Thanks for the additional information. What would you recommend for me to use to clean the grime off of the machine?
I think I’d try Dawn detergent, cuts grease pretty well and it’s safe for ducks!
The stuff we used on the jet was citrus based as well, but it’s like stupid expensive, and hard to get in quantities smaller than a 55 gallon drum.
I ended up going the wd 40 route with a soft scrubber. I had some on hand. I didn’t have time to get it all cleaned up, but made some progress. Still a ways to go to get it all white.
Then the phase converter showed up and FedEx was kind enough to leave it in the slush.
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I can’t believe they just left it there. A few more feet and it would have been dry and covered. What the heck!?
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I’m betting the delivery driver slipped on ice and busted their ass earlier in the day. He probably saw the slushy snow and didn’t want to risk it. This box is very heavy.
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Nice to see you looking for the good!
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This is as clean as this machine is going to get for now. The dawn dish soap and a green scrubber worked pretty good
I cleaned up the vice with the least number of drill bit holes in it and mounted it to the bed.
If you thought squaring your MPCNC is rough, try setting the tram and nod on a mill.
At some point I have to clean out the coolant sump.
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Hot dang, I made a hole. It took me a few nights to build the phase converter and get it wired, but tonight I made some chips.
I even used the powered feed to do it. I need to build another mpcnc so I can ultra center the holes in the Z axis rods.
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Finished my first project on the mill.
Started with a 6" wide c-channel. Used a cut off wheel to slab out a ~5" chunk. Then took it to the mill to make the part. It took me few tries. The first part I didn’t understand how well the part needed to be clamped. After trying to face the part, I discovered the vice wasn’t perfectly level front to back even though the bed is. (cheap vice). Having the vice tilted caused the facing bit to cut deeper in the back than in the front. This took too much material out and allowed the part to start to bend (which I didn’t notice). The bending caused the vice to loose bite on the part and allowed it to slip.
This is the design I was going for:
Here’s the results of the first part.
At this point, I also needed to learn how to use the DRO. I spent a bit of time downloading the DRO manual and reading through it while playing with the machine.
Then it was time to try again. I learned that if I flipped the part over, I could get it to clamp on the cross part of the piece better. This removed a lot of flex in the part and I was getting smoother cuts.
After what felt like a huge amount of time, I finally had the part cut out, holes drilled, and holes tapped.
A little paint and I got it installed early this morning before work.
Next on the list is to finish modifying some rubber pads to mount them under the feet. After that I plan on making a hook/mount for the right side of the compressor to loop the compressor hose on.
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Had a really busy time in the shop the last few days. I had Friday off from work, so I took that time to build some drawers for tooling.
Then I finished the air compressor rebuild by running a 1/2" line from the tank to the regulator.
Lastly I built a spray booth so I can start trying to paint some motorcycle parts. This is my first time spraying automotive paint. Primer has been laid and I have some sanding to do.
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grrr I just spent a bunch of time going through this thread and getting very jealous. But I’m happy for OP. Love the thread and hope that in a year or so I’ll be building my dream shop so will remember this for ideas!
I think I mentioned this before, but there’s another forum out there called Garage Journal. If you want to see real jealousy, looking through the garage threads on that site is an eye opening experience.
Good luck with your shop build. I’m very fortunate to have a wife that’s very accommodating with me and my habits/hobbies. To hear her say it, at least she knows where I’m at and I’m not out at the bars 
I will say, her eyes do get pretty big some times. The look on her face when she walked out and saw the mill on the trailer was pretty good. I haven’t made her anything on it yet, so she doesn’t understand the full utility of it.
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This guy knows the trick.
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I got lucky that my wife actually likes makings stuff too. Building a house with a shop big enough she even gets her own space. I have to be really careful with “I wish I had…” because she says “what does it do?..go get it”.
It would be really easy for me to stay broke.
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@turbomacncheese does she have a twin who is looking for a good man 
Seriously your wife sounds amazing. Take good care of her and appreciate her as you’re a lucky man!
She IS amazing!
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I haven’t updated this page in a long time, thought I’d show off my current project I’m working on.
This is a 40 gallon aquarium. The stand is welded steel with a solid mahogany skin that I’ve been working on since November. I hope to have it finished this month to move on to the next project in February.
I’m using threaded inserts in the wood to hold the skin onto the metal frame
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Nice!
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That looks great. No one will suspect it is strong enough to hold up a car. The fish (or is it for something else?) will love it.
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