Post a photo of the last thing you made

[Trevanion]

Something that's frankly taken me WAAAY too long to get around to doing! :lol:

 

[MarkDennehy]

Had this idea rattling around inside my head long enough that I got annoyed enough to build it.
MT2 arbour blank, box, some mounting hardware and a voltage regulator (connected up to a USB power bank out of frame), laser diode, collimator with cross-line screen.

Plug it into your tailstock, line up the vertical line with the indexing plate's indicator that most modern minilathes have...

...put on your chuck and now you have the piece's centerline indicated by laser to help beginners set up their tool rest height.

I mean, everyone gets to where setting it by eye is second nature (I hope to get to that stage in a year or two ) and for spindle turning you'd need a magnet on the box or outrigger on the tailstock so it could still show a centerline on a spindle, but this is (a) a prototype and (b) mostly a way to get the idea out of my head where it was annoying me

Would someone mind telling me what this thing is called btw? I've been trying to find it but nobody seems to make it and it's annoying me that I can't see how close I got to the manufactured one

 

[marcros]

You could market something like that. I think it would sell pretty well.

 

[transatlantic]

Had this idea rattling around inside my head long enough that I got annoyed enough to build it.
MT2 arbour blank, box, some mounting hardware and a voltage regulator (connected up to a USB power bank out of frame), laser diode, collimator with cross-line screen.

Clever idea! ... given that most laser pens fit on a key ring, you could get this down in size to no bigger than the arbour itself. Not sure about battery life though.

 

[MarkDennehy]

I was thinking about it and you'd want some method to adjust it for pitch, but yeah, a 3D printed doohickey would give you both the arbour and space in it for a battery and the adjustment mechanism.

What I'm kindof shocked by is that nobody's come out and said "Oh yeah, that's a Thingamajig, made by YerManOverThere ltd". Is this actually a new idea???

 

[MikeG.]

If it is, I'm afraid that this public posting of the details would invalidate any patent application. It was the first thing I was warned about when I patented an invention 10 or 15 years ago.

 

[MarkDennehy]

Dang, and here was me with twenty grand burning a hole in my "pay for a patent lawyer" pocket

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Wouldn't a pencil line across the diameter serve the same purpose?

 

[Bm101]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Laser-Center-E ... B00T7PBKPI

Well out my depth here Mark but is this similar? I just searched laser centre finder. Not sure its suitable to use with a lathe. Tell you what though a laser pen for the drill press ain't a bad idea for some situations.

 

[MarkDennehy]

To be honest, your eyeballs and skill serve the same purpose Phil, I wasn't suggesting it as a replacement for anything. I had an idea, it refused to get out of my skull when asked politely, I had to resort to building the sodding thing to get it to shift, and after that I thought I'd show and tell for fun.

Also, thanks Bm101, I knew a new idea had no business being in my head

 

[MikeJhn]

They told me that making furniture was difficult, I am opening my shop tomorrow:

 

[kevinlightfoot]

And you would probably sell some.

 

[MarkDennehy]

"rustic" and "artisan" and "upcycled"

 

[MikeG.]

They told me that making furniture was difficult, I am opening my shop tomorrow:

Hmm........I have occasional need for such torture devices. Please make that available now and then for miscreants who think a planer is a jointer, or a lintel is a header. Don't worry, Carruthers will clean the blood off afterwards.

 

[Trevanion]

Hmm........I have occasional need for such torture devices. Please make that available now and then for miscreants who think a planer is a jointer, or a lintel is a header. Don't worry, Carruthers will clean the blood off afterwards.

What about people that call a rafter a beam?

 

[MikeJhn]

Or the absolute worse for me is those that call concrete "cement".

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

Or the absolute worse for me is those that call concrete "cement".

Or call any kind of steel beam or column an RSJ :lol:

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

Been slowly chipping away at a guitar pedal board for my brother out of this lovely english walnut

 

[MikeG.]

Hmm........I have occasional need for such torture devices. Please make that available now and then for miscreants who think a planer is a jointer, or a lintel is a header. Don't worry, Carruthers will clean the blood off afterwards.

What about people that call a rafter a beam?

Or people who use "that" instead of "who". :lol: :lol:

Or people who call a joist a rafter. Or any timbers in an old building "beams", even if they are braces, purlins, or, worst of all, posts or studs. Or people who talk about plans, rather than drawings (if said drawings are elevations, sections etc). That chair is going to be busier than I thought.

 

[thetyreman]

Been slowly chipping away at a guitar pedal board for my brother out of this lovely english walnut

very nice! do you mind posting a pic with the pedals on once it's complete? I love seeing guitar rigs and pedalboards.