Nice one Darren.
But shouldn't it be? - Oh ye of little faith, but whom still have carbide tips, taps, drills and hair still intact.
You really do need to start learning to give up a lot sooner,
Good grief no John,
I've had some valuable lessons whilst making this piece. My confidence and skill level I feel has risen somewhat. Sometimes persistence and perseverance is what takes us all above the level playing field. Otherwise why bother having a workshop at all, or any other taxing hobby. Might as well just sit and watch the telly each night instead.
Regarding the rate of tool demise this is I what I've learnt.
Bandsaw, use the fiber cutoff saw instead
Lathe insert tips, don't go through them one by one, use a diamond to sharpen just the one for the whole job
Drill bits, Take the top incredibly hard skin off the material before drilling. Use a specialist hard drill bit if need be. I would have taken more off, except I'd drilled some longitudinal holes in the end thereby limiting me a touch.
Taps, same as drill bits, I only broke a tap last night because I should have taken another couple of millimeter off the diameter. Under that it really started to soften up.
I've enjoyed myself over a few evenings, and it's cost me a lot less than a single Saturday night out. (I don't a rule)
Would I do it again, sure, next time would be a lot easier because of my persistence in finding solutions and working around the problems encountered.
If I'd have given up at some point what would I have gained. A few broken tooling and not much else.
If you were to throw me a piece of normal mild steel and say make this, I'd feel a lot more comfortable tackling it now.
Nope, I'm happy with the situation all round
