Member postings for Stuart Bridger

It is a great show, I just wish that they would state the number of hours taken on each project.

25mm seems to be the smallest diameter stocked by most suppliers

I made the mistake of getting an "entry level" vice bundled in with my Mill purchase.
The fixed jaw wasn't even perpendicular to the base. A milling vice is a fundamental piece of kit in your workshop, and accuracy depends on it. Subsequently I purchased a Vertex and have had no issues.

Between leaving school and starting my apprenticeship, I spent the summer grading and packing eggs at a poultry farm. It took 10 years for me to be able to face eating another egg after that...

Interesting, last year I purchased a 4lb hedgelaying axe. It was shipped via Hermes. The way the seller packed it left absolutely no doubt as to the contents and it was delivered fine. Our local Hermes agent (who is excellent btw) even commented that it was an axe.

I feel your pain, I went through the same with a 3 x  1 1/2 section and purchased a bandsaw for the next time!
Seriously though the coarsest blade you can get and WD40 should help.

Edited By Stuart Bridger on 04/09/2020 16:24:23

After getting completely fed-up with endlessly buying HP ink cartridges at no small cost, I moved to an Epson Ecotank based printer. Still using the original bottles of ink a year later with plenty still available

At the risk of thread drift, I couldn't resist commenting on "never go out in the dark ". Many years ago not long after moving into our village, we tried to book the local village taxi to take us to a pub in the next village for a meal.. The answer was "I can take you, will you be wanting to come back", "errr, yes" was my reply. "Sorry I don't go out after dark" was the answer...

Sadly all of us of a certain age can recall similar tales.
I did did a technician apprenticeship 40 years ago and I am still benefiting from skills learned on the job, whether at work or in this ME hobby. The college aspect not so. I would say over 95% of what was learned at college has never been used in anger. The only exception being Optical Loss calculations, which I did in 1987. Landed a job in 2000 where they were darned useful.

Edited By Stuart Bridger on 19/08/2020 15:18:28

Sounds like plumber is his job description, not boiler service technician or whatever they are called.
Maybe experienced in wet stuff, but not electrons.
Seriously though, what a terrible experience. I would not pay him as he clearly is not skilled enough to carry out the task. Is he an employee or a one man band?

There should be three markings on the spindle nose for each fastening " |" at 12 O' Clock and "V" at 3 and 6 O'Clock. The line on the locking clamp should be between the two "V" for locked. Turn anti clockwise to the "|" to release.That's how Colchester did it on the chipmaster, others may vary the markings, but the principle will be the same.

Edited By Stuart Bridger on 14/08/2020 15:42:41

Still have my trusty Fluke 77 DMM from the mid '80s

This is a 40 year old school project, still in regular use. A great insight for us at the time into sand casting.

Norm, you are thinking of lead shot manufacturing which was traditionally done in a shot tower

To be fair on the OP, it could be a victim of the dreaded autocorrect

Sean, I have some manual copies. No experience of maintenance though. I will message you with contact details

Jeff beat me to the answer!

I'm no metallurgist, but different steels are formulated with different characteristics depending on the application.
Bolts are typically forged with rolled threads and their primary requirement is tensile strength. Easy machining is not a criteria for this use case.

Edited By Stuart Bridger on 31/07/2020 13:45:34

M10 bolts are a swine to machine, particularly 8.8 grade. Even on an ex industrial machine, it is very hard to get a decent finish.

There have been other posts on this subject recently that have highlighted potential earthing issues with the machines, that has resulted in earthing currents flowing through the DRO cables. This is a potential safety issue that needs to be addressed ASAP.
1) Check all exposed metalwork on the mill has continuity to mains earth. I would disconnect the DRO scales from the console for the duration of the test ready to eliminate this path
2) Your DRO console should have an earthing point, make sure that that this is connected to the mill metalwork at one point.

40 years ago, this September I started at the Apprentice Training School at BAe Weybridge. £30 a week.