Member postings for Bodger Brian

Thanks chaps.....

That confirms what I'd more or less decided. The reason for not using grease (as it attracts "nasties"  should have been obvious if I'd have thought about it more!

Brian

Edited By Bodger Brian on 27/08/2016 17:17:15

Edited By Bodger Brian on 27/08/2016 17:18:05

Edited By Bodger Brian on 27/08/2016 17:21:00

i did wonder if I should post this in the 'beginners' section but here goes......

I have a Chinese mini mill/drill which I purchased many years ago and the manual is long lost, so I'm afraid I can't quote exact model names or numbers. After a long period languishing in a shed at the bottom of the garden, it has been relocated in my new workshop and I've stripped it down for cleaning.

My question is what, if anything, should the leads screws (is that the right term?) be lubricated with prior to reassembly - oil or grease? I would assume that the screws are steel and they run in nuts that appear to be of brass, bronze or similar metal. The small amount of crud that was visible on disassembly didn't give me much of a clue.

Thanks

Brian

I don't have an problem with imperial measurement as such but it's fractional measurements that aren't intuitive for me. For instance, which is greater - 25/32" or 3/4"? Sure, I can do the maths & work it out but unless you're used to it, it isn't obvious (and I say that as someone who usually came top of the class when fractions were taught in maths at school).

Put it into decimal - 0.78125 or 0.75 - and the answer is plain to see, and that applies to whatever units you want.

Brian

Edited By Bodger Brian on 26/08/2016 14:49:31

Along with the phrase "my bad". I always want to reply "your bad what?"....

Brian

After months of research, thinking, planning & general dilly-dallying, I've finally plundered my piggy-bank and splashed out on a used Cowells lathe.

Whilst there doesn't appear to be any problem with play, excessive backlash etc on the mechanical side of things and everything turns as I'd expect it to, cosmetically it could be better, as the base as a number of chips in the paintwork. My question is two-fold :-

1) I realise a quick phone call would give me the answer, but does anyone know if paint to match the original is available from Cowells?

2) Rather than just touch up the paintwork, ideally I'd like to remove the base, strip it back to bare metal and paint afresh. How easy would it be to strip the old paint entirely? The last thing I want to do is devalue my new toy investment.

Brian

I have a Lithuanian colleague here at work who should be able to translate, although I think it would be a bit much to ask him to translate the whole document. Any particular bit you're interested in?

Brian

Edited By Bodger Brian on 27/07/2016 13:41:22

"If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your wife told you to in the first place"

With wifey's approval (& assistance) I finally started moving my long neglected workshop tools & machines from the garden shed into a spare room in the house to create a new workshop / man cave.

Although she is quite happy for me to do this, she insisted that the room can easily be re-instated as a bedroom if necessary so the worktops aren't exactly ideal but I'm not complaining.

The day when I can get back to doing 'stuff' in a warm & dry environment with reliable electrics is fast approaching

Brian

Thanks for clarifying things chaps. I've never actually seen a collet chuck in the flesh & I must admit that a slight taper on the register hadn't occurred to me as a possibility.

Brian

This might be a silly question but in order to get a runout of 1 thou or less (which seems to be what people aim for), would the register on the backplate have to be machined so that the chuck is a pressfit onto it? or am missing something obvious?

Brian

I certainly do. Part of my first job at Alcan Labs in the late '70s was laying out artwork (at 2x full size) with tape and transfers, photographing the results on a large pedastal camera, developing the film & etching the PCB. It wasn't Amberlith or Rubylith though - the name of the tape manufacturer escapes me at the moment. Oh happy days....

I hesitate to use the word 'always', so I'll settle for 'generally' or 'usually' when I say that any connection between two or more points is called a net (some software even assigns a net name to a pin that has no connection but that's another story). The type of connection that you're referring to is often called a 'global net' or 'global' for short.

Apologies for digging up an older post.....

Brian

I must confess I'm a bit confused - easily done! The OP starts by asking about measuring the amount of electricity but seems to change to wanting to control on/off times. Which is it - or is it both?

Brian

I should emphasise that I'm only in the planning stage at the moment & am by no means settled on a Cowells.

When 'the management' first bought up the subject of re-locating my workshop (with a ageing Chinese mini-lathe), there were 3 options; a new fully insulated shed, taking over the garage or using the spare room once sprog #2 had left home. The size of replacement lathe would depend on that decision - or perhaps it'll be the other way round!

Thanks for all of the links and comments anyway.

Brian

Thanks for the replies chaps

If, and it is still a big if, I decide to go down the Cowells route, it looks as if it'll be best if I avoid those with the larger thread pitch. I wouldn't want to spend all my time looking for expensive / hard to find parts to go with a new toy.

Brian

Whilst engaged in further research about suitable lathes for my workshop relocation, I discovered that whilst current Cowells lathes have an M14x1mm threaded spindle, earlier versions were M14x1.5mm (please correct me if I've got that wrong).

From an admittedly cursory look on't internet, it appears to me that backplates, chucks etc (of any make) for the earlier 1.5mm size are not readily available - at least in the 'new' category.

Is this is a fair reading of the situation or am I just not looking in the right place?

Brian

A quick Google search comes up with brownells.co.uk. Alternatively, there is at lest one supplier on Amazon.

Brian

I must confess that hadn't occurred to me - have a larger lathe in the garage and smaller lighter stuff indoors. It gets round several problems in one go.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Brian

Can you elaborate on the 'cushion flooring' ? Could be of interest.....

Brian

Thanks for all the thoughts guys - plenty of food for thought.

Brian