Member postings for John Reese

I have used both O/A and O/P for many years. For welding steel I always use O/A. For heating, brazing, and cutting I have the choice of O/A or O/P. I usually use O/A in the home shop, just as a matter of convenience. I don't like the bother of switching bottles. When I was working I preferred O/P for cutting and heavy heating. The cutting and heating torch tips for O/P are considerably different than those for O/A. Other than the heating and cutting tips the kit is identical for both fuel gasses.

Clamping forces in woodworking vises are quite a bit lower than in metalworking vises. The screws used in that woodworking vise are rather large. If they are properly guided below the bench top I would expect them to perform well.

Chris,

That is exactly why the 60* head is used on insert screws. The holes in the toolholder are set back just a bit so when the screw is tightened it tends to pull the insert into the back and side of the pocket.

There must be quite a few seniors on this forum. I know what a comptometer is but I can't recall actually seeing one and I am 81.

I would sandwich the sheet between plywood. Then I would have to decide what to use to cut it. My first choice would be mt tablesaw with the blade set as low as possible and still sever the sheet.

Second choice would be a mini-circular saw like this:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rockwell-Rk3440K-Versacut-4-0-Amp-Mini-Circular-Saw-Kit-With-Laser/20434561?athcpid=20434561&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=ce537e76-f29-167d40feff1bd1&athena=true

Third choice would be my bandsaw. Probable with a 12 -14 tpi blade

I bought a toolpost grinder of a similar size. It was missing the drive belt. I was planning to use an O-ring. Has anyone had success doing so?

Terry,

It looks like the members addressed every aspect of setting up your lathe. I just skimmed the responses and did not see the answer to one of your questions: where to obtain raw material. I have three kinds of sources:

A small manufacturing company allows me to "dumpster dive" for material. A second source is scrap yards but getting access is becoming more difficult due to safety concerns. The third source is one of the vendors that deals in small lots of metals.

Most older lathes had t-slots in the wings of the saddle for just the purpose you described. It is unfortunate the new lathes were not so equipped.

You might consider a tapped hole in each wing of the saddle. Make two t-slotted bars to run front to back and bolt down to the tapped holes.

The feasibility of making a bend depends a lot on the inside radius of the bend. The possibilities are folding (lap) at the inside of the bend or tearing at the outside of the bend when the inside radius is too small. If bending around a mandrel the required force to bend the metal will be the same whether bending a couple of degrees or a full circle. If using a V die the pressure to bend decreases as the width of the V die increases.

Bending cold depends on the strength of your arm and the length of lever you are using. If the material tends to tear at outside of the bend heating is absolutely necessary.

I need to make a 127 tooth gear. The plates on my dividing head are not large enough to hold a 127 hole circle. I will have to use my rotary table. I have already made the spreadsheet for the 127 tooth spacing, including conversion to deg-min-sec.

I am considering making a decimal degree collar and vernier for the RT so I don't have to mess with the deg-min-sec conversion again.

I have cut hardened steel and even Stellite on a 9" South Bend lathe. The first time I did it was with brazed carbide tools. Later I did similar work with carbide inserts. The South Bend wasn't really rigid enough for that work, but it got me by. Most inserts for hardened steel are honed to a fairly blunt edge. That is definitely not what is needed on a hobby sized machine. A sharp cutting edge is desirable to keep the cutting forces low. Unfortunately a sharp edge in hard material results in short tool life.

If you were wanting information on real world sized fasteners I could probably find several references. Unfortunately, I am not aware of similar information on model size fasteners.

US machine screws have 82* heads. Fasteners fir aircraft may differ.

How about opening the hole to allow use of a DU bushing?

https://www.ggbearings.com/en/products/metal-polymer/du

I suggest the DU because it is metal backed and can be press fit into the housing.

Try cutting the inside plastic away to expose the aluminum before tapping.

Another approach would be a compression fitting on the OD of the tube. Remove the outer plastic sheath and the aluminum should pass the stop ring in the fitting. Make a tapered plug to drive inside he tubing to expand the tube so the aluminum contacts the ID of the fitting. The fitting will likely be brass so you will want to use conductive grease between the brass and the aluminum. Cap the male end of he compression fitting with a pipe cap. The cap can be drilled and tapped for a screw terminal.

JohnF,

Thanks for suggesting an off center point on the drill. It solves the problem of the hole tending to close around the bit.

I had one that mounted to the tailstock. Never used it after I got a drill press.

I would imagine those that a drill pad attached to the carriage would be be limited to the smaller drills. You can't develop nearly the thrust using the carriage as you can using the tailstock.

Remembering prices from 20 or more years ago and comparing with current prices does bad things to one's blood pressure.

I remember single scoop ice cream cones and 7 oz draft beer for $.05.

Definitely get the collet chuck. You can hold drills and taps as well as end mills up to the capacity of the collet. It will be a much shorter setup than the Jacobs chuck so you will be able to drill or tap work that would not fit under the Jacobs.

I've had one for probaby 40 years. It works beautifully. The base on mine is faced with cork. It hold its position nicely when switching from optic to punch. I wouldn't recommend one without the cork face. I have not used mine much lately as I do most of my layout using the DRO on the mill.