Member postings for Andrew Tinsley

The standard method is to put your round bar in an accurate 3 jaw chuck (if not accurate, then use an independent 4 jaw) Adjust until the free end is running true and then very carefully adjust supports on the fixed steady and job done.

This is fine for an 8" length of 3/4" diameter bar. However I am trying to set up a 10" long bar of 3" diameter material.. Trying to adjust this on an ML10 is far more daunting! In fact I gave up trying after a fruitless 20m minutes. Having such a large unsupported lump, also struck me as a possible accident in the making.

Ideally if one can centre both ends with a centre drill, you can support the rod between centres. Then the setting up of the fixed steady is easy. I can accurately mark the centres and even centre punch them! But how to centre drill both ends? My mill is in pieces at the moment, so I just have the ML10 and a rough old Chinese drill press.

I am sure I am missing something obvious, so how would you set up the fixed steady for this job.

Thanks,

Andrew.

Edited By Andrew Tinsley on 27/06/2023 19:11:45

Andrew J makes good points. However I have lots of MT tooling going back years. Too expensive (and too late regarding my advanced years) to change to R8 tooling.

Perhaps Andrew is a little harsh, as there really isn't a right or wrong answer to your question, simply a matter of choice. Andrew works on "big stuff", usually with industrial machines. So R8 is a no brainer for him. For hobby sized kit then the answer is not so clear cut.

Andrew

Macc Models are probably your best bet for reasonable prices. They are one of the advertisers on here.

Andrew.

As we seem to be back to the QCT versus 4 Way Toolpost debate. Perhaps this should be thrown into the mix. I have an original Myford 4 way toolpost and an original Myford QCT set up. Using both, it is quite obvious that the 4 way toolpost is a lot more rigid than the QCT set up.

Andrew.

I have seen a loco that was raising steam, shunted up and down a stretch of shed road. The gear was in forward when the loco was shunted backwards and it was in reverse gear when shunted forward. Thus the cylinders were acting as air compressors. The object of the exercise was to get the boiler pressure up as soon as possible, because the loco was needed urgently.

I was told this by the shed master in charge of the depot. I am not sure if the pumping up of the boiler with air, did any good, however the shed master was adamant that it was a worthwhile exercise. Make what you will of this!

Andrew.

I noticed a Chinese seller, who is doing stainless steel wave washers. The equivalent washer to the one Hopper used is £2.99 for twenty. At that price, it is on a slow delivery. I have ordered twenty and will report back when they arrive.

I am just being curious as I have already purchased my requirements from Caleb.

Andrew.

P.S. The 32mm internal circlip, I got from an Ebay seller at £4.13 for a pack of 10. Seems it is worth searching around for a good deal.

Thanks Duncan,

Must be old age, the motor should be wired for 240 Volts i.e. delta connected. goodness knows what I was thinking of.

Andrew.

Hello Michael,

If you are going to supply 240V Ac to your pump, it may be better to rewire the motor to a star configuration rather than the 440 V delta which it is at the moment. Be careful in selecting a capacitor. The usual motor start capacitors are electrolytic and won't last long before they go bang in a Steinmetz circuit. The type you need are non electrolytic types and rated at 400 V DC or near. These are the types found in Motor run capacitor circuits. Or in fluorescent lamp units (or any power factor correction usage, where it is connected across the mains)'

The 2 microfarad capacitor that I used was selected after a little experimenting. I wanted the 3 phases to be near enough equal in voltage and at almost 120 degree phase difference. A 2 microfarad capacitor will work on your suds pump , but it may not give the optimum results of equal phase voltage and 120 degree phase separation. Not that it is all that important. It should give you an operational pump running on 240 V Ac.

Andrew.

Hello Dave,

Sounds as if you are in one of your "be careful moods" Absolutely no one is talking about large motors and the deficiency of the Steinmetz system re reduced torque and power! A suds pump motor is way overated for the job it does. Your warnings of grief are most certainly over the top. If emgeee can use such a motor connected WITHOUT the Steinmetz capacitor and without reconfiguring the voltage from 415 to 240 volts Then your Jerimiah predictions are totally invalid.

I certainly would not try to emulate emgee, but a correct value Steinmetz capacitor and rewiring to 240 V is a totally logical thing to do without any drawbacks.

If I were suggesting the Steinmetz system for a 5 HP lathe motor, then your comments would have validity. Please don't put people off from modding a suds pump in the same way.

Andrew.

Hello,

I had the same problem with an ML7 and a "Myford" 3 phase 415 volt suds pump. The pump was in star and was easily reconnected into delta configuration. I used a 2 microfarad capacitor to configure the motor into the Steinmetz set up

Worked a treat and i found that the 3 phase voltages were almost the same and were nearly 120 degrees in phase. The 2 microfarad capacitor was small enough to live inside the motor housing. So a very neat and practical way to run the suds pump off 240 Volt AC mains.

Andrew.

A good slew of ideas. The obvious outside the box one, is to just turn up the register. It looks to me as if the Warco backplates are steel, I know that the ARC ones are. At just a few pence over £15, they are well worth a punt.

Thanks all,

Andrew.

I have purchased a couple of 5" Myford backplates from Warco's current sale.

I intend to use them for two Pratt Burnerd Griptru chucks. These are 3.5" chucks, for my ML7.

I cannot take industrial size cuts on the ML7, so it looks like I am going to make an awful lot of swarf. I started to wonder if there was a less messy way of reducing the 5" diameter. Nothing has clicked, so I am asking the forum members if I am missing a trick?

I know I should just get on and turn them down and cope with the swarf!

Andrew.

Pete,

I managed to repair exactly the same Mitutoyo height gauge, which had a fair bit of corrosion. It is time consuming and needs a good magnifier, rather than being difficult. Pity to throw it!

Andrew.

Larry, I had the same problem a week or so ago I purchased a length of aluminium round section rod, sliced and turned the blanks on the lathe. The aluminium was a touch expensive, but the cost of each pulley was much less than the commercial pulleys.

I have used taperlock type pulleys on a 12 inch diameter rotary spark gap. I was not impressed with the reproducability of positioning the rotary part, each time it was removed. Probably just fine for pulleys and fans, but not if you require precise repositioning.

Andrew.

Dreadful! Please remove it from the forum.

Andrew.

Lathes.co.uk list the Ward lathes. I think the 1A is from the 1940s . Not many people on this site have a capstan lathe, so you may be have some difficulty in finding someone who can help.

Best of luck,

Andrew.

There are carbide tips and holders (similar to parting off tools) That are specifically designed for cutting grooves. But very expensive for a one off job.

The above suggestions from Clive and Andrew are better for a one off.

Andrew.

Bernard,

Howard is doing what you suggest, if you read his initial post..

Andrew.

The ones I have seen have the countersunk holes at right angles to the grate. I would guess that angling the holes will make little or no difference. But there again I have been known to get things wrong!!!

Andrew.

I did take Dave's warning with a very large pinch of salt. So thanks Duncan for the supporting calculation!

Andrew.