Member postings for ronan walsh

Whats wd40 good for anyway ?

Thanks clive. What we were shown were shown while in the training centre while doing apprenticeship block release was the dial gauge method, for headstock to bed alignment, tailstock to headstock alignment etc. it was only the basica of machine tool alignment and maintenance really, but gave a good idea of the principles involved. I was talking to a chap who's trade was machine tool fitter, he told me the best way of setting up a machine of any description was to have the base mounting holes over some threaded rod that had been concreted into the ground, and the whole machine aligned with nuts on the threaded rod. When the machine is level and aligned , the base id grouted to the floor.

If a length of thick silver steel is put in the four jaw chuck, leaving a substancial length sticking out (10 or 12 inches or so) and clocked up at the chuck end and the opposite end. Couldn't the alignment be checked with a dti mounted in the tool post, running up and down the length of the bar ? The clock wouldn't put any pressure on the bar giving misleading readings.

Edited By ronan walsh on 11/06/2014 00:14:51

Its what i am using in my colchester. I asked about which headstock oil to use on the practical machinist forum, and it seems to be fine, its caused me no problems.

Edited By ronan walsh on 08/06/2014 22:41:36

He made some interesting frames for the old british bikes and vastly improved on the factory frames. To be honest tiddly little models and machine tools that you can sit on a table top don't do it for me, a bit of full sized home engineering would be welcome in the magazine , and something i think i am correct in saying , that no other magazine caters to ?

I have a colchester with the same problem, but i use the four jaw chuck much more anyway, it supports the work much better and you become very quick at setting the work up concentric with a dial gauge.

Personally i think riffler and needle files are worth their weight in gold. I do bits of gunsmithing work and the like and they are excellent for getting into hard to reach places. Watch the part 1 and 2 of the videos in the link below and you will riffler files being used to good effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmsIdJ50wFU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sash weights were recommended for making valve guides for some old motorcycle engines that wouldn't have had much (or any) lubrication apart from an odd squirt from a grease gun. The theory was the weights with the most graphite were also the most porous and the grease collected in the pores.

Pay little or no attention to these computer or smart phone "speed and feed rate calculators" you'll see, they are meant for high speed and high power industrial machining centres etc.

Why are the police not interested in this scam ? It is fraud plain and simple, when you offer something for sale that you do not have or do not intend to deliver. Or is this just another one of those pesky crimes the police no longer concern themselves with ?

I need various thicknesses and widths john, i have a stockist for spring steel but it is cs70 or cs80, which i am not familiar with and would prefer to use the en45 as it is reasonably straight forward to heat treat.

I have been asked to make a few springs, both flat and vee for a project. Does anyone know where i might buy a small amount of en45 spring steel in the uk ?

This programme is repeated fairly regularly on bbc, i have seen it a few times and found it good. It was good to listen to the tales from the old ton-up boys, but i find it irksome to listen to some of the other contributors in their 20's and 30's telling us about motorcycling in the 50's and 60's.

I think the cheaper dormer and presto stuff is now made in china, the sherwood tools are made in leicester. I have bought a lot of their stuff over the past few months and found it very good.

There are a few very good videos on youtube about handscraping. Have a look.

Isn't 4130 steel what is used in these fancy bicycle frames ? A trip to the local bike shop could have got you some perhaps ?

Actually i just discovered its model number is ar5-e.

Different astra, it was the spanish astra company which made small arms usually. A bit like bsa in the uk , if it was made in metal , they made it.

In ireland air products and boc had the market sewn up between them, the yearly rental on a bottle is a rip off , but if you wanted to mig or tig weld you had no choice but to go to them. There is a recently set up company called stargas who are selling the bottles , you buy the bottle outright. Extortionate gas and bottle charges spoil welding at home.

I thought cast iron was the material of choice for cylinder liners as it is a self lubricating material ?