A Nice Feature of Sherline's Machine Tools

Many parts of the vertical mill and lathe are common.  The spindle motor and headstock are identical except for whether the label says vertical mill model number or lathe model number.

At the moment this is very useful.   I am still waiting for an RMA number to send back the shorting out spindle motor & motor controller.  While waiting for that; i figured out how to continue work on the wide angle finder using the lathe.  

But of course, the 3" 3-jaw chuck is frozen on the lathe spindle. I used their frozen chuck instructions which are promised to work 90% of the time.  I have the 10% situation. 

I have a 2.5" 3-jaw chuck which is big enough (just).  So i have transplanted the vertical mill headstock on to the lathe.  Voila!  I can get some of this done while waiting for Sherline to fix the two broken parts.

Busy

I finished preparing my online class thst starts January 20th.  I am now reading my daughter's forthcoming book about prisons and rehabilitation. 

Rehabilitation is one of those goals that even if impossible is a laudable goal.  Far better to repair broken people if there is any way to do so.  It is valuable both because criminals are people and deserve a chance to rejoin civilization and because you can pay a lot for rehab for what we spend on police, jails, and prisons.

Riotously Funny Mechanical Engineering Video

No, really. Go watch it 

Is Dow 50K Coming?

As I write this, the DJIA (Dow Jones 30 Industrials Average is at 49,419.  I can remember when delusionally optimistic analysts were talking about DJIA breaking through $20,000.  Admittedly, inflation has made that equivalent to about $38,000 today.

Still upward progress.

Consignment Gun Sales

Has anyone done consignment gun sales through a Boise operation?  I can better afford to pay someone else than spend the time selling it directly. 

New Orleans

I confessthat i had low expectations for New Orleans.   To my surprise, the streets were clean, with little garbage, no human excrement, and about the same homeless population as Paris.  Also they were not showing vulgar signs like Nashville homeless. 

People were friendly and polite. But like all big cities, benches or other places to sit were rare, because otherwise the homeless would sleep on them.

I hate big cities.   Too noisy, too crowded.   But much nicer than Nashville. 

Maduro in Custody

1/3/26 Reuters:

WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. attacked Venezuela and deposed its long-serving autocratic President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, President Donald Trump said, in Washington's most direct intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

"The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country," Trump said in a Truth Social post.

This is embarrassing.   A man who held power after most European nations concluded lost the election has been removed presumably to the benefit of the Nobel laureate who actually won the election.  Watch the "No Kings" crowd go wiild.