Member postings for John Baron

Hi Chris,

Yes I use woodwork carbide router bits to machine steel on both the lathe and mill.

Note the rounded shoulders on the Norman tool post pictures. They were done in a single pass at about 1000 rpm and something like 90-100 seconds an inch. I've been intending to get some cutters with 1/2" shafts, the one I have at the moment are only 1/4", and seem a bit thin for the work I've asked them to do.

I've only ever bent one and that was routing a dado edge in teak ! It bent, made a horrible vibration and then broke off at the top of the collet. Frightened the life out of me at the time.

I only started to used them because a wood router cutter is far cheaper than a form tool or a proper shaped milling cutter.

Let me know how you get on.

Best Regards: John Baron

Hi Chris, Guys,

I had to go and Google to remember which electrode should be connected to the positive pole of the power supply ! Its the copper one in the solution. The work piece is connected to the negative wire.

If you are submerging the work in the solution, it needs to be suspended so that it cannot touch anything other than the solution. Normally you would use a wooden bar or stick across the container and a copper wire connected to the negative pole to suspend the work.

The stronger the copper sulphate solution is, the more quickly the work will plate. Also the more conductive the solution the higher the current for any given voltage. Using a car battery charger with a built in ammeter will give you an instant indication. Anything around a couple of amps will be fine. A useful way of getting to this point, is to make a weak solution and then add more copper sulphate until you have the current you want. Obviously you need to agitate the solution to mix and dissolve the crystals.

Adding hot water will help the crystals dissolve more quickly, but as far as I am aware won't make the plating go any faster.

Edited By John Baron on 18/02/2020 20:03:04

Hi Chris,

Yes that will work, as would any low voltage source. Old type car battery charger, computer PSU etc.

Sorry if I wasn't clear about the paint brush !

One wire would be soldered to the metal bit on the paint brush and the other would go to the workpiece. Dip the brush in the solution and use it to paint the copper onto the part. You do have to get the polarity correct though.

If you are dipping the whole part into a solution then you would use an electrode placed in the tank and the other connection to the work. The electrical path is through the copper sulphate solution. Its the current flow that does the work.

Hi Chris, Guys,

I don't think that I would bother with buying a kit ! All you need is an old wall wart and some suitable solution. Either some copper sulphate from a chemists or some ferric chloride and a bit of copper tube to dissolve in it. Since it seems that a paint brush connected the right way round, I can't remember if it should be positive with respect to the item you want to plate, dipped in the solution will do it.

Hi Mark, Guys,

If as you say, you have a decent bench grinder, then make up some simple jigs to help you with the angles. Which is what I used to do, until I made the four facet drill grinder by John Moran at "GadgetBuilder.com" !

I've been collecting the materials to make one !

I just need a piece of cast for the cylinder block.

Hi Joe, Guys,

Thanks for your interesting post. I always thought that they used tiny hollow rivets for through holes !

Now I know.

Hi Chris,

That is a good question ! I've never considered whether copper would plate onto copper. I imagine it would, but you probably wouldn't be able to see it other than on a different metal.

Just as a point of interest, printed circuit etching, where the copper is etched away using ferric chloride, the solution that remains contains all the copper that is removed. I've seen that solution used to electroplate steel and then used to have chrome plated onto that. So that could be a second method that you could use. But beware that ferric chloride will very quickly eat any copper it gets into contact with when disposing of it ! So don't pour it down the sink. I used to get rid of mine by soaking wood chippings with it and then binning the fairly dry residue.

A thought has just occurred to me, you could use a paint brush to try it on a small part of the item you want to plate.

Edited By John Baron on 16/02/2020 20:59:39

Hi Chris,

You can copper plate steel quite easily yourself. Just buy some "Copper Sulphate" dissolve in water and submerge your part.

In the old days it was a nuisance if you forgot and left your tweezers in the solution, by the following day they had started to get a copper coating. You can electroplate it as well using the same solution.

Edited By John Baron on 16/02/2020 18:54:51

Hi Guys,

If you only want 2D then download the free Qcad from

https://www.ribbonsoft.com/en/

Go to downloads and choose the version for your operating system.

It is what I use and have for quite some time. It can output drawings in DXF, PDF or JPG among others. There is also a version that does Gcode as well.

Yes that is exactly what its for !  Actually the dead centre.

Edited By John Baron on 15/02/2020 21:30:25

+1

Yes but not to a WM18, though I believe that its is a Chinese clone of an Optimum BF20, which my mill is.

I used a car window screen wiper motor and a tumbler gear to provide left, neutral and right traverse. I run mine from a variable voltage power supply usually at about 5 or 6 volts taking less than 2 amps.

Hi Ken,

Hotpoint top loading washing machines used a metal backed centrifugal clutch as you described and later went on to use plastic ones which didn't require the mazak metal backing. A pair were contained in a cast iron cup about four inches in diameter.

Hi Jeremy, Guys,

Whilst I've done some very very light milling using the lathe, I cannot recommend it, particularly on an ML10 !

I've a virtually unused S7 vertical slide sat in a cupboard doing nothing.

Hi Guys,

In the old days, a capstan tailstock feed was about all you saw. Particularly with the ability to have six different tools immediately to hand.

Hi Ega,

Yes that is correct. I used to have a copy of the original 1880's patent but I can no longer find it, either in my backups or on line. I believe that "Lathes UK" have some pictures and other info on it though.

All the subsequent designs that I have seen on the net, use a slit that is compressed by a bolt to clamp the holder to the post, and also use an open slot for the tool ! This slit clamping method only produces a two point grip on the post, and relies on the metal being able to be deformed when the bolt is tightened, where as the split clamp has a three point grip and reduces any tendency for the tool holder to rock.

Rolls Royce used the Norman toolpost on the lathes in their development workshops, I believe before Myford did. Its a lot more rigid than other toolposts I've used, due to the large diameter post that its mounted on.

+Another 1

Hi Hopper,

Thankyou for your comments.

I originally had the Myford supplied 4 way toolpost, and got fed up with having to shim up every time I sharpened a tool. The other thing that I didn't like was how easy it was to catch and cut yourself on the other tools in the holder. I've ended up one time having my thumb stitched up in ER having leant forward and caught the sharp end of one.

So after listening to all the advice, I bought a Dickson QCTP ! Sure it was much better than shimming all the time, but by the time I'd bought a couple of holders and looked at the cost, and finding out about the Norman Patent one, I decided to build one and try it. Apart from the time I spent making it, it cost me less than £5 in materials, plus one or two bits from the scrap box and some cap screws which I had already.

I don't find it any more difficult or awkward than using a QCTP ! It's also vastly cheaper and the satisfaction from making it is priceless ! In addition you get to learn a lot about the machine, its capabilities and your own.

Hi Jeremy,

I'm a great believer in making things for myself. I have a Myford and have got rid of my Dickson tool holder, an expensive waste for a hobbyist, great for production where time is money.

This is my Norman patent tool holder. Its almost entirely a turning job except for the milled 1/2" tool slot (13 mm ). Mine stays true to the original design. However Myford used to supply this type of tool post and holder on the older ML3 & 4 lathes. I also made one for the rear of the cross slide that is primarily used for parting and interchangeable with the front one.

A view from the other side. The silver screw is the hight adjustment ! No shims needed.