Member postings for Nick Hulme

I've cut my own with off the shelf cutters, presumably the pressure angle for those didn't match either.
But they work perfectly well and since model engineers are so blase about variation metric pitches........ :D

A pair of proximity switches in series with on the linear movement and one on the screw driving the linear way would give excellent positional repeatability and long service life.

Things can be easy, it's just that things are rarely Cheap AND Easy!

My FB-2 will run in reverse, great for reversing out taps etc. but since the oil pump is a helical screw connected to the motor shaft you wouldn't want to run it in reverse for any length of time.

I built a belt drive speed increaser for engraving and micro-machining, it cost me an afternoon and about £15.

John Stevenson once proved, by knurling a taper, that calculation for formed knurling is not required for adequate engineers

No, it's caused by knurling a material which can not cold flow as far as would be required for a full knurl.

Yeah, it's a shame they went through that learning process, I'm pleased to say that my X7 is as square as my DTI is able to detect and is astoundingly rigid, it almost puts the wind up you the speed it shifts material! :D

Acetone cleans it off quite quickly although might affect the base material - always do your test patch!

I must mention George at Emvio Engineering who is the UK importer for Syil, George has been an absolute treasure throughout the process, from enquiry right through to commissioning, his support and assistance is brilliant and has really helped to smooth the process right up to the first cuts under CNC control.

Edited By Nick Hulme on 28/03/2019 10:58:05

This video gives a hint of what the Syil X7 is capable, here it's cutting a 3mm deep pocket in 316, entry was spiral then full 3mm DOC using a 10mm 4 flute carbide roughing endmill with 33% step over at 1170rpm and 126 mm/min with very reasonable noise levels, the mill noise was not noticeable above the background noise outside my workshop.

https://youtu.be/SvzSgXN-YW4

Edited By JasonB on 27/03/2019 13:28:10

If you're the kinda guy to stick you hand in the working area you're definitely best off without.

Consider that a Pressure Washer presents most of the same dangers to the hard of thinking without any of the safeties!

Although I did look at Tormach and Skyfire at the start of this journey I don't think the X7 is intended as competition for either, the X7 is far more rigid and massive and has a base casting, not a stand.

It is my personal machine and will be used for motorcycle parts for me but I will be doing some commercial work with it, the commercial stuff is covered by NDAs so I'm not at liberty to give details without the permission of the IP owners until the products are released into the UK market.

It's the Syil X7 with 12 tool changer, the big 4th (that's the hand wheel on the tailstock!) , Siemens 808d Advanced controller and Siemens servos and drives, the factory were very kind in including the laser ballscrew mapping at no extra charge.
The massive column and base castings were a significant part of the appeal of the X7, the absence of proprietary gubbins you can't buy elsewhere was also a consideration.
I've had my nose to the grindstone replacing the shower enclosure at the behest of SWMBO this weekend and this morning, back to work on the garage today! :D

That's it in position, just the complete rewire of the workshop to do, the cable trays are going in next week :D

It's worth looking at how the original Action Man figures joints were articulated, with a combination of hinges and swivels they give realistic articulation with lass complexity than ball joints.

I'd go with a set of M2 chasers for one of my die heads.

If you cut away from the shoulder there are no worries about speed.

You can use thrust bearings to eliminate any backlash from the adjusting collar system, you do need to machine the cross slide end plate casting to accommodate the bearings though.

It's a significant geometrical compromise and not a very clever way to use a dual taper collet.

It actually works perfectly well with square, hex and octagonal