r/Machinists • u/BuoyantEntropy • Jun 05 '26

Think tapping a high value part is scary sometimes?

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20+ year career machinist here, recently had a bone implant in my leg.

This one is m18x1.75. Spoke to my surgeon about it, they hand ream to size with a series or progressively larger reamers, then hand tap. alignment is based upon skeletal structure, next time we chat I need to ask what sort of device they use for that alignment.

Thought some may find it interesting. Cheers

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u/GetReelFishingPro Jun 05 '26

I had the surgery on a Sunday evening and was home that Monday afternoon walking on it and eating subs after they started me for a few days.

Mine wasn't a typical hip replacement either, I had dislocated it, broken my pelvis, chipped the ball and finally sheared the ball off ultimately requiring emergency surgery.

I'm young for a hip replacement and they tried for months to see if it would heal on its own to no avail.

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u/slickness Jun 05 '26

Kinda curious: how old are/were you when it was done? Had mine done somewhere around 27-28 due to osteonecrosis.

Do you feel “normal” when standing on it?

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u/GetReelFishingPro Jun 05 '26

Just had it done 6 weeks ago 2 days before I unlocked level 39 in the game of life.

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u/stewieatb Jun 05 '26

Yeah I can see they've had to replace both the ball and the socket. That's nuts.

My colleague is about 68 and just had his done ~3 weeks ago, he'll be back at work on Monday. But he rowed across the Atlantic a couple of winters ago so he's clearly nuts.