Member postings for Rod Renshaw

Lots of useful advice on techniques for telescopic gauges in the posts above. In one of his books Tubal Cain gave some advice for using spring calipers ( plain ones, not the screw adjusted ones) which he regarded as potentially very accurate. He was writing 50 odd years ago but the advice still seems relevant for those using plain calipers.

First adjust the calipers to roughly the size needed. Then try for fit.

If the caliper opening is too large, hold caliper by one jaw, near the pivot, and tap the other jaw on the vice, and try again.

If the opening is too small, hold caliper vertically by one jaw, jaws up and pivot down, and tap the pivot vertically downwards on the vice, and try again.

It really works and makes it fairly easy to make tiny adjustments with a very simple piece of kit..

Rod

+1 for interest in Clive's setup. I bought one of these moters (a "Jack" in 2021 after reading this thread (or another similar one.) The motor is small and smooth etc but I was puzzled by the control system and I put the motor on one side due to other distractions. So my Pultra is still unmotorised.

Rod

In a rash moment I bid a small amount for a rather beat up Bergeon bracelet cutting machine, Type 5683, on ebay, and as nobody else bid I ended up with something I did not really need.

I have found it very useful however for cutting HSS toolbits to length and rough shaping the ends to make lathe tools before finishing on the T and C grinder.

The machine is like a tiny cut off saw ( lots of images on Google) and uses 65mm diameter abrasive discs,( I can't remember the thickness and I am not near the workshop, but I think it's less than 1 mm ) It is powered by a tiny sewing machine type motor. Now a new machine is horrendously expensive but it would not be expensive to buy a disc and make up a mandrel to hold the disc in a lathe chuck and hold the HSS blank in the tool holder. Discs are available from Walsh's and Cousins etc.

Rod

Just looked up "look-now-further" and he does seem to stock a lot of potentially useful rod, bar and tube in all sorts of materials. A useful source, thanks for the link..

Rod

Hopper

My cousins lived in Phoenix, in Arizona, so you would think fairly far West .

But I know what you mean by regionalism. We were introduced to neighbours of theirs who had never seen the sea, so perhaps not as West Coast as all that.

Rod

My American cousins ( now deceased ) used to go shopping in "stores", but they called it going "marketing".

I never heard them speak of going shopping or storing.

Rod

The points about sensitivity are well made but I sometimes wonder if we worry too much about speed. Clearly someone wanting to make 10,000 very small widgets an hour on an automatic machine needs to consult tables of optimum speeds but for less demanding requirements less speed may not be a big problem.

Think of those traditional watch and clockmakers and their bob drills and bow drills and Archimedian drills. One would need to be some sort of athlete to get more than a few hundred RPM with any of those. In one of the early MEs a highly respected author wrote there is "no speed too slow to get a good finish or a true hole, it just takes a little longer."

So if one only needs a few small holes, and has a machine that does not wobble, has a concentric chuck or collet, reasonable bearings and a sensitive feed, and is not impatient or ham-fisted then small holes are not a problem. I don't know about anyone else but I find the setting up of the machine, the marking out of the job, the clamping and general alignment of the work all take a lot longer than the comparatively few moments that the actual drilling takes,

I do like the rising table idea for small holes on a big machine. perhaps the design could be written up for MEW?

I have a traditional sensitive drill of the Edgar Westbury type which I bought from a forum member who had made it himself from a set of castings and was giving up due to age and ill health. it has done me well for small holes down to about 0.5mm despite not going more than about 2,000 RPM on the fastest of it's 3 speeds.

Rod

To an engineer, stress causes strain

To some medics, strain causes stress

And to the public the words are near enough identical!

Rod

It seem possible that different models of Myford, and perhaps different years of manufacture, have different methods of fixing so need to check.

By the way, WD40 is really a de-watering oil rather than a penetrating oil and products like Plus Gas seem to work much better for disassembly.

Rod

Wonderful idea!

I believe that in English, which for this purpose includes American and Australian and a few other territories, the word "set" has the most meanings, some dictionaries listing as many as 250 meanings.

Rod.

Thanks for this thread Hopper.

Much more pleasant to read than watch a You tube type video.

And such a good result, quite inspiring.

Rod

Well, that's a relief.

I would miss Jenny and her endless knowledge of tips and stuff.

Rod

Terrible experience for the OP.

I have great faith in VCI paper which I buy in biggish sheets and cut into rectangles to fit into the bottom of tool drawers and boxes. Best if the containers seal as well as possible to keep" the vapours" in.

I write the current date on any new rectangle of VCI paper I use and replace pieces regularly, though sometimes I have been surprised by how long some pieces have been in place (15 years in one overlooked box, but contents still okay.) The written date is a great memory jogger

I am aware that VCI paper is constantly emitting "the vapours" starting from when it is manufactured, so I avoid buying "old stock" bargains in case the paper is no longer active. Best to buy fresh.

VCI paper does not protect brass and I had the experience of opening an older box to find the steel bits okay but any brass very corroded, showing the box had been stored in damp conditions but the VCI paper had worked. ( My workshop is insulated and heated and I don't have problems with corrosion but like most workshops it's too small, so some things are stored in the garage or loft.)

Rod

Just like to say how much I am enjoying this thread. I live in the UK so my difficulties in getting accessories and bits for my Myford are trivial compared to the situation Hopper faces.

I have made a few things for the lathe but have not had the wit to make them look like Hopper's excellent copies of the Myford style. I have the lathe and linisher etc and will try harder next time I make something for the lathe. I will also try using alloy for less stressed parts. something I have avoided so far, just through inertia and not for any valid reason.

I also struggle a little with turning balls so I usually buy black plastic ones for tool handles, much easier and they look OK to my eye.

Rod

I love the idea of the Colchester but it might be wise to consider how you are going to move it to your shop. These older ex-industrial lathes are heavy and awkward loads and a specialist mover may well be needed, and most of the cost of these moves seems to be in the loading and unloading rather than the drive down the road. If it does need a bed re-grind that will also be expensive and there are not so many firms around who can undertake this work as there used to be.

Rod

My wife worked for a time in the records office of the local hospital and came home one day with the news that a family called Curtain had named their infant daughter Annette.

And seen on a wall: -

"This is a graffito

These are graffiti"

Rod

Andrew,

There are a couple of sellers advertising finished printed Ml7 spindle locks on ebay.

Rod

Edited By Rod Renshaw on 07/02/2022 12:13:03

I agree with Clive's thoughts, but I am not so sure about it being a warding file.

I understand a warding file to be a slimmer version of a normal "flat file", usually double cut on both flat faces and single cut on both edges, and used by locksmiths and others needing narrow slots.

Rod

Edited By Rod Renshaw on 26/01/2022 17:42:13

Edited By Rod Renshaw on 26/01/2022 17:42:46

Wooden tongue depressors ( Like an ice lolly stick but wider) are readily available for about 1- 1.4 pence each ( in packs of 100 ) and make good disposable spatulas, without creating more single-use plastics.

Rod

Useful link but misleading, I think.

The headline suggests a £1000 fine for using the" wrong hand" to open the door. But the extract from the Code only encourages use of the opposite hand and advises that one may be fined up to £!000 if one injures someone by opening the door.

Rod

Edited By Rod Renshaw on 22/01/2022 20:45:33