Member postings for Neil Lickfold

In NZ, milk tanker drivers earn more per annum than toolmakers do. Not saying there is no skill in driving a tanker, but it certainly does not take 4 years.

Over time, the skilled turners and millers have lost in wages I view cnc and cam as part of the turners and millers tool box. It used to be 3x the minimum wage, now it is close to 1.5x minimum wage. Mainly due to cheaper overseas companies and their fast turn around. My son got some work quoted, and then a place in Asia could do the job of 10 parts, and deliver within 1 week for 1/2 the price of getting a local shop doing the job, based off a large batch. Now with the flight restrictions some of those places can't deliver in time is creating work locally. But wages are not going up. The current attitude is you are lucky just to still have a job.

There are a few places that pay well, they have a low turnover of staff too.

We have been hit by phone scams. +67655 77017 , 82385, 94423, 94130 , 94701 , 93226,

They all come from the above area code, and the last 5 digits changes. The 1st 4 were in one day alone. They call, and then hang up quite quickly in the hope you will call them back. Then they make money by charging your account on the call back. I did answer one as I was right by the phone. The hung up of course immediately.

They do this to land lines and to cell phones.

Neil

Make sure that the cutter is in the collet to the full length of the collet or the length of the diameter of the cutter. Some collets are counter bored from the back. Some ER holders or spindle adapters also have end stops provided or a thread to make one as well. They are to set the cutter to the same length when changed. Also will stop a cutter moving back into the collet. You almost can not over tighten the ER25 collet assembly with the 2 spanners provided. Their max closing torque is very high.

You can buy quad rings which are square section orings and in Viton. As far as I know, most oils won't break down the Viton rubber. They come in 2 hardness grades as well, around 90 shore the harder one, and around 70 shore the softer one. They used to be different colours as well, but I think they are all black now.

If you figure out how to stop it leaking around the pump handle I will be all ears.

I found the source of the leak for mine in the patent drawing. There is no seal between the lifting rod of the pump and bushing that it runs in. So I guess over time it wears loose or was a bad initial fit, but mine is very old. So the oil will leak out of it over time. I am thinking that it has a certain amount of clearance to allow air back into the can when the oil is pumped out of it, and that the length of the bushing allows for when it falls over, not to leak straight away. So my problem is solved, thanks to the patent drawings.

Thanks, Neil

Edited By Neil Lickfold on 08/06/2021 11:49:37

Is it leaking from the thread seal, or is it leaking from around the pump lever when placed on it's side?

Mine has to be stored upright. I have no oil cans that can be stored sideways. Mine all leak from around the pump lever.

When I hear about Hydrogen gas supplies, I think of the Hindenburg .

Having made my own spindles for a Cue making lathe, I can tell you, it is cheaper to just buy a machine and rework it of need be. In my case, no one was offering an ER40 collet spindle for the Taig based cue making lathes that were on the market at the time. I also made a second one that takes the 5c collets. Again, would have been far cheaper to have bought it of they were making them at the time, but 10 years ago that was not the case.

I have not seen the video, but from what is being described, it won't be precision at all. There is a reason that commercial machines are expensive, as there is a lot of time goes into checking parts etc and they need to be made on accurate machines. Yes people can scrap slide etc, but that take time and is a highly skilled thing to learn.

To get good precision from the mini lathes etc, they work best when they are at an even temperature. Yes some cheaper lathes need some attention to make them right, but the time you spend correcting what little may not be right or it maybe and your not aware of it, is still far quicker and more accurate than a scratch build. I had a cheaper lathe, stripped it down, stoned some of the bed area that was a little rough, recut the saddle plate with the cross slide dovetail,(it was a little out of square) and then recut the top slide dovetails as well, not parallel, and now have a very accurate machine for facing and for cutting short tapers with the refurbished top slide. This is all way quicker than starting from castings or fabricated parts or from 3d printed metal parts.

Keep thinking and see where you end up. There is a plethora of lathe ideas out there that people have made. But all of them cost way more than any mini lathe I have seen for sale.

The VFD for my S7, has setting for acceleration and decelleration and was set for me initially from the shop that sold both the VFD and the motor. They highlighted the settings page so that I could adjust them if required. I also added a micro switch for when I am thread cutting. It will stop the motor and decellerates nicely and is very consistent in the depth at which it stops. I always have a thread relief when thread cutting, internal or external. I use the original Myford switch box and use the on off switch for the direction the motor is running in. The box itself is mounted away from the oil chips etc. It is at eye height when using the machine.

I do like the compactness of the one unit you have and how quick and easy the whole installation was from start to finish. Mine took more than a day to install the 3phase motor alone, but the hook up of the unit was plug and play like you have. Sadly the guy at the shop I bought my set up from is no longer working there, so the service of getting a pre programmed vfd for the motor and application is very much being missed.

A great video as well.

Thanks, Neil

I always aim the coolant between the wheel and the workpiece , and use a nozzle that covers the entire wheel width. So I don't use the round nozzle from the lockline kit but use the wide blade type and modify the width etc to create the fan I need to suite the wheel and the job. Surface or Cylindrical, it is the same basic principle. Internal wheels are alot more difficult to aim the coolant correct. And like all have said, the direction of the wheel drags the coolant with it. Grinding, it is important to have a good filter and supplying clean coolant. Often bad surface finishes come from contaminated coolant that gets between the wheel and the workpiece, and will leave either a radial line like a mini gouge line or on the surface, will leave a line corresponding to the piece of junk that either went through while grinding, or got stuck onto the wheel and it keeps repeating this short marks of a deeper grinding score. Looks like a newly dressed wheel that was not cleaned after dressing look.

Al 2024 has a very high cyclic fatigue strength, but is very expensive compared to a lot of other alloys. I was told with Al made parts, it's not if it will fail, it is when will it fail. It is why aircraft need a lot of inspections. In NZ was a company making Al freight truck trailers , but had a lot of issues with cracking of the main chasis frames. It was from loads that were just centre placed like they did with the steel frame trucks. There are many stories about equipment being damaged by the vibration of the track joins on the cargo being freighted by trains over long distances. The best part is that the cracks have been detected long before any catastrophic failure.

I bought a Sunnen precision bore gauge from the UK. It was sent via UPS courier service. The package weighed 12 kg and was 148 pounds, but did arrive on a tuesday and was sent on thurday. So I was very happy to recieve the item so fast, considering the covid etc.

What year was this one made? Looks kinda similar in the frame.

I have an old unknown brand of 0 to 1/2 inch micrometer in 1 thou steps, 25 thou per revolution . Does anyone know what country it may have been made in, and what approximate years these were made? It does have an adjustable thread band, and the nut is split into 3. It also has a constant pressure ratchet on it as well.

Thanks in advance for any information about it.

Neil

Titanium is a very poor conductor of heat. Which is why it will work harden very quickly. Some say treat it like stainless steel, and to a point that is true. Sharp tools with relatively high feed rates. But you have to keep the cutting edge tool. So they use through coolant drills etc. The only way to keep the heat low Ti is sharp tools and going slow rpm. The carbide tools as long as they are sharp will last about 5 times that of a hss drill before it needs resharpening. Some coated drills like the gold coated , can pick up with the Ti. There is a coating for Ti and it is a browny black colour. The other coating is a silvery colour as it is a diamond like coating. Uncoated carbide works well too , if it is the shiny one for Al. As you drill it, it will feel a little tough but easy if that can make sence. Then when it starts to work hardend, it will feel hard to push the drill, and it will squeel a little too. That means that the drill is dulling off or the speed is too high or not enough coolant or feeding too slow. With a 5mm drill you want to feed from 2 thou per rev to 4 tho per rev. On at 400 rpm you will be drilling at a feedrate of 1-1-/2 inches per min (40mm per min) to 3/4 inches per min(20mm per min) So your 8mm hole will be drilled in 12 seconds to 24 seconds as a guide example.

Neil

All photo's are in my album Sunnen.

My notes to friend who has a gauge like this, incase he needs to give it a clean etc.

Here are some photos of tools etc to repair the sunnen gauge. The wedge shaped piece of 3/16 rod is to undo the 2 latches that hold both sides of the cases together. These go into the case through the 2 top capscrew holes, from the head end. The side with the long taper, follows the outer wall of the case, while the shorter taper is against the latch. The turned section of the 3/16 rod is 3.8mm diameter(Ø0.15 inches) and about 1/4 inch long. Carefully insert the rod until it reaches the latch, and gently push. You will hear it click and clunk. The LH side latch is a bit restricted by the shaft for the setting lock. Both latches can be undone. Before the shells can can apart, quite a bit needs removing first.
The spring that runs through both sides needs to be undone or removed before separating the shells. 2 counter sunk screws in the base, and the end plates and the rods removed as well as the side tool holder. 2 screws securing the inner to the front only need to come off,if the smaller side shell is to be removed or the mechanism is removed completely. I used the 4 long capscrews as handles to remove the large side cover. There are 4 dowels in each corner, so may need a little wriggle to seperate.Great care is needed not to damage any of the very fine wires or the indicator arms/needles or the flexure spring assembly. Not shown in the pictures is the long piece of 3/8 unc threaded rod, to hold the mechanism as it comes out of the small side shell and is used to place the mechanism back into the small shell side.
Putting back together, after service/clean of the mechanism.
When the mechanism is mounted on the wood block and suiteable 3/8 screw,(for easier clean and service) eyeball the front 2 screws and see if the size adjustment handle and 1/2 bushes look like they will line up with the case.I used the 2 long screws to assist in the position. Adjust the handle until it does.
I used wood blocks to elevate the gauge to protect the gauge fingers from the bench for assembly and taking apart.
Using a bit of 3/8 rod as a handle, carefully place the unit into the case.Be mindful of the sprung flexure side on indicator arm side. Try to hold onto the solid part of the mechanism frame. It has to sit on the ledges in the bottom of the shell and you will see the other areas that need to align, like the key holes for the markers and the 2 front frame capscrews. Insert base mechanism screw loosely. Next stand upright and insert and just nip the front frame scews.
Set the latches to the open position, and insert the 4 corner dowels.
Place second shell on and loosely insert base mechanism screw.
Close the latches with a allen key or suiteable rod from the threaded insert side of the top two screw holes.
Insert the 4 long capscrews for the case and initailly just nip up. Tighten the front 2 mechanism screws and then 4 case screws. Then tighten the base mechanism screws . Check that the gauge moves from the finger.
Place the long spring in between the 2 floating plates. I used a piece of wire to draw it through after 1 side was attached. Then proceed to assemble all the other parts that need to be added.