Member postings for Danny M2Z

Colin. Whatever lathe you settle on, just keep in mind that the accessories to make a new lathe useful can double the outlay.

One point in favour of a pre-loved lathe is that you may be able to find one complete with all the kit, but in that case it may be wise to take along somebody experienced to check out any potential purchase.

Regards * Danny M *

G'day

My 6x4 bandsaw's cut-off switch has managed to break the plastic surround that holds the actual switches in place. Is it worth milling out a new one or does anybody know if the complete switch assembly is available as a spare part?

I am in Australia btw.

* Danny M *

G'day.

The chuck is an independent chuck. I mounted and dialed in a 0.5" steel rod to run true, then removed the chuck with the rod and placed it on a set of ball-raced rollers that I use to make fishing rods on. It rotated by itself.

The problem is the 'extra' holes in the back plate. When filled with lead shot and plasticene I can get the thing nicely balanced, so next move is to dig out the filling, weigh it and turn up some plugs to fit in the holes.

I shall take some photo's of the set-up in case they may be of use to anybody else with the same problem.

* Danny M *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 28/06/2014 16:21:16

"Hi. I use metal turnings/shavings in my artwork and need to find a source or sources of it."

This sounds interesting. I am in Australia, (we send all our iron ore to China) but could you amplify on the uses for swarf- art

* Danny M *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 27/06/2014 17:37:55

With an instinctive premonition of doom, when I ordered my (metric) Australian C3 minilathe I also purchased an imperial leadscrew as an 'optional' extra. It came with a whole bunch of new change gears and indexing chaser. It is a pita to swap but well worth the additional $110 (2006)

* Danny M *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 27/06/2014 17:15:58

Thanks to all of you for the advice. Weather is going to be lousy this weekend so I shall get busy in the workshop and report back when I have solved the mystery.

* Danny M *

G'day.

I am happy with my C3 minlathe, but it has an annoying tendency to vibrate at certain RPM's when fitted with a 100mm 4 jaw chuck.

I have balanced the chuck as much as I can after I noticed that the holes in the back were assymetrical, but the problem remains.

3 jaw chuck, faceplate and (home made) ER 25 collet chuck are no problems but the 4 jaw means that I have to select the RPM's that I run it at.

The vibration is definitely harmonic as I can reproduce it at 360, 720, 1080 RPM.

Any ideas?

* Danny M *

The end-mill blocks may be used to hold a round single point diamond dresser used in conjunction with the fence set parallel to the face of the wheel. Graphite powder makes a useful dry lubricant for the table top.

I tilt my table downward a few degrees, any more and the wheel wants to grab the diamond and tilt it downwards,

Cover everything within range at the dust is very abrasive.

* Danny M *

Brian. Your second option works fine for small diameters, depends on what you are cutting.

I have one the same that I use in a QCTP mounted upside down with the tip on the centerline.

Your C2 can then be run in reverse rotation (safe due to bolted on chuck) and the forces are then the same as using a rear-mounted toolpost. Locking the saddle & keeping the gibs tight helps too.

* Danny M *

Try Inox MX-3. It's lanolin based and works very well to protect slideways and is also a handy cutting fluid for aluminium. Of course it's Australian so maybe I am a bit biased, but it's very good.

* Danny M *

I remember when the U.S. lost a bunch of the first Blackhawk helicopters in Europe. (At $6M a pop)

Turned out that the 'fly-by-wire' systems picked up the Megawatt signals pumped out towards the east by Radio Free Europe, powerful enough to inductively develop dc voltages in the servo control circuits.

I hope the Bluetooth is only going to control the back seat movies.

* Danny M *

Once saw two Spittys chasing an Me 109 at low level over Brentford in 1987. GF's father told me a movie was being filmed nearby. Pretty thrilling at the time though.

My dad was one of the 'Crazy Polish pilots' who flew a Wellington and survived otherwise I would not be here to tell you about this.

Regards * Danny M *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 01/06/2014 20:41:35

G'day.

Redesigning my (over 30 years old) glowplug driver for more modern components such as a switchmode IC and FET output. With that in mind I downloaded LtSpice to model the circuit design, it's available from **LINK** - very good.

Also making an ignition coil winder to suit a small lathe, using an ex-baitcaster fishing reel level wind mechanism to distribute the turns.

Regards * Danny M *

Clive, it is the bees that I am a fan of. Just a few days ago I saw a BBC program about bees. The comment was made that without bees, there would be a lot less fruit, vegetables and flowers and many varieties would become extinct overnight... like 30%+ of worldwide food production.. pretty heavy.

So please keep up the good apiary work.

I went today for another fabulous day of control line flying. People came from Melbourne (180 miles) and Sydney (300 Miles). I asked a renowned speed flyer Andy K about finishing pistons and also Steve R who makes the fabulous R.250 Oliver replicas that are setting records at Barton C/L. It's in another thread, but both agreed that honing a bore and lapping or grinding a piston is how they get fabulous fits. That's also how I make them.

Regards * Danny M *

G'day.

If you only wish to re-sharpen the four end faces, there is no need to go the whole hog of a tool and cutter grinder.

Harold Hall's book 'Tool And Cutter Sharpening' (Workshop Practice Series #38) shows how a square holder in conjunction with the simple grinding rest can be used to sharpen end mills to a very acceptable degree of sharpness. The simple grinding rest was my first major project and it is worth its weight in gold. Apart from precise lathe tools, one can sharpen screwdrivers, punches and the afore mentioned end mills.

Definitely worth a look.

* Danny M *

Went out today for some good old fashioned control line racing, the blokes from Melb & Sydney came to my home town, Albury as we have a hard racing circle. Held a stopwatch and counted laps ... great fun.

When reading this thread I realised that I like to hear about Clive's bee's.. Is it just me?

* Danny M *

* deleted * (rpt)

Edited By Danny M2Z on 10/05/2014 10:22:06

When the fuse is out, hook up a steam hose and recycle the yellow stuff that comes oozing out.

Cut off a slab, put it in a hole and light it up, perfect to make a cuppa tea on.

(I must admit it was a bit worrying when 'sarge' first showed us this one).

* Danny M *

G'day.

Pre-loved floppy drives, hard disks and cd-rom drives contain many useful goodies such as powerful magnets and precision ball-races, stepper motors and tiny metric screws.

Ex-computer power supplies are handy if you are competent to work with electrical devices but be warned, they carry LETHAL Voltages. There are many threads online regarding their safe use.

Regards * Danny M *

Chris, for a four jaw chuck it's as good as your best dti and your patience.

Regards * Danny M *