Any machinists interested in reproducing solid brass and solid nickel briefcase locks?

[esantoro]

Any machinists interested in reproducing solid brass and solid nickel briefcase locks? To me, it looks that these aren't too difficult to fabricate if you have the machinery. To my knowledge, the nearest place to get these is England. I'll post pictures later.

Ed

[esantoro]

Come to think of it, OTB will make locks to specs for minimum runs of something like 400.

Would it cost less than, say, $3000 for the basic machining equipment necessary to do these locks? I know pictures will be helpful and they are forthcoming.

Ed

[LarryDonaldson]

I have a CNC Mill and a manual mill with open time but have never seen what you are talking about. Send some photo's to me and quantities you are interested in. larrydonaldson@rossreels.com

[esantoro]

Is it possible with a CNC milling machine to engrave text onto a rivet head?

ed

[esantoro]

My 3 to 5 year plan is to learn how to do CNC machining and put one of these in my workshop.

http://www.ixen-cnc.com/2007/11/cheap-mill-enclosure.html

My first step is to teach myself how to do basic 3D computer design.

ed

[gtwister09]

Ed, If you are looking to get into desktop type CNC machining and are interested in learning about all aspects there are a number of good forums as well as some great retro-kits (DRO and CNC) for the smaller mills and lathes.

One of the better books for the Sherline desktop machines is Joe Martin's Tabletop Machining. He also wrote some business musings at the following address… Sherline Business Musings

The Sherline shown in the picture is a good machine. It has a smaller work envelope but they have great support and comes as a CNC ready package in various configurations..

Sherline Site

There are a lot of larger mini-desktop machines that you can add CNC capability to that will give you larger work envelopes. These desktop mills and lathe machines are from Cummins, Grizzly, Harbor Freight, Homier and Micro-Mark are some of the ones out there.

Micro-Mark is considered to be the highest quality one but it is also the most expensive. It likewise is the only one that comes w/o metric threads.

Some of the forums for these are:

7x12minilathe@yahoogroups.com

9x20Lathe@yahoogroups.com

GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com

CNC Zone

There are places that have DRO (digital read out)O plans and CNC plans like fognoggle. Here's some of their YouTube videos. FigNoggle YouTube Videos I have used some of their DRO and CNC plans on some other's machines.

Another great resource is Little Machine Shop. Little Machine Shop

Hope that helps with some information to get you started.

Regards,

Ben

Edited July 4, 2009 by gtwister09

[esantoro]

Ben,

This is exactly the information I needed. Thanks.

Ed

Ed, If you are looking to get into desktop type CNC machining and are interested in learning about all aspects there are a number of good forums as well as some great retro-kits (DRO and CNC) for the smaller mills and lathes.

One of the better books for the Sherline desktop machines is Joe Martin's Tabletop Machining. He also wrote some business musings at the following address… Sherline Business Musings

The Sherline shown in the picture is a good machine. It has a smaller work envelope but they have great support and comes as a CNC ready package in various configurations..

Sherline Site

There are a lot of larger mini-desktop machines that you can add CNC capability to that will give you larger work envelopes. These desktop mills and lathe machines are from Cummins, Grizzly, Harbor Freight, Homier and Micro-Mark are some of the ones out there.

Micro-Mark is considered to be the highest quality one but it is also the most expensive. It likewise is the only one that comes w/o metric threads.

Some of the forums for these are:

7x12minilathe@yahoogroups.com

9x20Lathe@yahoogroups.com

GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com

CNC Zone

There are places that have DRO (digital read out)O plans and CNC plans like fognoggle. Here's some of their YouTube videos. FigNoggle YouTube Videos I have used some of their DRO and CNC plans on some other's machines.

Another great resource is Little Machine Shop. Little Machine Shop

Hope that helps with some information to get you started.

Regards,

Ben

[esantoro]

Martin's net book on Business is a great read.

I will soon buy his book on machining, just because I would like to have such a book for a better general understanding of machining.

I like Martin's approach to business and his reasoning, so I look forward to his book on machining.

Thanks, again, Ben, for answering my next questions that had been a few weeks or months out.

ed

Ben,

This is exactly the information I needed. Thanks.

Ed

[gtwister09]

Another good read is Machine Shop Trade Secrets by James Harvey.

Regards,

Ben

Martin's net book on Business is a great read.

I will soon buy his book on machining, just because I would like to have such a book for a better general understanding of machining.

I like Martin's approach to business and his reasoning, so I look forward to his book on machining.

Thanks, again, Ben, for answering my next questions that had been a few weeks or months out.

ed

[esantoro]

Damn you, Ben! Damn you, Man! Look at what you've done!

In one single post, you have given me enough precise information to send me over the edge. I've got my folders and bookmarks already setup and filling up each day. For three days straight I have done nothing but read up and research Sherline mills. I was in bed with the laptop watching milling videos on YouTube till 5 am. Now I'm getting the bright idea of getting a Sherline 2000 just to replace my drill press and play with the rest gradually.

How easy is it to use a Sherline as a drill press? There's no turning back now. You might as well just tell me, because if it's just as simple to use as a drill press for drill press functions, I'm gone. I've already got the trigger finger getting fidgety on a used press on Ebay.

It will be worth it, just to have the mill sit around in the box and know that the only thing standing between me and turning raw stock into the stuff of civilization is time. There will be plenty of time to sleep once I'm dead. Life is for the pursuit of madness.

Thanks, again, for the powerful nudge into the abyss.

Ed

[gtwister09]

Ed,

It's actually quite easy but digital readouts are a great feature to have.

When I get around to replacing gear it will be one of the larger mini-mills with a DRO and CNC kit added to it rather than the Sherlines. Work envelopes are larger and they are more heavy duty and are less expensive.

On the other side if you don't need the size then the Sherlines are great. They also are higher quality equipment out of the box with CNC ready kits as well as ready made machining kits to add to the mill and/or lathe.

Regards,

Ben