Member postings for Rik Shaw

"I have no idea what it will be."

Me neither but my old tin hat is ready ------- just in case

Rik

Edited By Rik Shaw on 26/03/2021 10:51:53

Dissolve some biological washing powder in a tea stained mug with hot water and manky spoons. Soak overnight and as if by magic...........!

Rik

Peter - Not up with Linux but as a recommendation I get all my (and friends) stuff from here:

**LINK**

Their prices are competitive and I am sure they would be pleased to advise you re: Linux mint before buying.

No association just a pleased customer.

Rik

Having spent many hours researching which 3D printer to buy I read a quite scary article online yesterday which has made me have second thoughts about buying one at all.

**LINK**

So for those of you owners and users might I ask your opinions on the above article.

If I do decide to buy one it will be sited in a small spare upstairs bedroom adjacent to our main bedroom. With the small bedroom door shut will we experience burning plastic smells in OUR bedroom?

My printer of choice would be:

Flashforge 3D Printer Guider 2S

Chosen because of good reviews, good choice of different filaments (nylon and CF really interests me) enclosed and fitted with EPA filter.

I ditched the original choice of a Dremel3D45 because it seems to only perform well with its own (expensive) proprietary filaments.

Your comments will be much appreciated.

Rik

I engraved some dials for a little lathe a few weeks ago using this:

I was pleasantly surprised with the results which can be seen in my album "Record ML-10 lathe".

Rik

So its a dovetail marking jig. Thanks for all the replies. Not surprised I was clueless - "brown" stuff does not float my boat!

Rik

I have had this for so long I've forgotten what its purpose is. Any one........?

Rik

Its 2" x 1.5"

Edited By Rik Shaw on 09/03/2021 17:16:50

I have had no problems with new 123 blocks, V blocks etc from China via ArcEuro 1 or 2 tenths of a thou error here and there but more than good enough for general machining in my humble workshop. I would not be as confident though if I was chasing tenths on a surface grinder.

I did consider a set of slips from China but felt much more comfortable some years ago spending my loot on a nice set of second hand 1950's? Coventry Matrix imperial inspection grade slips from Ebay for about £60 if memory serves. For a number of years I have been keeping my eyes open for a set of (cheap) cages to go with them but no luck so far.

As for delivery times it will be interesting to see how long the magnetic V blocks ordered last week from India take to arrive.

Rik (Slip fan)

"I thought I could design something that I can screw to the wall"

So did I - I call it a shelf.

Rik

Its been some weeks since the "bomb" thread put the wind up me. Today was the first day that I've turned my compresssor on since I read that thread but before it got anywhere near full I left it going, vacated the workshop and legged it back down to the house (Anderson shelter). Five minutes later and with the roof on the workshop still intact I ventured back. I will continue thus for the conceivable.

Rik

Edited By Rik Shaw on 22/02/2021 17:06:46

A bit of heavy duty sandblasting might do the trick if you can get it done locally.

Rik

Hello Noel. I did look at the possibility of replacing the present pulley with a smaller one five or six years ago. I did not take any notes so memory will have to serve. Apart from that a bench loaded with approx 1/4 ton of kit is hard up against the belt side of the shaper at the mo preventing me from getting another look inside and providing you with pulley/belt/shaft dimensions

The existing pulley is just about as small as it could be while still working properly. Reducing the pulley diameter by 30% would mean that the bottom of the V belt would be uncomfortably close to the motor shaft OD. Not a good thing with such a chunky drive belt and the increased risk of belt slip. So I am quite sure that I would have looked at this possible solution years ago and dismissed it.

Rik

Hello Shaun - I restored my Alba 1A a few years ago but it had, and still has, a 4 pole domestic mains voltage motor giving approx 1425 rpm . Since the restore I realise that although it is just about usable for some jobs it is - for me - to fast for something like keyway slotting in a gear say.

I did make a lot of enquiries at the time re. a replacement 6 pole motor but was told that I would be wasting my time looking for something no longer made. I even tried for a U/S unit with the intention of getting it repaired/rewired but nothing was available.

These days the poor thing is boxed in with so much new kit that it is a PITA to clear enough space around it to do a job. Hope you get yours sorted OK soon.

Rik

BELL LAB PROVES EXISTENCE OF DARK SUCKERS! 

For years it has been believed that electric bulbs emitted light. However,
recent information from Bell Labs has proven otherwise. Electric bulbs
don't emit light; they suck dark. Thus they now call these bulbs dark
suckers.  The dark sucker theory, according to a spokesman from the Labs,
proves the existence of dark, that dark has mass heavier than that of
light, and that dark is faster than light. 

The basis of the dark sucker theory is that electric bulbs suck dark. Take
for example the dark suckers in the room where you are. There is less dark
right next to them than there is elsewhere. The larger the dark sucker,
the greater its capacity to suck dark. Dark suckers in a parking lot have
a much greater capacity than the ones in this room. 

As with all things, dark suckers don't last forever. Once they are full of
dark, they can no longer suck. This is proven by the black spot on a full
dark sucker. A new candle has a white wick. You will notice that after the
first use, the wick turns black, representing all the dark which has been
sucked into it. If you hold a pencil next to the wick of an operating
candle, the tip will turn black because it got in the path of the dark
flowing into the candle. Unfortunately, these primitive dark suckers have
a very limited range. 

There are also portable dark suckers. The bulbs in these can't handle all
of the dark by themselves, and must be aided by a dark storage unit. When
the dark storage unit is full, it must be either emptied or replaced
before the portable dark sucker can operate again. 

Dark has mass. When dark goes into a dark sucker, friction from this mass
generates heat. Thus it is not wise to touch an operating dark sucker.
Candles present a special problem, as the dark must travel in the solid
wick instead of through glass. This generates a great amount of heat. Thus
it can be very dangerous to touch an operating candle. 

Dark is also heavier than light. If you swim deeper and deeper, you notice
it gets darker and darker. When you reach a depth of approximately fifty
feet, you are in total darkness. This is because the heavier dark sinks to
the bottom of the lake and the ligher light floats to the top. 

The immense power of dark can be utilized to a man's advantage. We can
collect the dark that has settled to the bottom of lakes and push it
through turbines, which generates electricity and helps push it to the
ocean where it may be safely stored. Prior to turbines, it was much more
difficult to get dark from rivers and lakes to the ocean. The Indians
recognized this problem and tried to solve it. When on a river in a canoe
traveling in the same direction as the flow of dark, they paddled slowly,
so as not to stop the flow of dark, but when they traveled against the
flow of dark, they paddled quickly so as to help push the dark along its
way. 

Finally, we must prove that dark is faster than light. If you stand in an
illuminated room in front of a closed, dark closet, then slowly open the
door, you would see the light slowly enter the closet, but since the dark
is so fast, you would not be able to see the dark leave the closet. 

In conclusion, Bell Labs stated that dark suckers make all our lives much
easier. So the next time you look at an electric light bulb, remember that
it is indeed a dark sucker.

Rik

"My thought is that without knowing the question, or at least some idea of what it was, it's impossible to judge whether or not the response was reasonable.

If it was hoping the serial number might reveal specific details of a machine beyond its model number, this may well not be the case."

Call me Mr Thicky if you want Neil but that went straight over the top of my head!!!

Rik

"Looks like lockdown is getting to someone"

That could apply to a lot of us when you consider how much interest has been has generated by absolutely s*d all.

Rik (dribbling)

Its very quiet in here for a new thread

Recruit instructor 1967-8. Housing estate now. Bramshill Hunt is still there but permanently shut. It was only us lot that kept it going anyway

Rik

I have a little Record ML-210 micro lathe that I use for small work – it was also branded as SAKAI, TOYO, and MANIX. Although the machine is mostly very well made one of the criticisms frequently aimed at it is that the plastic handwheels are fitted with black plastic micrometer scales which can be quite difficult to see. I share the view that these scales let down the rest of the machine so I replaced them with my own design that I turned and engraved from aluminium. I chose not to replace the handwheels as the existing ones are perfectly serviceable.

This is how one looked before……………

………………and how it looks now.

I have done away with the original hit and miss friction adjustment by incorporating locking thumbscrews – much more positive and nice to use.

There was a tacky piece of paper printed with a fiducial line glued to the casting by the leadscrew wheel. I have replaced it with a small engraved aluminium plate.

This is not something that I did during a spare moment

Rik

"and engraving is particularly sensitive to bed-levelling"

Unless you use a spring loaded drag engraving tool. I made my own to engrave some numbers on a curved surface only this week. To see what it could do first though I stuck this piece of 5.5" x 6" ally sheet down on a bit of MDF - no attempt at leveling and let it go. Apologies for poor pic quality but our conservatory is a bit gloomy this time of night.

Machine is ISEL CPM 2018

Rik