Member postings for Pero

Andrew

I have some pure tungsten rod ex China but haven't had the courage to try cutting it as yet (and won't be for a while due to other priorities). It is very brittle - two pieces broke during transit (fully compensated for by the seller).

My intention was/is to use it for governor balls as the SG is about the same as gold and twice that of lead which should address some of the scaling issues. From my reading I understand that it is machinable using standard tooling but as it is a sintered product it can vary depending on exactly how it is formed and this information is not always available from the small suppliers.

Apparently there are also health issues with machining it - from inhalation of fine dust - so a dust mask may be appropriate.

I would be very interested to hear how you get on machining balls if you go down that route.

Cheers Pero

Perhaps we could replace the word Engineer in ME and MEW with a suitable number of asterisks. That way everyone could choose the term that they felt best applied to them (although not necessarily the term that would be chosen by their partners).

Of even greater significance is that while the term Model applies to many but not all of the construction items in ME, it is much less relevant to the majority of those in MEW. Perhaps it is Model that needs to be changed, although I seem to remember that this was all discussed a few years ago. Time for a re--think and more pages of discourse please!

Interestingly, while I am university qualified in a scientific discipline and presumably entitled to describe myself as a Scientist, I am seldom described as such in my professional employment. However, I am a fully recognised member of what, in its field, is a prestigious Engineering society although I have no qualification at any level in Engineering. Go figure!

As I get older I find it less relevant what people call themselves, or what title other people may give them, it is their competence and common sense that keeps them employed. In the harsh world outside of the university it can take as much as three years to knock the PhD out of an employee and make them useful (if it hasn't happened after that time it is generally suggested that they consider finding their way back to a life in the university).

In the meantime I will fight my way into the workshop and continue to make big pieces of metal into smaller pieces of metal, usually wrongly, and call myself a B***** Fool.

Pero

(unnecessary capitalisation of titles by design not necessity )

Hello Bryan

Steam oil is available in Australia from Miniature Steam. I have some but haven't used it in anger as yet. They do send it by post/courier - quite successfully as I am located in Western Australia.

There may be other suppliers about but this is the one I know of through buying their engine kits - superb castings by the way.

Welcome aboard, Pero

Hello Brian

My apologies - you are quite right - it's a long time since I have looked at the website.

However, they are still listed as a chuck accessory on the Taig Australia website, which in some ways is a little more informative than the US site.

There is no information provided as to whether they are original Taig manufacture or from a third party supplier.

In any event as the jaws are in two parts and the gripping portion simply bolts onto the carriers it is possible to make your own jaws out of any desired material, truing them up as per the instructions provided with the chuck.

I'm not sure whether your proposed supplier does a pre-delivery set up, otherwise there is a little work to do in getting the Taig up and running. Not terribly complicated and worth following the instructions to achieve the best from the machine.

Best of luck Pero

On the subject of the Taig 3 jaw chuck.

The chuck is 31/4" diameter so definitely in the small category. It is available with either aluminium or steel jaws. For a new starter, ordering the chuck with steel jaws may be the better option.

The description of the aluminium jaws (ex Australian website but probably taken from the Taig US website) is that they are to be treated as typical soft jaws, i.e. set up (machined) for each activity.

When I last purchased a set (in Australia - land of the falling dollar) they were quite cheap and could pretty much be regarded as a throw away (machine away) item.

As an aside, it is well worth browsing through the Taig US website to see just what is available in the way of options and accessories for the Taig lathe (and milling machines). Probably almost as many as for the Myford

Pero

Like John Rudd, I have lathes using all three methods of attachment:

• Screwed nose - Myford ML7 and smaller (M14x1)
• Bolt on - Sieg C6 and smaller
• Camlock D1-6 250 mm.

In the smaller size lathes, with chucks up to 125 mm, I find the screw-on chucks much easier to fit and have had no problems with chucks becoming "locked-on".

I have no experience with small Camlock chucks but on the big lathe I don't think I would be able to change chucks using anything other than the Camlock system.

With all systems the key to fitting (and accuracy) is meticulous attention to cleanliness of the mating surfaces, screw threads etc. It is generally possible to fit a screw thread chuck with less attention to cleanliness of surfaces but resulting accuracy will be affected and threads and mating surfaces damaged, something I have to remind myself of when doing quick chuck swaps on the smaller lathes.

Pero

I recently purchased two Dremel Multipro 395 models (possibly run-out stock as I am fairly sure this model is no longer available in Australia) from a seller on Aliexpress. Both have excellent torque on start-up, straight out of the packet.

Possibly of more relevance to this discussion, from the same seller I purchased some spare brushes. As they are in unmarked bags I can't guarantee they are genuine Dremel, but these brushes are plain ended i.e.flat - no ground-in shape at all. If this is the way machines are currently being supplied it would explain why a run-in period is necessary.

Incidentally, I am still using my original Dremel (grey coloured case and bronze bearings) purchased over thirty years ago. It has no speed control and makes lots of noise (always has done) but still cuts its way through all sorts of materials, including stainless steel when treated kindly.

Pero

There seem to be common threads running through a lot of museums around the world at the moment:

• We have a lot more material than we can ever hope to display (fair enough) but we want still more (presumably that we can also hide away and never display).
• It is all ours and we propose to limit, restrict or prevent your access to the material even if it is in public ownership. (Private museums can of course manage the material they have acquired as they wish.)
• All material shall be preserved exactly as it is on the date of acquisition no matter how decrepit, as if the date of acquisition is in any way significant. I believe most craftsmen would be insulted to see their work displayed in anything but pristine condition. Personally I support the full restoration of items unless there is demonstrated significance to condition at a specific date, e.g. the desk in 1066 at which Nelson received the Kaiser's surrender after the battle of Waterloo.

If the practice of allowing historical items to continue to deteriorate (a la many historical buildings and monuments) human history will disappear at an ever increasing rate, no need for the terrorists to do it for us.

As for the photographic display of historical ship models - I like what I have seen but put it in an art gallery where it belongs, it has no relevance in a science museum. Then employ some scientific photographers to photograph the collection and put the results onto the internet where they are accessible to all.

The above comments are the views (and rants) of the poster for which no one else can be blamed.

Pero

I am not certain if this is the same item but there are lots of industrial sewing machine servo motors complete with servo drive, speed control and digital readout available on Aliexpress (no I don't own the company - pity really - just a frequent shopper). I have one sitting on my unused equipment shelf but I can't give any information on its performance as it is 'unused'. However, given that industrial sewing machines are generally designed to do at least 8 hours per day I assume they should be suitable for small machinery - at least that was my thinking when I bought it.

On a related note there are also domestic sewing machine motors available with higher ratings than the typical motors. The one I have (again unused) is rated at 180W. As the power consumption is stated to be 0.9A at 220V = 198W I assume the 180W is the output power, or so one might be led to believe. As these motors are in a standard sewing machine type package I am not sure how some of the power quoted for these motors is achieved - heavier windings perhaps? They also come complete with a foot operated speed control - already binned due to poor quality. The motor seems ok though.

Cheers Pero

I have done a couple of threading jobs in 316 recently - 6 and 12 mm rod. In neither case could I get sufficient grip in my 100 mm 3 jaw to thread using a die in a holder. Possibly because I wasn't tightening it enough - I have old ice skating injuries to both which cause extreme pain when I apply pressure in some directions, lathe chuck tightening being one of these, or because the rod was polished and just hard to grip (must remember to try a wrap round with emery next time to see if that will make the difference).

I ended up tapering the end in the lathe and just getting a square start with the die before transferring the work to the bench vice to which I could apply some muscle. Still difficult stuff to get a grip on. On the 6 mm rod I applied some Trefolex and proceeded as an experiment to cut the full length of the thread (15 mm) in one shot (no backing-off etc.). Possibly the best thread I have ever cut - very smooth no chipping or other marks. I carried on to do the rest in the same way.

Same problem with the 12 mm in the lathe so I approached it in the same way, also using a 1" button die in a short handled die holder. This is where you learn just how much force is required to cut a thread. I did complete the 50 mm of thread required (with much backing off and frequent applications of cutting paste) and straight enough to meet requirements. However on test fitting I discovered that the downward pressure I had been applying had very slightly stretched the thread pitch and it was jamming in the 'matching' female thread. Use of thread gauge and caliper confirmed that it was me at fault.

Two important findings - I need to set up the Myford to cut metric threads and learn the technique as recommended above. Buy larger button dies and a bigger holder for larger diameter threads (now in hand).

A long-winded way of saying that you can cut very nice threads in 316 but you need to be set up appropriately to do so.

Pero

Hi Ketan

An update on my previous message.

ME 4543 arrived today (28 September) on what is currently a rare sunny day in Perth, Western Australia. A little earlier than perhaps you had anticipated - but no Arc catalogue included. Perhaps the system recognised that I had already received one with MEW 246 (quite right as I didn't need two - that would be far too much temptation).

If not, those who only take ME could be disappointed.

Pero

I can't disagree with Julian about the need to test your gas tank for leaks at operating temperatures, but you need to keep in mind that the vapour pressure of butane is very low compared to the working pressure of even a small boiler. Two important considerations are that the vapour pressure increases as the temperature rises and also that mixtures of butane and propane have higher vapour pressures than pure butane, increasing as the propane fraction increases.

One reference indicates that at 90 degrees Fahrenheit the vapour pressure of pure butane is 29 PSI (presumably above ambient pressure [14.7 PSI at sea level] but this is not stated. The addition of a small amount of propane will increase the pressure significantly e.g. approximately double with the addition of 20% propane.

Pero

Hi Ketan

My copy of MEW 246 and catalogue arrived today (the 23rd) in not so sunny Perth, Western Australia. Still awaiting ME 4543. It may have gone the other way round!

Excellent catalogue with some very useful data tables and tips... and lots of nice things to spend money on.

Oh, and Neil, I have skimmed through MEW 246 as well!

Pero

Hi Ketan

My copy of MEW 246 and catalogue arrived today (the 23rd) in not so sunny Perth, Western Australia. Still awaiting ME 4543. It may have gone the other way round!

Excellent catalogue with some very useful data tables and tips... and lots of nice things to spend money on.

Oh, and Neil, I have skimmed through MEW 246 as well!

Pero

Matt

On the question of motors, I have happily run my ML7 for the last 35 years on a 1HP motor. However it is run with a slack belt so it is unable to transfer full power. The advantage is that if I do something wrong the belt slips before any major damage is done.

Most of my turning has been done on 316 stainless but in much smaller sizes than you are requiring. My tools are typically carbide for facing and turning and HSS for parting. No coolant but an occasional dab of Trefolex. As mentioned above the secret is to keep cutting. If you need to stop, back the tool off very quickly. It work hardens in an instant. Re-starting a hole after hardening can be very expensive on drills!

Pero

Rik

I have seen brass used for this purpose before (including on professionally made tanks). It could possibly have been for strength for a particular design but quite possibly that was what the designer had in stock. Since nearly all the commercially made fittings for butane and propane are made of brass there is no question of the general suitability of brass for this use.

Pero

Well plugged Sir!

I have been faced with the same problem on a number of occasions (household repairs rather than model engineering) and have never found a really successful solution.

I will be adding a set to my next order from Ketan.

Pero

Hi Paul

I recognized that the quotes were from Yuasa USA, it was the grammar that concerned me. I think some of my Chinglish manuals show a higher degree of clarity!

I hope my Vertex rotary tables (4) perform a little better than the Yuasa table.

Pero

Is it possible to get an English translation of the response from Yuasa USA?

Pero

Bill

Another so-called builder used an acetic acid (the active ingredient of vinegar) releasing version of silicon sealant around the new anodised aluminium window frames of my parents home. After 30 years they are still quietly crumbling away, so I would be careful of using vinegar unless you can find a method of neutralising its effects after the surface corrosion is removed.

Pero

P.S. any suggestions on a suitable neutralising agent would be appreciated!