Member postings for Alan Wood 4

I have seen spiral swarf threads quite often and does give a warm glow that there is no chip contamination.

I have fitted NewtonTesla controllers on the mill and lathe. The 'jog' function is very useful for back and forth incremental tapping when needed. While I have a controller on the lathe I still prefer to use a hand mandrel in the headstock sleeve.

It's been an interesting thread and I am glad I am not the only one in love with spirals.

(Speaking of which there is rumoured to be a new series coming to BBC4 in the New Year).

Bonne année

Alan

Morning all, comments noted.

I have no idea why subjectively the spiral flute seems to start easier and more plumb than a conventional combination of straight flutes.

I have looked at the physical aspects of each and my only conclusion is that initially the straight flute does not offer any resistance to tilting in the flute radial areas whereas the spiral presents a fully 'circular' radial contact when presented to the hole for tapping after a couple of turns. Not sure that makes sense but hopefully you can imagine what I mean.

The other positives are the need for only one tap per size and the more effective clearance of swarf via the spiral, hence its popularity in CNC manufacturing.

Spirals are similar to plug taps in that they cut a thread almost to their tip. This means that the 1.5D to 2D thread depth rule is met without excess depth on any blind hole being tapped. A taper and second tap would need a deeper hole. From a machining time and metal waste point of view this is a positive.

The 'quarter turn' back and forth incremental turn rule to avoid breakage of a conventional tap also seems more relaxed on a spiral which I am guessing must relate to better swarf clearance and a more distributed radial cutting action ? Old habits die hard however and I still tend to be reluctant to push my luck except in aluminium.

All a bit subjective but thanks for listening.

I am probably going to be shot down by model engineering royalty but I now only use spiral flute taps. (Not spiral point which is something different).

They are so much easier to set square/plumb without a taper or second tap when hand tapping and are a joy when in a mill or drill press. MSC is my prime source but I have never had issues with spirals from Rotagrip on Ebay.

I will now take cover and prepare for the broadsides .....

Just for you Michael I have added two more images of my anal shop. Hope you don't go into spasm ....

I figured that if I got things in a known and marked place now, it might help just give me a bit longer to play once the grey matter begins to fade.

The storage boxes are shoe storage boxes as per DunElm. These are incredibly tough and seem to be a very a very convenient size/aspect ratio for workshop related bits.

Yes I know it's sad.

I make custom concentinas for leadscrews and for DRO scale protection using polythene sheet (as per garden cloches) sealed using a heat sealer. Simply cut a strip wide enough and long enough to go round the item to be protected and then seal in place. Fasten off at each end of the item and it will compress and expand as needed. When it gets well grunged, work hardended or damaged I replace it.

Similarly all my silver steel is in custom narrow 13" poly bags with the size written on the bag with sharpie pen. Stops the rust and reduces frustration when trying do stock checks.

These are just some of the many uses of the heat sealer and I commend it to the house. See my album for images.

Thanks Chris, this is very useful to know and food for thought.

I currently have a fan heater only and it is wearing the bearings out on the meter so something better needed.

Thanks Chris, this seems like a very efficient means of heating the workshop.

It appears to need around 60W of DC power but what do you reckon your fuel consumption is ?

Can I use house heating oil as the fuel ?

Have you installed it external to the shop and ducted the hot air in ?

Alan

Chris

Can you explain the diesel powered heater concept to me. Does it create moisture that will rust tools ?

Alan

Hi Ken

Some images for you in my albums along with a dimensioned (very crude) sketch of the clamp.

If you need more let me know. It's all a bit heavy for posting out but if you are local to me (Newbury) we can make a plan.

Kind regards

Alan

Hi Robbo

Sent you a contact request to arrange this.

Alan

Howard at **LINK** might well have but play hard to get on price ...

I have a complete one that I rarely use if you wanted to borrow it to copy manufacture the missing parts.

Alan

Interesting comment from Bazyle about reactions. I am not consciously aware of having any allergic reactions to things but with increasing age maybe they are more likely to manifest.

My health fanatic daughter has, since my trouser clips session, been stuffing me with acidophilus bugs to, as she says, 'get my system back to normal with the necessary microbes'.

Lovely.

At the risk of going against the flow, they work superbly for clockmaking.

The issue is that the superglue is only effective at any air interfaces between the two materials and as mentioned cleanliness is essential. The earlier mentioned moisture from breathing on the glue is relevant.

Clockmaker Bill Smith suggested making a number of groves on the face of the 'chuck' to increase the number of air interfaces. See below. The superglue is painted onto the flats but not excessively and the clock wheel pressured into place using a centre in the tailstock and held as such for 5 minutes or so.

I have successfully machined some large diameter wheels using this technique from what were initial very horribly hacked profiles. Lots of ting ting tinging from the cutter but no BANG and duck.

The bond is a 'bu~~er' to break afterwards and needs a torch flame to part the 'chuck' and wheel.

Health and Safety on the fumes duly noted.

I can't see anything in the their catalogue but it might be worth a call to MSC help line as they are US owned.

See mscdirect.co.uk

I have used so called 'Angel Lights' from Ebay as an illuminator on my VMB mill and my drill press. They arrive with a plastic lens over them which easily comes off. They come in various diameter sizes.

As delivered they are designed to run off 12V (think they are for motor industry light clusters) but there is a small switching regulator in the lead so a lower supply is delivered to the cluster. I hot glued a small magnet to the regulator case and this keeps the leads out of the way when clagged to the machine casing.

I turned a lump of Acetol to fit the machine shaft with nylon lock screws with a grove for the cluster.

It is worth ordering a larger diameter than actually needed to avoid shadowing from the chuck.

First picture is with background lights off, second one with them on.

Update on Nelly the Elephant ..... on good advice from one of the subscribers I duly gave her 4 coats of Wickes MDF primer (not sure this is any different to any other primer but whatever).

A few days later I painted the first grey gloss top coat using Wickes Exterior Gloss. As the weather outside was not too brilliant I did the job in the workshop. The paint was oil based but not really smelly.

Woke up next day with an unstable feeling stomach which quickly evolved into a very serious 'trouser clip' session. As management had eaten everything I had in the prior 24 hours I can only put it down to the paint fumes.

Anyone else had similar 'experiences' ?

Alan

Hi Joseph

I have sent you a private message via the site to allow us to communicate.

You should see this in your messages in box.

Kind regards

Alan

Hello Joseph

I have spent a lot of my working life doing projects for Namdeb and De Beers Marine so I know your area well. Like you I also have an interest in amateur radio as well as engineering. I am due to be in Langstrand in March to see some old friends and wonder if you might have the kettle on ?

Kind regards

Alan G4EEE

After serious nagging from management I finally finished Nelly for the grandchild.

Well sometimes you have to do something different ......

Interesting reading. Two things : -

I once got a telling off from a local long time builder who saw me doing wall related renovating without a face mask. He told me that 60s era and earlier plaster suppliers often used asbestos as a bulking compound in their plaster mix. I have used a mask ever since.

The house had one or two wall cracks that no matter how often I filled them and painted over they came back. I solved the problem by hammering short sections of 1.6mm or 0.8mm printed circuit board edge ways on into the cracks at regular intervals. This stopped the differential movement between the two sides of the crack and since then they have never reappeared. Used this many times since with similar positive results. Any pcb manufacturer or electronic sub contract assembler will have scrap that they will give you for a cash contribution to their biscuit fund. PCB has countless other uses but that's another story.