Member postings for Nick Wheeler

Thanks very much Jim, you're a star.

That would explain why using 1 didn't work.

I can finish my adapter tomorrow.

Could somebody please post a picture of the sticker on the splashback that lists the threading dial positions?

Like a fool I forgot to note what they were before I binned the splashback(I don't have room for it on the bench), and although I have the change gears set for the 1.5mm pitch thread I need, I have already ruined two workpieces.

Mine's a metric lathe if that helps.

Thanks,

Nick

Once you've tried all the setting up and faffing about milling it, you'll see why the grinder/belt sander is a good idea. Of course if you need an exact radius/position then more accurate methods become worthwhile

Mark out, drill the holes, bolt a few together, rough out the end radii with an angle grinder and finish on a belt sander. Add the slots with the angle grinder.

That's OK for half a dozen or so, but life is too short.

Have as many as you need laser cut and spend the time on something important.

Edited By Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 08/01/2016 18:21:42

Interesting how no one has said anything about size: by the time you've fitted the table, workholder and work, you rapidly run out of room to actually do anything.

Having recovered several of these things back to the local Aixam dealer, I would suggest that they make Reliants look like high quality, high performance, long lasting, good value engineering. Yes, they really are that bad!

Norman,

I'm sure you know this, but the best way of getting rid of stuff is to not do it alone! Be ruthless, and dispose of it immediately.

For our small machines pretty much any oil will be suitable.

The main reason for not using gearbox oil is it stinks.

Why would you want to repaint that?

I agree, although it's three parts as you have to include the lathe in all this. It seems daft to me to expect to buy something like this and have it be exactly on height. After all, shimming ordinary toolbits is SOP.

And is it really that difficult to do? A lick on a belt sander for the bottom of the parting tool, and a quick file of the equivalent area and base of the toolpost should get it really close and take about as much time as you'd spend reading these posts.

Have you tried the new toolpost in place with a holder for height?

I have a Myford size Dixon type on mine and haven't modified the topslide. Instead, I made a ring to go around the existing boss(to give the QCTP a bit more mounting area) and a stepped nut to use the existing stud that centres the post. This means I can still use the original 4way post for things like my large parting tool and and the knurling tool.

The tools that were bought for, and used on specific jobs aren't the problem for me as they've paid for themselves. It's the tools that looked useful and turned out to be a waste of money that annoy me; the 3/8" Dewalt 10volt cordless impact driver looked really handy, but has actually ended up being a battery donor for the similar sized drill that I use all the time.

I learnt a long time ago that the only way I don't lose pens is to use a nice one, Having a customer sign the paperwork with a nice stainless steel Parker also looks much more professional than a chewed Bic.

Small torches are like pocket knives; I use them often enough that I rarely leave leave the house without them.

Asking a craft forum why anyone would make things like that is very odd!

Sheep can't really be trusted on motorway verges though!

The original phrase does not require that the experience or the knowledge has to have anything to do with engineering. Which is exactly what makes this forum interesting and useful.

How about some self-adhesive stick-on foam to stop the rattle? Then you can do something important.

You can prove that? With actual proof that doesn't require wearing a foil helmet?

I had mine delivered to work, where they unloaded it with the forklift.

I then broke the crate down, and removed the compound slide, tailstock, splashguard; basically as much stuff as possible. Two of us then put it in the boot of my estate car.

A different two of us unloaded it at home, carried it across the road and then slid it down the cellar steps on a plank. We did use a strop to steady it.

Then we picked it back up, carried it through the cellar and placed it on the bench where it lives.

It's perfectly doable like this, but it would have been easier 15years ago when I worked in a warehouse, and carried heavy stuff around all day.

I have a Myford size Dickson copy on my WM250.

I made a ring the depth of the boss on the compound slide, big enough for the toolpost to sit on. Then I made a stepped nut in the style of the lathe's original for the top.

That probably took 15 minutes to do, and the resulting assembly easily parts off 30mm stainless.

I bought my 250V-F at the Alexandra show last year and there was £100 of the posted show price without asking. As I was upgrading from a mini-lathe I already had some appropriate tooling, but the discussion meant they added a couple of chuck backing plates too.

Which all amounted to roughly 10% off.

And I hadn't intended to buy a new machine when I left the house that morning!