Any recommendations of Must have lather/mill tools for a beginner?

This may be a little off subject here but where can I find a 16 ft step ladder to purchase? I need this height to pressure wash my home.

thanks

Bill

I don't recall ever seeing such a thing. I bought an extension ladder for such chores. Lane

They exist, but both of the ones I've used are wood and very shaky. Maybe they're hard to make strong enough to be safe yet light enough to be carryable?

I should mention, both of these also looked like they're 30 or 40 years old.

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I would not feel safe to use a 16 foot step ladder... If you mean the kind that stand alone, without being supported by a house. A lot of things can go wrong when power washing.

With my pressure washer, I can pressure wash my home (3 floors above ground, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd) while standing on the ground. I did just that yesterday. It was fun.

Ive seen em. Often times used in school gymnasiums and such. Huge, heavy as hell, and dangerous as can be. Hence the increased usage of manlifts, even though the costs are an order of magnitude higher.

Actually what usually happens with wooden ladders is they dry out and loosen up. This is easily cured by just tightening all the tie bolts under the steps but I've rarely run into anybody who knew this.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

No way you'd catch me on one that tall, let alone using a power washer on one. Just too much can go wrong, as someone else mentioned. Lane

You know, maybe easier to get a 16' extension on the power washer, and stand on the ground... not an elegant solution, but a hell of a lot safer. A power washer can give you a bit of thrust on the ground, and the levarage of that thrust times the height of the ladder...lots of torque there.

Dave Hinz

Don't get a Grizzly mini lathe from the out store. MIne is a POS. It can't cut anything, even plastic. It can be used to drill on center, with a Dremel tool flex shaft locked in the tool post, and as a wire wheel motor.

I like my 1960s Clausing lathe and Rockwell mill. I like my brother's 1960s Clausing mill and newer Jet Lathe.

I've rented 16' step ladders before. Call around and find out where the rental places get them.

And get some acorn nuts to cover the exposed threads or take an angle grinder and cut them flat, you bump them and they WILL take a chunk of skin. DAMHIKT...

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Go with your machinist friend. He should know your capability better than anyone. My only caveat is to tell you that multi-use machines are like Swiss army knives. They will do a lot of things, but none of them very well. They make a good starting outfit, but you will probably want to upgrade to better machines as you gain experience. Bugs

Most of the really tall stepladders I've seen use 'outrigger' braces to steady them. These are hinged off the sides of the ladder, and fold when not in use. The effect is to make a sort of tripod of the ladder ... well, actually, four legs, or a pyramid. I've seen these in both aluminum and fiberglass versions. Try a commercial electrical supply ... they often carry these.

And, yes, they are heavy and expensive.

Dan Mitchell ============

Firefighting catalogs might still have outrigger ladders as well, but again, I think we're forgetting that the guy wants to use a pressure washer on top of a 16' something. The forces of a pressure washer, on that tall of a ladder, wouldn't be something I'd be willing to do myself...

And falling from a 16 foot ladder, with a 3000 psi stream from a nozzle shredding me to pieces even before I fall, is not a fun thing to contemplate.

First check if anything "comes mit".

For drilling you need: Chuck drill bits (Advanced, maybe later): Some kid of drilling vise or work holding blocks

For lathe work you need; centers center drills faceplate lathe dogs cutting bits, (various shapes - If you have a grinder buy blanks and make your own) Tool holders (Advanced, maybe later): Four jaw chuck Steady rest Knurling tool

For the Milling Tower; Various cutters to fit your headstock Does it come with collets for standard shanks? If not you can mount cutters with cylindrical shanks in a jacobs chuck in a pinch, (as long as you only apply pressure towards the headstock). (Advanced, maybe later): Some kind of index head for the tower

General: Do you have a good dial caliper, angle gauge and other measuring/layout tools? Some cutting oil? it's an expensive hobby. MadDog

"In this, our current era we are ruled by a George II. Doesn't history have a fine sense of irony?"

this is the model I'm ordering,

Thanks for the advice

No argument there. The recoil from a large pressure washer can be considerable ... put that on top of a 16 ladder and you have a big turning moment trying to tip the ladder over ... or blow the operator off the top of it. NOT a good idea either way.

Dan Mitchell ============