Machining Blog

Check out these turning and milling images:

The Crystal Mill

Image by snowpeak
I was late leaving Hanging Lake and it was questionable whether I would get to Crystal before sunset. So I raced on down hwy 82 to Carbondale, then south down 183 — until this:

Road Construction
Be Prepared to Stop

Sure enough, there was a line of cars waiting for their turn to go and I was near the back end. When the time comes, the line proceeds at the speed of the slowest driver.

But eventually I got to the Marble turnoff at co road 3. Unfortunately the three vehicles in front of me also turned. They seemed to be folks going home from work and they weren’t in any hurry.

They all stopped in Marble and I finally had the road to myself. Such as it was. The five miles from Marble to Crystal is rugged, to say the least. It is supposed to take an hour. I met five vehicles coming the other way and twice had to back up to find a place wide enough that they could get by.

But eventually I got there. Hastily I set up and got this shot. The time stamp says 5:43 on 9/19, my daddy’s birthday by the way.

After that I calmed down a bit and drove the other 300 yards to the town of Crystal. Apparently half a dozen families live there.

As the sun set, a few other four-wheelers came by and stopped to shoot the mill with their point-and-shoots.

As darkness came on, I prepared my sleeping area for a night by the waterfall at the Crystal Mill.

And so to bed.

Gresham’s Mill in the setting sun

Image by Vicki’s Nature
This old corn gristmill was built in the mid-1800’s in what had been Cherokee country (I live in Cherokee County). The Cherokees were rounded up in 1838 and forced to go (walk) to Oklahoma – in the winter from what I’ve read. It’s a horrible chapter in our history. There was also a federal fort and gold mine near this site. The California gold rush is more famous but we had a gold rush of our own back then. The wheel is still turning but I don’t know if the family still mills anything. Privately owned and just a few miles from my house.

Winner, You Rock! challenges, Antique, 12-11
Winner, Big Momma award, The Mother of All Challenge Groups, Rural scene, 12-11
Winner, Beautiful World Challenge Group, JKLM, 1-12
Winner, Game, Taken last month, 1-12
Winner, 15 Challenges, Not fit for purpose, 6-13
Winner, Storybook, Old, 10-13

Milling and China Turning

Image by Haukur H.
A milling/turning machine at work.
On this photo the machine is milling key grooves in a 200mm axle.