workshop
Resting on an Obsession
I suspect that creative work is never finished as almost any design engineer, graphic artist or programmer will admit they usually come to a stopping point rather than a finish. There is always that one more little tweak that can be added. At least I find that is true for me. What it becomes is a point of diminishing return and a decision is made that the mission (project) has been accomplished. There is no obsession to keep going.
I think I am at that stopping point in updating my blogs and website displays. Well, maybe it is more of a resting point. I am satisfied with design at the moment. I hope that for my sake it is a rather long rest. Ha! Now I can just need to train myself to just add content material and stop playing with design of the box.
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There is an aura of obsessive perfection about a machine shop and the people who enjoy machining. It stems from the general knowledge we work in the realm of one thousandths of an inch (or 0.0254mm). Not so well known is we sometimes get into one ten-thousandths of an inch, thankfully not often.
Some machinists, especially the newer untrained hobbyist types have an overwhelming creative desire or obsession for dimensional (± 0.000) precision. That is not the meaning of my THMS slogan, “One Perfect Part at a Time”.
I know there are times to be critical of exact dimension but that most of the time there is an important thing called tolerance. Good design includes and specifies tolerance.… Continue reading
New Article Posted in THMS
It’s been awhile I admit since I posted new material in the THMS website. This BLOG has served well for most small projects but the glass stamps have a lot of photos. Go check it out here:
http://thehobbyistmachineshop.com/cms/projects/brass-stamps-for-beadmaking
The new format permitted me to add a new feature. All the pictures in the article will zoom to a larger size when clicked.
Look Fast
Here is a picture seldom seen in a workshop. A totally empty workbench!
After expending too many hours revising the THMS website, I got into the mood to get out in the shop and really start detailing the place. Several hours earlier before this picture was taken, this bench looked nothing like this. I am in a “put away” “tidy up” mood.
Actually I just put a new coat of polyurethane on the top since I had it so cleared off. I do that occasionally. The surface gets rubbed and scrapped off when I am working on things on the bench. You can see some old stain marks and where the X3 took a chunk out of the leading edge in “The Great Wreck”.
The red vice has swapped ends (some time ago). the original location was on the right side but then I built the Taig CNC mill bench. Both benches are extremely stable. The dark main bench is free standing and the CNC bench (light grey) is built in.
When I get a work in progress back on this bench, it will seem more like a workshop. Empty benches (like beaches) attract all sorts of non project flotsam and jetsam* if left in this present barren state too long. (*Yeah, I am a US Navy vet. I love nautical terms.)