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Graphite ninjas

Nice to see some machining competition rather than cooking or baking.
I was surprised to see the drilling done on such a big lathe (make?). I would opt for a smaller one and with the drill counter rotataing.
 
looks like Okuma LS series lathe with 55000 series DIN chuck mount
I did not post part one--commentator noted machinist could feel
resistance when advancing tailstock quill into 0.020" pencil lead
 
looks like Okuma LS series lathe
I did not post part one--commentator noted machinist could feel
resistance when advancing tailstock quill into 0.020" pencil lead

The sheer mass of the tail-stock handle and chuck/quill would make it difficult to sense. On the tail-stock of my tool-room lathe I am using a lever type feed and can sense one gram resistance, but probably would not accept this challenge. Remarkable the guy could do it the way he did.
 
Nice to see some machining competition rather than cooking or baking.
I was surprised to see the drilling done on such a big lathe (make?). I would opt for a smaller one and with the drill counter rotataing.

"Supreme Skills!" has also many other interesting episodes. Too bad they are hard to find on internet.
 
My big question on for the EDM guy is why, if he's one of the top three in Japan (as he says in the imperfect soundtrack at the beginning), does he not realize that popping carbon with copper or copper tungsten will erode the wire as fast or faster (as in this case) than the pencil lead?

He's talking about how deep he's going, then a need to "dress" the end of the wire, then back in. And ultimately we find he only went about a quarter of the way through, when he'd previously mentioned being almost there?

And yes, super impressive work by the guy on the lathe, but towards the end I did notice a "buildup" near the base of the graphite holder that was similar to other bulges shown just before failure due to rupture. It wouldn't shock me if the studio takes are done over if needed to get at least one successful outcome.

There's an older SK video that I found even more impressive from an artisan standpoint, where a metalsmith is challenged with recovering the technique of a steel plate smith: Supreme Skills! - Seeking a Lost Japanese Art! [1p HD] - YouTube It may have been one of JH's earlier postings that lead me to it. While the modern smith's attempts are impressive, it's the work of the past master that's absolutely amazing...
 








 
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