by Phil Kerner | Jun 30, 2013 | Members Only: The Tool Room, Milling, Set-Ups, Shortcuts and Time Savers
It's kind of hard to believe that for 30 years, I never had to deal with machining any plastic. Now, I do it almost once a week. Here's one of my "tried and tested" methods.
by Phil Kerner | Jun 30, 2013 | Members Only: The Tool Room, Milling, Set-Ups
It seems like almost every week I get a weird part to machine, and the first thing that usually comes to mind is, "How am I going to hang onto this thing?" It's good for me to have to "stretch" myself a bit, and it's even better for you because you get to learn it...
by Phil Kerner | Jun 17, 2013 | Members Only: The Tool Room, Milling, Set-Ups
While sometimes it may seem obvious, I've been surprised a few times in my career by how much down-pressure a simple drill can exert on a work piece, to the point of actually tipping the part in a vise. Here's my thoughts and solutions:
by Phil Kerner | May 7, 2013 | Inspection, Members Only: The Tool Room, Set-Ups
As I split my time between toolmaking and short production runs these days, I have to say that I've learned a lot of new things over the past few years. Toolmakers build "one of a kind" stuff. That's my specialty, and what I was trained to do. On the other hand, it...
by Phil Kerner | May 5, 2013 | Inspection, Members Only: The Tool Room, My Tools, Set-Ups
Here's a "twofer." I have had a few of these old Starrett clamps with me for most of my career. I don't use them often, but nothing takes the place of them when they're needed. Just another "one of those things" to add to your "wish-list" but I can tell you that I...
by Phil Kerner | Apr 28, 2013 | Members Only: The Tool Room, Milling, My Tools, Set-Ups
I got this very cool electronic edge-finder about a month ago, and decided that today was the day to see how it stacks up as far as accuracy goes...now I know, and you will, too.
