Member postings for shaun hill

I have the chester version of the HV mill, not a bad machine, ive had mine about 6 or 7 years and it get used pretty much every day and its been fine, only issue i have changing the belts on the horizontal mill can be a real pain, From a personal point of view unless the horizontal is esential, i would buy the wm20, or better still the axminster tools version, of the bridgeport, much cheaper than the warco version.

Hi , i have a T mill and the same thing happened to me, try resetting the Rcd the left hand one, middle row as shown on you picture, pressed them in and out a couple of times and hey presto it sprang back into life, even though they appeared ok to begin with

With regards to the machines being checked over, i dont think they do anything at all, i ordered a lux mill in single phase, mt 3 taper, when it arrived it was 3ph iso 30 spindle, i had a 920 lathe, wasnt too bad if im honest, apart from the travis lever fell to bits first time i used it, but i fixed it no problem, i then progressed to a coventry lathe, reasonable machine, but when i checked it over after they had delivered it, the headstock and gearbox didnt have a drip of oil in it, also the suds pump was seized solid, so much for being checked over before delivery, i can only assume they must be employing stevie wonder!! in there qc dept

I had a similar problem on mine, turned out the start capacitor had packed up, put a new one on, went for years more

1952, M300?

Personally i would get your heating in your shed sorted out, ive got a harrison lathe and have also had several chester and warco smaller machines, still have got a chester coventry lathe, chalk and cheese compared to the harrison, dont get me wrong they turn ok, but cheaply made, rubbish motors and switches , and fasteners made of cheese, put them right and you have a ok machine, im not slating the warco, chester machines there good value, but not a patch on your harrison,unless of course its wore out.

Garry, if your cylinder holds under 500cc of air,under current uk laws it does not require testing, i have been making pcp airguns over 25 years,but i test each of my cylinders to a third above the working pressure,.i can assure you the vast majority of british pcps manufacturers dont test each rifle.

When i made my first cylinder i hydrostatically tested it, then i took it to Lloyds british, and got them to test it, to make sure what i was doing was safe and correct.

Glad you have had good service, which is more than ive had with them, a few years ago i ordered a lathe from them at the midland model engineering show, they promised me delivery within a week, six weeks later no lathe more excuses, so i asked for a refund, that was an ordeal in itself.

Upon visiting the show a few weeks ago with a friend, he ordered a mill from them, after i told him about my tale of woe, he thought whats the chances of that happening again!!!, they promised him delivery the end of the following week, guess what he is still waiting, he spoke to them yesterday, told him another two to three weeks, they just came up with all sorts of stupid excuses, the best one was, they get sent out, on a first come first served basis, he ordered it at 10.45 on the first day of the show!!, all in all they dont have the mills in stock, as he offered to go collect it in person, why not just be honest in the first place and say six to eight weeks delivery, what i can see, they must just take orders at the shows, then order them from china, hence the ridiculous waiting time.

Neil, most of the failings of pcp cylinders are due most of the time to them being filled with oxygen or other industrial gases, The two that i heard about failing was basically due to user error, one way over pressurised the cylinder, and one had been bodging around,

I have made my living for the past twenty five years manufacturing and repairing pcp rifles, and have seen more or less every pcp rifle made, some in my opinion are good others bad, the older pcps where always over engineered but the downside to that they where heavy, but some of the newer rifles leave a lot to be desired regarding cylinder thickness etc, most are made to the minimum spec required, unlike model steam boliers that are way over engineered in comparison.

I have seen many rifles modified over the years that in my opinion are dangerous, usually done to try increasing the power over the uk limit, usually done by some have a go gunsmith who has no idea what they are doing, severely affecting the structural integrity of the rifle.

The problem is, currently pcps dont need any sort of testing, as long as the cylinder holds under 500cc of air no test is required, so it opens the door for all sorts of modders and fred in the shed manufacturing, i personally think every pcp should be pressure tested and then checked every few years the same as diving cylinders and steam boilers, lets face it, there is in excess of 3000psi in these rifles and some are nearly 30 years old,

I have not seen the book thats being disgust, so i cant comment on the rifles cylinder and pressure parts, but all i can say to anyone making one use proper spec tube and pressure test it,

Regarding the GC2 exploding that was Tom Waltons, i have only ever heard of two cylinders actually failing on pcps and both had alloy cylinders, hence most of the German made pcps with alloy cylinders are date stamped and recommended to be replaced after ten years much the same as the bottles fitted to Theobens, bsa etc, There is currently no law that requires pressure cylinders that hold under 500cc of air to be tested. hence not many pcp are individually tested.

I believe the licence in Scotland does not come into play until april next year, No one as to lose there air rifles just apply for a licence.

Made many Pcps over the years, all i can say is anyone having a go at making a pcp, make sure you use proper hydraulic tube for the air cylinder and pressure test it , its the equivalant of having a hand grenade in your hands if all went pear shaped, nasty!!

Could give this place a try, i have had a few stamps made here. www.diegrave.co.uk

Edited By shaun hill on 22/06/2014 18:30:58

Birmingham machine tools services. They offer lathe bed regrinding

Edited By shaun hill on 25/04/2014 20:39:15

Hi Mike, i have a chester version, good machine, best thing i did was fit a dro and fit a 4" head raiser, not much room under machine without it

If you can afford to buy dormer buy them, used dormer for years superb drills, got talked into buying cheap drill sets claiming wonders , total rubbish, all the did was snap and ruin work, full drill sets that cost £20, you could not get half a dozen dormer drills for that, as they say you get what you pay for.

Hi Sid

Yes it is i, How are you, im still making the spartans and mk3 airstreams occasionally when i get time. do you still have that old miller or did you dump it in the sea on the way to spain, lol

my e-mail address is [email protected]

www.isp-airrifles.com

The vast majority of air rifle cylinders are not individually tested, the only tested cylinders are made by luxfor in the uk which are fitted to some makes of air rifle.

Any cylinder made for a air rifle under a 500cc capacity does not require to be tested, i have been making custom pcp air rifles for 25 years and each rifle i make i test the cylinder before despatch.

Regarding testing the bottles, quote, pressure testing will show all is ok then the next time all will go wrong, in that case what is the point of testing full stop. All diving cylinders are tested hydrostatically to a third above there recomended working pressure. they are all tested using water, the bottle is pressurised and a level mark put on the water gauge, the pressure is released then repressurised to the same pressure and the water gauge checked to see if the water level is in the same place, if its lower thats indicated the bottle as stretched and not returned to its original size, your bottle will be returned to you with several holes drilled in it.

Most of the german made pcp air rifles are made using alloy cylinders, some i have seen are frightning but they pass tests and are deemed safe, they are recommending now the cylinders to be replaced after 10 years, im sure a fellow member on this site will be along with pics to confirm what im saying.

All alloy gas bottles at BOC are scrapped after 10 years due to internal stress fractures forming, potentially lethal, all bottles are now tested at BOC ultrasonically to check for internal flaws, they still have steel bottles in service which where made in the 1940s.

My advice is to make your cylinder out of steel or titanium forget about aluminium. Dont think because a air rifle cylinder manufactured by a known company are bomb proof, most are made to the minimum spec required to save weight and have more air capacity, some cylinders ive seen would not pass a proper pressure test. until some sort of testing rule is bought out in the uk pcp air rifles can be made by anyone and any how, over the years ive seen some guns that in my opinion should not be in production, one guy in the far east was almost killed a few months ago by making a cylinder, the tube did not split the end plug came out, not enough thread in the tube, the requirement is only 6 full threads, ridiculous in my opinion.

A 30mm od x 5mm wall aluminium tube providing its a quality seamless tube would hold 1000psi no problem, make sure your ends are threaded properly. Many modern pre charged pneumatic air rifles are made using aluminium cylinders which i can assure you, some are not 5mm thick, which are designed to work at 3000psi and are tested to 4500 psi, Personally i would use a steel or titaniun cylinder. The vast amount of alloy cylinders on pcp air rifles, manufactures reccomend to replace them after 10 years. The only safe way is to test your cylinder when you have made it, test it to a third above your working pressure, you can use a modified grease gun to hydrostatically test your cylinder.