Okay back to stuff I understand. The spindle is coming together really quickly now, tonight I made the bearing clamp plate and drilled out the bearing housing for the M4 screws that connect the motor to the bearing housing. I made an expanding stub mandrel to machine the clamp plate as its only 0.190" thick (it was cut from 3/16"sheet).
I think I'm going to be delayed by the arrival of a Raspberry Pi, which will form the basis of a really cheap computer for my eldest son, I'll get a screen from cash converters. I'm going to see if I can get him using Linux as an alternative to Windows. As he gets older (and if he's interested) I'll get him going with Python as a programming language. I grew up with BASIC and I am fairly hardcore VB / VBA programmer. I delve into C and Fortran as required for hobby stuff, however I wish I had time to develop my Python and TCL skills.
So, very off topic question, what would people recommend as a programming language for a six year old to start to learn?
Also a few recommendations
1. BF30 is a great base machine..
2. Have a go at building the spray/splatter coolant nozzle, it clears swarf and blasts lube all over the tool, if you use a flexible air pipe then the nozzle can be moved onto other machines and it uses b****r all coolant.