Getting my Russian shop set up

[jdurand]

I've got the milling machine showing up "soon" (Russian "soon" is more of a Southern minute than a New York one). Anyway, have to get the trolley done for the hoist so I can lift the base to our loading dock, then lift the mill onto the base.

The only trolley the installer could find had a 1hp motor on it to move it with remote control. NO, I do NOT want to pay for that up there! I actually prefer moving by hand, less jerking and swinging of heavy stuff.

So, build it...

Browsing the metal sellers and scrap yard near hear didn't yield a lot of selections in heavy metal, so I'll make a "temporary" one (that word has the same permanence all over the world).

First task was decent sized flanged bearings for wheels. Found those and ordered 4. Looking at them, I probably should have gone for the bit more expensive ones but this is only temporary.

Next is making the axels to mount the bearings.

Here's a piece of 32mm hot roll I bought (it was that or tiny). Turn it down to 25mm and 20mm



Whack it off



This picture is from the first one where I threaded it first.





Drill and tap. Funny thing, I couldn't find my taps so while I was buying bolts I looked for taps. Found the M10 taps come two to a package. Oh well, not expensive and only choice in this store.





Turns out one tap is undersized! Bit of a panic. Then I tried the other tap and it's the right size. So, I've started tapping in two steps, the undersized one and the correct one. Easier cutting deep threads that way.

Both taps are marked the same, so it's not like this was intentional.

Finished axel with the bolt in from the wrong end, but it's tapped all the way through





to be continued...

[Toolmaker51]

I've got the milling machine showing up "soon" (Russian "soon" is more of a Southern minute than a New York one). Anyway, have to get the trolley done for the hoist so I can lift the base to our loading dock, then lift the mill onto the base.



Turns out one tap is undersized! Bit of a panic. Then I tried the other tap and it's the right size. So, I've started tapping in two steps, the undersized one and the correct one. Easier cutting deep threads that way.

Both taps are marked the same, so it's not like this was intentional.

Can't recall who described this earlier, but tap sets described as under and full size seemed commonplace in Europe. Unsure about how those are labeled to differentiate.

[DIYSwede]

Jerry - I certainly hope Sharon & you will escape unharmed by the "special military operation" nextdoors.

Seems like the Big Red Wheel suddenly became a Time Machine by instantly throwing the Motherland more than half a century back...

ATB
Johan

[jdurand]

Jerry - I certainly hope Sharon & you will escape unharmed by the "special military operation" nextdoors.

Seems like the Big Red Wheel suddenly became a Time Machine by instantly throwing the Motherland more than half a century back...

ATB
Johan

Well, the US/Ukraine was warned for 8 years to knock it off or Russia would stop them. At least the US bio weapons labs have been incinerated. They US admitted to 11, there were a lot more.

Anyway, the most impact here is with our business. Because of counter sanctions we had to adjust our stock holdings so our General Manager (native R) has 51%. We took some cash out of the bank in case of need, but it looks like that wouldn't be a problem.

We were just about to start selling again and then eBay and PayPal folded up shop. So, it looks like Yandex Payments or something like that and sales only to BRICS countries.

There is an inconvenience in getting payments we receive in the USA to here, but there's so many loopholes in the USA sanctions that I'm told we'll be able to route through a BRICS country without much trouble. We just won't have the 2 hour transfers from USA to Sberbank that we used to have.

On the plus side, we had to go into the region capitol, Krasnodar for some of our immigration paperwork so stopped at METRO (a German version of Costco/Sam's Club) and bought a metric crapload of supplies. Cheaper in bulk and they have a few things that our local market doesn't have.

Oh, and Ikea has closed. Not sure if that's good or bad.

No more political comments on the forum, this isn't the place. But I'll leave you with this

[Frank S]

I always liked the reactions of my students the first time they actually did something on their own. I imagine she will cherish that flowerpot stand repair for many years

[Frank S]

My problem with the thin wall stuff is to me it always seems I need to add more bracing for rigidity than with thicker materials, which leads to more work and more material, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do with what is available

[jdurand]

My problem with the thin wall stuff is to me it always seems I need to add more bracing for rigidity than with thicker materials, which leads to more work and more material, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do with what is available

Since this is a pretty lightweight item, the thin wall should be fine. But for other stuff the bigger tubing has thicker walls. I guess since it's used for fence a lot they had to go thicker or everything would fall over.

I can also weld on it without too much fear of vaporizing the tube. On the thin stuff I'm using 33 amps and 13 volts for 1mm FCAW wire.

[jdurand]

Oh, and still working with students between things. We'll have a crowd here during spring break and will also be going on the road with some talks.

https://pyramidhope.ru/The_Workshop/

[jdurand]

Just a status update: We had to take some time to reconfigure our business with all the sanctions flying around. Also PayPal and eBay closed up shop so looking into other payment services, probably use Yandex Money mostly.

Stores still working normally, my VISA card works fine, and my USA debit card still pays AliExpress for deliveries here. So, for us more paperwork and a delay in shipping products, but otherwise everything is "normal" (нормально).

Not sure where our milling machine is, a cargo container of machines was arriving in Moscow last week and the mill would be reshipped to us. But the manager is currently out sick with what we had so no word. Hopefully it wouldn't just show up unannounced.

[NortonDommi]

Thanks for giving us an insight into your move and adjustments to one part of Russia. I watch quite a few Russian channels on machining and thoroughly enjoy the small differences in technique between countries.
On the taps,
"Turns out one tap is undersized! Bit of a panic. Then I tried the other tap and it's the right size. So, I've started tapping in two steps, the undersized one and the correct one. Easier cutting deep threads that way."
They may be 'serial' taps. I like the German Volkel: https://voelkel.com/en/ taps and love their serial taps especially on tough stuff. Seem to cut a much nicer thread than the old standard type.