Member postings for MW

Tends to be a bundle of them on ebay. For some reason these tend to be less popular, i'm pretty sure HBM would've started making them, pretty much isn't a tool they won't make.

Michael W

"No doubt emulator stuff will appear but that has never been much use in my experience, emulators can be a hit or miss experience"

Normally it's made by one or two people and they deliberately keep quiet about it so they can avoid the copyright crew and subsequent lawsuits.

Just look at how riled up the big corps are about adblocking software, now you can see how much contempt they have for their regular users. Dare to do anything that contravenes their interests, and they immediately feel threatened and become hostile. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 17/08/2016 18:01:59

I suppose the reason why it took so long for them to centre drawing around "1st/3rd angle projection" was probably because the projections depended on what the part in question looked like, so the answer to "whats the best way to do this" was a variable, it's a bit like asking "whats the best lathe" or "whats the best style of tooling" - answer normally is "well what do you want to make with it?".

Different ways of drawing it had its up and downsides, and therefore several ways of projecting them kept in fashion.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 17/08/2016 17:55:32

Yeah, i think you picked the short straw with that one, this draftsman loves his lettering.

Ever the considerate gentleman, he forgot to include a key to his M-JMB0. As he may have termed it.  

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 16/08/2016 23:09:44

Would be easier to make one out of a slice of foundry cast bar tbh. Needing to consolidate for accuracy on a casting is a nightmare in the works. I mean, if the vees are that badly out it defeats the point of casting them on it, really. Like i said before, so long as everything is cut from the same position, concentricity issues are non-existent. 

I'd just take the plunge and turn it, save the chatter, make the mistakes and see what happens rather than waiting on forever to come round. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 16/08/2016 21:27:01

Well Ian, i think i may actually take you up on that idea, it sounds like it could only help in the long term what with a tensioned belt going round it everyday.

I'm just waiting for some new screws, the stainless ones i used to buy break without much force being put on them. So i'm taking a new approach and going with high tensile bolts, and counter sunk rather than round head for greater pressure i suppose.

Thanks

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 16/08/2016 19:58:17

Well, if you're selling pretty low value stuff, then it would be a pretty stupid scam, as you could quite happily refund the money, knowing you did actually send the item and refuse to do any subsequent business with that buyer. So if you can't afford to lose it then maybe you need a better delivery service.

Michael W

In theory at least it would be unnecessary to clock the V's, as you would've checked the runout of the O/D before you cut them, provided you could sort that out, you could safely presume that once the vees are cut there wont be any runout.

Michael W

If you saw them you would agree. I know the interpretation of made can be stretched in some cases. Like where a forester chops down a tree and it's made into a table somewhere else. Thats fair enough, ok.

But we did literally nothing, we were a factory supposedly making these ourselves, but the production manager said we "couldn't be bothered with such a fiddly job, besides which they do it for pittance" and ordered them pre machined in Hong Kong.

We then literally checked them, either removed all their branding (or asked them not to in the first place). I couldn't believe we were supposed to be workers taking pride in what we do, and then shamelessly badge stamping someone else's work. I probably lost faith at that point. It's got nothing to do with disliking chinese work it's just the sheer dishonesty and nerve we had to take the credit for it, i had an unfortunate knack for asking too many questions i think. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 16/08/2016 11:06:22

It wasn't just shirts, a while ago, a factory i worked for produced assemblies, bought in from china and re worked, and sold as "made in E.U", was totally illegal really, because they buy them on that premise, and are not told about it, had i stayed there longer, i would've loved to have spilled the beans.

Michael W

When machining a pulley or fly wheel sometimes it's possible to get a grip on the spokes of the casting, other times you're probably better off centering the work piece yourself in a four jaw or on a face plate, if it's that big, so long as every diameter is concentric to the next, it doesnt matter if it's not dead on center of the lathe. One quick way to get within 0.2mm is to hold a fine needle point in the tailstock chuck and scribe a cross on the work.

Use it as a guide, until you can't see it deviate in either axis anymore.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 15/08/2016 21:36:56

Thanks john, it sounds like your thinking came to a similar solution, as i was thinking about bolting something onto it. I have used your method before for repairing broken shafts by machining the other end to suit after the bond is made, to ensure a proper match.

I like to create posts like this, because you don't necessarily always want to read about the projects that go right, as inspiring though they may be. You want to read about what you look for when things don't go right, so that you may put them right.

There have been quite a few occasions where i've gone wrong and i haven't a clue how to approach it once it does. I would like to think that a voice of experience, would mean not only be good at making wonderful things, but also have the answers to these problems.

I guess when it comes down to it, breaking and then fixings things, has just as much a place in engineering as making the things themselves. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 15/08/2016 21:05:00

Hi Jason,

Ah, well i knew i wasn't well versed on the subject so thanks for filling the knowledge gap there.

I didn't see anything wrong with an aluminium pulley as such, i just wanted my old ones back because they were made with the machine, and quite simply, i admit only have a stock of non ferrous materials in the larger sizes!

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 15/08/2016 19:54:46

Hi Michael G,

I don't think i'm quite seen as a pillar of the forum community so i'm hoping i will get away with brand naming here but it's the closest thing i can get to a grade.

**LINK**

The only thing i can list as pre-treatment would be to wipe away any grease with a tissue and only apply on a dry surface, would probably be a sensible idea.

And to make sure it's a reasonably tight fit to begin with, where you know the part will be under a certain load.  

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 15/08/2016 20:02:17

Thanks vic,

I had thought about silver soldering but as far as i'm aware i vaguely remember reading somewhere that only bronze filler metal is appropriate for cast iron brazing, and i wouldn't have a torch hot enough to melt that anyway.

Something i forgot to mention is that both pulleys also had a coat of rust which i was easily able to take off with a little ally oxide abrasive paper and spinning them, whilst keeping your fingers well clear of "the crocodiles mouth" as i call it (jaws of the chuck). 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 15/08/2016 19:31:45

"What hasn't changed though, is the actual fundamental principles behind cotton spinning"

That's why there will always be a need for familiarity with the process on the manual scale of things.

Michael W

Hi, just a small thread demonstrating some of the uses of epoxy putty and where a more substantial solution is needed.

Things have been quiet lately so I've been getting round to those jobs that should've been done a long time ago but things got in the way.

One of them was repairing 2 broken 5" cast iron step pulleys, it's an accident on my machine that happened a long time ago when i first got it, since i've changed the motor and shes been hobbling along on a single large aluminium pulley from machine mart.

Not that there's anything wrong with an aluminium pulley, just that i'd rather have the steps back for lower speeds and the cast iron. They weren't badly damaged to the point of "bin them", but badly enough that it couldn't be ignored without tearing the belts to shreds on the sharp corners and possibly jumping off on the worse of the two.

Now it didn't have to look pretty, it just had to be sound again. My first solution, on the first, worked alot more neatly than i thought it might. I reached for the epoxy putty, put some on and waited a day for it to fully cure, i came back to it and filed it flat to the Vee form by spinning it in the machine.

As you can see, it's totally flush with the body, and its a very strong bond. It's appropriate to use this on it with a single chip, as theres enough land around the breakage to support the bond.

Now for the second, that just wasn't the case, this was battered and beaten to the point of no return for the front vee. I didn't take a picture with the damage but i can show you a photo of the piece i sawed off, to give you an idea.

The "wheel" form had been so badly damaged, that putting putty around it just wouldn't be appropriate, i've tried this with repairs in the past, and it just breaks off if you're having to form a large area with it.

I thought about bolting a piece of plate metal to the front. But it would be a little on the flimsy side at 1 or so mm thick and wouldn't create a vee. So i noticed a little, not much, 2.5mm of land on the pulley after cutting off, so i created an aluminium "half form" on the lathe, i measured the angle to be around 13.5 degrees. And loctited a push fit onto the pulley.

Hopefully this will help those of you who frequently need to repair things like myself!

Michael W

It's clearly keywayed on the exterior and interior to prevent twisting so i'm gonna guess it's a tap/die holder of sorts, could even be the sliding head of a die holder. The back shoulder has clearly taken a clobbering as Ady1 said, probably to take it out after it got stuck in it's holder.

Michael W

lol, I got burned! can't believe i got that wrong.

First nation to create a distinction between church and state, abolition of slavery, garauntee of rights all citizens born free or dentured, first to industrialize, first modern state.Biggest empire.English,the language of business. Size isn't everything! The influence is truly planetary.

Michael W