Member postings for Andrew Tinsley

Hello Chris,

Interested in your vice. I always thought that type was OK for drilling, but no good for milling. What is your experience?

Andrew.

Definitely will not work. I think you are confusing silver soldering with soft soldering. Tinning the two surfaces first and then putting them together and reheating has been a standard way of doing this sort of thing for at least a 150 years. Why try to reinvent the wheel?

Andrew

I agree about stripping and cleaning out the motor. If it has an centrifugal switch make sure it is free and clean the contacts. I have a stock of single and 3 phase motors overhauled tested and ready to go. At least I don't get down time due to failed motors!

With regard to the small 1/4 horse 3 phase motor, it certainly isn't the VFD which is tripping the earth leakage. I tested 3 motors on it with no problem, the fourth one instantly trips the earth leakage device and the error signal on the VFD says that a phase is down to earth. I am running in delta with an Altivar VFD outputting 240 volts, 3 phase

My Megger outputs 500 volts dc and the earth winding resistance is beyond the measuring capacity of the meter.. Pity I don't have 1000V DC available. that would nail it, I am sure.

Andrew.

It looks a bit iffy. However I am not a stickler for rules and regulations. (Howls of protest from certain members), as long as you have a good solid earth to the motor) AND it has a modern earth leakage trip in the supply line I would happily use it. The worst that can happen is that the supply will trip out if the earth leakage is too high.

However, that is what I would do, the official answer would probably be to condemn the motor out of hand. I have a small 3 phase motor in delta, which checks out fine on a 500 volt test but has a high earth leakage when run on a VDF, just goes to show that the output of a VDF can have some high voltage transients.

Andrew.

The preferred material for back plates has always been cast iron. Quite a few people believe that mild steel is a NO NO! Stating that it is much more prone to seize up on a threaded nose of a lathe.

I believed all this, until Ketan had a few quiet words, basically saying that mild steel backplates were fine. I have since used Arc mild steel backplates with no problems.

Andrew.

My experience with couriers show that Parcelforce and DPD are streets ahead of the rest. I can't honestly tell any significant difference between the two. I suppose DPD's tracking system puts it slightly ahead of Parcelforce, but as I am retired I don't consider this to be significant.

Andrew.

I may well be missing the point here, as far as I am aware the electronics between battery and motor is usually a speed controller for brushed motors. For non brushed motors then it will be the DC "chopping" circuit that presents pseudo 3 phase to the motor and gives speed control too.

For a brushed motor you can bypass the electronics, but the motor will then run flat out. For a brushless motor bypassing the electronics will not work.

Andrew.

I will not tolerate rusty dirty items in my workshop. I always clean tools etc up and if they need painting, then that gets done!

It gives me pride in the kit and MUCH more importantly it reminds me to clean things down after use! I used to tolerate mess and dirt, but I find that my newfound attitude is a boon to keeping the shop tidy.

I too, am brutally honest about anything I put on ebay. I don't have to tart things up, because of the policy I follow. It is usually pretty obvious if any item on ebay has been given a quick lick of paint, because the paint job is slipshod.

What usually gets my goat is something with a little surface rust or covered with grime and with no real information. It only takes a few minutes to clean things up. If a seller can't be bothered to do a simple thing like cleaning an item, then I am not interested in buying it.!

Andrew.

P.S. This may sound like a rant,but it is simply my philosophy!

I have never given it much thought to be honest. I have three of the lever collet chucks (don't ask why!). The chucks used to fetch about £70 to £100, not sure what current prices are. The chucks are relatively common, but the collets are quite expensive and need some searching out. I have a complete set of Imperial collets and a dozen or so metric ones. They were fetching at least £10 each and more. So if you have any collets then you are in the money.

As for restoring, I would always clean up items and give them a coat of paint! So much stuff on Ebay is presented as though it has come out of a skip, that a clean smart looking item will always make more.

Andrew.

Yes it is set up for repetition work. If I were you, I would sell it, as they seem to fetch a good price and use the cash to help reinstate the saddle and tail stock.

If it has been used from new for a secondary operation then the bed should be unworn!

Andrew.

Hello,

It is a Myford cutoff slide with two positions for parting off material (one conventional and one as a rear tool post). I believe it to be the first such cut off slide, as it is lever operated. I have the later version which is wheel operated.

Andrew.

Perhaps one of the moderators could take down the illuminati spam advert in the "For Sale" section?

Thanks,

Andrew.

• Small horizontal mills are very cheap as there is little demand for them. Buy one and it will cost significantly less than the add on from Chronos. They usually have a small footprint, so you could squeeze it in even a small workshop.

Andrew.

I used to have a Cowells and a friend of mine had a Proxxon, which I have played with. I bitterly regret selling the Cowells, it is / was a real quality build. The Proxxon was by comparison, cheap and nasty, although this wasn't reflected in the price! Proxxon owners may well disagree.

Andrew.

Edited By Andrew Tinsley on 06/10/2020 13:55:22

In terms of quality of construction, the Cowells wins hands down over the Proxxon.

Andrew.

I received one of their "flyer" emails only the day before yesterday. I once had a very long wait for a couple of books, that although shown in stock, had to be reordered from the USA.

I think you just have to be patient, they have always delivered.

Andrew.

I built a light beam communicator some 55 years ago. The DC of a torch bulb was modulated with an audio signal. I used a microphone and small power amp for this. The torch beam was demodulated by using a cadmium sulphide cell and amplifier. With good torch optics, ranges of several hundred yards were possible and speech was very intelligible. I have no difficulty in believing that light output from a GLS lamp is modulated by mains frequency and that this can be detected, without much difficulty.

Andrew.

I think the Rothenburger is what is known as a self blown torch. The jet of gas entrains air through holes lower down the nozzle. I suspect that some or all of the holes are blocked.

Andrew.

NDIY, your assumption of the Gay Lussac law is incorrect. This applies only if the cylinder contains just gas. For a liquid and gas scenario then you need to apply the Clausius-Claperyon law. This gives a much higher pressure than the simple Gay Lussac law which is gas phase only.

Checking published data, my remembered figure of 300psi at 100 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit is not far from the correct value.

Andrew.

The maximum pressure for Sievert torches is between 2 an 4 Bar. I have no idea what or how the hose failure device works. But I would certainly use a regulator. The propane bottle pressure is around 120 pounds per square inch at normal temperature. This rises rapidly with temperature and as far as I remember, it is over 300 pounds per square inch at 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

I would use a regulator for peace of mind, even if Sievert consider the hose failure device is sufficient.

Andrew.