Re: John Long Phaser 1 Kit Buildup plus MM P2 Restoration
Man, what a day! Just got back from the shop an hour ago (13 1/2 hour day), took a cool shower to get the machine shop grunge off, and I'm still going. So I might as well get at least the first part of today posted.
But first, I great piece of advice from the shop wall:
I try to suck at one thing every day.
I'm gonna do things a bit different this time. I'll start at the end.
I didn't end up with a finished emitter, but I'm very confident I've got all my major screw-ups out of the way.
Unlike this guy.
So here's where I ended up:
The first two pictures tell the story. This was my second crack at the emitter with the cast acrylic, and at the very last minute, my first bit broke. Note to self: Next time, start with a bigger bit. At
least 1/16". Once the bit breaks, there's no getting it out. I tried pushing it out by drilling from the other end, but as you can see, the stuck bit just deflects the drill bit, and you wind up with a bent bore.
Or even two of them.
However, you can also see that the cast acrylic makes all the difference. I got it clear as crystal on the outside, and got a pretty good start on getting good clarity in the bore as well.
So except for that last thing, it was a pretty good night...
Meh. Sh¡Ƭ happens.
So anyway, I got started creating the tool to make the, um... what's the word?
"Daddy, what do you call it when something
gets narrower along its length?"
"You're too young for that conversation, son."
I went to my blueprints, figured out the measurements, and used the height gauge to mark my lines on the tool blank.
I always check that the gauge is properly zeroed first, and when I set the gauge to the measurement I need, I double-check it with my caliper.
Then I set about marking the tool blank, first with the gauge, then following up with purple and red Sharpies.
Long story short, next week I'm doing it over. Making a notched tool like this was extremely difficult using just the grinder, and I would have been better off just making a straight taper. An inside corner like that really needs to be done on the mill, and in the end the notch didn't do anything for my cut.
I started on the bench grinder, and then went to my Dremel to try to get the inside corner. It didn't work out very well. But I ultimately did get a nice, sharp tool after I took it back to the grinder. The good news is, those grinder bits really do the job, even on high-speed steel. I used medium speed on the Dremel -- you work steel with low speeds, and soft metals like brass and aluminum with high speeds.
And that's where I'll leave it tonight -- it's damn near 3 am, and I need my beauty sleep. Tomorrow, I'll finish talking about today's work, and tell you how this sexy ******* changed forever how I'll do small pieces on the lathe...
No, no, the guy on the left.