Member postings for Blake Nesbitt

Depending on where you are in Birmingham these guys might be able to do a delivery, Or you could go collect.

They don't have CO2 on the site but they have welding mixes, And I'm sure if you call they will be able to tell you over the phone if they do plain CO2.


http://www.fossegas.co.uk/

I ended up going with a basic 160 amp DC inverter to learn tig on. £170 machine mart jobbie.

I should have spent a little more and got one with 2t/4t and a pedal option.

Scratch start is fine if you are using thicker tungsten 2mm+. My welds look good with the setup. The start of a weld and the closing are a bit frantic when you snap out.

If you are not planning on welding alu then don't bother with AC at all. You don't even need pulse DC for steel. My basic machine is actually very good and once you have the hang of snapping in and out it's not a chore to use, I just wish I had a little more control.

Something like this would have been better for me.

http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/tig-welder-240v-dc-160amp/

The 4T function lets you start and stop on demand without snapping out. The WP17 torch is a nice size. And you have the option to add a pedal.

Get a nice WP17 consumable kit, some gloves, mask, filler wire, and the biggest bottle of argon you can.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Expert-Accessory-Kit-for-WP17-26-18W-Tig-Welding-Torch-Tungstens-/152219486079

For my gas I went with a local rent free supplier. I'll post a link so you can see the prices he offers. I would imagine you will have to look for a local supplier to you, these prices seemed very good. So it'll at least act as a benchmark for the price you should be paying.

http://www.fossegas.co.uk/page_2266901.html

Edited By Blake Nesbitt on 23/05/2017 10:04:53

One of the main reasons for going new over second hand is guards. If it's a new machine I know they haven't been tinkered with. So while I still need to make sure they work, I shouldn't have problems with rewires, incorrect switch types, or bodge jobs.

It's the bodge jobs I fear most. If they have wired switches to cut 240v mains feeds rather than replace low voltage cut outs. I do not fancy getting a shock, or worse getting cap/back emf through the metal.

The other huge reason is I don't know where to look for signs of significant wear. Ebay isn't an option as any major flaws will simply be sold no returns or the return postage would be on my own neck. Local services are an option but I have yet to see a machine on them that suits me.

I think one of the problems there is I'm looking at the higher end of hobby lathes almost breaking into light industrial. I don't want a lower swing than 12" because a lot of the jobs even on scale steam need bigger flywheels. I don't actually plan on scale steam work but that may change and I don't want to then have to upgrade or go service finding when I could have just got a bigger machine from the off.

I was originally looking at the combination machines. I soon realised how bad an idea that was. It's not that either part is bad, it's just you make loads of small compromises with one of those machines.

Same with the bolt on mills. So for the time been I think I would be safer saving any investment on a machine block and vertical slide, and making space for a small mill with rotary table and an oversize vice.

I'll look into a dehumidifier. And see what the operating costs are. I'll also have a good dig about and see if there are any passive solutions. ATM it's only the floor that suffers with damp areas. Anything held off the floor and walls is not a problem. I was actually thinking about a greenhouse frost heater just to keep the walls and internal air over ambient.

I'm looking at that size for the simple reason I don't plan on buying another any time soon.

Also it's going in a tin shed, and I don't think the electronic controlled motor units will like been occasionally damp. A motor and V belts the very worst I'll get is a dead starter cap or relay. I can keep rust off anything with a good lick of paint and plenty of grease and oil. The shed is water tight, but all tin sheds sweat a little.

I've wanted my own unit since the age of 20 but never had a stable place to live and store one. Now I have that place I'm working on building up a small tool shop.

Tig welder is in and working well, Grinders, Bandsaw, Tables are been made by me to fit my space. Chester have said there is at least a 6 week wait on stock and I'm not in a rush to have the machine.

All lathes are dangerous, even one that can't do a deep cut at 4" will kill you pretty fast. I'm very much aware of the dangers, but I don't see a larger machine been any more dangerous than a smaller one. The only difference is I'll have more torque and be able to take deeper cuts than with a standard hobby machine. The gap in the bed will probably never get removed as I can't see me needing all that swing.

The advantages of that lathe are numerous when you look on the retailers websites.

It has a machine stand included, and a cheap DRO. When you look at the unit prices for those you are dealing with £400. It's also got a lower spindle speed that a good portion of it's class. The warco ones do have slower speeds but then it's with the inverter drives so I'm back on complicated electronics and damp.

I did have a really good look at a few on the warco site as well. The GH550 and WM250 would both suit me but the craftsman seems to beat both of them of features and robust design.

I'll still be looking at them in a few weeks so things might change.

Hello,

I'm looking into buying a Chester Craftsman lathe. There is however a small problem with the online manual Chester offer on the forums. It has next to no information about the actual lathe, and is more a general overview of lathes and the functions.

I have found Grizzly make a very similar lathe, the G9249. Can somebody who owns a craftsman just do a quick pass of their lathe with this manual and tell me if these sections are similar.

Back gear selection.
Spindle speeds.
Metric thread table.

Here is a link to the Grizzle manual.

cdn0.grizzly.com/manuals/g9249_m.pdf

Many thanks.

Wow!

Did you get the starter fixed? An airsoft gearbox motor might suit your needs a bit more than the modified motorbike starter.

They run from 7-12 volts. Generally from a lipo or Nimh pack. And can turn from 10K rpm high torque, to 45K rmp low torque. High Torque models are often really aggressive neo magnet based and hard to hand crank, speed models are normally ferrite and easy to hand crank.

The pinions are remove-able and are either grub screw on flat, or thread lock on round. So you could make a starter dog for the rear or front of the engine. Leaving it engaged would not damage the motor either as they have bearings and are mostly balanced. You can strip them (pinion off, 2 rear tabs opened, slide out the rotor to the rear). Then drill balance the rotor and re-shim if needed.

A man of your talents could make a lovely pistol starter with the batteries inside.


Normally they run anywhere from £10-60 depending on the brand (brand is everything in airsoft). And brand often means very little, It's a name and they probably shimmed and balanced it for £50 more.

http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/upgrade-part/parts-upgrade-aeg/motors-parts/a-p-s-ev-edge-motor-with-bearing.html#.WPFjamehfZI

Neil Wyatt if that's the case then the PCB's should be fully repairable. RS should stock the components and the operation parameters will be done with PCB components rather than programing. I was fully expecting a programmed chip to be on there at some point that was a known point of failure.

Either way I'll have a good browse of the PCB's and the after market ones to see what modifications have been made. And if those mods can be done to an original board. It might be something ridiculous like the addition of a few TVS diodes to clean up any current spikes from the motor getting back to the boards and frying FETS. Or Using a big FET to act like a motor switch relay. Either way that style of low level electronics is well within my reach.

I'm also going to look into the delta inverter/ac motor setup warco are selling to see if it's worth the extra. The lower speed and increased torque might be beneficial, but only if it's a quality motor with good magnets.

I'll also have a look for the Coventry Model Engineers. I'll get in touch before I buy anything as it might be the case that a local has a machine available that would suit. I don't really want a short machine and don't have the space for a full bed so I think the chances of finding something in the sweet spot second hand is going to be hard, Especially with PCF. I'm also wanting the option for a bolt on mill and I know the Weiss has that as standard on most models.

I'm not in a great rush to buy, I'd rather have done 2-3 months reading reviews and knowing the short comings of the model I pick, rather than going in blind and then realising I've made a mistake. I'm also Northern (come from York), So parting with cash is a religious experience!

Edited By Blake Nesbitt on 14/04/2017 23:05:41

Thank you for the Welcome!

I think making space is the hardest part of any job at home. I only have a 3 meter x 3 meter shed to work in. I also have 2 motorbikes that live in there as well!

It's why I'm working out a decent workbench first. Once it's finished I'll be ready to think about the lathe. The current workbench design is a 1500mm x 600mm skeleton,15 stringers of 25mm x 3mm box. With a drop in 700x600 3mm plate over the centre. The stringers are set to take a vice or bench grinder in 3 places and the vice can be slid all the way front to back. The whole top will fold flat to the wall by removing the front leg pins. I'm at the stage now where to top is fully welded, and I'm thinking about how to make the legs function the way i want them to. I have the design in my head so it's just a matter of realising that in metal.

I recon I have a space of about 450mm x 1200mm. So I'm hoping to be able to get something like the weiss/warco/chester wm250/DB10s. I need to do a lot more digging about first to be sure of the model and electrics. I have seen several threads all relating to the motors and control gear on those lathes been sub par. But for the price and with the power cross feed I think it's something i could work with. I need to spend a few hours looking at pictures of the PCB's and working out if there is anything special like micro-controllers that would stop me been able to DIY fix most of the problems.

As for the tip, I hate that place! We just save up the junk and hire a skip for the day.

As for projects, I actually want to build an airsoft sterling machine gun with a full airsoft gearbox. So 30 rounds a second full auto on 6mm BB's. It's probably not what this forum is geared to dealing with, but the scale is right!

Hello.

I'm slowly working my shed into more of a machine shop. Last year was all about getting a Tig welder working, and a bandsaw in place. With those tools I'm in the process of making a folding workbench that will work in a small space.

I have some experiences with lathes and mills, I know the power they hold over all things mechanical. So I'm hear to ask a lot of questions about my initial setup. I have a decent Ideal of what I want, so in that regard I should be pretty low maintenance!

My Grandfather was a mechanical engineer by trade and I spent a lot of time in the shop helping him up to my mid 20's. Unfortunately when he wrapped it all up I didn't have enough experience to even contemplate running his business.


Now at last I have enough disposable income to set myself up at home.