Member postings for Hollowpoint

Why not practice on some plastics? Nylon and delrin turn very easily. Cheap too.

You could mount the vice to a wooden board and then clamp the edges with small g-clamps maybe?

Makes them just under £4 each. You won't get them any cheaper than that but as you say no mention of run-out. Arc euro do them at £5 each and they seem decent. I'll message you the link to the Swiss made ones I bought.

"Never" might be being a bit economical with the truth. I have broken taps before. XD But I honestly can't remember the last time!

I always find it strange when this topic crops up. Am I the only one who never breaks taps? I must be doing something right for a change! Or maybe it's just because I refuse to use anything other than hss dormer, osborn or presto taps? Here is how I do it.

Hole drilled to minor diameter of thread.

Plenty of CT90 cutting fluid

Use spring loaded tapping aid wherever possible. And I prefer the eclipse chuck type holders like Bob above.

Feel for the tap cutting, the second it starts getting tight back it of a turn. Repeat.

Blow crap out with compressor.

After machining the backplate for my collet chuck the run-out was 0.01mm I don't know how that compares to what others have achieved but it's plenty accurate for me.

I recently did the same thing. Standardised my Collets. I went for the biggest ER40 size for the simple reason that it can hold up to 30mm. Not particularly useful on the mill but a big bonus on the lathe! I also purchased a Stevenson collet block at the same time so I can now accurately hold a good size of round stock in the mill vise with ease. Ive put my purchase list below because I spent a lot of time finding the best buys so you might find it useful.

Er40 lathe collet chuck (arc euro) £48

Boxford backplate (RDG tools) everywhere else was out of stock. £20

Er40 Stevenson's collet block (arc euro) £22

Er40 milling collet chuck (second hand) got lucky. I did find a bison ones on ebay relatively cheap.

Selection of Er40 collets. Swiss made rego-fix (eBay) £7.50 each bargain!

Er40 spanner (eBay) again bargain price. £7

Edited By Hollowpoint on 19/03/2016 09:51:02

Sounds like its just a way to make more money. Badge up a small inverter to look like a bigger one and pocket the difference. No doubt the smaller inverters cost less to purchase.

If you're feeling spendy you can't do much better than a marlco.

What about stove enamel? The kind used on wood burners. That might work.

Or you can buy stove polish which is graphite based. You would probably have to re do it occasionally but there's no chance it will flake.

I usually use VHT manifold paint for anything that gets hot.

Thanks for that, I was hoping to use 2 buttons (green start, red stop) and retain the estop.

I wasn't happy with how the controls for my new inverter where wired up so Ive changed the circuit and got it all working. I now have fwd, rev and estop as well as the pot for speed. However I don't like having to use the estop and then having to reset it each time I start the lathe. So I was hoping one of you guys can help me wire start/stop buttons into the circuit below. I know I could just wire a latching button in at terminal 1 but I would like to use the original buttons. These are non latching momentary push type with one of each NO/NC connections. I'm hopeless at electronic s so go easy.

You might as well go ahead and make some t-nuts from a grade of steel you know. It will give you an idea if you are doing things right or not and save you some cutters. Quickest way is to make a long length of t and then just chop it up.

Make sure you aren't running in reverse. Make sure everything is locked up and as rigid as possible. Take a smaller cut with a bigger cutter.

I imagine ford fiestas outsell range rovers 1000 to 1 doesn't make them better just more affordable. I'm not knocking Chinese machines I own a few myself. But they haven't quite caught up just yet and there is some excellent second hand stuff out there if you are prepared to look.

Edited By Hollowpoint on 14/03/2016 23:00:26

I think I've seen this advertised on eBay? Prime for a refurb. Will make a good project for someone. Too far away for me though.

Some great work has been produced on mini lathes, but if it was my money I would be looking at second hand stuff. A myford ml10 possibly or you should be able to pick up a Boxford Cud or Bud for your budget.

Copper slate straps come in useful for a magnitude of things. Especially shimming.

Thanks, got it working now!