I've been building muzzle loading pistols -- caplocks and flintlocks -- for years, both as kits requiring little finish work, and from "sort of scratch" -- that is, from semi-finished pieces. But I've always wanted to build my own lock mechanizms. This required a metal lathe and mill, and until now that was always beyond my budget. (It still is, but priorities change.)

So in the summer of 1999 I acquired a Taig lathe and a Sherline mill, plus various accessories. I built a shop in my bedroom (yes, the bedroom; there aren't a lot of options in an apartment!). After a few projects I decided I really needed larger equipment, so I sold the lathe and bought an Asian-made 7x10. Then I added a Grizzly "mini mill," about 3 times the size of the Sherline. I still have the Sherline, but I use it only for special "tiny" projects.

Here are a couple of shots of my shop as it was until February, 2001:

Lathe side - Computer on the left, bed on the right. The shop table is a pre-fab unit out of O.S.H. (Orchard Hardware Supply). The lathe and a jeweler's drill are on the bench, surrounded by parts/tools/ materials storage. A shop vac is stashed under the bench, with more parts storage. Above the pre-fab part is a home-made additional shelf, containing small tools. There's a small compressor next to the desk, out of sight.

Mill side - on the opposite end of the bedroom. The mill is bolted to an old dresser, with a Grizzly bandsaw on the left and storage bins topped by a scroll saw on the right. Between the mill and the bandsaw is a Sherline indexing tool, which works fine with the Grizzly. Finished steam engines are on the shelf above. With all the projects I have in mind, I'll soon have to get another shelf. Luckily, there's room on a side wall!

My daughter moved out in January, and I converted this bedroom to shop only. I took over her bedroom and put the computer in the living room. Here's what that shop looked like:

The lathe and mills are side-by-side against one wall, the lathe mounted on a pre-fab workbench with associated tools, and the mills on a sturdy dresser, with milling tools in drawers. Parts bins between the two have miscellaneous items common to both.
The table above contains various small tools on the left and a TV/VCR on the right for viewing instructional videos. A compressor under the table provides air for testing engines for powering some small air tools. Shown is the Radical Radial under test. At right is the "Desk of Woe," otherwise known as the inspection desk. Nowadays, more of my parts pass than before.

New Shop -- October, 2002

When the rent on my two-bedroom apartment went out of sight in June of 2002, I broke down and bought a 4-bedroom house in Lancaster, CA, and dedicated one of these bedrooms to a shop. I just finished (October 2002) an L-shaped work bench against two of the walls. It consists of a white formica kitchen drainboard resting on 2x4 rails which in turn rest on four 3-drawer bed tables that I bought in kit form.

The room is 10x12, plus a 2-foot deep closet along one of the 12-foot walls. This closet contains parts bins and other things that are best put away when not in use. I left the carpeting in, because I learned from experience that a carpeted floor allows less tracking of swarf from one room to another. Of course, vacuuming after every session is a must.
	Table height is 29-1/2 inches, just right for playing while sitting down. The bed tables are recessed about 6 inches from the edge of the table, which gives the drawers some protection from swarf when I forget to close them before operating the machines (I do that a lot). The drain board has a lip along its edge, which keeps parts and other stuff from rolling off.
The result is a bright, cheerful shop that's a pleasure to work (play) in. The room is included in the house's central air and heating system, so it is always dry and at a comfortable temperature. I have only the mills and lathes in this area. The "dirty" stuff -- grinder, bandsaw, powder-coating system, etc. -- are in the garage.

My first project (1999) was a new firing pin for an ancient .22 pistol. The firing pin had been broken for over 50 years, and I'd always wanted to try out that pistol. The new pin works fine, and the pistol works great with reduced loads.

But then I got interested in steam engines, and so far I've built more than a dozen - some from others' plans and some from my own design. All of them work fine. My machining skills have improved with each project. Here's a shot of Brassy Babe (the second engine I designed) with a quarter tossed in for size reference:

You can download the plans for Brassy Babe with the following link. They are in .pdf, and were done in Acrobat 4.0. You'll need Acrobat Reader to access them. Reader 3.0 probably will be ok; if not, you'll need Reader 4.0.

Plans for Brassy Babe

And the following links show all the steam engines I have built so far:

Steam Engine Projects

The Siamese Twins

The Radical Radial

Twin Wobbler

Radical Radial - Take Two

Pegasis (beam engine)

I Spy (see-through mill engine)

Hand-Held Wobbler

Double Wobbler

Scotch Twins

Brassy Babe - Take Two

CNC (October 24, 2001)

The company I've worked for the past three years manufactures motion control circuitry and software, a good portion of it being CNC for milling machines. That's what prompted me to buy a lathe and a mill in the first place. I'd always wanted a machine shop, so shortly after I went to work for this company I scratched that itch. First a micro lathe (Taig). Then a micro mill (Sherline). Then another, bigger, lathe (Harbor Freight mini-lathe, replacing the Taig). Then an additional mill (Grizzly mini-mill). I scratched that itch bloody.

But it came back. I said to myself, "Self," I said, "You're only half-way there. You need Computer Numerical Control." (drum roll, please). So I bought a complete Taig CNC milling system. My way of giving Bin Laden a one-fingered salute.

I've had it about a week now, and it's fantastic. I can make parts for the scrap bin much faster than before. Last week I made my first part. It was a re-make of the Scotch yoke piston rods in Rad II (described elsewhere). Took me two days and seven minutes. Two days to get the software to do what I wanted, and seven minutes to mill the part. I milled that part a dozen times in wood before I got the G-codes right.

When I was satisfied I switched to brass, and popped two out in nothing flat. They look much nicer than those I'd made on the manual machine plus handwork.

Because of those two days' sweat, the next part I drew and milled went much faster. That's the collet wrench in the above photo. The mill went bananas on the first trial (in wood) when it hit the first arc (lower right). It decided to continue the arc for 360 degrees. That's when I learned that empty lines in G code is a no-no. I deleted the empty line and everything went fine.

Here's a shot of the new mill. This weekend (October 26-28, 2001) I'll put up a small curtain between the laptop and the mill. I have visions of chips getting into the laptop. I think maybe I'll also put a curtain around the milling head, to confine most of the chips to the table.

Meantime, I've gone back to some of my steam engine projects and engraved my name and the month/year of completion on their base plates.

How sweet it is!

CNC Projects

Cribbage Board

Shop Tips

This section describes some "how to's" I've picked up along the way. They aren't necessarily the best way to do things, but they work for me. If you know of a better way than the one I describe, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Meantime, here's the link.

Other Stuff

Here are some of the tools I use in conjunction with the lathe and the mill. I call it "Tools, Tips, Gadgets and Gizmos."

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