100!

I guess you could say it’s a little warm today. Miami has blistering sunshine (due to low latitude) and miserable humidity, but the temperature usually stays below 90 in the shade. Today we hit 100 in some places. It’s like August out there.

Oddly, the humidity is low by our standards, at 55%. That means you walk outside and feel like you just opened the oven door, but it takes over a minute for sweat to start running off of you, which is unusual in the summer.

I guess even Al Gore has a good day once in a while.

I received a bunch of metal today. One item: a loaf of 1018 steel. It’s just like a loaf of government cheese, only it’s steel. Same size and shape. I’m hoping I can cut it into tool holders. If not, it will make a really effective paperweight. It weighs 72 pounds. I’m a little nervous about dropping the dry cut saw on it, but I have Ridgid oil, and if it acts up, I guess I can quit.

I got a 36″ round bar of 360 brass. It’s about 1.5″ in diameter. I think. It’s so pretty, it will break my heart to slice it up.

I also have a long 12L14 round rod, a 12L14 rectangular rod, a long 304 stainless rod, and a long A2 rod. It seems like cheap rectangular or square mild steel drops in easily machined alloys are not easy to find.

I found a company that publishes photos of the mill I ordered. I’m shocked at how nice it looks. It’s gorgeous. Even the Chinese DRO. Of course, those photos are the closest I can get, because there was a shipping delay. The DRO wasn’t in stock, or something. For some reason, the DRO took an extra week to install, so I assume they didn’t have it when they needed it.

Here’s something useful I’ve learned. When you receive a box of steel odds and ends, and you have to stick one in your chuck right away because you have no self-control, try not to machine off the place where the sender used a marker to write the metal’s designation.

Geez, that mill looks nice. I can’t get over it.