SICD Ltd

04/11/2026

Machine shop magic 🪄

This 32 mm steel boring bar is hanging out about 5×D and the chatter’s pretty bad. I’m only roughing at this point, so I wasn’t too bothered. Then I remembered this trick.

I backed off one of the boring bar’s clamping screws slightly. Everything else stayed the same. The next pass is shown unedited, and just look at that finish 😳 Chatter all but gone.

I got a fair bit of heat in the comments last time I posted this, but you can’t argue with that finish 💪

Working in real time here so apologies for the shaky footage 😅

27/10/2026

I think I need a bigger chip pan 😳

22/10/2026

Using every bit of travel on the manual lathe today. One of these days I’ll buy a bigger machine 😅

This lump of 17-4 PH stainless needs roughing down to a more manageable size before heading over to the Haas ST-20 for finish machining.

Making the old-school kit earn its keep 💪

29/09/2026

The saw saga continues! 🔧

Having admitted temporary defeat on the electrical issues (more on that to follow!), I decided to turn my attention to something a bit more within my remit – the mechanical side!

The old blade guide bearings were absolutely toast. One had even worn right through its outer race – that's a new one on me! 😅

A fresh set of bearings and a couple of new belts fitted today. One for the main drive pulley, which I'll keep as a spare, and another for the chip brush.

Hopefully, that last one will stop the chips piling up under the blade covers!

Still not quite the fully functioning automatic saw I was hoping for, but we're getting there... one problem at a time! 😂

27/09/2026

Playing manual machinist today! 😂

The HURCO decided to forget a tool offset again, and with the part blocking access to the tool probe, I had two options: take it out of the vice or do things the old-fashioned way.

Naturally, I chose the hard way! 😅

Just machining a dovetail onto this 17-4 stainless part so we can get a solid grip on it in our 4th axis setup.

25/09/2026

The gift that keeps on giving! 🎁😅

Went to load up some 10" stock today and discovered the vice won't open far enough... 🤦‍♂️

Turns out 30+ years of accumulated grime has seized things up nicely!

Time to strip it down, give it a proper clean and hopefully reclaim those missing inches of travel.

At this rate, I'll have rebuilt the entire saw before it cuts its first piece of material! 😂

21/09/2026

I’ll be the first to admit I know very little about electronics… but I know enough to suspect this might be causing me some problems 😅

Some recent has resulted in this vintage automatic bandsaw turning up at the workshop.

There’s no nameplate anywhere on the machine, but one of the motors is stamped 1988 — almost as old as me 😅

The automatic feed wasn’t working when it arrived, but after finding this little electrical masterpiece, I’ve got a good feeling I might have found the problem…

Wish me luck 😂🔧

19/09/2026

One for the out there 🍺

If you use a Grainfather GF30 conical fermenter, you’ll probably know the stock setup can be prone to clogging when transferring to a keg — especially after a generous dry hop.

I got fed up with it, so I designed and made an adapter that lets you fit a Kegland EU floating dip tube to the GF30.

Now you can dry hop to your heart’s content without worrying about blocking the transfer! 🍻

I made a few extras while I was at it, and they’re now available in our eBay store.

👉 Link in bio!

17/09/2026

One of the less fun aspects of the job!

Ordinarily I'd never let coolant get this bad in my shop however I bought an auto bandsaw to speed up production and it seems coolant care wasn't high on the former owners agenda! Would you believe that the tank was emptied, scrubbed and flushed before this!

I'm now on the second tank of fresh coolant and will leave it running with the oil skimmer for a few days along with a dose of system bio flush before topping up with fresh coolant!

31/08/2026