Member postings for William S

This is the problimatic lens: 

As can be seen Its not clear like the other 2 lenses(below) the thing I cant work out is how they come out of the brass body, the front looks to be machined to that shape and the back doesn't look to unscrew, what's peoples opinions?

I hope these pictures explain.

The previous thoughts are much appreciated, that link to the graticules optics Michael is very handy, they are actually local to me so I may be seeking there expertise on the damaged Minutes scale. 

William 

Edited By William S on 15/07/2021 20:00:57

Here’s some pictures of the “non existent” markings!

That was on the old Hilger shadowgraph. Not the best I know

Now on the big Sigmascope, at 10x magnification

still blows me away the size and quality of the markings, I believe as Clive said they must be (photo?) etched. Think about car glass, the triplex etc markings I guess are done in a similar way.

I think now my issue is some staining on the middle lens of the magnifying lens. It’s marked C Baker 1/2” 14x. If any one can suggest how that comes apart, I’ve unscrewed it in to 3 parts but I think there’s 2 glass parts together and moisture is trapped between them making it almost impossible to see through. I’ll get some more pictures it’ll explain better than I can say in words!

I do understand the need to clock the ring Clive, there is putty which was/is acting as a locator, but I may replace this as it’s very delicate, Do you think the markings were done concentrically to the ring o.d/I.d or do I need to be creative? The ring had to come off to disassemble it, there was no way around that, I was very reluctant to remove the ring due to getting it back concentric.

William

I too have a similar micrometer, and it’s use to me is an unknown:

It looks to work on the same principle, although mine has the shaped parts in the bottom left of the box, which have threaded holes that nothing else in the box fixes/attaches to?
The rods are I think for setting the distance as they are a perfect length, the clips on yours I think is to aid setting it up,( if you have tried setting a large mic 4”+ with a setting rod one needs about 6 hands!)

like has been said above they both appear “user made” mine has been nickel plated so must of been a lull in production in the factory! or more likely done as an advanced apprentice piece

Mine came when I brought my BCA jig borer, from the widow of the previous owner who designed and made one clock in his retirement, and was a specialised welder on oil rigs for his living. Wether that leads any to any clues I have no idea.

The box on mine has been machined from a solid block of Perspex and fully polished which is more impressive almost than the actual tool!

I hope we do find out it’s purpose, it’s intriguing.

William

A quick update:

The prize goes to Gerry for suggesting that the markings might be practically invisible to the naked eye, which they almost are! They are absolutely miniscule, how they were done 40 years ago is blowing my mind!

All markings on that ring are present and correct, I'm going to have a look at it tomorrow on the shadowgraph at work, hopefully I can then get some pictures as well.

I found them by playing about with a little led bulb, I was just shining it down the hole and turning the handle when in the corner of the readout I just saw the flash of a very feint line and what looked like numbers above. I then twiddled the handle back and forth and could just see a few lines. You would not belive the relief that was. I then spent all day at work eager to get back as shortly after finding the lines I then subsequently lost them again! When I got home I took the glass ring off and in holding it up to a strong light I could just make out the blobs of the numbers and lines, all the way around the ring.

Under my Prior dissecting microscope I can just about read each number! Although I don't have any of the actual magnifying hoods so I am unsure of the magnification, I will try as I said with the shadowgraph and post my findings.

Many thanks

William

Hello all, thanks for all your thoughts,

Yes Micheal, I have come across that, although that one has a resolution of 3 seconds as opposed to mine which is a 6 second resolution. I think they just engraved another line on the dial. That is about the extent of online information!

Alan, and old mart, it was worth a try, I had a go today with some graphite it sadly didn’t highlight any etched markings so I don’t think it was previously etched.

Making water slide transfers up is something I have contemplated, however accuracy is my biggest worry.

Chris, you might be correct, I did a bit of online digging they appear to be under a slightly different name of PGT Ceewrite/Ceewrite engineering Ltd. I will give them a call and find out. Just quickly glancing google for PG hadn’t found much.

Bazyle, yes the glass ring shown in the last 3 pictures is what carry’s the degrees markings, so really has to be accurate to within the resolution of 6 seconds.
The light is shone through the glass ring which rotates with the spindle, the markings on the glass ring are picked up by the magnifying lense (4th picture, second post) the light then goes through a load of right angle lenses at the end of the end of the black tube, until it reaches the last lense, on the inside of the unit. The assembly in my hand magnifies from the last lense, up through the screen with the minutes readout on it. I hope that explains the basics of it, not the best I know! I’m not exactly certain on how the minutes adjustment is used in practice yet. So you are correct the worm is only used as the positioning device. So I need an optical rotary table to get the same accuracy myself!

I like the idea of laying it out on a large scale, that is something worth thinking about. It was doable 40 years ago so it should be possible in this modern day and age!

Thanks again, I’ll keep you posted with what I find out.

William

However a bit of dismantling, WD40 and a razor blade, most rust was scraped off ending up with:

(I am yet to clean to the readout assembly)

Not too bad if I say so myself! The only damaged I subjected it to was the cracked casting around the locking knob, this was not my finest hour and I am quite peeved with myself. The rust hasn't eaten in to the base metal really it had almost just furred up like scale in a kettle so was quite easily removed.

Now mechanically it is in good condition there is very little wear, helped by the rather simple yet clever oiling system.

Optically however it is challenged. Its internal soaking has dissolved what I believe were water slide transfers on the glass(or could they of been something else?), The glass ring around the spindle is totally void of any markings, this was like this on me dismantling it, however the minutes scale on the was in ''good'' condition because it was sandwiched between to pieces of glass however on me separating them to clean the water staining between has meant I have disturbed the very brittle transfer and ended up with:

So basically it is useless as it stands,

How do you think it is best saved?

Could one get water slide transfers made up?

Could lazer engraving be a contender?- My worry would be precision with this method, I.E., set up in the machine etc. There is a local firm who I am thinking of talking to.

The glass ring I was thinking about setting it up on the my pantograph on a rotary table with a diamond drag tool in the spindle and scoring the glass. Again though my worry is actually getting it right as it all depends on getting them exactly 1 degree apart! (or does it?)

Or is it a really specialist task? Would a company who produces microscopes be worth contacting.

So there we go, please fire away with your thoughts! I look forward to hearing them

William

Edited By William S on 03/07/2021 20:53:53

Hello All

Just after winning this piece of vintage kit, I said that it is going to be the best £134 or worst £134 I have probably ever spent! I'll let you decide:

(sorry for the orientation of these 2 pictures! The recent thread about picture orientation has taught me how to orientate my phone when taking the pictures!)

So that what it looked liked inside upon arrival!, it was sold as being sat in a shed for a few years, seemed to be an uninsulated shed! The constant temperature changes and being basically a sealed unit means it has basically sweated inside, and ended up in the mess as seen above.

I got my 2 from the “new Myford” at Ali Pali ME exhibition a couple of years ago, so check there website.

Have you found the comprehensive chart of most combinations on the other post about this topic? I think it is on the second page, it’s the best thing I think I have found! The few times I have needed this mod it has been for some really odd stuff that would not otherwise be possible.

Hope that helps

William

Hello,

Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs, I've never used an adjustable ream (yet!) so I wont comment on that topic,

However the firm I work for produce things called direxpander reams:

https://www.dk-holdings.co.uk/engin/direxpa.html

That link explains what they are, diamond expanding reams. I am not sure if these would work for your application as I don't really know what diameters you are working with, the range that we commonly make is 6-60mm however I am pretty sure we have done some tiny ones, they just work on a slightly different principle.

There are Chinese copy's to be found on eBay, so one could experiment. The ones we make usually have a lead in, a parallel sizing section and a lead out. This means they are quite labour intensive to produce (all finished on manual Jones and Shipman cylindrical grinders) and so are in no way cheap, the Chinese ones at the cost they seem to be might not made to the highest standards so take that as you will.

I hope that is of some use

William

Hello

I hope this is of some use:

Sorry for the crude sketch, its got all the info I think you should need! Like I said on the drawing the holes may be smaller depending on your generation of chuck as shown bellow there appears to have been at least 2 iterations of it!

Mine appears to have been welded at some point, although I think its just threaded now as I detailed above

Shows the 2 different versions

William

Good evening Rob

To pivot: The most important thing is to remove the Locating pin behind the slide on the main casting, it should be a tight fit, then slacken the 2 nuts either side, being mindful it will maybe want to fall to one side;

The nuts attach to basically T bolts that are in a circular T slot on the back of the slide casting;

Obviously to remove the whole assembly its a case of totally removing the 2 nuts and just pull it of the Centre spigot.

You say the nuts may be seized, in which case soak in penetrating oil. Just a quick point, I have done it myself! Is the spanner wedging up on the main casting in the cavity the nuts occupy? thus preventing it from turning

Last resort would be to cut them off as to remake the T bolts is a tad difficult as they must fit the circular slot. I think the middle picture above demonstrates this.

Good luck with the dismantling/moving of your machine, when we moved my 2 BCAs we just wound the table off and then did our backs in!

It would be nice to see some pictures of it

I hope that helps

William

(I do apologise for the orientation of the pictures they seem to be a bit drunk!, I can not seem work out the knack to upload pictures from my phone without them falling over)

Moderator edit: pictures fixed - not your fault William, it can happen to anyone!

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 06/05/2021 18:37:54

Hello Ian

I can expand a bit more however I'm going to disappoint as it wasn't a collet I made, it was a sidelock cutter holder:

Those are what I made, They have 1/4" and a 6mm dia hole to suit the fc3 range of cutters, they could also be used to hold any other cutter if one was to grind a little flat to allow the grubscrew to retain them.

I will make more with a smaller range of holes- 3mm /4mm /5mm /1/8"/ 3/16" etc as they work well especially with carbide end mills

They are not to difficult to produce just turn the o.ds between centres, this enables a batch to be done(angle/screw thread etc) with minimum of fuss, Then clock them up in the 4 jaw chuck to bore the end. This has been documented over on modelenginemaker I belive.

Collets are largely the same I belive, however a front portion is left on until the very end, I have read the process on another forum I think.

I hope this helps

William

Hello Andy

Its a lever operated cut off slide for production use,

looks very similar to a Myford one:

http://www.lathes.co.uk/myfordcapstan/

about half way down that page

William

Hello John

if it interest you I have this vice, it came in an auction lot, it is redundant to me as I have plenty of other vices, in fact it has been clamped to a shelf since the day I got it:



it’s of Japanese origin so is of decent quality, has smooth non replaceable jaws-76mm wide as can be seen above, minimum table clamp thickness is around 12mm. There is a little anvil and a facility to hold bar, Some marks to the top of the jaws nothing major.

Yours for £30 including postage

I hope this helps

William

The 2 people that said cylindrical grinder, you were correct, it is the overhead drive off a Jones and Shipman 520:

Image from Lathes.co.uk

The grinder however I am unsure about!

I belive it to be a Crystal Lake-http://www.lathes.co.uk/crystallake/

The shape of the castings look very similar, bulbous shape to the wheelhead bearings etc. what do people think?

I acquired the grinder last September from the nephew of the previous owner, who didn't know anything about it, when I got it it looked like this:

It has been stripped down and looks to be have been undergoing an overhaul, surfaces have been scraped as well as the bearings. It has been largely repainted just the wheelhead and tailstock needs finishing. There is a box somewhere with all the ancillary items which a previous owner has lost, the nephew could not find anything that looked to relate to it so I am in the dark with what I am missing. I have worked out the cam operated locks for the workhead and tailstocks.

The drive I thought was going to have to be homemade as finding something would be like looking for rocking horse doo dah. That was until I stumbled across an ebay listing for the above overhead drive! Turned out to be a chap I had dealt with before just around the corner from me! What were the chances.

It appears to be all there, minus some bolts and springs, a quick tweak with the clutch adjustment and that seems to work, it needs a taking to bits and a good clean, working out all the belt runs etc. The pulleys being the same way might be intentional, needs investigating. The lathes site explains the drive a bit if people are interested

William

Hello all just a bit of fun, testing your knowledge on old machinery, can any one guess what this is from:

I do know what its from, so guess away!

William

Edited By JasonB on 11/04/2021 19:36:57

Hello all

I picked these up on Sunday, the previous user made 1 clock from his own design during his retirement.

Now the drill is a clearly a Hauser, the mill less so. The little tag that would of had the name has been removed, why I do not know! The mill appears to be identical to the one shown on lathes site under Hauser.

They are both finished in crinkle black paint, the drill I think has seen a bit of use but the mill is immaculate. What is peoples thoughts on the paint, is it original? I haven’t seen any others finished in it as far as my research has gone. Also what about age, I’m thinking the drill is older than the mill, but what do you think?
Any thoughts greatly appreciated

William

Edited By JasonB on 07/04/2021 19:51:09

Hello all

Thanks for the info, I have got it running on your advice. I had thought that it was possible by running a higher hp motor. I just needed conformation!
What I did was make up a double socket extension lead:

Luckily I had all the sockets and plugs and it’s quite a useful mod as it utilises 5 and 4 pin sockets so It may come in handy in the future.

I am using the only other 3 phase motor I own which is the BCA and it works perfectly one just has to remember to turn that motor on first!

Thanks again

William

Hello all,

like the title says really, would the shown transwave converter run this motor?

What would be consequences be if I was to wire it in? I can not afford to destroy this motor one bit really so what is peoples opinion?

I know the answers probably no it won’t work, as 0.37kw (minimum single motor) equates to 1/2hp so it is nowhere near 1/6hp.
I look forward to your reply’s

William

Hello all

Thank you for the kind words, its just going to stay a standard chuck, as I am not an owner of an 80mm Griptru!

I have done one pinion, Its not right as I forgot about the involute detail when grinding the D bit!:

As can be sen here the middle D bit just has straight sides, I am yet to experiment with making a involute form D bit so watch this space. I am using a D bit as I don't think any other cutter would work. A fly cutter style tool or a commercial cutter as it has to clear the pin sticking out the front of the pinion.

That's the pinion before I cut the teeth,

Okay you asked for an explanation on the finer details so here goes:

The scroll and jaws have so far turned 2 of these 0.5mm slot drills

To;

The scroll and jaws are machined on my Alexander 2c pantograph engraver using the full size original, and the pantograph ratio set to 3:1. I first roughed out the ends of the jaws using a 1mm endmill and a 3mm stylus, (the pantograph ratio x cutter dia = stylus dia) Then I moved on to the 0.5mm slot drill and a 1.5mm stylus to finish machine the profiles.

Getting set up here is the most difficult part one has to really be creative with an indicator!, I needed to get the "fence"(1,2,3 block) on the copy table in relation to the fixed jaw on the vice on the machine table. This was done by calculating the centre of the original jaws plus the radius of the stylus, turned out to be 4mm exactly. A slip gauge was used. Then holding the stylus against said "fence" and slip and sweeping an indicator either side of the 1/3rd scale jaw on the machine table to centralise it.

The 0.5mm slot drill is running at full lick of 20,000rpm, 0.1mm depth of cut set with the knee on the machine, about 30mins per jaw

The scroll was largely the same process, only I used the 0.5mm cutter to fully machine it, no roughing cuts. I removed the copy table and held the original scroll on a mount. Sorry no pictures of this stage! so you will just have to put up with my explanations. The scroll took about an hour and a half to machine.

The jaws were made out of a strip of gauge plate which I surface ground in my lunch break at work to fit the slot in the chuck body, the slots either side were cut using a little T slot cutter, in this set up, enables both sides to be at exactly the same depth etc.

The T slots in the chuck body were cut in this little fixture on the BCA ,slot first then using a miniature carbide "key seat" cutter (off ebay, Klot carbide, no links just an impressed customer). the fixture allowed easy lineing up with the pre drilled pinion holes that were drilled when it was still attached to the parent stock from turning the i.d. and o.d etc

The gears were cut on the Pantograph using the aforementioned D bit in this set up:

I hope that explains a bit!

William

Edited By William S on 01/04/2021 23:28:09