Member postings for Kevan Shaw

Lest

Totally helpful ! I am in the process of wiring up a Stanton switch on an old ML7 and couldn't be doing it without your information A big thanks!

Kevan

Ady1 I would be hesitant to put your faith in computers. I am trying to read files from just 22 years ago! I had the foresight to keep my old computers however even these don’t work without the relevant software and in my case dongles and serial numbers!

Thinking back a few more years, documents were consigned to microfiche in various formats. Even where the readers exist trying to get replacement lamps to make them work is impossible as they are not made and use a now almost completely banned technology!

Lighting expert here😃 forget fluorescents they are being banned from sale next year. LED fittings are more expensive but will last a very long time, probably longer than the typical model engineer. Try and get “flicker free” otherwise you might get in difficulties with strobe effects also headaches! Go for a warmer colour temperature 3000k, avoid anything over 4000k, colour gets worse. Linear fittings directly over benches and machine tools is good except mills where you need a fitting each side of the head to get light down to the workpiece.

Pretty much all lamp replacement products are poor so avoid unless you need a direct swap into an existing light.

Cheap is crap! Really don’t buy on price.

Compare lumens not watts. As above a 4’ fluorescent gives around 3300 Lumens. This is a good number to aim for at shed height over a bench or lathe, the higher you go the less light ends up on the. task.

I hope this helps!

Kevan Shaw

Hi, I need to get hold of spanners and or box keys for very small metric hex head bolts M1 up. Any idea who actually stocks such things?

thanks

Kevan

I guarantee that as soon as you get rid of your Whitworth spanners something will come along where you will need at least one of them! I have been given quite a few. I use them all the time on my old Myford ML7. On parts of my Landrovers that seem to use all types of bolts fixings and threads. Also they fit anything else British and old that I come across. It is A good idea to identify each family by colour coding with paint or even heat shrink or insulation tape to speed up identification in a tool box or drawer!

I don’t think you need to worry about fracking or tent dwellers. Us Kilt wearers are just opening Cambodian field and we still have plenty oil and gas in the existing fields for a good few decades yet.

there are other options including underground gasification of the vast remaining deep coal reserves under the UK. Nuclear in its present form is not a good idea as evidenced by Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukishima.

one point that is being roundly ignored is the inefficiency of power transmission. Between 40% and 60% power is lost between power generation and socket outlet. Big scale generation is not as efficient as it might seem. When the power source energy is”free” such as wind, tide or solar maybe not such an issue but “expensive” energy in either monetary or environmental terms are best used local to the demand.

I really have my doubts that the projected power generation and existing distribution network are capable of the massive load increase required from the change over to electric vehicles and replacing gas central heating with electric heating and heat pumps. But we are all fitting “smart” meters. They can have two way conversations with your supplier. I expect that we will get used to “load shedding” when our domestic supplies get “throttled “ much like our internet does when we get a bit greedy with our data use!

We are already in the throes of a power crisis right now. Not a shortage but a market failure brought about through governmental mis management, compounded by a panicky population scared by the press into filling their vehicle tanks faster than a depleted tanker fleet can refill petrol stations!

If we do increase demand for electricity beyond available resources how will we all react!

Having spent at least half an hour today crawling around trying to find various small parts that I had dropped or fell off I was wondering what the opinion is on suitable flooring that makes it easy to find small bits and prevent them bouncing into invisible and unreachable corners under benches and machines😟

any other ideas to help dropped nuts much appreciated !

I just found this design for a small steam pump in 5 january 1973 Model Engineer. I would value some advice as to how viable this design is for an inexperienced model engineer like me and whether I could use aluminium for the cylinders and steam chests with brass pistons and valves.

thanks Kevan

Please add me to the list as well

They all look pretty boring to me

the one in your hand looks like it has a broken insert. They could be used in a boring head in a mill or in a lathe.

Hi, I am looking for a small mill and have seen a few of these turn up at reasonable prices. As mostly amateur built I am rather hoping that the ones that have survived in use are likely to be of reasonably good construction as bad ones would have been scrapped by now!

What are these like as mills for model engineering? What are the capabilities and shortcomings? Should I consider one of these or are there better small cheap milling machines to consider?

thanks for your comments

I would definitely replace the mounts with something resilient otherwise you will transfer a lot of vibration to the machine along with more noise. Resilient mounts are very common so can be got from a variety of sources. Modt likely local source is a friendly car parts supplier as they are used all over modern cars. Take one of the failed ones along and see if the can find something that looks and feels the same. Exhaust system mounts are a good place to start looking. Otherwise if you have a good local engineering supplies place they should be able to help.

having said that my motor is just bolted straight to the motor mount plate and runs quite smoothly. I haven’t noticed if the hinge between the motor mount plate and the lathe bed has any resilience.

I had to add another post to make enough connection points for the Dewhurst

Edited By Kevan Shaw on 13/09/2020 09:57:38

Edited By Kevan Shaw on 13/09/2020 10:01:53

Here is a connection diagram I found and used to sort my lathe out

the connection labels might not be the same as your motor. By the way what make is your motor? Mine is an SEM and this is the connection box as it was when I started.

Emgee,

yes I have a red and black going to the capacitor. Feed comes from the Dewhurst switch on Z2 into the capacitor the output from the capacitor goes into the centrifugal switch the output from that connects to one end of the starter winding at the new connection post I added. Other end is on Z1 that connects back to the Dewhurst.

neither set of winding wires show any polarity the starter windings being black and running windings being red. Should I change polarity of both sets to get correct direction of running? It seems to be happy at the moment?

It works

As suspected the wires were not all on the correct posts and in effect there was a connection post missing to pick up the connection from the start switch and the start winding. Once that was solved it ran, but backwards. Swapping the feeds to the run coil fixed that so now it is all working as it should I think!

If anyone else has aSEM motor the pair of blacks are the start coil and pair of reds are the run coil, the pair of greens are the start switch and the red and black are quite obviously the capacitor.

Thanks for the help and moral support😃

That is the idea, how do you tell difference between start and run windings?

First guess would be failed start capacitor, that is if there is not an obvious duff connection. What kind of switch do you have?

My Myford came with a switch feeding its SEM .75hp motor. I recently bought a Dewhurst switch to replace the very tired MEM switch fuse. I followed the wiring diagram for a capacitor start motor and was treated to a big flash and blown circuit breaker. I reasoned that there must be a short. As I couldn’t see anything i lifted the connection board to find a shorting link between A2 and Z2. I removed this but same happened.

I am coming to the conclusion that the motor wiring may not be connected as it should be to the terminals. There are 6 wires coming up from the motor 2 each red black and green how do I figure out which is connected to which winding so I can check what is connected to which terminal?

Otherwise any ideas how I can get this correctly wired?

Hi,

my ML7 has developed a problem. There is slipping between the 3 way pulley and the gear it is supposed to be fixed to. When I see pictures of this part there is often a grub screw visible in the valley of the middle pulley however there is not one on mine.

is this a regular problem and what is best solution? I think the pulley assembly is retained on the shaft by a press fitted collar how can I get that off without damage given I don’t have a press? If it is a hammer job how can I support the pulley assembly so it doesn’t get damaged. The pulleys look like aluminium so I am worried that they may get damaged if I am clobbering the shaft hard enough to budge a steel collar on a steel shaft .

thanks for help with this!

kevan