Member postings for Georgineer

Frank,

I'm not sure why you don't want to start a new thread, but I would have found a new thread with a meaningful title more helpful than an exhumed thread from five years ago.

George

Andy,

Your lathe is most likely to be an ML4 as they were most common by a long way. There is a lot of information already on this forum. The trick is to start with a search for "ML4" which brings up (at present) 48 topics. When you've read them, try ML2, then ML3 and finally ML1. You'll learn a lot,

George

The instrument makers where I worked used newspaper to wipe off the excess, as it's non-absorbent and doesn't leave fibres. As noted elsewhere, engravers' wax is good. I also got red, white and black off the internet for not much money, and it works well.

George

That was only an issue when I was a pupil. We had nearly covered the form-room ceiling with wads of chewed paper flicked up with a ruler, and some idiot soaked his in ink.

Form master noticed, and it was class detention to get them all down again with brooms... Can't reach? Stand on the desks!

George

Ah yes:

"Teach not thy parent's mother to extract /The embryonic juices of an egg by suction./That worthy lady can herself enact,/Quite irrespective of thy kind instruction." Boy's Own Paper, April 29, 1882.

The problem I have found with O-ring kits (along with other kits in compartmented plastic trays) is that they seldom list the dimensions of the parts in the compartments.

George

I like the depth stop modification - I shall steal the idea for my drill press.

Does the belt guard actually need a catch (or a screw)? Mine has functioned perfectly safely for decades without either.

George

Dell,

May I politely request that you use a meaningful thread title? That way, you are more likely to get the help you are asking for.

George

That makes sense. Back in the 1960s I wanted a left-hand Meccano worm gear. With my metalwork teacher's help I established that the standard worm gear is actually a 12 tpi Whitworth thread (9/16" daimeter if memory serves), so I cut the equivalent LH thread on a length of brass and made my own worm gears. I even bought my own 5/32" BSW taps to cut the thread for the grubscrew.

The school, for some reason, didn't have a left-hand thread chaser, but the right-hand one did a perfectly acceptable job.

I've still got one of the LH worms knocking around the place somewhere. And the taps...

George

I've found that 01234 567890 is very acceptable to these systems.

George

That may not be a handicap. A friend of mine, who was a member of the local model aeroplane club, entered a chuck-glider competition with a brick, to which he had added two stubby wings and a smily face.

He came second, much to the annoyance of the serious competitors.

George

I should add that often the most difficult and challenging part of a repair, when the owner is present, is out-thinking the idiot who designed the casing and actually getting inside the appliance. Fortunately there are many how-to-do-it guides on the internet which can be called up on laptops or mobile phones, and the best of them can be very helpful. The worst of them...

George

I've been a volunteer at the Portsmouth Repair Café for over a year and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I certainly haven't picked up on any of the negative or nervous vibes that seem to permeate some of these posts. We do a monthly café on a Saturday morning in a local church hall, with an occasional pop-up at Southsea Library.

The overall Repair Café organisation has been running for, I think, ten years now and the legal and liability issues are well established. As such I have not troubled myself unduly about them.

Broadly, the rule is that the owner must be present throughout the (attempted) repair. They sign a disclaimer beforehand acknowledging that success is not guaranteed, and that they accept the risk of further damage to the item. We don't repair white goods, collect and deliver, or take things away to repair. That said, we make exceptions in special cases subject to consent from all parties. After all, as my father used to say, rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.

All our volunteers stick within their own range of competence, but we have some very competent people and offer tool sharpening, jewellery repairs, fabric and needlework, clockmaking, cycle, electronic, software, electrical, metal- and wood-work repairs, and other specialisms. Each volunteer brings their own tools and such materials as they expect to need, and there is a central stock of commonly used things. We operate a booking system so it is often possible to diagnose and plan in advance. There is a very good culture of sharing experience, tools, materials, advice, skills and humour. New volunteers are offered the chance to buddy-up with somebody more experienced for as long as they want to before they fly solo.

I would say that most of our requests are for repairs to household electrical items, and we have a very good success rate with them. Those of us who tackle them all have knowledge and experience and we have no prima donnas, so seeking advice when needed is normal. The café owns its own PAT tester, and there are qualified and experienced testers among the volunteers, so electrical safety is taken seriously.

As its name suggests, it is a café, so it is as much a social occasion as a technical one, and we are kept well suplied with hot drinksand cake. I have yet to encounter a client who is demanding or unpleasant; on the contrary I have had many pleasant and interesting conversations while working. The café is self-supporting and is largely financed by donations from our clients.

Robin, I suggest that if you are interested you go along and have a look. If it appeals, give it a try!

George

Edited By Georgineer on 09/12/2022 17:45:45

That looks great! And thanks for letting us know the outcome.

George

180°, surely? Or 200° if you're in the USA.

George

I'm looking for a machine light so checked it out. Three thoughts:

1. I don't get on with touch-switch lights. They're temperamental when alive, and when dead they turn up in large numbers in the charity shop where I volunteer.

2. A "g" rating for efficiency is very poor for a LED lamp. The touch-switch circuitry may have something to do with it.

3. Two one-star reviews complain that it has a "drooping neck" problem.

Thanks for the link, Dave, but I think I'll keep looking.

George

Probably the same way that I do - I have to pass one quite frequently, and just the smell is enough to put me off.

George

Just a wild guess, but is the original hardening achieved by work-hardening? If so it may not be possible to recover the original hardness. I believe that's the case with phosphor-bronze springs.

Can anybody out there with more knowledge and experience than me chip in?

George

When I was at school I made my own by drilling all the holes a size smaller, then using the final size as a reamer in each hole. I still have it, and it has served me well over the last fifty-something years, but I hardly use it these days. Like Jeff, I usually use a drill chart and a digital caliper on the rare occasions when I need to know.

George

What Roy said.

None of my clamps has one, and neither did any of my father's. They've served us well for nearly a century.

George

Ady: I think Myford beat him to it. The ML1-2-3-4 mostly had a MT1 taper, but as far as I know the ML7 always had MT2.

Mick: Unless the internal taper is really, really bad I would have thought it was better to reclaim it with a MT2 reamer. For normal purposes the taper doesn't need to make 100% contact, so a few scroops won't matter. It might even be possible to turn a couple of thou off the existing taper before reaming, though you might need to get inventive with your boring bar.

It certainly sounds like a lot less work and money than changing the spindle. Has anybody else ever tried this and can offer opinions?

George

Edit : Some people type faster than me!

Edited By Georgineer on 27/09/2022 18:21:07