RepRap: Blog

I finally learned what to call the little positioning table (a cross-slide vise) on a drill press, something my WWII era Black and Decker navy drill press doesn't have. Once I had the name I was able to find a deal on a good machinist's cross-slide vise for US$25.99 on the web. With that installed I will be able to operate the drill press by myself and take on tasks like converting brass bolts to extruder barrels without the fear and loathing that such tasks had previously for me.

It finally stopped raining and dried out this weekend so I packed up the Gingery extruder and drove out to my sister and brother-in-law's place to learn how to weld. I spent a very frustrating hour learning how to strike an arc. After that things moved along and I got the welding on the extruder frame done. I think that I must qualify for some prize for ugly welds, but they are strong and a grinder forgives many sins. My US$65 Chinese welding machine seems to do the job quite nicely. :-)

I took some pictures of the welded frame so that I could share the shame of my ugly welds with the team.