ATM a few thoughts

[Ina Ron Lippard Renaissance Reproductions <renrepro@surfglobal.net>]

Putting wrinkles on things:
1. Never buy hi-carbon anything to cut steel unless you wish to support the 
firm.
2.Keeping the taps near the drill press is a good idea. Put the ones you 
most commonly
    use in a wood block along with the tap&body drills that are needed for 
that size.
    Label each row clearly. This will save time.
3. For $4 MSC sells a large heavy plastic wall chart with all the decimal 
equiv. and thread
    info for tapping.
4.NEVER put your taps in a drawer that will bang them together.Use a nice 
cherry end-cut
    from a 2X12 timber about a foot long. They look real classy that way!
5.In the absence of thread-cutting oil, use 90wt gear oil. It clings to the 
tap and gives a
    clean thread. I use a rag dipped in it to rub down my lathe and other 
precious tools.
6.I recommend the following thread sizes for telescopes for their 
versatility : 10-32 (.156)
    1/4-20 (.201) 5/16-18 (.257), 3/8-16(.312) If you start using 
button-head 10-32's and
   1/4-20's (socket head) a set of T-wrenches should be very handy to use.
The small mill:
    Before you settle for a table-top mill, first consider the old JET 
Drill-Mills that were built
in Tacoma Washington. About 30 years ago these were the dream of many a 
hobbyist.
They are large enough to handle anything you wish to build without taking 
up to much
space in the parlor (won't that please the little lady!!).The one I have 
has been abused by
eager children trying to re-invent the A-bomb in a local high school,lol! 
But it still has the
ability to turn out work close enough to build scopes. I still maintain 
that cheap price is
no substitute for honest cast-iron.Pay for it once even if it cancels out 
that trip to 6-Flags!

Grinding lenses on a lathe:
    DON'T! You gain nothing by this method. Use your lathe to make the 
parts for a small
lens-grinding machine. Grinding is the second worst thing you can do to a 
lathe.
The first being knurling. If you must grind, cover the lathe with heavy 
cloth to keep out dust.
Shaping grind-stones can be done with a diamond tool (used for 
surface-grinding wheels)
and a cardboard templet.
regards, Ron