Member postings for john carruthers

Yes we did a bit of brass/bronze casting with a little Vortex kiln. Mainly pommels and quillons for viking swords. The first few were rubbish, full of holes and crud, but they gradually improved. The first attempt was in a mate's cellar, no vents, very silly, his eyes went green. After that we moved to the outside loo.

Totally agree pgk, had Chippendale access to modern glues and finishes he would have used them in an instant.
We often had to replace joinery in conservation areas, as you say, so long as it looked right and was sympathetic to the original it usually passed.

Does no one drill and chop mortices any more? I had limited access to a mortising machine so always removed as much waste as possible before showing it a chisel.

mini lathe handwheel mod;
http://www.toolsandmods.com/lathe/mini-lathe-leadscrew-handwheel

Windscreen washer pump? or, as I rigged at work; a hanging putty bucket with a spout,and a 1/4" hose with a little tap on the end ?

Nick, have you tried the local model engineering society? It sometimes takes a while for information to disemminate through the grape vine.

If you download NThreadP.exe you can enter your lead pitch and gears then it will work out a train for you...


http://www.denfordata.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=2997

Know anyone with an oxygen bottle? fresh ally oxidises really fast to Al2 O3, tough stuff.

Finally gotaroundtu making some long bolts to lock my tailstock and top slide so I don't have to keep faffing with Allen keys.

The pulleys on mine came with the machine, they are 2 x 12mm wide V with root diameters of 47mm, 34mm, and 22mm. The lay shaft just runs in a pair of Picador standards.The motor is a 1/3 HP with a 35 dia pulley driving the layshaft with a 135mm dia pulley. I have now rigged the motor on an overhead bracket so the weight of the motor tensions the belt but it's easy to swap speeds. It also prevents the weight of the motor twisting the bed by hanging off the back as per the recomended set up. I believe the drive set came from Flexispeed originally? but Chronos do a range of similar pulleys etc.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/95073912/fm%20pulleys.JPG

Here's a neat idea; Lathe in a Box....
https://sites.google.com/site/flexispeedlatheinabox/

Edited By john carruthers on 06/04/2015 09:54:35

/meteor%20II%20manual.zip

Here's the manual for the Flexispeed Meteor II, (not exactly an epic publication).

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 06/04/2015 12:40:19

Hi James, mine came with a 3 step pulley and countershaft, works fine.
http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/sites/7/images/member_albums/144829/594062.jpg

I made a polisher from an old wiper motor and box with a pwm board for speed control. Worked fine on the 8" but struggled with the 10" mirror (F6.4).

May I suggest you pop along to your local Astronomical Society meetings and try a few scopes out before you buy? Most clubs have scopes they loan to beginners. Try the various instruments for weight and working height. Here's a list of UK societies...
http://fedastro.org.uk/fas/members/members-a-z/

back to the tallow....
we used it as a flux when soldering up leaded lights, just scratched the joints and wiped them with tallow.

I also had the great fortune to work alongside an old guy Maurice 'Mo', who did his time as a 'mill and engine wright'. He took a lot of knowledge to the grave.

After spending a couple of days trying to get a recalcitrant long belt to stay on they called for Mo. He had us shut the doors and windows, spin up the drive pulley, then squirted it with an oil can.
"see where that oil went boy? that's where your other pulley should be."

Thanks Ketan and Eric, just what I was looking for.
I hope to be in touch soon

Edited By john carruthers on 02/04/2015 15:44:29

I hope to acquire a C3 Super lathe in the next few weeks and as 'beginnings are important times' I wonder which replacement spindle bearings would be better, angular contact or tapered roller bearings?

I don't mind paying for better quality parts as I feel they are the heart of the machine.

Many myths abound about glass cutting.
I was a glazier for 30 years from the age of 14. (and have the stitches to prove it).

For circles use a decent compass cutter with a well oiled axle and not too much side play in the wheel, take a couple of spins to leave a 1.5" or so ring of waste (cullet). Tap the final cut open and 'run' it all round, either with a wooden point or a knuckle. Then make a small tangential cut and tap it open to spring off the last ring off like a circlip. This leaves a small point where the final cut meets up which can be stoned down or is more often lost in the pollishing.

The wheel axles are sintred bronze and apreciate being kept in thin oil or parafin as prefered.
If the wheel has a 'skip' (flat spot) replace it, or the cut will litterally be 'hit and miss' with gaps where the vent can run off instead of following the line of micro fractures produced by the wheel pressure.
A good cut can be heard, it has a particular hiss, rather than a scratch. Old glass has a ruined surface, cuts have a greater chance of running off.

For bench work in a cutting shop a diamond if usually used. A wheel can wear out in a day, sometimes in a morning if you have several tons of glass to cut to standard sizes. Diamonds are sent off once a year to be reset onto a new point.

A diamond or grit fed core drill can produce discs. Keep it wet and cut half way through from each side making sure the bit is square to the glass, the final break through leaves a little sprue round the edge, very sharp.