OK, OK… I have kept this to myself for far too long.
There are lots of wonderful micro machine shop sites on the internet. One of them at the top of my list is called Micro-Machine Shop. Duh? I guess that’s not too hard to remember…
The site URL is http://www.finelinehair.com/home/index.htm. I didn’t know what fine line hair meant; I assumed it could be something to do with ultra precise measurement. Alan is a stickler for that, as a machinist should. I shortened the URL and it (he) is linked from a large hair products salon.
Yep, the creator of the site is named Alan. I haven’t found his surname yet, but it may be buried in there somewhere. Maybe he just likes to be more private than myself. No matter, Alan publishes a wonderful site for us machine tool addicts.
Somehow I think Alan has more tools and variations and measuring devices than actually exist in the world. Just take any major supply catalog like J&L, Enco, etc. and order one of each on every page. He must own both companies. In any case, he doesn’t have a big investment in full size machines (hence the name “micro-machine shop”) but there is no shortage of accessories.
Many getting started machinist ask me what machines are best for the money they have. You will see here it is not the machines that require the most money; it is what you add to them. Alan has far more money and time than I can ever hope to invest.
Did I mention his photography is nothing less than extreme topnotch? Alan does in pictures what I do in words. In other words, about 1000 time more.
This is a highly recommended machine tool site to visit and bookmark. You will be very pleased I finally told you, but perhaps you already knew…
UPDATE: New URL
Hi Dan’l, thanks for the kind words. Yeah, when I started the site I made it a folder under my wife’s salon site that I had created. It confuses people. I will be changing it over to Micro-Machine-Shop.com this year, sometime. I started the site because as I was gathering info on machining off the net & from my tool & die maker friends, I keep seeing the same questions over & over; why do I get ridges when I use an end mill to machine a flat surface? what hole do I drill for a 50% 10-32 thread in steel? etc. The site is hopefully a repository for the basics. I am not a machinist (but a scientist) so it can only go so far. As I work full time I don’t put in nearly as much time as I would like. I wish I did own Enco. If I knew then what I know now (who does?) I would have selected machines that could be easily converted to ball screws as backlash eats your lunch everytime. Also thanks for the comments on the photos. Many sites, especially commercial ones actually selling products, have aweful, low res pics that just don’t give enough info for me to make an evaluation. BTW this is the first blog I have everreplied to. regards, Alan
Hello Alan!
Thanks for the response. I bet it wasn’t too hard. You may want to try your own blog yourself some day. Your own URL would stop the wondering perhaps, but don’t let anyone loose the route to your excellent pages. Regards, Dan’l
Hi Dan
As usual an interesting website / blog, I am a long time reader of THMS. Followed the link you gave to Alan’s site and thought you might like to know that my version of Norton Internet Security flags the site as having problems namely a number of “drive-by downloads” I am not sure exactly what this means but Alan (if you read this) may like to check. Meanwhile I’m playing safe, which is a shame as the site sounds interesting.
Cheers
John
Hi John,
I am sure that is a concern. I use a full time scan program too, but have not received any bad “warnings” from Alan’s site. It’s probably coming from his ISP (provider) or other sites sharing his IP address range. Norton may be keying on that.
I see he has a new URL: http://www.micro-machine-shop.com/ . I assume that is the URL Norton doesn’t like? Still runs clean for me. I didn’t get an auto re-direct to the new but that might be the issue.
I am sure Alan has no interest or anything to gain by generating drive by’s. They are usually an attempt to open pop-ups to get you to open other sites. I have seen it happen in music sites so now I stick to iTunes. Turning off pop-ups may help.
Dan’l
Hi Dan
No problem with the new URL, good site have added it to my bookmark list.
John