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Project Logs / Re: Electronic Leadscrew for the New Lathe
« Last post by Country Bubba on February 16, 2026, 06:37:31 AM »Fantastic, always love it when a project is a success! 
Recent Posts
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Metal Stuff / Re: How Not to Hate Casting Aluminum
« Last post by vtsteam on February 15, 2026, 10:00:16 PM »Thanks beeshed, good to have some interest and feedback here. I've alloyed copper into aluminum somewhere else on this forum -- can't remember the exact location. I was trying out approximating an alloy I found in a book I have which is an encyclopedic cross reference to alloys listing their proportions, etc.
Thank you kindly for your comments!
Thank you kindly for your comments!
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Metal Stuff / Re: How Not to Hate Casting Aluminum
« Last post by beeshed on February 15, 2026, 07:41:26 PM »Not sure why nobody added to your thread when fresh.
Extruded Al tends to be fairly pure, that is no alloying elements to make it extrude better. It will also be soft and a bit 'gooey' to machine. Not a problem because you can potentially add something (Cu) or mix it with other stuff.
The bellhousing was cast - so they would choose a good casting alloy obviously. Up to 4% silicon is used for good casting alloy but it becomes more brittle so you might cut it back with that extrusion metal. I think the Si makes it flow better into the mould.
For strength copper is the addition most likely used for casting or worked products. Some sheet Al is pure like extrusions to make sure it is bendy but the stronger sheet has copper making it uncooperative to bend. Some of the performance of sheet is to do with heat treatment so not a definitive test. Landrover patented 'Birmabright' for their bodywork based on Cu alloying.
Alloy wheels should be good as they are castings but as they are a high value and strength critical item they will be a complex advanced combination of alloying elements perhaps designed for special heat treatment.
The above is best I can remember from my metallurgy degree 45 years ago so there may be someone with more practical experience.
Extruded Al tends to be fairly pure, that is no alloying elements to make it extrude better. It will also be soft and a bit 'gooey' to machine. Not a problem because you can potentially add something (Cu) or mix it with other stuff.
The bellhousing was cast - so they would choose a good casting alloy obviously. Up to 4% silicon is used for good casting alloy but it becomes more brittle so you might cut it back with that extrusion metal. I think the Si makes it flow better into the mould.
For strength copper is the addition most likely used for casting or worked products. Some sheet Al is pure like extrusions to make sure it is bendy but the stronger sheet has copper making it uncooperative to bend. Some of the performance of sheet is to do with heat treatment so not a definitive test. Landrover patented 'Birmabright' for their bodywork based on Cu alloying.
Alloy wheels should be good as they are castings but as they are a high value and strength critical item they will be a complex advanced combination of alloying elements perhaps designed for special heat treatment.
The above is best I can remember from my metallurgy degree 45 years ago so there may be someone with more practical experience.
84
Project Logs / Re: Electronic Leadscrew for the New Lathe
« Last post by tom osselton on February 15, 2026, 07:16:43 PM »85
Project Logs / Re: Electronic Leadscrew for the New Lathe
« Last post by vtsteam on February 15, 2026, 04:43:39 PM »Well this has been a very, very, very long time coming, but I just cut my first thread on the homemade lathe with this ELS project! 
It's a 3/8 -16" thread, cut using an ordinary 60 degree insert, not a true thread cutting type, but workable for a test. During the last week and a half or so, I've been working full time on the project to first reverse engineer what I'd done already, and second work out many mechanical problems and bugs I hadn't realized were still there. There was a LOT more to do than I'd thought four years ago when I last looked at it. But this time around I was determined to finish it. I finally got everything de-bugged and working well enough to get out into the still very cold tiny shop, and actually hook it up to the lathe for a real world test.
It cut with flying colors! I'm so happy to have finally finished this. And in some sense, the lathe, since it was always intended to have this capability. Left to do is mounting it to the lathe permanently instead of spread out piecemeal on the bench, and making up a new brass plaque thread table. The older one I had made is now incorrect because of software changes.
Looking forward to completing and using the ELS now on my lathe!
It's a 3/8 -16" thread, cut using an ordinary 60 degree insert, not a true thread cutting type, but workable for a test. During the last week and a half or so, I've been working full time on the project to first reverse engineer what I'd done already, and second work out many mechanical problems and bugs I hadn't realized were still there. There was a LOT more to do than I'd thought four years ago when I last looked at it. But this time around I was determined to finish it. I finally got everything de-bugged and working well enough to get out into the still very cold tiny shop, and actually hook it up to the lathe for a real world test.
It cut with flying colors! I'm so happy to have finally finished this. And in some sense, the lathe, since it was always intended to have this capability. Left to do is mounting it to the lathe permanently instead of spread out piecemeal on the bench, and making up a new brass plaque thread table. The older one I had made is now incorrect because of software changes.
Looking forward to completing and using the ELS now on my lathe!
86
Announcements & Issues / Re: Security Warning
« Last post by kayzed1 on February 15, 2026, 04:17:48 PM »Works fine for me today, Win <spit> 11 on this one.
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Announcements & Issues / Re: Security Warning
« Last post by awemawson on February 15, 2026, 02:27:24 PM »Thanks Eric
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Announcements & Issues / Re: Pictures not expanding
« Last post by Brass_Machine on February 15, 2026, 12:03:39 PM »Can you provide a link so I can investigate?
Thanks!
Eric
Thanks!
Eric
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Announcements & Issues / Re: Security Warning
« Last post by Brass_Machine on February 15, 2026, 12:02:54 PM »Got Ade's email. Sorry... been a long few months.
Fixed the cert issue.
Fixed the cert issue.
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Software Tools / Re: Experiences, thoughts and rants about using Linux as a newbie after Windows
« Last post by vtsteam on February 15, 2026, 09:49:49 AM »Great, and I appreciate what you are doing, and have a better understanding of what you are trying to say.
Linux is used as such a broad term these days (for all of us) that it's hard to talk about it as a thing. Originally, and technically it was an open source adaptation of Unix in the form of a kernel for the operating system.
Nowadays, what most people mean by Linux is the operating system plus accessories, languages, desktop environments and application programs rolled into named operating systems, like Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Red Hat, among the best known. And many others, Arch, Slackware, Puppy, among a myriad of others, and the one I now use, EasyOS.
About the only thing one can say they have in common is the Linux kernel, which is not even a desktop environment, but a set of primitives usable in terminal. Because Linux is based on Unix, it is a multi-user system oriented towards institutional infrastructure use with many lower privileged users and groups with an extensive permissions structure, and a separate class of administrators who we would normally associate with an IT department.
What has developed since then are many different ideas about what graphical personal computer operating systems should look like, how they should behave, what applications should be included with them out-of-the-box, and what optional programs they should be capable of adding (ie what program repositories they should be able to access).
The way all of the myriad programs and code developed to support this vast set of systems and possibilities was through individuals and groups of people volunteering their time to A.) reverse engineer computers and hardware to develop drivers for them (since almost no hardware mfrs. provided drivers for linux systems). and B.) create systems where blocks of code could be re-used and re-combined into more and more sophisticated applications. To enable this kind of re-use, the concept of dependencies and open-source software was essential.
Linux is used as such a broad term these days (for all of us) that it's hard to talk about it as a thing. Originally, and technically it was an open source adaptation of Unix in the form of a kernel for the operating system.
Nowadays, what most people mean by Linux is the operating system plus accessories, languages, desktop environments and application programs rolled into named operating systems, like Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Red Hat, among the best known. And many others, Arch, Slackware, Puppy, among a myriad of others, and the one I now use, EasyOS.
About the only thing one can say they have in common is the Linux kernel, which is not even a desktop environment, but a set of primitives usable in terminal. Because Linux is based on Unix, it is a multi-user system oriented towards institutional infrastructure use with many lower privileged users and groups with an extensive permissions structure, and a separate class of administrators who we would normally associate with an IT department.
What has developed since then are many different ideas about what graphical personal computer operating systems should look like, how they should behave, what applications should be included with them out-of-the-box, and what optional programs they should be capable of adding (ie what program repositories they should be able to access).
The way all of the myriad programs and code developed to support this vast set of systems and possibilities was through individuals and groups of people volunteering their time to A.) reverse engineer computers and hardware to develop drivers for them (since almost no hardware mfrs. provided drivers for linux systems). and B.) create systems where blocks of code could be re-used and re-combined into more and more sophisticated applications. To enable this kind of re-use, the concept of dependencies and open-source software was essential.