Here is a list of all the postings Nick Wheeler has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.
Thread: What air compressor should I buy? |
27/12/2020 12:39:49 |
Bin the fittings it came with and replace them with standard PCL ones that are available anywhere |
Thread: Workshop flooring material |
26/12/2020 22:16:18 |
When you do drop something, shine a torch/inspection lamp along the floor rather than down onto it. Paint the floor a different colour to the parts you're likely to drop - finding a small steel or aluminium part on a grey floor often turns into a party game |
Thread: Boxing Day Tidying |
26/12/2020 15:12:38 |
Posted by Steviegtr on 26/12/2020 14:21:00:
I find that i save too much stuff that should be binned. Then in a fit of a cleanup i throw loads of things away. Only to find a few weeks later i could have used some of it, but now gone. Doh.
That's never happened to me. What I found, before I trained myself not to be a hoarder, was that I'd spend ages sorting through piles of stock that was always slightly too small for the job, or discover that the I've got one of those somewhere was worse than the part I was hoping to replace. Now, I bin removed parts when the job is complete, and small pieces of stock that I can't hold join them. Saves time, space and frustration. |
Thread: Christmas Disasters! |
26/12/2020 09:27:14 |
Posted by J Hancock on 26/12/2020 09:00:49:
My mate was narrowly missed by the unwrapped food-mixer Xmas present he had bought for his wife. Is that good, or bad? Not enough information - was the mixer damaged? |
Thread: Cheap Ultrasonic Cleaners |
19/12/2020 10:19:31 |
Posted by James Alford on 19/12/2020 08:30:58:
I was given what is now quite an old Aldi, £20.00 ultrasonic cleaner. It is one of the small, plastic-bodied machines. With a proper cleaning fluid, or just washing up liquid on lighlty soiled parts, it has proven invaluable for cleaning things like a distributor, carburettor, door locks mechanisms, screws, door hinges and the workings of a windscreen wiper motor, all form an Austin Seven.
I have a similar, although slightly bigger, machine. It's normally full of a washing-up liquid solution because I use it for cleaning jewellery, watch bracelets, spectacles etc.
But I do use it on car parts, and swap to one of the water soluble degreasers. This did a good job on 3 really grotty E-type carburetors, although it wasn't a quick job. That didn't really matter, as reassembling the whole car wasn't a quick job |
Thread: Grizzly ? .......... not just a lathe. |
17/12/2020 21:50:36 |
Posted by norman valentine on 17/12/2020 21:06:23:
I can't understand it, and I am a native English speaker. How about some engineering GIBBERISH? Edited By Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 17/12/2020 21:51:48 |
Thread: Toolpost grinder for ML7 |
13/12/2020 20:10:50 |
My electric die grinder could be mounted in a very similar way. I dislike air tools both for the noise they and the necessary large compressor make, and the hose is a nuisance.. |
11/12/2020 22:17:59 |
I bought a very similar tool to David, and fitted it to the vertical slide:
which allows all sorts of adjustments, even with the motor turning. But it is a bit off a nuisance to set up, so it spends most of its time in a QCTP holder:
which I did by bolting a piece of 1/2" square bar to the clamp supplied. That slides in the slot in the holder, and the whole thing is ready to use just like any other tool. I mainly use it for the fluted knobs I prefer over knurled ones: but it also drills cross holes and off centre ones in the face of parts with no extra setting up or measuring. I do need a better way of headstock dividing than blocking the chuck jaws; an electronic dividing attachment off the spindle gear is the plan. That will make partial slots easy |
Thread: Micro Milling/Drilling Machine CMD10 |
03/12/2020 12:50:47 |
Why didn't the drawbar retain the chuck? |
Thread: Backplate for ER32 chuck |
03/12/2020 12:06:02 |
Have Warco stopped selling suitable backplates? I kept the collet chuck when I upgraded to a WM250 from a mini-lathe at an ME show. Part of the discussion with the salesman was what I wanted the lathe for, and what I already had. Two backplates were included as part of the deal. |
Thread: New Lathe at Lidl |
01/12/2020 11:11:56 |
Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 01/12/2020 10:56:02:
My first lathe was one these: (Image from lathes.co.uk) Worked fine within its envelope. A bit noisy though. The Lidl one should be fine for small bowls, tool handles and candle sticks like I used to make. Rod We've still got one somewhere. As the only wood turning I do is for handles, and that is really rare, I just use the metal lathe |
Thread: Calipers - Dial v digital |
01/12/2020 10:13:25 |
Posted by Speedy Builder5 on 01/12/2020 07:02:51:
I do like Dial callipers, but of course you would need one in metric and another in imperial - or would one? Has anyone seen a digital dial calliper where the analogue face of the dial could change between the two measurement systems. That would be a neat idea. Its a bit like the speedo on your car, do you prefer dial or digital ? Dials are good for approximate readings from a quick glance. Speedos and other instrumentation are excellent examples.
Digital is for when an actual, specific number is required. Good for precise, stable measurements, less so for changing ones.
Most of my work is done with a digital caliper. I bought a set of micrometers that got from 0 to 100mm and have never used the bigger two. I also have a 0 to 1" micrometer so I don't have to convert imperial into metric. |
Thread: Giant Vise __ build video |
30/11/2020 22:13:27 |
There was some nice pin striping on it too. |
Thread: Workshop temperature - cold |
29/11/2020 20:32:48 |
Posted by Thor on 29/11/2020 16:20:38:
I too would leave my workshop if the temperature dropped to 12 deg.C. As Henry says, depends on what you are doing, if hacksawing a large piece of steel 15 deg. would be warm enough, but usually a bit higher. I can open the door to the outside if necessary. 12°C is about the right temperature for me to switch to a long sleeved shirt when working. I try not to do any jobs that aren't actually work when the temperature approaches freezing.
I would much rather work in cooler temperatures than ones much over 20°C |
Thread: Suggestions for lathe-only projects? |
29/11/2020 20:00:30 |
The ER collets aren't fussy about size, so you can use them for work holding and for unusually sized tools. And a set of square and hexagonal collet blocks come in really handy for other jobs like making squares, cross holes, flats and hand finishing |
28/11/2020 18:27:08 |
Posted by William Ayerst on 28/11/2020 15:33:20:
I spent a bit of time in the workshop and made myself a T-bolt from an M8-coach bolt with the mushroom head turned down with two flats, and the top flattened out - it's given me the confidence that I can at least do that bit if I get a slide or a vice which doesn't have nuts or bolts included.
A few T-nuts can be made easily and quickly with a hacksaw and file. If you want more than that, then turn as many top-hats as you need and file on the flats for the bigger slot. |
Thread: Non-renewable energy |
27/11/2020 11:46:54 |
Posted by J Hancock on 27/11/2020 11:34:48:
Nuclear was/is the 'way to go' but a certain policy decided to destroy heavy industry, sell everything and burn all the gas to make electricity instead of using it solely for domestic heating. Wind has a place but ,as today, barely lights a candle even if we "quadrupled" it. Mr 'J's words. Solar ? Won't boil an egg at night. Hydro. Ignored. Why ? Geothermal ? Whicn leaves , coal.
Hydro isn't ignored. But you can't just plonk a water wheel across a brook and call it a power station. I suspect that all of the potential sites for hydro-electric plants in the UK already have them.
As the numbers show, none of the lauded renewable sources are replacements for steam turbine power stations. But inelligent use of them would make significant reductions in their emissions. Unfortunately, intelligent long term integrated policies are not things our governments are any good at |
Thread: Whats the correct size clamp kit for the mini mill? |
26/11/2020 14:00:39 |
I bought mine from Cronos about 15 years ago.
It uses T-nuts that fit the slots well at 11 and 17.5mm wide, with M10 hardware.
The hardware and clamps are much bigger than most jobs need, and get in the way.
Every time I use them, I tell myself it's past time that I made some new nuts and clamps using M6 threads, like in Harold Hall's articles/book. I notice that Arceuro do smaller step blocks that would be more suitable for this size clamps. |
Thread: Suggestions for lathe-only projects? |
25/11/2020 22:58:54 |
Posted by Steviegtr on 25/11/2020 22:07:24:
All the above are just another tool.
More importantly, most of them are sized to specific jobs - pin punches, filing buttons, hole punches etc - and are probably best made when you need them. Make one of each so you know how and move on. Otherwise, you burn through material and end up with lots tools that never get used. Like the machinist jacks I made when I first got the mill 15 years ago. I've never used them, and have recently converted one into a tool height gauge when my digital one died.
My suggestion would be to look around the house/car/bike/garden and see what you can improve or repair. Handles and knobs are a good bet; you could quickly develop your own house style. Edited By Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 25/11/2020 23:01:20 |
Thread: School Workshop |
25/11/2020 12:51:00 |
Posted by Circlip on 25/11/2020 11:33:08:
Wonder if it's classed as "Metalwork" and "Woodwork" or lumped into "Art and Design?" Does it really matter? Designing and building their own stuff is what matters. Doing it with modern materials and techniques is also important. |
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