Member postings for Stuart Bridger

Hi Graham,

Welcome, whereabouts in Oxfordshire are you? Regarding your workshop. I would recommend speaking to Malcolm Bason at MB Tools. He is a 2nd hand machinery dealer specialising in home workshops and is based in Freeland near Witney. He advertises in ME magazine and often has machines for sale.

Regards

Stuart

The 10V is an ideal starting point, especially as you can get the accompanying book. That was how I started. I do have a mill, but the book is written for those who don't. Don't worry too much about wrecking castings, Stuart spares aren't that expensive (don't ask me how I know). Bar stock is also a good idea, I am currently working on an Elmers Engine. Don't expect detailed instructions though. See **LINK**

Continental units have a different screwcutting gearbox as well the leadscrew. Mine is imperial, but does have the dual dials. which i have been told is quite rare. Very useful though.

My Chippie has dual dials, does that count

Call me a heathen, but I have always used a 13mm ring spanner for this function. A bit of a loose fit, but given that not much pressure is required to lock the saddle, it works well enough for me.

Very dangerous in the wrong hands, especially the bigger beasts.
I was helping out on a building project at our shooting ground and was tasked with cutting concrete blocks with a large disk cutter. Not being the most physical guy, it was much too heavy for me to use safely and the torque reaction was significant. I am much happier with a chainsaw (not for block cutting obviously) for which I have been trained to use safely.

I was five and remember being taken next door where an aunt lived to watch it on their TV. Whether we didn't have a TV or it was a family get together I can't remember.

I always had an interest in mechanical stuff and often got into trouble as a child for taking stuff to bits (and not putting it back together) Started with plastic kits from the age of 8. At school I excelled at metalwork and loved my first experience with a lathe (Boxford). I was lucky enough to get an apprenticeship with British Aerospace. There I ended up working in an Electronics field and then drifted into IT. The reality of the IT industry is that it has no tangible legacy. No project lasts more than 3-5 years, so I had an urge to get back into cutting chips to actually make something that lasted.

I miss being called a "clumsy b&rstard" by the late great John Stevenson. Always posted as a retort to any anyone owning up to a machine crash or other cock-up. RIP Sir John.

Camlock dimensions available here http://www.lathes.co.uk/latheparts/page12.html

Thanks for all the feedback, some very good points to consider. The unit is well put together and has no leaks. I did try the oil pickup last night. It also works well, but as others have mentioned, the atomised oil is pretty unpleasant. So I expect I will be using it with air only for chip clearing.

Here you go **LINK**

I have been playing around with a cheap air blast unit for my Warco VMC for chip clearing. All is looking good so far. I quite like the idea of fitting a solenoid valve in the air line so that air only comes on when the spindle is running. I can get a 230V solenoid air valve very cheaply. Is there any reason why I shouldn't just wire this in parallel with the motor run connections? Motor is 1125W single phase.

May seem a daft question, but is the spindle running in the correct direction? I only say this as I got a severe dressing down for wrecking a face mill by running it in reverse when I was an apprentice 39 years ago. Something I will never forget.

Picked up a plastic multi-compartment box looking for a screw. Handle snapped and the sharp end dug into the side of my thumb. Blood everywhere, but not as bad as it looked. Can't really complain though. The box in question originally held electronic spares and was part of the toolkit I picked up in 1987, when I started my first IT service job!

Manual here, but not a lot of info  https://www.axminster.co.uk/media/downloads/200024_manual.pdf

Edited By Stuart Bridger on 03/07/2019 22:23:07

Edited By Stuart Bridger on 03/07/2019 22:24:30

Glanze Circular insert toolholder with extra relief (roughly) ground. Shown with unfinished flywheel for barstock Elmers Mill Engine. Big advantage of the round insert is that you can turn both the inside of  the rim and the internal boss with the same tool.

Edited By Stuart Bridger on 03/07/2019 22:10:27

+1 on a round insert tool. Had to grind a bit of extra relief so the bottom of the holder didn't foul.

+1 for the six inch rule method. That was how I was taught as an apprentice.
Quick and no material waste.

Whichever way you go on the scales, buy a 3 axis console as the incremental cost isn't that high over two. Then you have the future option of an upgrade. I did that on my VMC when the original console died and have just added a Z axis scale.