You don't appreciate how much just one good burrito shop is worth until you've spent decades without any good burrito shops. (Fortunately I live walking distance from one good burrito shop and within delivery range of several more, so I'm not looking for pity here. But I mourn the burritos of my youth that could have been.)
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Inside The Secret Underground Laboratory
- Thread starter Bruce Johnson
- Start date
You don't appreciate how much just one good burrito shop is worth until you've spent decades without any good burrito shops. (Fortunately I live walking distance from one good burrito shop and within delivery range of several more, so I'm not looking for pity here. But I mourn the burritos of my youth that could have been.)
That's a California tradition
. Every year when the mountains burn around our home in Forest falls I give thanks the the awesome fire department.
You'll notice on the map that Taco Llama is less than a block from the Lab. Excellent burritos and all other Mexican food. I have had (quick calculation) at least 500 fine burritos there over the years.
You had me at "Taco Truck".It is a small city by socal standard...but I love going there and we have our favorite taco truck and fruit stand we visit every time
Burritos too?!?!?!?
I used to work within walking distance of an amazing burrito shop on Olympia. I changed jobs and the loss of that burrito shop is a major regret.
On the bright side, it beats a dysfunctional government. Don’t ask how I know.
Freekmagnet
Commercial User
Actually, the best meal in town is the Pollo Entero Combo at La Placita Market on 126. $15 buys an entire grilled chicken, tortillas, beans and rice - enough to feed 3 people. The deli also has a veritable potpourri of tasty salsas and a good selection of 8-10 different aguas frescas. Only on weekends, though. They set up a huge grill outside the store.
Oh man, I gotta try that next time I'm out that way.
Ugh. You have my sympathy. We're not near that level of dysfunction. We have a crazy Building & Safety Department that drives away all businesses as our main dysfunction. But our Police, Sheriffs and schools are pretty good. Very little crime here. Mostly middle class working folks, many own small businesses. Modest homes, and they take pride in keeping their neighborhoods clean and safe. Fillmore is really an island of sanity hidden away in the madness of California. Overall, I like it here and intend to stay here for the rest of my life.
Probably. With a machine running and a satisfied smile on my face.
We at least have a variety of good Mexican food places here. Some decent pizza and great Phillysteaks, although the Phillysteaks are a ways I do work near them regularly. Some passable Mediterranean and pizza but I’m still trying to find a really good Chinese place close by. Still, it’s not a bad area.
Some double lathe fun in the machine shop! This evening, I was running jobs on both of my big LeBlond metal lathes, at the same time! Double the pleasure, double the fun.
In the background is my 1947 LeBlond Regal 13 lathe. I use it mostly for precision wood machining. Here, I'm running a long tedious job for a cabinet maker friend, a set of custom bed posts. Laminated white oak blanks that need to be turned to 2.60" diameter. It's a slow job, taking about 30 minutes running for each full pass down the length.
Meanwhile, while I'm keeping an eye and an ear on the Regal 13, I'm threading a batch of truss rods on my 1949 LeBlond Regal 17 lathe, to the left. That's my main big metalworking lathe.
Here's a closer look at the work on the Regal 13. I made up a special bracket to mount a Rotozip to the tool post (a KDK, if you are into lathe tool posts). The lathe is turning pretty slow, about 40 rpm. The feed is also set fairly slow, going to the right. That's a 1/4" dia router bit, climb cutting along as the oak turns into it. The little Rotozip doesn't have a lot of horsepower, so I'm feeding slow. About 30 minutes down a 36" length.
This method of a router-on-a-metal-lathe makes nice precision round wood parts. Much better than a traditional wood lathe. I can turn the diameter right to about +/- 0.002" tolerance, with a very smooth finish and almost no chipping or tearout. This is the setup I use to make plugs and dowels for Luthier work. Exact fit, odd sizes, any wood or grain direction.
I'm in the process of acquiring a small cheap import metal lathe from a friend, for almost nothing. If that deal happens, I'm thinking of making it into a dedicated router lathe to do this job. Fit it with a slightly bigger trim router with some more horsepower.
Then the Regal 13 can resume duty as my medium-size metal lathe. I'd like to fit it with a 5C collet chuck, so it can do jobs that fit in collets, but need more horsepower than my trusty Logan lathe. In a power comparison, the Logan is 1/2 HP, the Regal 13 is 1 1/2 HP, and the Regal 17 is 3 HP. With lathes, the horsepower and strength of the frame determine how quickly they can remove metal. The Logan weighs about 700 lbs, the Regal 13 is 1400 lbs, and the Regal 17 is 3400 lbs. The cast iron is proportional to the horsepower.
But for now, the Regal 13 is earning its keep doing precision wood turning.
This is what I do for fun on a quiet Friday evening in the Lab.
In the background is my 1947 LeBlond Regal 13 lathe. I use it mostly for precision wood machining. Here, I'm running a long tedious job for a cabinet maker friend, a set of custom bed posts. Laminated white oak blanks that need to be turned to 2.60" diameter. It's a slow job, taking about 30 minutes running for each full pass down the length.
Meanwhile, while I'm keeping an eye and an ear on the Regal 13, I'm threading a batch of truss rods on my 1949 LeBlond Regal 17 lathe, to the left. That's my main big metalworking lathe.
Here's a closer look at the work on the Regal 13. I made up a special bracket to mount a Rotozip to the tool post (a KDK, if you are into lathe tool posts). The lathe is turning pretty slow, about 40 rpm. The feed is also set fairly slow, going to the right. That's a 1/4" dia router bit, climb cutting along as the oak turns into it. The little Rotozip doesn't have a lot of horsepower, so I'm feeding slow. About 30 minutes down a 36" length.
This method of a router-on-a-metal-lathe makes nice precision round wood parts. Much better than a traditional wood lathe. I can turn the diameter right to about +/- 0.002" tolerance, with a very smooth finish and almost no chipping or tearout. This is the setup I use to make plugs and dowels for Luthier work. Exact fit, odd sizes, any wood or grain direction.
I'm in the process of acquiring a small cheap import metal lathe from a friend, for almost nothing. If that deal happens, I'm thinking of making it into a dedicated router lathe to do this job. Fit it with a slightly bigger trim router with some more horsepower.
Then the Regal 13 can resume duty as my medium-size metal lathe. I'd like to fit it with a 5C collet chuck, so it can do jobs that fit in collets, but need more horsepower than my trusty Logan lathe. In a power comparison, the Logan is 1/2 HP, the Regal 13 is 1 1/2 HP, and the Regal 17 is 3 HP. With lathes, the horsepower and strength of the frame determine how quickly they can remove metal. The Logan weighs about 700 lbs, the Regal 13 is 1400 lbs, and the Regal 17 is 3400 lbs. The cast iron is proportional to the horsepower.
But for now, the Regal 13 is earning its keep doing precision wood turning.
This is what I do for fun on a quiet Friday evening in the Lab.
Definitely a downgrade in the benefits package...You had me at "Taco Truck".
Burritos too?!?!?!?
I used to work within walking distance of an amazing burrito shop on Olympia. I changed jobs and the loss of that burrito shop is a major regret.
You'll be happy to know that the Avey Sensitive Drill Press has now been moved into a position in the main machine shop. Right across the aisle from Drill Press row. It is now On Duty, ready for use whenever small holes are needed in metal. A new job assignment in its long history.
Since the beginning of this thread, I haven't done a walk-through of my main machine shop. I guess it's about time.
These are the metalworking machines that I use almost every day, making hardware for my Scroll Basses, hardware for other Luthiers, special tools, parts for fixtures, and of course parts for other machines. This is where I work, and these are the machines that I rely on.
Here's a look, standing back a bit. In the center is Drill Press Row, a long bench filled with 6 drill presses and a few other machines at the ends.
Turning to the right is the metal grinding area. The Grizzly Knife Belt Sander gets constant use. I bought it new from Grizzly around 1994. I have a whole rack of belts for it, and a finishing wheel on the left end of the spindle. To the right is a Grizzly belt/disk sander, the model that runs at slower speed.
Tucked around behind the sanders is my big cutoff bandsaw. It will cut off up to 6" diameter steel or aluminum bar stock. I don't use it that often, but it's important sometimes. It rolls out into the aisle for use.
In the foreground is my small cutoff bandsaw, which I bought new in 1984. It's been a workhorse all these years. It cuts off 1" and smaller metal bar stock for almost all the parts I make.
Around to the left is the 1925 Avey Sensitive Drill that I recently acquired. Next to it is a small import drill press with a Procunier tapping head. I use it for power tapping 6-32 and 4-40 size holes. Beyond it is a metal buffer with a small grinder on top. Out at the left end is my mini-metal shaper that I use for slotting bridge saddles. A story in itself.
Starting at the end of Drill Press Row is this one, a 1950's Walker Turner DP500, a classic tough industrial medium size drill press. This is my main metalworking drill press that gets constant use. It drills most of the one-off jobs in the 1/16" to 3/8" range. I bought it around 2000.
At the end of the row are these two small drill presses. The little Tradesman was literally rescued from a dumpster. It needs some work. I had been using it to drill the tiny holes in truss rods. The Avey has now taken over that job. The Tradesman will now become the small countersinker.
The Dunlap is from the '60's, made by King-Seely and sold through Sears. A nice strong little machine. It's my spotter. I have a small precision spotting drill in it. Most holes I drill in metal get quickly spotted in the Dunlap.
Two more workhorse drill presses that get daily use. To the left is another Walker-Turner DP500, a benchtop model. It's set up to do countersinking. To the right is a larger King-Seely Craftsman, fitted with a Procunier #1 tapping head. It power taps all of the 10-32 threads in truss rods, BruceBars, bridge parts, etc.
This is an old 1940's Walker Turner that I found here in Fillmore a few years ago. For $50. It had been left outdoors and is kind of rusty, but it works beautifully. I fitted it with an import cross slide vise that takes custom aluminum jaws. It's a Fixture Drill, which gets set up to do production runs of small parts. Jeremy and I use it a lot these days.
At the end of the row are two more essential metalworking machines. An Enco 14" bandsaw, set up for cutting aluminum, brass and pickguard stock. And a 1950's Oliver S4 Die Filer. I have 5 die filers, and this one gets the most use.
On the back side of the row is the Barker. This is a cool little heavy duty benchtop modular milling machine made for production line use. This is a real early one from 1952, but Barkers are still manufactured today here in the US. New ones are about $2300. I found this one around 2005 for $400. I have it set up to work as a precision mini-cold saw. It will slice off slugs of small bar stock to 0.001" accuracy. It's been reliably cutting slugs for truss rod and bridge parts for years for me. A great little machine.
I'll continue the tour in the next post.
These are the metalworking machines that I use almost every day, making hardware for my Scroll Basses, hardware for other Luthiers, special tools, parts for fixtures, and of course parts for other machines. This is where I work, and these are the machines that I rely on.
Here's a look, standing back a bit. In the center is Drill Press Row, a long bench filled with 6 drill presses and a few other machines at the ends.
Turning to the right is the metal grinding area. The Grizzly Knife Belt Sander gets constant use. I bought it new from Grizzly around 1994. I have a whole rack of belts for it, and a finishing wheel on the left end of the spindle. To the right is a Grizzly belt/disk sander, the model that runs at slower speed.
Tucked around behind the sanders is my big cutoff bandsaw. It will cut off up to 6" diameter steel or aluminum bar stock. I don't use it that often, but it's important sometimes. It rolls out into the aisle for use.
In the foreground is my small cutoff bandsaw, which I bought new in 1984. It's been a workhorse all these years. It cuts off 1" and smaller metal bar stock for almost all the parts I make.
Around to the left is the 1925 Avey Sensitive Drill that I recently acquired. Next to it is a small import drill press with a Procunier tapping head. I use it for power tapping 6-32 and 4-40 size holes. Beyond it is a metal buffer with a small grinder on top. Out at the left end is my mini-metal shaper that I use for slotting bridge saddles. A story in itself.
Starting at the end of Drill Press Row is this one, a 1950's Walker Turner DP500, a classic tough industrial medium size drill press. This is my main metalworking drill press that gets constant use. It drills most of the one-off jobs in the 1/16" to 3/8" range. I bought it around 2000.
At the end of the row are these two small drill presses. The little Tradesman was literally rescued from a dumpster. It needs some work. I had been using it to drill the tiny holes in truss rods. The Avey has now taken over that job. The Tradesman will now become the small countersinker.
The Dunlap is from the '60's, made by King-Seely and sold through Sears. A nice strong little machine. It's my spotter. I have a small precision spotting drill in it. Most holes I drill in metal get quickly spotted in the Dunlap.
Two more workhorse drill presses that get daily use. To the left is another Walker-Turner DP500, a benchtop model. It's set up to do countersinking. To the right is a larger King-Seely Craftsman, fitted with a Procunier #1 tapping head. It power taps all of the 10-32 threads in truss rods, BruceBars, bridge parts, etc.
This is an old 1940's Walker Turner that I found here in Fillmore a few years ago. For $50. It had been left outdoors and is kind of rusty, but it works beautifully. I fitted it with an import cross slide vise that takes custom aluminum jaws. It's a Fixture Drill, which gets set up to do production runs of small parts. Jeremy and I use it a lot these days.
At the end of the row are two more essential metalworking machines. An Enco 14" bandsaw, set up for cutting aluminum, brass and pickguard stock. And a 1950's Oliver S4 Die Filer. I have 5 die filers, and this one gets the most use.
On the back side of the row is the Barker. This is a cool little heavy duty benchtop modular milling machine made for production line use. This is a real early one from 1952, but Barkers are still manufactured today here in the US. New ones are about $2300. I found this one around 2005 for $400. I have it set up to work as a precision mini-cold saw. It will slice off slugs of small bar stock to 0.001" accuracy. It's been reliably cutting slugs for truss rod and bridge parts for years for me. A great little machine.
I'll continue the tour in the next post.
Bruce, thank you for the tour! I’m going to share this with #016!
She's been here. All of her little bits were created on these very machines.
Continuing around behind Drill Press Row;
The yellowish machine is a manual hand tapper. It taps holes, precise and square. It works beautifully. It was custom made by some machine shop. That arm is solid steel! It was given to my friend Thomas by a machine shop that was closing down. He kept it parked outside for a few years, then gave it to me. I use it fairly often.
To the left is a rolling cart filled with drill bits, tools and stuff that goes with the green milling machine.....
Here's the Green Milling Machine. I've had it for 32 years (!). A true workhorse machine. Up until the last few years, it did all of the milling operations on every instrument and part I've built. I still use it more than all my other mills, mostly because I'm so familiar with it. It's from the 1980's, made in Taiwan. It's called a Mill-Drill, a heavy drill press that also does light milling. I paid $400 for it back in 1989. The best tool purchase I've made.
I highly recommend these Mill-Drill machines for any of you who interested in getting into metalworking. They are reasonable cost, weight, size and power for a home shop.
And here's my workhorse small lathe, a Logan 11" lathe. I've got it fitted with a collet nose and closer, a turret tailstock, and many other accessories. I bought it from a used machinery dealer in 1990. This lathe makes all my small parts. All of my truss rod hardware, for all these years, has been made on this machine.
If you are looking to buy a small metal lathe for your home shop, I highly recommend a Logan. Not real flashy, just plain and simple and tough. Lots of them available in the used market and you can still buy parts for them.
Around the end is my metal shop workbench. Jammed with files and screwdrivers and wrenches and measuring tools and......jobs and parts and drawings......
Around the end is my big drill press. A 1945 Royersford 21 in nearly mint original condition. A beautiful machine, a true joy to use. It does the big holes, from 3/8" up to 1 1/2". Barely breaking a sweat.
On to the big lathes....This is a 1949 LeBlond Regal 17. A rare lathe because it's a short 6' bed. Most lathes of this size (17" swing and up) are much longer beds, 10' or 12'. This one is the perfect size for me. 3 horsepower, 3400 lbs. It's a serious metal cutting lathe in a reasonably compact size. I bought it from a race car shop in Burbank in 2004 for $2000. It was painted a horrible turquoise! I immediately repainted it black. It was originally grey from the factory, but I think it looks great in black. A wonderful lathe to use.
This is another LeBlond Regal, from 1947, the smaller 13" model with an 8' bed. It's got some heavy wear, but it still runs okay. It was given to me for free by a shop that was closing down. I showed above how I have it fitted with a Rotozip mini-router, and I mostly use it for making precision wood dowels and plugs. Lots of other machines and machine parts piled under it.
Here's my big milling machine. A 1980's Kondia, made in Spain. A big solid turret mill, a copy of a Bridgeport Series II. About 3200 lbs of Spanish iron, 3 HP. It cuts some serious metal. We recently fitted it with a cheap import digital readout and X-axis power feed. They seem to work well. This machine is actually a good candidate to retrofit to CNC operation. I may do that eventually.
My friend Thomas owns this mill. He bought it from a friend for $100! They thought it was junk, that the transmission was broken....but it turned out to just be jammed in two gears. It runs fine now. It looks ugly, but it's not heavily worn. It'll mill blocks to 0.001", no problem.
Here's my Diamond horizontal mill. A small but heavy duty horizontal mill made in Los Angeles in the 1950's. I bought it for $100 from a machine shop that was shrinking down. A sweet little machine, perfect for milling the sides of aluminum blocks for bridges, etc.
I have two more of these Diamond mills, in need of repairs. You can see the blue one in the left background. That's the same machine, but with the knee and table removed and a Rotex head on the upper arm. I'll get it up and running one of these years.
The grey machine in the middle is my Oliver HD Heavy Die Filer. A very rare machine. One of the last ones made, in 1963. They were mostly used in the 1930's and 1940's for making dies. It's like a heavy scroll saw for metal. It will saw and file intricate shapes in metal blocks. Things you can barely even do with a CNC mill. It's perfect for some musical instrument hardware.
That's it for the quick tour of my main machine shop. These are the machines that are running and in almost daily use. I have a couple dozen other metalworking machines parked away in other areas, waiting for repairs and work.
The yellowish machine is a manual hand tapper. It taps holes, precise and square. It works beautifully. It was custom made by some machine shop. That arm is solid steel! It was given to my friend Thomas by a machine shop that was closing down. He kept it parked outside for a few years, then gave it to me. I use it fairly often.
To the left is a rolling cart filled with drill bits, tools and stuff that goes with the green milling machine.....
Here's the Green Milling Machine. I've had it for 32 years (!). A true workhorse machine. Up until the last few years, it did all of the milling operations on every instrument and part I've built. I still use it more than all my other mills, mostly because I'm so familiar with it. It's from the 1980's, made in Taiwan. It's called a Mill-Drill, a heavy drill press that also does light milling. I paid $400 for it back in 1989. The best tool purchase I've made.
I highly recommend these Mill-Drill machines for any of you who interested in getting into metalworking. They are reasonable cost, weight, size and power for a home shop.
And here's my workhorse small lathe, a Logan 11" lathe. I've got it fitted with a collet nose and closer, a turret tailstock, and many other accessories. I bought it from a used machinery dealer in 1990. This lathe makes all my small parts. All of my truss rod hardware, for all these years, has been made on this machine.
If you are looking to buy a small metal lathe for your home shop, I highly recommend a Logan. Not real flashy, just plain and simple and tough. Lots of them available in the used market and you can still buy parts for them.
Around the end is my metal shop workbench. Jammed with files and screwdrivers and wrenches and measuring tools and......jobs and parts and drawings......
Around the end is my big drill press. A 1945 Royersford 21 in nearly mint original condition. A beautiful machine, a true joy to use. It does the big holes, from 3/8" up to 1 1/2". Barely breaking a sweat.
On to the big lathes....This is a 1949 LeBlond Regal 17. A rare lathe because it's a short 6' bed. Most lathes of this size (17" swing and up) are much longer beds, 10' or 12'. This one is the perfect size for me. 3 horsepower, 3400 lbs. It's a serious metal cutting lathe in a reasonably compact size. I bought it from a race car shop in Burbank in 2004 for $2000. It was painted a horrible turquoise! I immediately repainted it black. It was originally grey from the factory, but I think it looks great in black. A wonderful lathe to use.
This is another LeBlond Regal, from 1947, the smaller 13" model with an 8' bed. It's got some heavy wear, but it still runs okay. It was given to me for free by a shop that was closing down. I showed above how I have it fitted with a Rotozip mini-router, and I mostly use it for making precision wood dowels and plugs. Lots of other machines and machine parts piled under it.
Here's my big milling machine. A 1980's Kondia, made in Spain. A big solid turret mill, a copy of a Bridgeport Series II. About 3200 lbs of Spanish iron, 3 HP. It cuts some serious metal. We recently fitted it with a cheap import digital readout and X-axis power feed. They seem to work well. This machine is actually a good candidate to retrofit to CNC operation. I may do that eventually.
My friend Thomas owns this mill. He bought it from a friend for $100! They thought it was junk, that the transmission was broken....but it turned out to just be jammed in two gears. It runs fine now. It looks ugly, but it's not heavily worn. It'll mill blocks to 0.001", no problem.
Here's my Diamond horizontal mill. A small but heavy duty horizontal mill made in Los Angeles in the 1950's. I bought it for $100 from a machine shop that was shrinking down. A sweet little machine, perfect for milling the sides of aluminum blocks for bridges, etc.
I have two more of these Diamond mills, in need of repairs. You can see the blue one in the left background. That's the same machine, but with the knee and table removed and a Rotex head on the upper arm. I'll get it up and running one of these years.
The grey machine in the middle is my Oliver HD Heavy Die Filer. A very rare machine. One of the last ones made, in 1963. They were mostly used in the 1930's and 1940's for making dies. It's like a heavy scroll saw for metal. It will saw and file intricate shapes in metal blocks. Things you can barely even do with a CNC mill. It's perfect for some musical instrument hardware.
That's it for the quick tour of my main machine shop. These are the machines that are running and in almost daily use. I have a couple dozen other metalworking machines parked away in other areas, waiting for repairs and work.
