Member postings for MW

You said it Jason,

I always forget to turn it off and i've owned it for a good couple of years now and have never changed the battery. I got scoffed at the time because i paid full RRP for the unit in it's box but seeing the amount of fakes around i'm glad i did now. I can just tell from the quality of the grinding on the jaws, to very sharp points that it's definitely genuine, aside all the product information etched onto the back of it. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 21/07/2016 18:17:20

That does sound like dream material, then again it's scratching the surface on some of the freaky stuff i have to deal with sometimes. If i could trade dreams i would.

Michael W

If i were someone in a position of authority then may be i'd need to be careful about what i mention, having said that it's usually fairly easy to spot apart a genuine user from a total faker.

It also makes things quite awkward for referencing, a good example will be what was previously discussed on here, hammerite, am i supposed to say "a well known oil based paint commonly used for metals"?

It's a shameless thing some people do, and you could say more fool the person taken in by it. It shouldn't stop genuine workshoppers from discussing the good and bad on brands in general.

Michael W

Why not just say the word?

Michael W

"In a way they plough through the work relying on high speed to deform the metal"

Well you would end up with alot of blunt tools after that, probably because they're meant to cut it not push it into shape, that generates an awful lot of heat for not much gain.

Also you can cut it as slow as you like really, It isn't necessary to have tons of speed, I worked on machines that could top 100,000 rpm, but we found that anything above a fairly low level lost pretty much all benefit. The rpm figure just became pointless for what the tool could deliver. Not to mention what it probably did to the lifespan of the bearings.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 20/07/2016 18:28:38

I have said before on this topic and will say again, that i've had pretty much no problems from the windows OS ever, usually it is other components in my computer causing the issues, and i fix them by rolling back the driver to an earlier incarnation, why should i fix what aint broke? So i don't care if it's not the latest so long as i can do what i need to do.

I'm all for fair criticism and i do agree that some of their business practices are immoral and they have been duly punished for bullying away all the smaller competitors. But they built their business on an accessible OS that can work on pretty much anything and i stand by that.(I would add they definitely took a downhill dive after xp, which i consider to be their most versatile and stable build they ever made)

They can get a bad rap where it simply isn't needed, the widespread almost global usage of their systems speaks volumes for itself and their detractors can't ignore it.

I mean, it's not like Mac or Android are shining examples of brilliance, I found apples one to be awkward and contrary for it's own sake, a bit like the gallic?

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 20/07/2016 12:00:41

Ajohnw,

I actually have a bigger (similar-ish)  variant of that machine, the motors really let down what is essentially a good frame, mine had a variable DC which i eventually chucked and fitted an induction motor to the frame and now it's fantastic.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 20/07/2016 09:43:13

Thanks,

By reading that short pamphlet produced by the Anti-DRL league, the question of DRL seems to have arisen chiefly in nordic countries, i would wager that the question ever arose at all because in those countries it gets much darker, it would therefore make sense that there should be DRL in those countries, however, if what you say is true then it seems less of a necessity in countries where daylight hours are longer and more forgiving.

Lets flip the question the other way and say "would removing lights on cars altogether increase accidents?" I'm sure the resounding answer would be yes because you can't see anything after dark(if you study the war period then we can see with the blackouts, that this experiment was put to the test). So there is clearly a benefit to better lighting, but the question is how much? Does this benefit increase exponentially, presumably, if the lights were so bright then you also can't see anything, that's why they tell you to not look at the sun.

So, it seems to me that their law is based on the flawed thinking of "more lights = less accidents". So therefore, we can ascertain that having the right amount of light is the sensible approach, and they ought to study what amount of light is acceptable for the human eye(and also at which level do things start to disappear) and regulate their law on that.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 19/07/2016 18:26:52

I think they've proven that the lights do work on a public safety level by reducing accidents, as you're much more likely to see a passing car.

Michael W

I'm inclined to say Andrew is correct, the power companies already have the ability to monitor their output and consumption so you as a consumer don't really benefit from anything, it just makes it easier for them to collect money (and sometimes incorrectly) and also deprive the consumer of their right to privacy.

Michael W

Well as far as the argument to no power feed to a milling table, yes, most machines don't come equipped with one BUT it is possible to do your own with a DC motor.

Now for the milling slide, i'd say most of them are substantial enough, a cast iron base with a dovetailed slide is rigid enough for the work we do.

Many appaul that the milling slide is old fashioned, but consider this, your milling machine breaks and you need to make a new part, what do you do? This is where a vertical slide has the advantage, good old fashioned flexibility.

Michael W

Yes, thankyou it's good to know what the mysterious powder actually is! that way i can get more than a few teaspoons full.

Thanks,

Michael Walters

A hearty hail from the south, brother!

Michael W

These are engineering devices which are rather fiddly to make so if you have to pay a premium for it, it reflects what they need to get in order to justify their effort making it.

Michael W

All flash and no fury as the Oblivion quote goes. I to be honest would be a hypocrite to say i don't spend money on things i don't need, as we would all. There isn't really a problem, it's just the human condition to try and reason why we spend effort and wealth into things we don't necessarily need, it can't be explained really and is what sets us apart from other animals (or most atleast). It cannot be reasoned so it just has to be accepted that we are rather odd regardless of what you believe. If people want to spend money on bows and arrows then let them i say.

practice, experience, luck and the mysterious element of talent are the recipe for a skill. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 18/07/2016 10:42:06

I've never heard a true brit deny knowledge of serviettes. How can you live here and not know what it means? They must have a very sheltered life.

Michael W

Well i read about this in a copy of the farmers weekly and the debate isn't exactly clear cut and the waters are muddied. The problem is when glyphosate is used purely on it's own, it isn't a carcinogen and bayer themselves tried to use this as evidence that the products are therefore safe, however, when an independent group of scientists tested the commercial products in use, not glyphosate as a pure substance, which are mixed with all other sorts of things, they found that it definitely was carcinogenic. Everyone knows that nobody uses pure glyphosate and farmers usually water down roundup. So this is why there is a move to ban it.

The problem is, as "not done yet" said, these products have been in use for decades because they were so effective. Presumably, it started out as using neat glyphosate and then industry began mixing their own formulas to give farmers the best bang per buck. The whole industry is built on using it. So this is why farmers are kicking up a stink because if they can't use it there isn't another alternative.

For farming, this has been compared to going back to the stone age, because all the pest control technology has been built around chemicals, mainly. So they'd be back to using natural predators to keep the pests down and that isn't easy to do, that can also disrupt the ecosystem anyway. Farmers would have to accept poorer yields and greater seasonal dependency rather than producing a reliable average per yield.

It wouldn't just hit farmers but all of us, prices could see dramatic seasonal raises or even shortages. So we'd have to accept a higher food bill at times.

The problem is it's like our governing bodies in britain are wearing lead boots, they only want to do something about it until it starts causing major problems, rather than nip it in the bud before it gets worse. So they'll wait until large swathes of wildlife are killed or people get seriously ill from it before acting.

They have a proven track record of avoiding any kind of policy towards social engineering and prefer a "do as you wish" laid back approach to government, so they would be quite happy to turn a blind eye to the evidence and wait til it hits home first. We can see that behavior in every area of government.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 17/07/2016 21:20:27

Maybe i'm just alone in thinking this but people have come to have an unnatural aversion to wasps, and even panic the sight of them. They aren't out to get you! They don't go looking for fights if they don't need to, most of the time they are foraging for food and have no interest in harming you. I have been stung before but only once and i don't let this incident deter me.

Michael W

How much of a runout are we talking about here? one must always be wary that an unsupported bar more than 3 or 4 times it's length in diameter is always going to have a degree of runout, it's impossible to be dead true in this fashion. A runout of about 0.1 is probably normal for a self centre mine is about 0.02 and i'm happy with that (and chuffed for being lucky with an asian chuck). 

I keep telling people i learned to turn on a colchester that had a runout about 0.2 on it's 3 jaw. I'd say anything greater than that becomes a nuisance.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 17/07/2016 12:05:11

Ah but do you! the deadliest attraction to model engineering is based on what you want  The most committed treat it like a need i guess 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 17/07/2016 11:27:08