Member postings for Andrew Tinsley

A friend of mine has Warco kit. Just to set the record straight, both machines have had minor problems, so all Warco stuff is by no means perfect!

I think one of the most annoying things has been the lack of spares, when required. These have always been supplied, but the waiting period has been as much as 6 months. The latter, for a top slide gib strip. My pal is ham fisted and managed to hit the chuck with the carriage when on auto traverse.

Now I would have made one, but that is me. Interestingly enough, the gib turned up as rough as old boots and had to be scraped in! I am spoilt with Myfords and old British kit. just buy some ground flat stock and after a few minutes work on the mill and drill, you can just drop it into the slideway and off you go!

To be fair, both his mill and lathe have been turning out good work. My main carp about the lathe is that the table isn't t slotted. So no boring table! I have urged him to slot the carriage table, but that seems to be a step too far for him!

I certainly don't expect a toolroom quality lathe for the price paid. But some of the horror stories recently aired, makes me wonder. I do expect suppliers to check out the kit before despatch. Some people say that the economics of doing this is not viable. I STRONGLY disagree with this attitude on their part. Otherwise the Importer becomes a warehouse where crates are stored between coming into the country and despatch to the customer. Customers are doing the QC that the importers SHOULD be doing. No way can this be condoned.

Andrew.

I think that this thread will meander on. All the old chestnuts will be dug up and aired once again!

I think that a central question is "Should suppliers of ANY description, use their customers as their QC department, or should they make an attempt to check out their machines BEFORE they ship them? This applies to second hand machine dealers and to importers of Far Eastern machines.

I am guilty, as are many others, by recounting horror stories. We all know about the problems with any new or second hand machines. At the end of the day, it is the supplier who has the responsibility of making sure that goods are fit for purpose.

Is it really too much to ask of a supplier to actually use the machine for a short test drive before shipping? if this were done then it would stop dead, a lot of the complaints we get here on the forum.

Andrew.

I made some spare contacts once ,because all of my Dewhurst switches came from kit that had been used for many years. Most Chinese switches that I have seen, would not have lasted that long anyway! So I don't see making a few spares as proof that the switches are no good. Most trouble comes with idiots switching from forward to reverse instantly. I don't cater for idiots.

I have no problems with including a NVR switches, a good thing in my opinion. I brought my Dewhurst switches over a period of time and never paid more than £30, sometimes a lot less. The type of switch illustrated in one of the responses above, are excellent too, but considerably more expensive than my Dewhursts, even when purchased second hand.

Andrew.

P.S. My workshop is not approved of by Health and Safety and I really don't care.

Looking at the ward site, there seems to be the electronic (cheap even if you buy the ready built version), but little mention of the stepper motor or the attachment of said stepper to the rotary table. Or have I missed something as usual?

Andrew.

I have a Myford with screwed chuck and I frequently use reverse, for the sort of reasons that Jason outlines. Maybe you don't need to do reversals for your usage, but I would not be without the facility.

What is wrong with Dewhurst switches? They are excellent. Show me another switch that you can service! I made sufficient spare contacts for the half dozen that I use! I don't know if Dewhurst exists anymore or whether spares are available. But correctly set up they last a very long time , much better than the cheap Chinese switches that a lot of people use.

Andrew.

Thomas Hamilton showed signs of mental instability, His gun club asked the police to remove his FAC and guns, not once, but several times. Unfortunately they did not. This never came out at the time. I think the banning of pistols came about as a screen to absolve the police of their laxity. Maybe, maybe not, obviously I don't know the motives of the government of the time.

I have never asked for firearms legislation to be relaxed, in fact there are several ways it could be effectively tightened up with minimal effects on licensed firearms holders. I would certainly not oppose sensible legislation . I would have no objection to having to store guns in an armoury, this would enable much tighter security, than could be had at home.

I am glad that you are not tarring us with the same brush as the US, NRA and their lunatic supporters. I have nothing but contempt for them, it did seem as if you were, reading your post.

Regards,

Andrew.

Don't mess about, demand a refund under the "sale of goods not fit for purpose"!

Andrew

I don't agree or like keeping guns in private homes. Up until Dunblane all my firearms were kept in secure armouries supervised by the army. Absolutely ideal! After Dunblane, the army brass woke up to the fact that civilian firearms were kept in their armouries! The result was all private firearms were banned from service armouries and hence had to be kept at home.

Can you believe that idiocy! I am more than happy that firearms are kept in secure armouries at the range, but no.!

Silly Old Duffer, please note that you are talking about the lunatic antics of the American NRA and their stupid members. I take offence that you imply FAC holders in this country are of the same ilk.

Andrew.

I don't agree or like keeping guns in private homes. Up until Dunblane all my firearms were kept in secure armouries supervised by the army. Absolutely ideal! After Dunblane, the army brass woke up to the fact that civilian firearms were kept in their armouries! The result was all private firearms were banned from service armouries and hence had to be kept at home.

Can you believe that idiocy! I am more than happy that firearms are kept in secure armouries at the range, but no.!

Silly Old Duffer, please note that you are talking about the lunatic antics of the American NRA and their stupid members. I take offence that you imply FAC holders in this country are of the same ilk.

Andrew.

I think I need another cognisance test! I am highly embarrassed at forgetting the tumbler gear reversed the leadscrew!

Just how one can forget this is beyond me!

Andrew.

I shoot prone target rifle. My rifle is singe shot, one has to reload manually. As a weapon it is pretty useless and if I wanted to use it as a weapon, it would be much more useful as a club!

Gun nuts are thankfully few and far between. Anyone wishing to join a target shooting club, needs to serve a six month probationary period before being able to apply for a fire arms certificate. Virtually everyone who is a gun nut is weeded out at this stage and would not get the essential club backing for a fire arms application, All the clubs I have been associated with take this extremely seriously and there is NO appeal against the club's decision.

Any club member that begins to show abnormal behaviour is reported to the police, no ifs or buts. Dunblane happened because the police did not act on requests from the club to remove the guys FAC.

Prone target shooting is one of the safest sports in this country. The insurance rating for the activity, is that it is safer than playing a piano (That isn't a joke but fact!).

Firearms control in this country is one of the tightest in the world and I have no quibble with that. I would like to continue with the sport that I have done for 50 years. Banning firearms completely would not solve the criminal use of firearms. It would simply deprive those law abiding shooters of their sport.

Andrew.

Yes recreational, I am far too old for active service.

Andrew.

Yes recreational, I am far too old for active service.

Andrew.

Yes I must own up to a tailstock turret that doesn't get used! mind you, I am sure a job will turn up that will make use of it ........................ Dream on! Yes and the cutoff slide ............ it was a real bargain, but .............

Andrew.

David, I could not agree more! Registered firearms dealers have been a bit naughty of late. I just don't want any more regulations for genuine shooters.

Andrew.

No not Brownells. The company is UK based. I am not going to quote their name, for obvious reasons. I have already reported this to my local FAC office. I hope they will take appropriate action.

Andrew.

I was looking for suppliers of ammunition for my small bore rifle, all legal and above board. One place I checked on is now sending me emails referring me to their web site. The company is selling bullets, primers and propellants over the web WITHOUT any checks. So such items ARE available with no checks. All one needs are spent cartridges and reloading tools!

This is the sort of thing that should be banned, there is either a loophole in the regulations, or these people are selling stuff illegally.

Andrew.

Believe me, firearms regulations in this country are very tight for people who have a firearms certificate. I would not want it any other way.

The real problem seems to lie with illegal gunsmiths. I know of one legal gunsmith, locally, who "bent" the law and got into hot water.

It isn't really too difficult to make firearms, most of us could do so if we had a mind to. Ammunition is another matter. That is difficult to come by unless you have an FAC. There does seem to be a bit of a loophole in that you can legally buy all the bits necessary to make ammunition, but as said above, it is illegal to hold the completed article. Maybe the law should be tightened up in this area. It would affect those who make their own ammunition, however, if the FAC regulations were applied to ammunition constituent parts then those that do produce their own ammunition would still be able to buy the component parts.

Full bore ammunition is expensive and considerable cost savings can ensue by making your own. more care can be taken and reproducibility can be as good as or better than commercial ammunition.

Andrew.

Thanks gentlemen!

I should have realised that the tumbler gear would reverse the leadscrew.! Not thinking straight I am afraid. Turnbuckles would be an obvious solution, and less work!

Andrew.

I will need to cut right and left handed threads on round bar and also screw cut internal right and left internal threads.

I intend to use the bar to tension an assembly. I can cut normal threads (are these termed left handed threads, ignorance is bliss!), but cutting right handed threads (?) is a bit of a mystery to me. Can anyone help, or at least point me to some information, so that I can learn the technique?

Thanks,

Andrew.