Member postings for Stephen Osborne

I made a Kennet CG some 30 years ago and have only used it for making lathe cutters. I now need to sharpen a 4" side & face cutter but although I have made all the relevant parts (Holder for Slitting Saws on the plans) I am unsure as to the the setup.

A table gives details of 4 & 7 degree clearance angles and an instruction to setting for dimension B.

Can anyone describe how this is achieved?

Regards

Steve

Pete

The worm is 4 TPI o/d 1.104

I am thinking of machining a replacement worm wheel for the autofeed on my Tom Senior M1. The teeth on the existing are so badly worn that the worm jams after about half a turn.

I have watched several videos that show a hob made from a tap, but I am not sure that technique is suitable for a 2" dia 22T wheel.

Does anyone have experience of cutting such a gear?

I have a dividing head and the mill is useable in manual feed.

I need to measure the helix angle, depth of cut and cutter profile (among other things I haven’t yet thought about). How is that done?

Any help would be appreciated

Steve

Thanks for the reply Dave, but the Lathes & Co writeup is incomplete.

The machine is a Universal mill and the 3MT/30Int refers to the horizontal spindle. The vertical spindle is 2MT as standard!!

I queried this some time ago but was assured by the experts that 2MT was quite adequate for this size of machine. I think they should have fitted 3MT from the off.

Many thanks gentlemen for all your constructive comments. The machine is a Tom Senior M1 and the problem appears to be at the mouth of the socket. On checking with engineer's blue, contact seems to be a ring around the large end of the taper with little contact with the rest of the taper. I will upload a photo when I get a minute.

Perhaps I am being too cautious and should try the reamer as Baz & John suggest.

The 2MT socket in the spindle of my milling machine is damaged and will not hold a chuck true. I have a 2MT reamer but as the spindle is hardened, I will not attempt to correct the taper myself.

Does anyone know of a company who could precision re-grind the socket on my spindle?

I have contacted a couple of enterprises from an internet search who did not want to know. I work on the theory that there is always somebody out there who can do what you require.

Happy New Year

Steve

Thank you gentlemen for all your useful comments.

I think the $85 insert option from the States is a non-starter, especially as the insert may not fit in the hole!

I like old mart's idea of partially cutting the thread with an approximate form tool on the lathe followed by a tap.

Steve

I need to fabricate a feednut for my TS milling machine. The thread is 0.75” 5 TPI left hand Acme. Ideally, I would like to buy a carbide threading insert but this item appears to be very rare. So, it may come down to grinding my own tool.

From watching videos from messers Booth & Rucker, they do not grind any relief on the top face of the tool. So in theory the tool could cut both right & left threads.

Is this correct? I would appreciate your comments.

Gentlemen

Many thanks for all your suggestions - I take it's a thumbs down for the welding solution

The biggest hole is almost half over a T slot so the plug method may not be suitable.

However, I like the laser welding idea and am on the case - I will update you with pictures if I am successful.

Steve

I need to repair some drill holes in the table of my Tom Senior milling machine.

I am thinking fill the holes with weld and then re-grind the whole surface.

I would appreciate any ideas as to which welding process to use (MIG, TIG or stick) and which filler to use.

Any ideas?

Gentlemen

Thank you for all your comments which have been most useful.

I have found a work-around to my problem which appears to work

I am looking to fix a home machined pulley to a motor shaft using a Dunlop taper bush.

It is possible to purchase a bolt-on hub (female) to afix to the pulley which will mate with the bush (male) perfectly.

However, the dimensions of the hub are too large for my pulley – I think they are meant to be used on a fan etc.

Does anyone have experience of this machining task? I am happy with measuring and reproducing the exact taper but the location of the half-holes seems more problematical.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Gentlemen

Thank you all for your helpful comments. On investigation, it would appear that the problem is backlash. The problem only occurs during tool feed adjustment - work & toolholding is not an issue.

I have stripped down and lubricated the quill locking system.

With the use of a dti, I can see the problem is a combination of backlash in the gears and the quill lock failing to release. Is there a way to reduce the backlash?

If I apply very slight pressure on the quill with the lock and then apply say 15 thou of down feed, the quill does not move. However on releasing the quill lock, the quill drops the 15 thou with a ‘clunk’.

It seems that the quill-lock must be completely free when applying feed via the handwheel.

I have also discovered that the vernier scale on the quill feed only has a passing relationship with the dti reading. I think for important work I will always use the dti to measure the feed rather than the vernier scale.

As an aside, I bought the machine at the ME Exibition with a reasonable discount - I have regretted it ever since as the build quality is so poor. I knew I should have bought a Bridgeport but you get what you pay for.

Warco Minor Mill RF-20/25

Vertical feed problem.

The above milling machine was bought new over 25 years ago but has had very light use.

When setting the quill height, I :

Raise lower the head to roughly the required height and lock off the 2 clamping nuts on the head/ column.

Tighten the knob on the tri-lever rapid feed.

Touch off by lowering the quill with the fine feed handle.

Set the vernier scale to zero and then apply the depth of cut and lock the quill with the ‘fixed bolt”

All seems well whilst cutting but on lowering the quill for the next pass with the fine feed wheel, the quill sometimes jumps down about 20 - 30 thou, often breaking the end mill.

Has anyone experienced this problem and could suggest a fix.

Has anyone made the 72" belt grinder as detailed in Jeremy Schmidt's website

**LINK**

It looks the business but must be very heavy and perhaps over-engineered.

I am thinking of a version made with lighter gauge steel. Any thoughts?

Gentlemen

Thank you for all your replies, most of which were very useful. Having come from the aviation industry I am guilty of ignoring the wise advice of my seniors "RTFM" - read the ******* manual.

Nick Taylor 2 wins the prize for pointing out that the only thing that should be reversed is the motor - as it says on page 9 of the manual. I have just cut a very nice 10 x 1.5 thread.

Many thanks to all for taking the trouble to reply

Steve

I am having problems with metric threading on my Roundhead Student circa 1956 (a recent acquisition)

I realise that the half nut should be engaged permanently, but my results are appalling.

The first couple of passes seem to be OK but after that, the registering of the thread is way out, typically making cuts between the originals. After each cut, the saddle is returned by reversing the feed direction, leaving the half-nut engaged.

With the half-nut engaged, there is quite a bit of play/backlash on the saddle when attempting to turn the saddle handwheel, also there is a little end-float on the leadscrew during this operation.

Could this be the source of the problem?

I suspect a worn half-nut but have read that a replacement is not only outrageously expensive, but involves a major strip-down of lathe to get at the half-nut.

Does anyone have experience of this problem and it’s solution.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Steve

Can anyone suggest a suitable company who could move a 700kg lathe from Gloucester to Hampshire.

The quotes I have had are prohibitive.

Many thanks in advance

Problem solved.

Many thanks to V8Eng for putting me in touch with Remco. Very helpful in suggesting modifying one of their stock rubber resilient mounts.

My CP motor has 9 sided caps that fit into the rubber mount, Remco could only supply a 6 sided mount. However, there was enough thickness of rubber on this mount to allow cutting out a 9 sided hole with the use of a Stanley knife.

Result - super quiet motor. Many thanks to all.

Nick & Graham

Many thanks for your prompt replies.

As soon as I had clicked 'post' I found out from another site that as you say, there is only one lever.

Also, this lathe has (compared to the Myford) a very large 4 jaw chuck which I guess weighs a lot. Is changing chucks a problem at these weights?

Regards

Steve