Hi, I just got a 24" Diacro Finger Brake, and I've got a question about the little "L" brackets that hold in the fingers: This break is slightly used and shows litle sign of wear EXCEPT that tightening those little L-brackets seems to push some of the the fingers slightly out of their seat. It makes it a real buggar to get all the finger edges aligned. Anybody have a solution? Is there a better L-bracket design or material? These brackets seem to be made out of some very soft stuff. Do they need to be so soft for some reason?
Hi, Is there a good book about bending up small sheet metal boxes? I've looked on Amazon and there doesn't seem to be anything at the beginner level. You would think that there woulld be a textbook or something for begining sheet-metal shop? Or don't they teach that in school anymore? (It's a shame if they don't). Thanks,
Can't comment on a book, Max, but I can comment on what's being taught in schools today. Nothing that applies to working with hands and machines. Our glorious leaders, in all their wisdom, have encouraged abandoning the teaching of such crafts. School systems have sold off machines in droves, which has been of benefit for some of us, myself included.
To this day I don't understand what they're thinking.
What they're thinking is that everyone else is going to get a job in finance, or law, like them. If not that, then the other "low-brows" can get jobs as computer programmers. No one will have to work at "menial" jobs like food service, janitorial, manufacturing, sales, nursing, etc. Hey, it worked for the senators and representatives, didn't it? NEVER EVER ocurred to the senators that there are only 100 seats in the Senate. Let's see, that's
100 / 270 million or so, or 3.7 x 10^-7 OK, so what are the rest of us supposed to do, then? ***** MAKE SOMETHING ? ****** AAck! What a thought!
I'm not familiar with that model, I have a Chicago. But, I think this is a problem on all finger brakes, to some extent. In most cases, the fingers DON'T need to align perfectly when unloaded. The forces of bending the workpiece should shove them back against whatever beam holds them down on the work. The clamp is just to keep them from falling off when not loaded.
Yep! It really sucks. Especially when you consider the jobs we were supposed to do our now leaving the county as well. How long before we're a third world country?
After the Katrina/Rita debacle, there are those who would say we ARE now a 3rd world country. That certainly has been, and still is, a 3rd world response to a natural disaster. In fact, it has been a 3rd world response to a POTENTIAL disaster that has been going on for about 30 years. (Can't blame it ALL on George Bush!) Allowing such a huge population to live below sea level, with the thinnest safety margin on the systems to keep them dry, is pretty poor city/state/federal planning.
As for outsourcing, in hindsight, it is painfully obvious that outsourcing office clerical work and computer programming is about TEN times easier to do than outsourcing manufacturing. You don't need an ocean freighter to transport the finished programs and office documents. The same for engineering, reading patient's X-rays, and so on. Not a good feeling to think about this!
On the other hand, I really am not worried about that aspect, over the long term. As other countries' economies pick up (China, India) they will be buying more, and paying higher prices, levelling the playing field. What is REALLY at work is that we are reaping the backside of being the greatest exporter of goods for SO LONG, that it unbalanced the entire world's economy. So, it was just like all the other bubbles that HAD to eventually pop, only in much slower motion. We couldn't end up owning every last bit of capital in the world forever, which is about where we were several decades ago (pick exactly when you think this happened.) When we were in that state, it froze everybody else in the world out of the action.
So, this rebalancing is going to be painful, but it may solve a lot of the world's really serious problems, if we can keep maniacal despots from taking advantage of the situation. It will likely take 50 - 100 years for this process to complete, and there may be some imbalances that make life difficult for various groups from time to time. Right now a big problem is that China has such a HUGE pile of US Government debt that they are literally in a position of being able to dictate foreign policy to us! (Don't believe this? Do some research.) Now, they can't really CALL this bluff, because it would crash our economy, and all that US debt would become valueless. That would crash THEIR economy. But, it is a VERY worrisome thing to have that kind of monetary imbalance.
(Don't get me started on the pension thing! It seems that a careful look shows that the entire Fortune 500 are technically bankrupt, because NONE of them can get within a mile of paying off the deficit in their pension plans, which they have stolen from. As I see it, the pension funds are NOT the money of the corporation, they are the PROPERTY of the workers, and the imbeciles in congress who allowed corporations to borrow from these plans should have been shot for treason. Oh, sorry, I did get started.)
Most if not all directors and managers of CC or Jr. College much less public Schools never worked in a shop or have a shop at home. They all believe in the lie that 'we' in the U.S. are thinkers and they - the ROW are the doers. So all working or work related classes are at high risk.
Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
It looks like the prior owner thought that the finger clamps had to be extremely tight-- so much so that they were all dished and stretched. The distortions caused the clamps to squeeze the finger dies out of position as you tighten. I spent half of today cutting and welding up replacement clamps from CR steel. Now it works perfectly.
Oddly enough...you may not be aware that the Tsuanmi victims are still living in tents. Can you say the same about those in New Orleans etc etc etc?
As for "letting" anyone live where they want...you would have the Checka force them to leave?
Gunner
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.
Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner
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