Member postings for Pete Gilbert 1

If I recall correctly, plain bearings require a specific aluminium/copper mix, so not all ally/bronze will be suitable for bearings. It's main benefit is corrosion resistance.

I'm guessing that you're asking because the bolts are well slack in the holes. That would seem to indicate that M12 or 1/2" would suit it better. Most makers of this sort of general workshop gear will allow for metric and imperial. Unless your vice is antique. You can use the M10s temporarily, but I'd advise heavy washers, in other words, thicker than 2mm.

If you don't have them or can't get them, ask a friend who works on cars. Cylinder head bolts use heavy washers and so do suspension bolts.

Upgrade the bolts to the biggest size that will fit when you can.

Screwfix currently have a budget one at £70 inc vat

Clicky

Whats more, there's one on Ebay for £64!!

Clicky

Today I have mostly been posting this post about and engineering blokey called Colin Furze.

(warning, turn your volume down a bit)

(warning, Colin's mad)

Biggest pulse jet he's ever made.

Fart at France!

Wow Mike! I had heard that dragonfly larvae were the tough guys in any pond. But I didn't know they could fry fish!!!

I love how nature can always teach us a lesson or two.

Ouch! Fingers are the most sensitive part! Oh, and just as a by the by, don't you mean 'she' stung me?

Thanx for the input guys!

Windy, well would you Adam and Eve it! It's a small world. No . . wait . . It's a small lathe!

And it's my first 'home' machine.

All I can say Mr Wind sir is, this machine must have been your baby, because the condition is excellent for something made pre-1980. I had much pleasure when I took it out of the box ,plugged it in and cut metal!

Ah, I have to confess that I decided to 'test' it's metal, so to speak, and took some 1mm cuts in a brass bar at 1000rpm and managed to trip my domestic breaker!

Hahahahah! I had to laugh after I realized what had happened. I didn't break the lathe, I broke the house!

We have three Hardinge manual lathes at work. Two have rotating tool turrets and then there's the "village bike", as we call it, for general bits and bobs.

I intend to bring the Toyo up just a little from it's current capabilities. The compound slide is the first bit, and a power feed would be nice too, (much better finishes with that than I can achieve manually). So we'll see how it comes along.

Thanx for keeping this Toyo in such nice condition Paul. I will check out that backlash eliminator.

Yes indeed Michael. Thanx for reminding me though.

They made 'proper' large format cameras for expert photographers. And then decided to make their own mini lathes for in house use, eventually selling them to the public too. They made a mini stand drill previous to that. And I think I read somewhere, they are now also a mainstream automotive component maker, making oil pumps. The history of this little machine was one of the main aspects that prompted me to jump in and "Buy It Now"! Even though I could have had what appears to be higher spec and a brand new Draper micro lathe for a similar price. I was also convinced by seeing quite a few complimentary posts about the quality ML1 on various forums too.

I'll confess that I didn't realize just how many decades ago this little lathe was made, 1974 to 1980 no less. But it's quality shines through. It's completely usable, everything works, ( longitudinal slide is slightly stiff).

But I shall be stripping it down shortly to give everything a once over and some TLC and oil.

Edited By Pete Gilbert 1 on 16/07/2014 19:50:28

I removed my Boss! As you do.

And I shall shortly replace it with a top hat insert with a lower diameter to match the 8mm T slots in the cross slide on my Toyo ML1.

Hey old boss! You're not the boss of me!

No boss.

And, by taking off 0.2mm , I've cured the 0.15mm runout that was present. No complaints though as this little compound slide was £13.80 +vat.

Purchased off Ebay for £285 plus shipping. Swiss Army knife shown for size comparison.

I've already cut stainless steel, brass, ABS and nylon. In fact the stainless was being reduced within 10 mins of unboxing at home. (I always have important stuff delivered at work, as I once found eight quids worth of high speed RAM sticks under the bush by the door!!)

Oh, and this arrived today, from Axminster Tools

Axminster SIEG C0 Compound Slide

The locator on the underside is too big, so I'll have to modify it at work. 12mm dia with the T slots being only 8mm.

The T slot nut is rubbish as it's been tapped at an angle to it's own flats! So I'll be making another. Ironically, it has an 8mm locator flange, unlike the slide base!

This item is new, the red/orange bits here and there are what remains of the storage grease that I mostly washed off in the parts wash.

I'd really like a quick adjust tool post, but beggars can't be choosers at this stage.

Primary work for this machine will be improving or re-making various items for my RC planes. Such as eccentric propeller adaptors and light weight wheels etc.

It's all fun.

Hand feeding a reamer will quite often give a poor looking finish, even though the bore may be accurate. Is a boring bar not an option? As mentioned it would give the best finish.

Bit of a tale of woe there Stevo. But at least you haven't lost out in the long run, apart from spending a bit more dosh.

I'm happy to say I recently acquired an old-ish Toyo ML1 mini lathe. It has no electronic malarkey. Just manual belt changing to adjust spindle speed.

Actually I tripped my mains breaker a few mins ago giving it a taste of 1mm brass on a 10mm dia bar at 1000rpm. Heh. So I moderated my enthusiasm in order to complete the cut.

Cleaned up before the photo shoot.

A small box of bits came with. And I'm on the lookout for a mini top slide and QC tool post. I've heard that some Unimat stuff may fit. But I'm cheap and they aren't.

Pretty basic at £285 off Ebay, but the quality seems excellent. I've already cut stainless steel, brass, nylon and ABS with it. I love it! I'll probably take it to work one day and show it all it's big bros.