by Phil Kerner | Dec 1, 2014 | Inspection, Members Only: The Tool Room, My Tools
As most of you know, I'm a bit of a tool-junkie. Hopefully by now you've seen my videos where I go through each drawer and do a bit of explaining and showing off. "Showing off?" You BET. I LOVE my tools, many of which I made myself, and several of which were my...
by Phil Kerner | Oct 19, 2014 | Inspection, Members Only: The Tool Room, The Basics - Measuring, Locating, and Checking Your Work
File this one under "you learn something new every day." I had this very small milled part that required a very fussy undercut to be milled using a keyseat cutter to +/- .001" on the width and location. The only way for me to get an idea was to put it on our optical...
by Phil Kerner | Oct 19, 2014 | Inspection, Members Only: The Tool Room, The Basics - Measuring, Locating, and Checking Your Work
One of the big differences between mold making and contract-machining work is what gets checked and what doesn't. For instance, had I drilled and tapped this 4-40 hole into a mold, it might be for a small micro switch. As long as the switch or sensor mounts up and...
by Phil Kerner | Aug 17, 2014 | Inspection, Members Only: The Tool Room, The Basics - Measuring, Locating, and Checking Your Work
This lesson is the result of a request by a perspective member. Here's his question: "I have a flatness inspection question that no one has been able to answer. It's about the jackscrew 3 point method that I saw an older machinist perform years ago that I haven't been...
by Phil Kerner | Jun 19, 2014 | Inspection, Members Only: The Tool Room, Real Manufacturing Experiences
A few days ago, I had to machine a part that was pretty hard to check the "old-fashioned" way with gauge blocks and a dial indicator. Yes, it COULD be done that way, but in the end it would take longer to check the part than to actually machine it. That's a big...
by Phil Kerner | Jun 19, 2014 | Fixture Building, Inspection, Members Only: The Tool Room
In this lesson, I'll show a few things: A hardened "GO / NO-GO" gauge that I just built, as well as a pretty nifty (expensive) set of thread plugs to insert into the holes. Besides the toolmaking stuff, I enjoy bringing you guys other "machining" stuff that I see and...
