Member postings for Chris Evans 6

I have an American "Cuttermaster" cutter grinder with an air spindle. Only gets used once or twice a year when I decide to have a session. Not an essential piece of kit more a nice to have. Footprint is around 2 foot square.

William. it looks like Richard is closer to you as I am up in the Midlands. Keep us posted on how you get on.

Ask yourself a few questions. Space and budget ? What do you really want to make/repair ? I am not a model maker but a motorcycle restorer so need a bigger lathe with a 38/40mm spindle bore. I spent my 50 years working life in engineering so do have a lot of equipment around me, allow plenty of your budget to buy tooling and measuring equipment. Buy as you need it rather than "Kid in the sweet shop with some money" you will never use some of the things.

As jack says above, if you are not used to assessing a machine tool err towards a new or newish machine. I have never used a Myford but am in awe of what people achieve with them. Just a pity so many of them are well worn, which is to be expected given the number of years they where made. Plenty to ponder and more differing advise will surely follow. Best advise I can give is don't rush into it, decide what you want to do and post Covid try and find someone local who will show you their workshop and give you more to think about real world needs.

Enjoy the pondering it's as much fun as the purchase.

I once visited many toolmaking companies in the Marina Grande area. Mainly tool steel stockists in that area from memory serving the mould making trade.

William, your profile does not give a location but there maybe one of us not to far away willing to make the extraction/fitting tool. I do this type of thing often when replacing little end bushes on old motorcycles. Covid safety applies to above.

Welcome along Mick from another motorcycle tinkerer. I am in South East Staffs.

I suppose it all depends on what type of work you do for most of the time. I run a varispeed Bridgeport and love the ability to do motorcycle related work. ( I am not a model maker) If I had to downsize a smaller machine would do 80% of the work but I would want a machine with a decent quill for drilling and boring. As said above the Deckle style machines need to be fully tooled.

I ran Series Land Rovers for over 40 years. Don't even consider bronze balls they will be egg shaped in short order and stiffen the steering up big time. Fit a recon or good second hand box. Use studlock on the steering box mounting bolts, they are known to work loose. As Noel says pay attention to the shimming and preload of the swivels and be sure to check the relay is free and has oil in it. Set up properly my Land Rover's all steered and stopped well, I had a Series 2 plus a 2A and a series three. A brief encounter with a six cylinder was nice but to thirsty for me.

Light fittings and some plumbing items.

Welcome along Clay. I tinker with motorcycles so no model making here. I spent 40 years running Series Land Rovers but also restored a few cars, could have done with your skills when remaking an Ash body frame. I am to old and lack the space to do another car but still dream of something from the 1920s/1930s to go with my bikes.

When I made mine I put a dovetail feature in the sliding part. The square edged designs look a bit vulnerable to snatching out if you get a bit ambitious.

Rotagrip in the West Midlands are agents for Pratt Burnerd chucks. If you have no luck PM me an email address and a sketch then I will make you one. Double check the size. 17/64" is very small, a 1/4" allen key would be loose but  7mm should not enter if your size guess is correct.

Edited By Chris Evans 6 on 27/01/2021 16:30:57

I made one loosely based on a design by the late Steve Bedair. I believe details are still available online. Downside of the design is you really need a collet chuck as a three jaw gets in the way. Simple to make and very robust, mine is used every few weeks putting large radius on bolt heads for my motorcycle work.

Plus 1 for Martin's comments. Welcome to the forum from another motorcycle tinkerer, my interest is mainly pre-war bikes but I do plenty of work on 50s/60s bikes for friends.

Reading this lot has convinced me to replace my 20 year old compressor, I am very lax at draining down but when I was at work I drained daily. Home discipline has wained.

I have a cheap compressor that cost around £50 about 20 years ago. I will put my hand up and admit to not draining it daily, more like monthly when I think about it. Time I thought about a replacement to ensure safety. Like a lot of tools when you reach age 70 plus, the how long will I be using it for question comes up.

Mans interference tends to be a major problem. The river Trent runs through my village and floods where the river was straightened out. Fortunately far enough away from me.

Just a personal view but I always wonder about the attraction of power cross feed. Most of what I do is sub 70mm diameter, only if I am skimming a car flywheel do I use the power cross feed.

I ran an R50S BMW with the Earls style forks. Smooth and reliable bike but I just did not gel with it. I went back to my preferred Norton's and bought an SS650, I still judge handling by the Norton standard.

Great work. I put one of those Aldi callipers on my 14x40 lathe around three years ago. I did drill and tap the tailstock for my installation. Best £8 ever spent on the lathe, only just changed the battery for the second time.