the place), and are usually full of grinding dust, which mixes with your oil to form grinding paste...

I see where you're coming from, but in this case it seems a little better. After reading all the horror stories I didn't go for the cheapest and the fact that they are branded by an importer who offers a three year warranty then seem to stand by means that they probably put a bit more effort into the product. I can't speak of tolerances yet but the finish seems decent, overall I have high hopes for this thing

[Gippeto]

that feeling when.jpg (14.73 KiB) Viewed 138961 times

Unboxing pics of machine tool related"stuff" is mandatory...just sayin.

[farcticox1]

Bought a Nerf Rival gun, yes paid real money for it about as much fun you can have indoors with your clothes on 12 round mag, single shot pump action , $36 CAD

download.jpg (13.76 KiB) Viewed 138720 times

[Xamllew]

Bought one of the Nerf Rival pistols for my nephew, ended up basically stealing it back because it's fun to plink cans with and the action is pretty cool.

[farcticox1]

Anybody tried one of these Chronographs, for the price I'm tempted to get one, the large opening will work well for my Nerf guns as well.

[mark.f]

ITWOST
(and I realize nobody asked)

The last holdout from my pre-Marines-days got decommissioned today because I haven't bothered to replace the mixture fan in it since 2014~ish, and I needed the 3" (pressure rated) pipe for another project (managing so far to build everything with stuff I had already pre-plague and stuff from McMaster).

Anyways, since the original inspiration for this project was Sgort's "travel combustion", and neither me nor him took any good images during construction, enjoy this cheesy 2004-like GIF and pictures of the former internals. As you can tell 2" SCH-80 conduit made a handy replacement for gort's modified bushings...

Click for animation

(and no, I cbf'd to change out the 50mm lens on my camera)

[mark.f]

ITWOST:
Things are starting to come together. This project has been majorly slow, but I can't really complain based on current circumstances, and having to wait for parts to come in gives me time to think.





(yes, that is CAT5 cable. It works fine for <500mA-ish. The two black thigamajig's on the right of the spaghetti monster are transistors for powering the fan/igniter from the smaller current which has to travel up the cable to the handle switches)

In other news, don't buy these things (at least not this product in particular). All five that came in were duds (tried several different supplies and voltage ranges). Waiting for some stunguns to come in the mail next. (Just in case you were wondering where the fat j00cy sparks were in the video above)

In case you were wondering about scale, it's pretty small, these are 3" fittings:

[Moonbogg]

^ looking like a fun project. I agree that those step-up boosters you linked are complete garbage. I used one on my last project and it just stopped working. I replaced with a small stun gun and so far it's been fine, but time will tell about its reliability of course. I like this build log. I enjoy following projects like this.

[mark.f]

I agree that those step-up boosters you linked are complete garbage. I used one on my last project and it just stopped working. I replaced with a small stun gun and so far it's been fine, but time will tell about its reliability of course.

It's probably plummeting QC over time with demand. I remember a few years ago when these first started popping up tons of people here were using them in projects (and on youtube) with no problem. At least a stungun you can actually test as well before soldering up to a power supply...

I like this build log. I enjoy following projects like this

Needs a little updating but: here. I'll probably post a few more updates but the "nailed-down" revision and damage vids will have to wait for a separate post. (I also have to find somewhere to shoot this thing since I'm building in a crowded apartment complex)

[Moonbogg]

I like that RGB switch and the fantastic barrel choice Nice website also. Enjoyed browsing it.

[farcticox1]

Stripped the old BFG, fitted my homemade QEV as the main valve, and a new Normally Open trigger valve, first test shots are very impressive.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Not spudguns exactly but some amazing miniature pneumatics that are actually functiuonal:

[hectmarr]

Wonderful work, and if it is functional, much more! Ami I like small things, airplanes, weapons women etc.