Member postings for Pero

Interesting topic. I have an excessively large number of tools ranging from the very cheap ( early days of no money ) to the very expensive ( still no money - spent it all on tools ).

These days I look at a tool in terms of whether or not it will do the job rather than initially looking at the cost. At my age it doesn't have to last for a hundred years - 10 would be good, 20 outstanding and 30 a miracle ( that's me rather than the tools ).

For example, I have never worn out a power tool no matter how cheap or expensive. I just don't use them that much and do not overwork them when I do. A tradesman's approach could well differ, although locally at least some are using cheaper electric tools, basically as a disposable item. Admittedly the more expensive tools may feel more comfortable in use but the job they do is just the same although occasionally a little slower..

I have in my time killed a few cheap hand tools through gross miss-use - pliers and screwdrivers come to mind but I am still using some Chinese jeweller's files bought for little money decades ago and used mostly on 316 stainless steel. Not everything cheap is bad.

Currently industrial machine tooling ex China can be had at very good value for money. Improved manufacturing and the need to provide high precision for use in today's CNC tools means that accurate tooling for the owner of larger manual machines is readily available at low cost. This does not however necessarily translate to tooling for hobby size machines where older manufacturing processes may still be employed.

The questions to ask - will it do the job to the standard I require and will it last the distance. If the cheaper tool will do the job go for it. There will be good use for the money left over.

My two bobs worth.

Pero

How many chucks does one need? - In my case quite a few, but probably not as many as I have. Adding up different types/sizes of chuck for very different lathes inevitably adds up to quite a few. It's very hard t put a 10" chuck on a Cowells lathe. Not so difficult to put a 2" chuck on to a big lathe, but if you already have the small lathe not really necessary.

If you assume a self-centering three jaw and four jaw independent chuck as the basic requirement for each lathe and then start including the 'specials" - 2 jaw, 4 jaw self centering, 6 jaw, collet ( various ) , grip tru, with or without deleting any of the basics, it's easy to see how this can get out of control.

Come to think of it I don't have one of all of the above for each of my lathes - perhaps I need just a few more!

So many toys to buy - but no place to put them!

Pero

Lead is one of my favourites. Interestingly I was thinking of it before reading this thread. The context:: would it be wrong to hit the dog with the lead pipe while he is still on the lead.

Fear not, he has long since realised that my verbal and implied threads amount to nought.

Pero

I found quite an extensive range on Aliexpress. Various sizes available. Some with threaded brass inserts, some without. The ones I have are a hard plastic ( phenolic resin? ). The colour range is a bit limited, but OK if you like red or black.

I'm not sure what size mill you have but you could find 20 mm a little small. 30 - 40 mm seem to be more common on machine tools.

Hope this helps

Pero

Hi Zan

Not sure of their current status but they were operating in October 2017 when I made my last kit purchase - Sir William - which was subsequently received with no issues.

I did do a quick search when I saw your post and the only direct reference I found was an undated note to say they were updatng their website.

Perhaps an email or phone call might help to clarify matters. The last contact details I have available are :

[email protected]

Sorry, I don't have a phone number but I am sure someone on here will be able to help.

Best of luck

Pero

Could it be that we had to trade in all our anti-Chinese lathe/mill angst to raise the funds for the Cowells? ( I have both so I have a foot in each camp ).

Possibly the answer is that they are just fundamentally nice little machines that do the job that they are designed for very well. They only complaints I have seen ( infrequently ) are cost - however you have to pay for quality - and capacity - it is very difficult to get a propeller shaft for the QEII between centres on an ME90, although I'm sure someone has tried!

Perhaps the only grumble is that not a lot is written about DIY accessories for the ME90 or other Cowells machines, however almost all accessories are available from Cowells, professionally made to the usual high standard - albeit again at a cost.

Despite having other lathes available I for one, and I suspect most other owners, will be hanging onto our Cowells for many years to come. They are just a nice thing to have , even if used infrequently.

Pero

Plus 1 on the use of INOX.

I have also successfully used a number of other products - ACF50 and while lithium grease in aerosol form.- to name a couple.

As a very corrosive person - I have only to look at a piece of steel and it turns into a pile of rust - I have also learnt the wisdom of applying rust preventative to any new steel stock or tooling before it comes into contact with my fingers.

The procedure is to remove the item from its packaging holding it with a clean paper towel and then spray liberally with your preferred anti-corrosive. Larger items which are a bit heavy for the one hand treatment can be sprayed in-situ once the packaging has been removed. As before - don't touch before spraying. It work wonders.

It takes a little self training to make this into a routine procedure but I have found it really helps to stop rust before it gets a chance to get a start, e.g. with the classic rusty fingerprint on shiny steel..

Pero

A little after the main event but compliments of the season to all.

Looking forward to a warmer day today ( 44 degrees C ) after the chill of Xmas day ( 43 degrees C ). Sunshine is fine - but there are limits!

Only reprieve is a full day of cricket - 1st day of the Boxing Day test followed by two 20-20 games plus the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Should have asked Santa for a spare pair of eyes!

No shed time at the moment - it's hot enough to anneal copper in there - but should cool down in a month or two!

Not to complain though - if you take the heat of summer and chill of winter and average them out then conditions are just perfect.

Hot or cold I hope that everyone had a good, if not quite normal, Christmas day and that the new Year shapes up better for everyone than the last couple.

Best wishes to all

Pero

Unfortunately Dave the other 90%, or a large percentage thereof, aspire to join the 10% ( China and India being good examples ). I don't blame in the slightest but it is pushing up consumption at an alarming rate. In the meantime we have 7 or 8 billion people exhaling CO2 and producing methane from various orifices. However apparently this doesn't count because it is 'natural'. Apparently it is only cows that are unnatural. Makes you wonder if climate change is under the direction of the Vegan Vatican.

It is interesting that it is always the big industries that are the source of all evil. In reality it is us, the "little people' aka the consumers that are the problem. That is to say, if we don't buy it or consume it they wont produce it. This applies to humanity across the board.

Population management at a different timescale to the current climate change problem is something that has to be addressed. Hopefully before a more effective virus comes along and does it for us.

Pero

Apologies for the double post - I didn't want to spread that much gloom!

PGK - beware of what you wish upon the old, the sick and the infirm. Too many of us are already approaching that with some trepidation.

I gave up on ( cold ) fusion but I have cracked perpetual motion. However I am not going to tell anybody how it is done, I will hold my breath until I turn purple and take the secret with me down the deep mineshaft.

Pero

Regrettably not - but you could compensate by planting a grove of trees between the lathe and the mill, or by buying a quarter of a carbon credit, or by holding your breath the entire time you are working in the workshop combined with a generator attached treadmill to power the machinery.

However as a selfish old ***** I shall continue as before and live in hope that the real problem, albeit one for which there is no short term solution, global over-population. Well, there are short term solutions but I don't think we want to get into those,

I suspect that, possibly apart from gardening, no hobby is green and ours, which uses lots of energy in the construction of our tools and machinery, to make our raw materials to construct our workshops and to power the whole activity, means that we are probably quite a way down the list.

Philosophically, are we to be limited in the not to distant future only to activities which produce food or grow trees?

Forgive my jaundiced view but I will be a year older tomorrow - always a depressing time!

Pero

There is an American program called Forged in Fire in which contestants typically make a hardened steel knife from various materials.

Of interest here is the extensive use made of belt sanders for shaping the roughly forged blanks - both pre- and post-hardening. These frequently start with the use of 80 grit and moving on to increasingly finer grades for final shaping and initial sharpening. The amount of metal that can be removed using the coarser grades is very impressive and well worth a look.

Pero

When I took up silver soldering many years ago I was advised to use a cadmium free solder on stainless steel. I never had any failures using this solder but did when using a cadmium containing solder on a couple of joints.

The joints looked OK with nice shiny fillets etc. but had next to no structural strength.

Whether the cadmium is the problem I can't be sure but I am happy to avoid it as most of my work is with stainless steel.

Pero

Hi Mike

I have three San Ou ( aka Sanou ) chucks but didn't respond to your original query as mine have yet to be installed and tested.

The three I have are all six jaw chucks: a 4" ( actually 110 mm ) extended jaw chuck and a 5" and 10" chuck with 'normal' hard jaws. The 10" may prove a bit of a struggle with the ML7 but I will give it a whirl.

As has been noted above the external finish is very good and the fit of the jaws is excellent.

I did find a video on the internet prior to purchasing mine. It was by a model engineer reviewing a new chuck, including a full breakdown and service and a modification to the rear of the chuck to allow it to be fitted closer to the spindle nose on his particular lathe.

His key recommendation was that prior to use it was advisable to dismantle and thoroughly clean the chuck to remove any residual grit that might be present and then re-lubricate before reassembling.

I am not sure how old the video was or whether improvements to manufacturing ( they are getting better all the time ) have negated this suggestion. Probably a good idea of there is any indication of grittiness in the jaw or scroll action.

Pero

Hi Michael

Sounds like full replacement would be the best option, especially if you are planning to use it to support a roof.

On the plus side, it sounds as though demolition should not pose too much of a problem!

Best of luck.

Pero

I agree with Jason having been converted fairly recently to spiral point and spiral flute taps ( they do work differently! ).

As mentioned above, common 8 mm Allen head bolts are almost certainly metric coarse.

Many years ago when I first discovered metric fasteners I rashly thought there was only one standard metric thread form. Some years later I came across metric fine. Later still I found metric extra fine. I haven't found metric ridiculously fine as yet but I have no doubt they are out there somewhere.

At the other end of the scale I assume there is metric extra coarse (with only a few threads ) and metric crude - with no threads at all ( these are normally called nails or rivets ). All in all just as much complication as Imperial.

Back to the point, if you buy a set it is likely that some of the taps an dies will never be used hence the advice re only purchasing the one for the job in hand. However if you do need the odd tap or die on occasion it can be useful to have a reasonable selection on hand and a moderately priced set can be useful. Also, they usually come in a box and are just a little bit harder to lose than an individual tap.

Pero

Hi Michael

I am not sure how many bricks you have to deal with but if there are a lot can I suggest the Arbortech Allsaw for the removal process. I say a lot as the tool is rather expensive. It is however specifically designed for the job ( removal of mortar from between bricks ) and is a lot safer and cleaner than the use of an angle grinder. I have had one for some years, it is not used often but does the job when called on. The company ( Arbortech ) is Australian. They have quite a good website and I believe they have UK distributors for all of their products.

Best of luck with the project.

Pero

Hi Zeb

Not sure if you are aware of this but:

In terms of melting point the silver/tin eutectic solders sit about half way between the lead/tin soft solders and the lowest melting point high silver ( 55% ) silver brazing alloys ( hopefully the boys from Cup Alloys will correct me if they see this and I am too far off course ). I suspect also in strength but I have not researched this.

The advantage is that there is no lead present which can interfere with other operations. Commercially it is ( was? ) used for such things as attaching the spouts to stainless steel kettles as it forms a good joint and is a good colour match. Completely irrelevant in respect of a copper boiler but interesting nonetheless.

Cheers

Pero

Hi Zeb

Lost track of this thread. I will be interested in following along as I have three or four of the PM boilers tucked away awaiting construction/assembly.

They have an interesting construction method, relying partly on rivets for structural strength for the boiler shell ( end plate attachment ). A bit old school in these days of fully silver soldered construction.

If I remember correctly ( I don't have my plans to hand at the moment ) the 'silver' solder supplied with these kits is a silver-tin eutectic ( ~4% silver, 96% tin ). I would think more than adequate for the type of construction and use of a boiler of this size, but I will leave it for others to comment on that aspect.

Good luck with the build.

Pero

Hi Diane.

Nice to see an old piano put to a new use after its musical days are over. Could perhaps be improved by replacing the computer with a Cowells ME90 with some nice shelving at the back to hold the accessories, but perhaps that's just me and a little wishful thinking!

Pero