Member postings for Ian Skeldon 2

Canyon can you let me have your contact details please, I have a Grayson and may want to ask some questions about it.

Thank you,

Ian

Ahh I thought there would be a simple answer, Thanks Neil.

Hi,

I tried to post this question last night but it hasn't appeared?

Anyway I asked how come the Doncaster show (and any other forth coming shows) don't appear under the events tab in the menu?

Ian

I'm not greatly experienced with belts and pullys but I do know that 'Simply Bearings' do a wide range of belts.

Ian

Wow, thank to all contributers, seems like it's ok to proceed then. My garage is dry and walls are lined with OSB with expanded foam squirted into the gap between the OSB and the concrete garage panels.

I will take on board the need to keep things well oiled and keep the air moving.

Thank you again,

Ian

Hi,

I currently have a small grayson and a slightly larger Chester DB10 in my indoor workshop. Thread cutting on the Grayson is a none starter really, the Chester is ok on soft materials. I recently used a Harrison 300 and was blown away by how easy it did the job.

On reflection, it's a lot bigger, a lot, lot heavier and it's 3 phase, oh and of course it's imperial. But it worked just like the ones I used during my apprenticeship several centuries ago and I could just about justify getting one if I sell the others, the problem is this.

There is no way it will fit into my indoor workshop, it would have to go into my boarded garage, lighting would need improving but the big concern is that it is not heated at all. Would something like a Harrison 300 etc, Colchester Student or larger Boxford be ok in an unheated garage or would I be asking for trouble?

Thanks,

Ian

Gents,

Thank you for the helpful input, thought it would be nice to give an update.

I have ended up using 5c as I found a better choice of fixtures in this mode and can work with a slightly greater diameter workpiece.

Once again thanks for you help.

Haha thank you gents, something like the square or hex collet holder would be perfect, seems so obvious now you have pointed it out doh.

Many thanks again,

Ian

Hi,

Roy, if you mean from mid point along the length of the bar yes, if you mean from the centre of the bar outwards that's not going to give the desired result.

I will try to take a photograph at some point, that should show you what I am trying to achieve. It will also show how precarious my current method is.

Michael, You are very close to describing the method I use at the moment, I actually use a 10mm end mill and clamp the bar in the tool post, the problem is that this method is reall a lash up in respect of clamping the work piece. Amazingly I got away with it the first time on a test piece but to be honest my tool post is too small to provide deep enough clamping of the work piece and I think I might actually be about to develop a workpiece launcher at any time!

Am I right in thinking I should make a split sleeve or is there something commercially available?

Once again thak you both, for taking the time to reply and help.

Ian

Hi,

I want to bore into a bar, along it's length but coming in at an angle. So I need the drill - reamer mounted into the spindle, the bar mounted into the cross slide or tool post, so that the bar is running along the length of the lathe but on an angle so that the bore comes in from the side and drills intowards the centre of the bar.

The bar diameter will only be about 15 - 16 mm and the bore(s) (there will be three of them at 120 degrees).

What's the best way to achieve this please, I will try to draw what I am after if I can and then upload the picture(s).

Many thanks,

Ian

Thanks for the links David, wish I could afford the Harrison, looks as though it would be very useful.

Thanks,

Ian

Wow the power cables have had a fair bit of current through em the by the look of it, not a clue what might have caused it but I think Warco have been very good in taking the lathe back and offering a full refund.

There are a few questions running through my mind (if off topic mods please let me know).

As far as I can tell from climbing over the lathes stocked by Warco and Chester, they are identical in most ways, having slight cosmetic differences to seperate the two brands.

So what other choices are available for those wanting a small/medium, new lathe? and are there any British made ones still in production?

Thanks,

Ian

As far as I am aware the law states that any product sold for profit on a business basis, must conform to current legislation and must be fit for the purpose for which it is being sold and described. Failure to comly is termed miss-representation.

In this case it could be argued that the product was not fit for the purpose it was being sold (such a catastrophic failure whilst performing the tasks it is supposed to be used for in such a short time).

You could have a very good case for a full refund and maybe even some compensation if any other losses have been incurred as a result.

The 13 amp fuse is there to protect the mains lead from the socket outlet to the appliance, if the appliance has internal wires with a smaller cross sectional area then they will get hotter than the cables/wires supplying that current and could then burn through their insulation if subjected to a current greater than they can handle but still be below 13 amp.

It is also possible that the machines internal protection failed to cut out the current before things started to melt, once melting/burning perhaps they did kick in, in this scenario, the domestic wiring would not see any overload or short, however it is also not unknown for well regarded brands of consumer unit to have a faulty RCD now and again.

I would certainly echo the suggestion by Frances and get a sparky in to test everything and give it a clean bill of health.

Sadly this does tend to show how hollow the claims of 'off the shelf spares' which are made be the importes of Chinese stuff.

Hi,

After veiwing and playing with both Warco and Chester lathes at the Warwick Model Engineering show I chose the Chester. Several of the Warco machines were rough on the cross slide and I am guessing that the spindles were either slightly bent or inorrectly assembled. Both machines are essentially the same with cosmetic differences to seperate the branding.

To date my lathe has been good and no problems to report, but it is early days.

Hi Hopper,

Great tip, I will give it a go and let you know how it works out,

Many thanks,

Ian

Hi All,

Many thanks for the various tips and advice given so far. Here is the current status,

Lathe bolted down and no twist evident, in fact difficult to induce any on the bench that it sits on, so maybe that was luck from the start.

The head bearings are brass or bronze, (not looked close enough to know for sure) but no play at all detected with the dti.

Spindle nose only 1 thou run out ( I ended up buying an imperial dti).

Borrowed a Parallel bar, 2mt has only 2 thou run at 8 inches from the head and the tailstock is perfectly aligned.

THE BAD NEWS.... The chuck is awful, a bar placed in the chuck runs out by 7 thou and that is after I have worked the chuck to death to get it right.

I am going to try one more trick with the chuck before I accept defeat with it and save to buy a new one. The current chuck is a Chester Feurda ?

Thanks again,

Ian Skeldon

Wow thank you to all contributors, so much useful information. The bed has been bolted onto two heavy steel rails which in turn have bene bolted firmly but not excessively onto several layers of MDF and chipboard (like a laminate). The bed itself seems to be stress free and very level.

The nose spindle (2mt) has very little run out (0.02mm) according to the dti, must admit that I should be using thous as that is what I was raised on. Not sure how true the internal 2mt is as I have not tested or used that yet.

The chuck backplate also has very little run out so I am guessing that either the chuck body is not 100% true. I am going to try remounting it and checking it using each of the three positions available.

Once again, thank you so much for the help.

Hi

After checking over a used but cheap and local machine I eventually bought a 'Grayson'.

I watched it spin up and checked it over before buying it and was very pleased with the overall condition although there is some wear and backlash evident.

Now it is at home and setup on a bench I have realised that actually getting it all true is going to be a problem, I will try to explain why.

Whilst using a dti to check the chuck for run out (0.7mm) I noticed that the headstock does not appear to sit 100% parallel on the bed, the headstock casting is bolted to the bed casting and there is a small amount of adjustment available.

Q1 Where should I start in ensuring that everything is actually running true?

Please bear in mind that I don't need absolute accuracy and will mainly be turning aluminium bar of no more than 120mm length and 8 - 20mm dia.

Q2. I need the tail stock will need to be aligned to the head as Iwill want to drill and ream holes which will need to be as accurate as possible.

Any ideas would be very helpful and gratefully received.

Hi Stew,

Wow I didn't even know about SCMES,

Crewe has such a history of engineering it's pretty sad to see so little left from the good old days.

If I get the chance I will call down on Saturday and introduce myself in person, thanks for the invitation.

Ian