Member postings for Bodger Brian

So did I, a long time ago. I was quite pleased with it - there didn't appear to be any slop or backlash, there was nothing wrong with the finish & it did what I expected. Perhaps a combination of my naivety, innocence & inexperience meant that there is/was something wrong with it that I haven't spotted yet.

Just curious - what aspect of it disappointed you?

Brian

In my naivety, I assumed it was but now you mention it....

Must check out other fastenings this evening.

Brian

Thanks for the suggestion. I can't check it at the moment as I'm at work but definitely something to investigate later.

Brian

Nick - potentially, yes. But I'm sure they're related to the lathe in some way, as a) there are no other non-lathe related parts with the other bits & bobs & b) I've never had the need to buy or possess gutter bolts.

Brian

In the box where I keep the change wheels for my mini-lathe, I recently found a handful of square nuts. I think they're imperial sized, 3/8" square x 1/8" thick with a thread size that I have no way of measuring.

I'm fairly sure they are related to the lathe in some way but the big question is - what are they for?

I think I can feel a 'Doh!" moment coming soon....

Brian

I've decided to go with Jess for my avatar, but....

I've found that I can't choose a picture from my albums (which is where I'd put my potential avatars) but have to upload it all over again. Is this right or am I missing something obvious?

Brian

My wife originally had no intention of getting a Staffie. Her two kids & then husband wanted one & heard of a litter of pups just round the corner. When they went for a look, she initially thought they were collies, due to the black & white markings. She struck lucky as Jess was one of the last two from the litter & being well over the normal time that pups are taken from their mothers, had already been house trained.

We eventually had to have her put down 18 months ago after providing nearly 14 years of fun, laughter & companionship. We would like another dog - a Staffie of course - but it's not practical at the moment as we both work & it would be unfair to leave a dog on it's own all day long.

Brian

My wife always used to have rescue dogs & said that she'd never have a pedigree but Jess was the exception. Now she says she'll never have a rescue - two reasons being that you're never 100% sure of their history (& what they've been through) and you miss out on the early puppy years & the fun that provides.

It's unfortunate that Staffies have such a bad press. Generally speaking, they're gentle, eager to please & very loyal - they once had the nickname of Nanny Dogs for good reason. Unfortunately they're very easy to train to be nasty if that's what the owner wants.

Brian

I've decided it's about time I attached an avatar to my name. I'm sure that nobody wants to look at my ugly mug & as yet nothing in my workshop is worthy of public consumption.

Bearing that in mind, I could go with Jess, our late & much-missed Staffie (can't have NJH's Staffie being the only one on the forum ) :-

or I could choose this little fellow who reflects one of my other interests, church architecture :-

On the other hand, I could pick something that ties in with my day job.

Oh, decisions decisions....

Brian

This might not be too helpful in that I'm not suggesting any particular software but what I will say is to try as many as you can. You will get more than one recommendation, probably all claimed to be 'simple', but different people find different things simple and you won't know which you find simple until you try them.

Brian

Good idea, Ian - I'll give that a try the next time the need arises.

Cheers,

Brian

You might be able to file that accurately but I know I can't, which is why I asked the original question of how to machine the radius. As such, your comment is completely irrelevant.

Brian

For anyone interested, this is the result of my endeavours. Everything worked out more or less as planned, with the exception that I centralised the face plate under the mill in order to cut the radial groove on the backing piece.
Having said that, I used the same technique to cut a radius on a larger diameter bar but hit a bit of a snag when I found that the clamping bar now hit the top-slide when the faceplate rotated. Easily overcome by swinging the faceplate back & forth whilst nudging the carriage along like a shaper. It took a while!

Carl...

PCB design is what I do for a living. Depending on the complexity of the design & it's intended use, I should be able to take your circuit design (even if it's a 'back of an envelope type', create a proper schematic & then lay out the PCB and create suitable (electronic) artworks.

I'm afraid I can't help with the actual manufacture of the PCB. My employer only uses manufacturers who deal with account customers and would in any case probably be unwilling to deal with such a small quantity that you're looking at. The link that Clive supplied is a good starting point for you. Alternatively, I know there are a number of people on this forum who make their own PCBs, so that might be another option.

I fully concur with Andrew with regard to what need to be considered but if you choose someone who knows what to ask & can give you guidance on what is required, it shouldn't be a problem.
(Incidentally, the one thing I disagree with in Andrew's post is the change from farmed out design to in-house design. We've been attempting to recruit a PCB designer and the vast majority of applicants have been made redundant because their previous employers have decided to use sub-contractors rather than continue to design in-house)

PM me if you want to discuss this futher.

Brian

That reminds me of my first job at Alcan Labs back in the late '70s. Each year we'd receive a frozen turkey as part of a Christmas bonus and it would be my job to clean down the bandsaw before it was used by anyone who wanted their's cut in two (can't think why you want to do that but there you go). Strangely I don't recall cleaning it down afterwards!

Brian

Gents, thanks for all of the comments, and apologies for not replying earlier; work (and life in general) got in the way!

Roy - reminder about balancing duly noted, although I had thought of that. I just didn't mention it for the sake of brevity.

Jason - I had thought of mounting the bar in the toolpost with a boring bar in the lathe chuck but unless I'm missing something, wouldn't the tool bit would have to be adjustable to the correct radius? The only one i have is one with an indexable tip & I don't the equipment, knowledge or experience to grind a tool.

Regarding the comments about using a 22mm cutter, it seems a bit of an expensive option as steamdave pointed out. Being the cheapskate that I am, it's an option I discounted.

I don't when I'll get an opportunity to try it but I'll report back on the results.

Brian

I have a need to machine a concave shape (with a radius of 11mm) on the end of a 12mm dia brass bar, ie at 90deg to the bar's axis, not IN the end, and am not sure of the best way of doing so.

If I had a boring head, I imagine it would be relatively easy to rig something on my mill but as I don't, I'm trying to figure out if it's possible on a lathe.

I've come up with the following idea...

1) Fasten a sacrificial plate (wood would appear to adequate) to the face plate

2) Using the crossslide (with the spindle locked), cut a horizontal groove in the sacrificial plate at centre height.

3) Clamp the bar in the groove (this ensures that the bar is aligned with the centre line of the lathe

4) Using a boring bar in the toolholder, cut the radius.

Simples.... as per the diagram (clamps omitted for the sake of clarity)

The question is whether there is any fundamental problem with this solution and/or am I over-thinking it & the there is a better/simpler way of doing it?

Brian

Having got my new indoor workshop / man-cave into some sort of order, I dug out my first foray into model engineering - my Benson's Engine (a la Anthony Mount). It's a long way from being finished and isn't in too good a condition, having been sat in a damp outside shed for the past 8-9 years, so the first thing is to clean it up & reacquaint myself with what I've done, what I've half-done, what I haven't done & what I need to re-do. I hope the picture doesn't show too many machining marks, bodges & mistakes

Brian

Ah, but you can't see the pile of c**p piled up on the bench on the other side of the room!

Brian

Determined that the new location my for man-cave/workshop would start with the principle of 'a place for everything & everything in it's place', I didn't want all of my lathe & mill accessories just chucked willy-nilly into a cupboard or drawer. I dug out some heavy duty drawer slides from my 'might-come-in-useful-one-day' pile and made up up a couple of sliding shelves and fitted them to my lathe & mill bench.

My original intention was to fit the shelves with polystyrene sheet & cut out shapes for everything to sit in. However, I quickly realised that the polystyrene didn't cut cleanly & easily breaks up into small balls, so I might change it for some sort of foam. On the other hand, I found that the heavier items sit on top & don't move when the drawer is opened or closed, unless it's done rather violently, and the lighter items can be held in place by pressing them into the polystyrene and creating a shallow impression.

Brian