Member postings for Neil Lickfold

I shortened my MT4 tool holders 40 mm on the MT4 end. But because they had a 10mm depth thread relief , I only needed to make a draw bar 30mm longer. This will let me change the tooling out with the need in most cases of raising and lowering the head or changing position to change a tool Im very happy it. Hindsight say's I should have as not had the relief at the top of the holders like I copied. The only holder I did not change was the precision drill chuck with an integrated MT4 to the chuck body.

https://www.nyccnc.com/super-glue-fixturing/

If you follow the link about 1/2 way down the page, he has a shopping list of the two types of tape that they recommend and the best super glues they have found. I can get the super glue he uses in the video as Loctite is sold here. For my test, I just used the Blue painters tape from 3M from the paint department from Bunnings, a home building supply company. Cleaning the surface with IPA  Isopropyl alcohol really made the tape stick quite well.

Neil

Edited By Neil Lickfold on 20/05/2018 10:41:08

Thanks for that .

I was thinking the same Eric. But after looking more closely, I noticed that the the tape does wrap around the sides for both the fixed block and the work piece. The function of wrapping around the corner does give it a lot holding power over just the double sided tape. Did a small test just using the Blue paint tape. Maybe the double sided tape was not as grunty as it could have been but the tape and super glue did hold a lot better. The other thing was, I used a scotchbrite pad to clean the surfaces of the fixed block and the workpiece, then the IPA . This made a really big difference in the ability of the tape to stick to the Ali test pieces. This cleaning also helped with the double sided tape. Maybe if i had a bigger test piece, the results of the double sided tape may have been better.

Does anyone know of any low melting plastics that could be used to cast around a part to create support and can be removed or softened in boiling water?

Neil

These are my main inserts for my Myford lathe and what I turn. This little insert is quite amazing. It does outer turn, fits my small boring bars, and will cut everything from Al to bearing races, including Ti. Technically it is a stainless steel grade,CCGT060202MP-CK-PR1425

My other mainstay turning insert is the TNGG160402R-S PR1125 (Wonder Insert) called a Wonder insert by the NZ seller. It really is just that. Like the other little insert, it will cut all materials including bearing races, and Ti. I mainly just get the R0.2mm inserts, as I often need a fairly sharp corner for so many things. The seller I buy from also does sell single inserts as well, so very helpful to the model market. I find that the smaller radius has less tool pressure loading. As long as the feedrate is 25% of the tool radius, it will give a very good surface finish..

For the DCMT11 holder I use these, they are an AL specific turning insert, but as long as the feedrate is not too high, cut steel very well also. Just awesome with plastics, as they are very sharp.

The last surprise was this 8mm( R4) button turning insert. I thought that it will chatter like no tomorrow and give a poor surface finish. But it comes up looking like a mirror. This I used on the bearing holder for the sensitive drill adaptor. Works really well on Al, not yet tried on steels yet.

I have given up on buying cheap. With the Mitsubishi inserts, the VP05RT grade is very similar to the Kyocera PR1425 grade and the PR1125 grade. The VP15RT is not as hard a coating.

Neil

So I found that the initial way I was oiling the saddle, due to the uneven length of the tubing and the slight height difference, ment that the rear slide got most of the oil and the front getting very little oil. Now I have both at the same length of tube, and have the oil pot in 2 places. One just above the level of the bed when not in use, and the other raised above under my tool shelf to give a gravity feed. I can also put the oil gun inside the oil spout lid to give a force flow of oil to clear away any chips etc.

elevated for supply

lowered for storage or when not required.

Neil

The link did not work for me.

Here is what I did. I used the #2BA oiler points to mount the plate. Got some M5 fully threaded bolts, and ran a #2BA die down about 6mm. Threaded on the M5 nyloc nuts with the nyloc end against #2BA thread. Drilled through with 1.5mm drill. These become the studs to mount the plate and the scale body. Made some spacer washer to get the plate level, the back end needed 2.2mm thicker washer compared to the front one. The Ali plate to clamp the scale to the barrel is held by a 0.03mm fit. Made a top hat from a piece of capscrew shaft, has a 4mm through hole and a 5.03mm od. The 5.03 is a press fit to the Ali clamp plate that was reamed 5mm and drill tapped M4 . The Ø5.03 is a nice slid fit in the scale oval slot, and a M4 capscrew keeps it in place as well. As the barrel key is worn, this allows for the rotary movement and not effect the readout of the scale. I used the other end of the mount as a length stop. With the rack and pinion barrel assembly, the barrel protrudes 3/16 of an inch. I made the clamp with 4.5mm recess to the front and drilled a 21mm through hole. Used a screw driver to open and get it onto the barrel. If I need to change back to the hand wheel and barrel , I will be limited in total travel by the 4.5mm of the clamp. I thought that I had the plate at a 30 deg angle . Truns out it is actually 32 deg lol measured with the protractor ap on my phone.lol

Neil

Front mount point

rear mount adjuster spacer

Ali clamp block, 0.03mm interference fit to hold in place

The most forward position with limit stop

Using, new to me , phone app,Smart tools Protractor, to measure the actual angle it ended up being.

Neil

An update on piston trimming and taking very fine cuts. So, since I got this postitive geometry PCD insert, I can now a make and fit the pistons for the F2C Diesel race engines. This cutter allows me to trim the piston dry, get a really good finish, and allows for less than 1um cuts on a piston. Cutting dry is a big time saver as they need to be clean and dry to get an idea of the fit point in the liner. I also added a continuous drip oil feed to the saddle to keep the bed wet with oil all the time. Makes it very consistent on the saddle movement.

Neil

Saddle oiler

Neil

I have a Myford S7 lathe with the Taper turning attachment mounted on the back. I don't use the taper turning attachment all that often, but still want that capability.

What recommendations or suggestions for a DRO system do people have?

Looking for a X and Y DRO setup if possible.

Thanks for any input.

Neil

Edited By JasonB on 13/05/2018 13:14:12

I only buy and use the 12.9 capscrews. Where you have the M6 screw, to secure a a lifting point, you could thread a piece of steel bar, wind it in to it is finger tight, then mark where you can drill a cross hole, and use a 6mm shackel to attach a chain or what ever else you want. The connection can also be made with a long grub screw, with enough sticking out to screw on the adaptor for a lifting something. You have room for at least a piece of 12mm something. You could also modify a capscrew , put a 6mm thread on one end, skim down the socket head(if it is too big) then drill the crosshole for a shackel also. Neil

I am looking at Centroid controllers for my next project. They seem to do one that allows the unit to be configured for a lathe. Not cheap, but looks to be a really robust system, the one on the converted Bridgeport that I saw was , and was a neat tidy conversion. They also have a cheaper option for DIY as well.

Hi Nick,

What is making that high pitch noise in the video's ?

Is that why you want the motor turned off ? or is there some other reason for the constant start stop of the motor?

Yeah the forward reverse and the breaking rate control and the acceleration rate control is just great with a VFD, and the programmed settings that can be made really is awesome. Mine is just box on the wall above the lathe, with the original on off forward reverse switch, is just doing the remote feed off the controller. So the original switch does on forwards/ Off/ On Reverse. The variable aspect is on the adjuster pot mounted on the front cover of the box. Then I have a micro switch that I attach with a magnet , that when activated, turns off the forward control. Then when I switch to reverse, it starts up and runs back. I use this for my thread depth stop when screw cutting inside parts. And now also use it for outer threads as well. Takes away the guess of when to stop. I don't run my S7any quicker than the 60hz in low drive top belt, so something like 700 rpm is the max I run. But the spindle is adjusted to give me the lowest possible error of roundness and spindle movement for trimming my pistons.

That is correct. Effective I have made it a pin chuck when it uses the full range of collets from Dremel and the other rotary tool people that have copied , making collets that cover from the very small to the 1/8 diameter. One of the things i did discover, was that the new collet nuts were not as well made as the older one that I am now using. The font taper is not that concentric to the threads on the 2 new ones that I brought. The same goes for the repaired drill chuck. The 1st few times I used it, it ran to look at true. Then when I tried it with a different sized (1mm drill) it was wobbly. I rotated the jaws inside body, so as it closed the jaws moved with the outer body, and found a position where it ran true to look at. What a pain. So it seems there is a concentricity issue in the parts of the mini drill chuck itself. My next mission, will be to make a copy of the parts , and just use the jaws and springs, to make a mini drill chuck that runs true over the range. I don't need any bigger than 1/8 inch from it anyway. I will have the keyed chuck arriving in a few weeks time anyway. But do like the convenience of the keyless chuck. My main use is for small holes under 1mm and allows to feel what is happening. The quill on the ZX45 mill just does not have the feel needed for small drills for me anyway.

I deliberately did not make it with a return spring, as I wanted to have the longest travel possible with the height and still using the 13mm capacity drill chuck. I could make a longer one, with a spring return, but then that would mean using a MT4 collet, or using the ER32 or ER40 collet chuck to hold the adaptor.

Neil

With the collets, I can not see any wobble at all. But with the chuck, you can see that it is not as good as a collet, but the chuck was a lot better after cleaning up the burs and damage , compared to before the chuck repair. I used it to drill 0.6mm oil hole in the conrods of 2.5 cc competition engines. I needed to get some parts made this weekend and latter this week and it has worked well today. The next rods I drill, ill try and do a video to show the concentricity and how it works. Neil

Thanks for the info on the 240-415v 3phase. Turns out , our local outfit that I brought my 220v VFD also sell a 415V model as well. So no need to change from star to delta. In my case, a ZX45 (RF45 clone), I am going to copy what I did on the lathe. So I will have braking on the motor for controlling the deceleration of the spindle, and control the initial start of the spindle at the same time. It will eliminate that rapid clunk of load on the gear box. But more important to me, is the use of micro switches to stop the spindle when setting a depth to tap to. It will just stop, and flick over to reverse and be quite consistent in the tapped hole depth. A bit like using a micro switch for thread cutting stop length on the lathe.

On the Bridgeport mill at work, the power feed motor,(X only ), coolant pump, lights and digital readout all come from a single phase supply. The 3phase is only for the spindle motor. It would be great if they could put a VFD on it, as it only has the belts and being able to adjust the speed at times is very handy. The other mills are Kondia with the Variable belt drive mechanism. I like them purely because of the variable speed. If a cutter chatters, just wind up or down until the chatter is gone is a great help.

Either way , there is no wrong way to get power to your mill, it just depends on what you want to spend. Some prefer to get 3ph on at their workshop, and then just use the gear like industry does normally.

Neil

So I have on order a Drill adaptor, but is still weeks away. So in the meantime, set about and made one that can use the Dremel collets, or the MultiPro drill chuck. The thread looks to be 7mm X 40 TPI. Mine used a scrap ejector sleeve 12od and 8mm id. A piece of 8mm silver steel was used for the shaft, and the 7X40 TPI thread. Drilled the end with a 9/64 drill and drilled 25mm deep . The front inner taper is from the centre drill, as that is 60 deg included. I put the centre drill to finished depth after the 9/64 drill. A carbide 2mm drill, put the hole through the pin for the anti rotation pin. Used a 2mm roll pin and cut a slot down the 8mm shaft . No return spring has been installed. This one has about 32mm of travel. The Al cover is a slight interference fit, so it can be easily removed with a small amount of heat.

Used a slide hammer to take apart the drill chuck to repair damage to the jaws which it has had from new. Cleaned them up and pressed back together on an Arbour press

Ready to Press back together again.

Neil

Here is a sketch of the added seal area. The gap is showing the small clearance, and will be a solid fill, I just drew an out line.

Neil

Ian, the ones at work use an induction coil to very quickly expand the body and not the tool. With carbide tooling it generally is not an issue. But sometimes we do see HSS tools getting stuck. It is like they have micro friction welded themselves into the holders. With the HSS tools, we put them in the freezer , and hit it on high with the induction heater, suspending the assembly by the tool to be removed. With carbide, we just heat it , and the tool just falls out. Generally the tool is only replaced because it has failed in some way or is damaged , or dull. Either way, in most cases, the tools that are removed , never get used again. Shrink holders are really awesome, but there is a new Hydraulic tool holder that holds just as well for concentricity, but with the added vibration dampening qualities. These new hydraulic chucks improve on surface finish obtained, and also extend the tool cutting life.

Neil

Thanks for the explanation Jon. Yes mine is the shorter table, and I have chosen to limit the X travel so the Bed does not go pass the cross slide block edges. But with the full travel, it was 610mm, but the end of the table over travels on the cross slide block. Yes it is about a 60mm spacer that is required. My chuck selection, is a low level self centring 4 jaw, and a regular 4 jaw as well. The 3jaw chucks I have are the standard taller rmodels, and as you point out, can run out of room real fast, I also have a ER40 low level collet chuck .

It is still a work in progress, so some other changes may happen yet.

Neil

Thanks for that John.

Neil