Member postings for Martin Shaw 1

Allendale have delivered the DRO kit, and it looks pretty good. The scales supplied are 800mm, 500mm, and 400mm, and whilst having to cater for a wide variety of machines, are a bit long for the SX2.7. I am going to use the 500 for the X, the 400 for the Z and the 800 will provide 300 for the Y with enough left over for the X on the lathe, if I fit that machine. That's todays plan but in truth I'm in a quandry with the Y axis fitting, so has anyone any pointers about this please?

Regards

Martin

I'm grateful to both Ketan and Jason for their respective bits of information, which I was unaware of, though no doubt if I read the instructions it might be in there. Out of curiosity I now have and they are.

Regards

Martin

Ron

No it didn't come with anything so I made a suitable device, turned on my Cowells ME90. The hole in the centre of the table is 24mm in dia so I turned a 10mm spigot, for mounting in a collett, on the end of a bar finished to be a snug fit in the table centre. In use manipulating the X and Y axis so that it entered the hole with no interference was actually fairly easy. The second pic shows it in use to locate the fortunately 12mm radius cutouts in the frames of a 7mm models of a GCR 9N 4-6-2 tank locomotive which needed made 14mm radius. It seemed to work out so maybe I do know something about this engineering lark.

Regards

Martin

Edited By Martin Shaw 1 on 23/11/2018 21:55:34

Ron

As a matter of comparison here is my 4" table from Arc. The only really fundamental difference is the method of locking it which is perhaps better and it does I suppose look a little less utilitarian, but at a current list price of £263 it ought to. I have no complaints about it but I reckon yours will do just as much so I feel you've made a better buy. The photo rather highlights the dust from sitting on the rack for months, hangs head in shame.

Regards

Martin

Edited By Martin Shaw 1 on 23/11/2018 19:18:54

Thanks Jason.

Gentlemen

Thank you all for the very useful replies. For reasons too long to explain the Chinese individual who assembled my lathe obviously did it on a Frday afternoon and after a major row with his missus the night before, so it's currently hors de combat whilst I am sorting it, so the project has to be done on the mill.

In practice I am starting with material 25 by 25 by 40 long with a 25mm semi-circular recess on the long side, so drilling is probably out, even though this is far from precision engineering. I don't have either a 25mm end mill or a collet to hold it so there's the best part of £30, which is halfway to a boring head. I have never shied away from buying tools for a job and to a quality that I can best afford, especially when there is a host of other things it can do in the future, so that's the likely route. Thankfully I don't need financial approval for capital expenditure. The rotary table would work but the setup is a bit fiddly, and some of the other suggestions whilst perfectly satisfactory are a problem given the stock size, but my thanks nonetheless for every contribution. There are a lot of very nice people out there.

Regards

Martin

I have a simple project to make two spacers for the attic ladder hand rail, the original plastic ones have become brittle and disintegrated. This requires a 25mm dia half hole in the end of a 25mm ali bar. I can work out two ways to do this, firstly mount it on the rotary table and mill the recess, this has the ready advantage that I have all the tooling, or secondly use a boring head, which I don't currently have but am not averse to acquiring. The question is what is considered the better approach to this task, cost not being a decider, and if a boring head is bought what would be a recommendation?

Regards

Martin

Since my post last week and Jason's helpful tips I have done some dismantling, principally to remove the top cover and motor, which does save a little bit of weight.The dowels in the column bottom seem strange, the hole in the column is vertical whilst that in the base is at an angle, so when you have extracted them, they are bent, go figure. Having said that they went back in with no problem. I also took off a lot of the bits to aid the cleaning process, I can understand why it's necessary but it really is an awful job. I managed to happily lift the head and column off the base and lay it down but I really wouldn't want to carry it any distance.

Sunday afternoon was spent very productively cleaning it all, and so yesterday my pal Derek came round. Now he is a typical west of Scotland character, shortish in stature, stockily built and with a major can do attitude, I invited him to test the weight, "nae problem pal, it'll be a scoosh", was his assured response. Actually getting it to the foot of the attic steps was easy enought, thereafter a bit of rope with me underneath it, guiding it to avoid damage and rest on alternate treads worked, it was somewhat nerve wracking, failure would cause major damage to me and the machine. Thankfully we got there, and the base was easy peasy. A picture of the machine on it's bench, which needs some additional bracing, I'm very pleased to have got here.

You'll notice I've gone the whole hog and fitted the Sieg X axis power feed, it works although probably not slowly enough for deep DOC in hard material, and to be fair Arc did point this out to me, but even so that's a whole less winding to do. I could I suppose have home brewed something for less money, but ultimately for me the hobby is not about machine tools, they just need to do a job, I can spend the time better.

A couple of thoughts, Sieg haven't improved their painting, the manual is riddled with errors, for example it tells me that the motor is retained by M6 by 14 screws, which in reality are M4 by 12. and that at first impressions it is a fine machine. I hope I have no cause to regret that.

Regards

Martin

Ron

Whilst I started the thread it isn't "mine" as much as about new milling machines. In that respect both you and Geoff have relevant experience and sharing of thoughts and ideas is always beneficial. I'm still very much a beginner.

Geoff

I was going to do a gas strut mod but lethargy overcame and it's not now relevant. DRO is certainly worth doing, mine is on order for delivery at the end of the month. I was lucky enough to have a go on a Bridgeport so fitted, going back to leadscrews dials is not attractive.

Jason

Thanks for the tips, the only really difficult part pf the journey is the landing floor to attic, my pal and I managed the SX2P upwards complete, I split the column from the base downwards and had no difficulty. The SX2.7 is that much heavier however the head and column sans motor should be manageable. Ketan cautioned me about removing the head from the column so I'm keen to avoid that if at all possible.

Regards

Martin

Hi Chaps

The new machine arrived today, as well as some other goodies, what I don't fully understand despite my 65 years is the almost childlike joy of a new toy. It is as unpacked and still covered in Chinese gloop whilst I contemplate the method of installing it in the attic workshop, some dismantling will obviously be necessary, and probably some neighbours sons with the offer of free beer may oblige. It's also bl***y big, far more than it looked in Arc's showroom last week.

Regards

Martin

Hi Geoff

The SX2P is a great wee machine, I expect you'll have fun with it, I certainly did when I had one. A couple of pointers if I may, keep the Z axis gibs snug which benefits changes in head height, if they are too loose the head can decide to take charge which is irritating. Secondly the X and Y locking screws are M4 cap head screws requiring an allen key to operate, they are fiddly and rapidly annoying beyond belief. Go to the Wixroyd website and they will sell you suitable Bristol lever screws, if I remember correctly a 20mm for the Y and a 25mm for the X, it makes operation much sweeter.

Martin

I certainly am Ron, I'll post a pic in due course when I've managed it into its home.

Martin

Thanks for all your thoughts, you have tended to confirm my thinking. As it is I spoke to M DRO this morning and we have agreed that their 3 axis dro kit is the most cost effective, even if I don't initially fit the Z axis, so I ordered it. Delivered for a tad under £500 I think it will suit well. Boss is currently away so no problem in that direction.

Regards

Martin

Hi Ron

That's pretty impressive, I'm not at all certain I would have undertaken that, but it has undoubtedly worked well. Some food for thought here.

Martin

Regular readers will know of Ron and his new to him SX2P, which he bought from me. I am pleased to see he's getting on with it ok, it's a massive learning game starting fron scratch.

A beneficial change in my circumstances has enabled me to contemplate an SX2.7, the machine I would have bought 18 months ago if finance had allowed, and practically the biggest I can get into my workshop. I made a visit to Arc yesterday to discuss the whole matter and look at the machine. Ketan very generously spent a considerable time showing me around and explaining something of the philosophy behind his approach to business, as well as discussing specific matters and Ian in his charming avuncular way translated the conversation into an order and relieved me of a large sum. It's all arriving next week.

The subject of DROs came up, and Arc to their credit suggested magnetic scales from Machine DRO would be a better bet than their own optical scales, do others agree? Additionally the SX2.7 comes with a quill depth readout so choices, fit a 2 way display and XY scales, fit a 3 way display but still only fit XY scales pending usage determining the need for a Z scale, or, go the whole hog at the start. Any views bearing in mind that there isn't a vast sum between the options.

You will gather from the above I have a great regard for Arc, they are easy to do business with, normal diclaimer applies.

Regards

Martin

Alan

I suspect this is no more than exhaust condensing on the interior surfaces of the smokebox. I guess your boiler pressure is around 100 psi so it's not very hot to start with and the amount of heat drawn through the tubes is not enough to evaporate it away. I can only speak from experience of the full size item where water definitely indicates a leak, if you have eradicated that possibility then condensation is really the only cause. PS priming is of course a possibility.

Regards

Martin

Edited By Martin Shaw 1 on 26/10/2018 22:17:30

There is more to this than meets the eye and changing breakers willy nilly is not the solution. Reducing the size of the local MCB will not allow discrimination, that is a fault current that trips a say 20A MCB will likely enough also trip the 32A one in the house. Changing the from a type B to a type C is a possibility but there are additional factors that require determination before that can be done, loop impedance is critical, the size of the supply cable has a bearing as does it's length. Without that information it's impossible to make any sensible suggestion and if the OP can't work that out then an electrician is required.

Regards

Martin

I mistakenly assumed that it wasn't from a Sieg because as Neil has pointed out the banjo is different from that on my SC3. Apologies.

Martin

Mick

A word of caution, Arc lathes are manufactured by Sieg whilst I think Axminster lathes are by Real Bull, certainly your arm that holds the pivot and bush is a different shape to my Sieg component. As for separating the bits, some heat would help, a .blow torch if you have one.

Regards

Martin

Edited By Martin Shaw 1 on 01/04/2018 21:56:02

Edited By Martin Shaw 1 on 01/04/2018 21:56:23

Back in the day when I worked for BBC Engineering the almost universal loudspeaker amplifier was a Quad 405, usually in bi-amp configuration. It was the amp of choice because, in the late Peter Walker's maxim the ideal amp was a piece of wire with gain, and it was solidly built and wholly reliable, day after day after day. Very little else originally designed for the consumer market has come anywhere near, my own example some 25 years old still outperforms most things on the market. Valve amps are just a pain, certainly in the wallet as revalving on a regular basis is essential, but unless you've got a high efficiency speaker design, horn loaded for preference, then they invariably have insufficient welly. Of course if your seduced by the hi-fi gurus, may you enjoy the dubious statements of betterment at your own considerable expense.

Regards

Martin

Edited By Martin Shaw 1 on 13/02/2018 21:05:43