Member postings for Gordon Fowler

Sorry to resurrect this post . Finally made the prototype rear tool post for my lathe. Warco wm240. To make life easier there is no top rake to the tool, just clean up front face on grinder and the tool holder/ tool post is set for centre height so no adjustment. Works suspiciously well. It has transformed the parting operation so a worthwhile addition. Cost very little to make 1 1/4 sq and 2 1/4 x 1 inch, homemade T nut bit of studding and two bolts. Finished one will be painted yellow for visibility and to avoid parting off the chuck.

Gordon

Tempting fate, I've had mine since I was 18 now 52. Abused it, cleaned it a few times. Massively improved by the addition of the Harold Hall grinding rest. I have changed a couple of grinding wheels though, as mentioned balance of wheels is vital,

This should show it better

The tappet screws can be done with a tipped tool, for the cam followers I made this, goes in place of the rest.

Motor overheat sorted. For some reason I had connected the "free" ends of the windings together and once I consulted my notes for the old wiring and John's advice it now runs cool in both directions. Never thought of aluminium for the cogs, I like that and as you say make it longer then part off as required. There are no major alterations to the shaper just a small hole for the belt jockey wheel spindle, so it can all go back together as was for antiques roadshow. I do like the quick return stroke very noticeable.

Thank you I should have followed the advise however I came up with this.

It works with a whitworth quick return and produces a very good finish. It requires a bit of paint and some fettling to finish. The only problem is the motor which I was unhappy with and ran the wrong was is now rewired and runs very hot even with no load. It has one capacitor and no centrifugal switch that I can find any advise on this would be much appreciated. Diagram to follow.

Gordon

The drive gears on my adept no2 shaper are worn especially the small one. I have the choice of making a new one or....possibly.....converting to toothed belt drive. The more I ponder the situation the more questions I have, would the belt take the impact at the start of the cut, is it worth doing. Does any body know the definitive dp of the gears, I've worked out 12dp. Many fresh minds may have the answer.

Gordon

Dave I discovered an old armstrong lathe tool holder, remembered from my apprentice days, these have made it easier to set the tool centre height, the tools go into an angled slot, this and as has been mentioned, cooling the HSS when grinding has improved the finish of the work and the life of HSS. Just a thought.

Gordon

Otley I have one of these, it is powered and has auto feed, but no graduations on the hand wheels. However it can move a suprising amount of metal using simple tools easily sharpened saving wearing out endmills. Recently used it to thin down an armstrong lathe tool holder, that I wouldn't want to file and the milling machine didn't look to keen on the idea but the adept did it with no fuss using a carbide tool. Over the years I have got rid of a few machines and regretted it. It takes up little space. Having said that I would like to potentially follow Neils thread on converting it to cnc.

Gordon

Hi Simon like Bazyle I too have an Adept shaper, however it is using pulleys with Perfecto cast into one of them. The diameters are 7 inches and 2 1/4 inches, I too thought it was going too fast as well and converted to angle drive. See below,,,,,,,,,,,,,pretty sure it is 10:1 reduction. Gordon

Gentleman thank you for your concerns. The connection between the motor and gearbox and gearbox and shaper is indeed solid metal, using a shear pin ( split pin ). Which has sheared! This allows a bit of flexibility. The positioning of the g/box, motor was carefully plotted and drilled to get the best line up, allowing for slight flex on the motor mounts. There is no reason why the connections could not be changed to a more resilient coupling in the future, this was after all to prove a point and has worked suspiciously well. The shear pins shear when I am being a little too demanding and the motor vibrations have dramatically reduced as have the strokes per minute. It now does what is asked of it, fairly accurately on rough old bits of metal. Ian taking your advise and experience I will make a gearbox guard.

Gordon

Sorry to bring this back up, however after much fettling, new bushes etc and changing the drive from belt to worm and wheel.

As above. Also rubber mounting the motor success has been achieved and a good finish can be constantly achieved. The right angle reduction gearbox significantly slows the machine down but enhances the machine.

Gordon

Thank you again for the replies, I am in the middle of making new T bolts and bearings for the push rod arm (from crank to ram) this was at a slight angle and not running as smoothly as it should be, maybe giving rise to a bit of juddering/vibration. I will as said previously sharpen the tool, however when the ram is disconnected and the machine manually operated the finish is fine. This hopefully indicates a drive train issue, hence my interest in the T bolts and bearings.

Gordon

With all your help I think I will be happy with this result, after re bushing the pinion gear and the feed axle ?!, adjusting the jibs with the shaper not running , re mounting the motor ( may persevere with this one ) to reduce vibration, applying silicone sealant to the main drive cog/ flywheel to dampen noise, ensuring the feed is on the return stroke and sharpening various tools ( will definitely persevere with this ) we have gone from thisto thisalthough not perfect it is far removed from the original finish, the photo is much enlarged and in real life it feels and looks smooth and I thank you for all your advice.

Gordon

Sorry Ladies and Gentlemen if calculators have melted but the V tool was cutting 0.015", the finish tool was cutting 0.001". The feed was being applied on the cutting stroke ( now corrected ) and the ridges are parallel now not semi circular. Ady I am very envious of the finish your machine produces.

Regards Gordon

Have used the shear tool on my lathe to finish stainless steel with good results thank you for jogging my memory, I had forgotten all about it. I recycled my round nose tool to a sharp point and gave it a go, depth of cut for the point tool about 15 thou not a huge depth but big enough it did cut well, then used the shear tool taking of about 1 thou and produced nice curly shavings. Finish although not perfect was much better than previous finishes, so more steps in the right direction thanks to all your advise. I will, as said earlier have a go at re bushing the gears as there is a bit of play in this department. the pictures show my attempts at tool grinding. Not text book but functional.

All fingers still intact and strangely the gibs were released as opposed to tightened. reground the tool as suggested and tried again. Significantly better finish. I will see if it is possible to rebush the gears to reduce play and vibration, I will persevere with this strangely addictive tool.

Well, please don't shout me down but I adjusted the ram jibs......with the machine running .........and you could actually see the pattern changing. The work piece was tapped down and I tried pointed tools and rounded tools. Thank you Mark for your E mail. Would it be possible to send me the diagram of the tool?. The gears are a bit rough. Here is the result, considerably better. Each part is done with a different tool. Does anybody know how the large gear is removed from its housing? Thank you again.

A very happy new year to you all, thank you for your replies, had another go earlier and inserted feeler gauge strips {can be seen in photos} then changed tools to the carbide tipped tool on top of the vise and achieved the result as seen in the photo, as Nobby pointed out it may be judder. The bull nose tool would create more judder so i will recheck the ram at full extension. Again many thanks for your replies.