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Posted: 8/15/2010 10:13:09 AM EDT
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I have a 13x40 Sheldon lathe that I'm starting to get fairly serious with. I set it up with the Aloris BXA post and toolholders; it has the telescoping taper attachment and some other nice features.
I also have a dial indicator (clock-style) but I need a good base for general use on the lathe, (centering stock in the 4-jaw, checking runout, etc.) I picked up an Empire magnetic base model with the two pins that slide up and down and clamp onto one another for positioning. The "magnetic base" was dead, and I ended up returning it to the store, but I was able to play around with it enough to determine that it seemed a bit awkward to set up properly for some things. I've seen one on a video that looked like a magnetic base with a segmented stem that looked a bit like a verterbrae (!) and locked ridgid in whatever position you had it when you locked it down. It actually looked a little like those flexible segmented coolant nozzle tubes, but I'm pretty sure it was metal, not plastic. Any ideas on where to find someting like that or any other advice on what to get? |
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This is what you want. I've got two of them, they are worth every penny.
Starrett flex arm base with fine adjustment This one is a little cheaper. Starrett flex arm base |
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That's it! I looked for it on the MSC site, but missed it somehow. I didn't know that Starrett made them though, or I'd have typed that in my search .Thank you! Your very welcome. Before you get one, if you decide to, sign up for MSC's sale notices. I probably get five emails a week for 25% off whatever or free shipping, etc. But I would also check places like Ebay for better prices. |
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I've noticed that when I search MSC for something but don't buy that day, that I'll get an email notice a couple days later with a big discount off some of the stuff I had looked up earlier. They must track searches and if you don't bite, they'll put up a discount and try again to get you to bite!
You're right, the discounts are often pretty significant on some items, if you spend a couple hundred or so at a time. |
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I bought this... http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/calipers-dial-indicators-micrometers/clamping-dial-indicator-93051.html And this... http://www.harborfreight.com/multipositional-magnetic-base-with-fine-adjustment-5645.html For a combined total of $39.98 before taxes. And you get a "free" cheap indicator and a pair of vise grip pliers.  |
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I bought this... http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/calipers-dial-indicators-micrometers/clamping-dial-indicator-93051.html And this... http://www.harborfreight.com/multipositional-magnetic-base-with-fine-adjustment-5645.html For a combined total of $39.98 before taxes. And you get a "free" cheap indicator and a pair of vise grip pliers.
Thanks for the tip. I'm guessing you ended up mounting the flexible arm to the magnetic base of the other unit? Work OK? |
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Quoted: Quoted: I bought this... http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/calipers-dial-indicators-micrometers/clamping-dial-indicator-93051.html And this... http://www.harborfreight.com/multipositional-magnetic-base-with-fine-adjustment-5645.html For a combined total of $39.98 before taxes. And you get a "free" cheap indicator and a pair of vise grip pliers. Thanks for the tip. I'm guessing you ended up mounting the flexible arm to the magnetic base of the other unit? Work OK? I haven't tried that yet, but the magnetic base with the rigid arm actually seems to be easier to use than the flex arm. The flex arm is like a noodle until you clamp the locking lever, then it's solid. But I like the ability to adjust the individual axis on the magnet base separately, rather than messing with the "noodle" flex arm trying to get everything lined up all at once. Also, the magnet base stand does have a fine adjustment, while the flex stand does not (unlike the starret version). I'm not sure how easy or hard it would be to combine the two to make one unit. If I had it to do all over again, I'd have just bought the magnet base for $9.99 and been done with it. In my (very inexperienced) opinion, the flex stand concept is kind of gimicky. Perhaps as I delve into the hobby more, I'll find applications for it where nothing else will do. But for now, the regular magnetic base gives me plenty of options for positioning an indicator. |
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Appreciate your sharing that. I know that the Starret would be an exceptionally nice tool, but like you I'd have a hard time justifying the cost of it for the kind of stuff I do., especially when there's so much other stuff I need to buy and can't afford either!
I need to ponder all this a little longer! Thanks, Guys. |
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Quoted: Appreciate your sharing that. I know that the Starret would be an exceptionally nice tool, but like you I'd have a hard time justifying the cost of it for the kind of stuff I do., especially when there's so much other stuff I need to buy and can't afford either! I need to ponder all this a little longer! Thanks, Guys. For now. . . An indicator and good base are the backbone of any operation, since you pretty much always have to indicate. How are you going to know if your chuck is true without one? Also since you have a lathe, while most individuals do not, you can use the machine, and by proximity, the base/indicator to make extra cash. Need anymore help justifying? I'm here all day.  |
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Appreciate your sharing that. I know that the Starret would be an exceptionally nice tool, but like you I'd have a hard time justifying the cost of it for the kind of stuff I do., especially when there's so much other stuff I need to buy and can't afford either! I need to ponder all this a little longer! Thanks, Guys. For now. . . An indicator and good base are the backbone of any operation, since you pretty much always have to indicate. How are you going to know if your chuck is true without one? Also since you have a lathe, while most individuals do not, you can use the machine, and by proximity, the base/indicator to make extra cash. Need anymore help justifying? I'm here all day.
Good point. But I never second-guessed my need for an indicator; in fact I already have one and have jury-rigged it to set up several operations. I do have to question whether it is reasonable in my situation to spend $250 on a segmented flexible arm base (Starrett) or 25 bucks on a pin-type Taiwan one that would do about the same thing but possibly take a minute or two longer to set up. The $225 difference would buy me several additional Aloris toolholders, for example... Always struggling with the cost/ benefit thing on a finite budget! |
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I've got dozens of different mag bases for about 20 or so different indicators I own.
I've had a 'Flexbar' base that I got on sale for about three years now , and I like it pretty well . It's not a Starett , but its half the price though. I've used the Starett and cant see that it's worth the extra $$....YMMV http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/GSDRVSM?PACACHE=000000151058267 My personal favorite in mag bases ( for speed and ease of use) are the Nogas 
But........what I made many moons ago, and is extremely handy for lathe work , is simply a base of flat steel plate (anything you have kicking around with one smooth , flat side) with an indicator base post welded or threaded into it. The weight of the base keeps the unit from moving , yet allows you to slide it around on the lathes saddle to check different locations on your piece. 
The unit I made is ( of course ) on the left , the Starret base ( exactly what its called is ? ...I couldnt find a part # ) on the right I picked up at a pawn shop for a song last year.......I mostly use it now instead as it has a ' fine adjustment ' screw .........but it's a luxury that I got by for years without. I scrounge pawn shops and garage sales for parts and pieces , and have amassed quite a little collection of spare parts over the years , which allows one to fabricate all sorts of different gizmos . |
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I checked Starretts website, and they sell the locking mechanisms separately. ("Snugs", they call them)
I might get a couple of those and just fabricate a custom base/stem to fit my lathe ways... I need to start scrounging pawn shops for stuff like this, too Thanks for your ideas, Guys! |
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snip Starrett surface gage........... Thank you I couldnt remember what it was called .
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I checked Starretts website, and they sell the locking mechanisms separately. ("Snugs", they call them) I might get a couple of those and just fabricate a custom base/stem to fit my lathe ways... I need to start scrounging pawn shops for stuff like this, too Thanks for your ideas, Guys! WHOA DRAGON !!!.......there's a few other places to scarf up cheap stuff
WHOLESALE TOOL is a great place for bargains They had a store in Tulsa where you could buy the cheapo china-made snugs (2) on a pair of stems , basically everything but the mag base itself , for $ 2.99.............so check their site out . |
We have a whole slew of bases at the shop but we generally use the NOGA articulated bases when doing gunsmithing work. |
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We have a whole slew of bases at the shop but we generally use the NOGA articulated bases when doing gunsmithing work. http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i152/racerxxl/How2%20Projects/DSCN0198.jpg Thats the one I like. |
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We have a whole slew of bases at the shop but we generally use the NOGA articulated bases when doing gunsmithing work. http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i152/racerxxl/How2%20Projects/DSCN0198.jpg Thats the one I like. Yupper...........I use the Mini Noga even more with the boring bar work we do. |
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Well, that's a couple or three votes for the Noga. So I ordered one from McMasterCarr. (I think it was a Noga- they don't like to give manufacturers names in their product descriptions, do they?) Anyway, tt LOOKED like the Noga in one of the pics posted...
We'll see when it gets here, I guess. I also ordered some Loc-line coolant tubing, nozzles. valves, etc.,- tired of brushing and squirting cutting oil onto the toolbit.- and sent in a small order to Speedy Metals for a few tool steel odds and ends, rounds, flats, etc. Stay tuned for more exciting stuff! |
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Yeah, if it's not genuine Noga, it's going right back.
The price was in line, (actually maybe a tad bit higher) with other Noga sources, though, and Noga's website linked me to the McMasterCarr site, so I'm pretty sure it will be the real deal. I'll show it to a machinist friend if there's any doubt-he'll know. I never did business with the McMC folks before, but they have a good reputation in these parts. |
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MSC owns Enco, not McMaster Carr owns Enco.
I like ordering from MSC and it's hard to beat their delivery time. I can stop at a Grainger store near home and buy with a discount, but if they don't have the item in stock the delivery time is about the same as MSC. KBC tools has a store within a half mile of where I'm sitting, but sometimes it's painful to wait on them to dig around in the back looking for whatever. |
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Well, it appears that I now own a NOGA articulated positioner!
I ordered it Sunday evening online and it arrived on my doorstep about five minutes after I got home from work. Gen-u-ine Noga- no doubt. Four times as expensive as the Empire one I first tried and ten times nicer an instrument. Very nice fit and finish and clever operating mechanism. I'm thrilled with it so far, and very pleased with Mc Master Carr's fast service. (It shipped from Elmhurst, IL) And grateful for all the advice offered here in this thread! 
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That's great KRONIK , you'll love that base.
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McMaster Carr are great folks .......ordered a bunch of stuff through them at work ( in Illinois) Arent they owned by MSC now? I haven't heard that. They do own Enco however. Yeah , that I knew . That was awhile ago they bought them . There's another ,smaller industrial supply company that MSC bought , and I believe they're in or around the Illinois area . JM Industrial Supply maybe ?........I duuno . |
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KRONIIK owns a tool that I don't have.
Nice job you bought a tool that will last you a long time. Now where did my catalog go. Quoted:
That's great KRONIK , you'll love that base.
Yeah , that I knew . That was awhile ago they bought them . There's another ,smaller industrial supply company that MSC bought , and I believe they're in or around the Illinois area . JM Industrial Supply maybe ?........I duuno . I am going to IMTS I will get to the bottom of this mystery. New thread idea. 
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I know. Short answer with just a little info missing. Here are some ribs for a large airplane: http://media.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=21297 
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That's what I said. MSC owns enco. I wasn't very clear. In my mind It sounded great. I know. Short answer with just a little info missing. Here are some ribs for a large airplane: http://media.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=21297 Those don't look very "large" ––compared to Commercial work??? c'mon TE ribs maybe...
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That's what I said. MSC owns enco. I wasn't very clear. In my mind It sounded great. I know. Short answer with just a little info missing. Here are some ribs for a large airplane: http://media.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=21297 Those don't look very "large" ––compared to Commercial work??? c'mon TE ribs maybe... The outboard ribs are just about that depth. Those are the first two off the machine for that miserable project we were on. |
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That's what I said. MSC owns enco. I wasn't very clear. In my mind It sounded great. I know. Short answer with just a little info missing. Here are some ribs for a large airplane: http://media.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=21297 Looks like they were mostly cut with a 5/8" or 3/4" endmill? Hard to tell. Have much trouble with warpage? |
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MSC bought J&L Industrial Supply a couple years back. They were home based in Michigan and their catalog was nearly the size of the MSC "Big Book"(approx 3000 plus pages).
I liked the J&L catalog layout better than MSC. Plus I work at the plant that printed them and could read the new edition before anyone else and for free. Don in Ohio |
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That's what I said. MSC owns enco. I wasn't very clear. In my mind It sounded great. I know. Short answer with just a little info missing. Here are some ribs for a large airplane: http://media.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=21297 Looks like they were mostly cut with a 5/8" or 3/4" endmill? Hard to tell. Have much trouble with warpage? Most of the corner radii are probably cut with 1 inch diameter tools; I don't remember, but I still have all the info for the parts I worked on so I can find out. That would pretty much be the standard for a part in a fighter, but the commercial side operates from a different universe. The fillet radius with the web is 0.13 inches. Warpage is generally not a problem, partly because we don't push the web thicknesses terribly thin on these parts. But, they'll need a little "adjustment" to get them lined up during assembly. |
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