Member postings for Oldiron

Might be an idea to contact Transwave who advertise on this site. One of their phase converters or similar might be a better option.

regards

A very nice little machine. Ideal for the home shop.

regards

I sold my Fobco Star bench model off a few years ago when I bought a 2nd larger milling machine and needed the space. Before that I did look into using it as a light milling machine. I dropped that idea when I checked the quill and found 0.005" side play. The table also had some vertical & horizontal wiggle in it. At the time lathes.co.uk were selling a replacement quill with upgraded bearing and a 2MT nose. It was if I remember about 1/2 the price of a used minimill so I went that route instead although I bought new. I would think that the 40Kg table as nice as it is, might be is a tad on the heavy side for the Fobco table even if you have the extra locking ring below it on the vertical shaft. I reckon adjusting that up & down would be difficult.

regards

As NDIY says try to find a Co2 bottle from a pub. Failing that I used expired fire extinguisher bottles for a couple of years with no problems. The threads were 1/2" bspp so adaptor was easy to sort out.

For the rent free bottles I use now I went to **LINK** They have huge network of suppliers. I found one less than 2 miles from me.

Hope this helps

regards

I admit that MS is not the best at updates. BUT is it all their fault. All users get a warning when updates are due. I suggest that you let the PC update as soon as it wants to and not tell it to wait until later. If you do not allow the update you are going to get it at some time as W10 is a service and not a free program you can deny updates too. If you do deny updates you will eventually get to the stage when the PC is almost unusable. When you buy W10 you do not buy a program you buy the W10 service with its updates. Most updates happen in the back ground but some are bigger than others and need time to configure themselves. Most times if the pc will not boot straight away just leave it alone. The worst thing to do is keep banging keys or switching it on and off. The more you do that the longer it takes to configure.

MS does updates on a Tuesday or Wednesday in the middle of the night. Most PC's are set to do updates at around 3am or as soon as you turn on the PC thereafter . I never turn off any of my PC's so all I need to do is put in the password to boot into windows 10 when I get up if there has been an update I have failed to install manually. I have several PC's running for different uses and cannot remember the last time I had a problem with updates.

Oh and don't get me going about all those backups/repair disc we have of our system (not ) to get us out of trouble. Just boot from the repair disc and follow the instructions and all will be fixed.

Most people expect their PC/Laptop to boot up as soon as they switch it on but if an update has been scheduled this will not happen. The PC needs to be given time to install & configure the updates. I have a sister in law that phones me every month or 2 and tells me her pc will not start. I ask when was the last time she used it and the answer is always " a couple of weeks ago" I have lost track of the times I have told to her to turn it on and walk away from it for half an hour. It always works when she does that.

I have been a Windows Insider since that program was released and the most common fault on the W10 platform that I see is people's impatience. I also think that the W10 platform is excellent and a breeze to use. It cannot be easy to bring a program that has to cater to 1000's of different types and models of PC/laptop/printer etc etc.

OK so W10 does not easily run very old programs or some times not at all. Should we expect it too ? I personally do not think so. All things have a finite life. The CAD and other programs we have used for many years have run their course. Time we all started to realise that technology is overtaking us dinosaurs and update to something newer.

How many people complaining about MS W10 are using a ripped/cracked copy not only of the OS but programs such as MS Office, Autocad etc ?. I have seen it time and time again. If its ripped expect problems updating or being so far out of date as to be useless

If a PC or laptop is more than 5 years old it has had its time except to run older programs. Use them as a 2nd pc to do that.

For everyday use and to keep up with advances in technology the pc needs mechanically updating/replacing on a regular basis as well.

People who go on about how good an Ipad is at updating should try to update an Ipad one. Ha Ha no chance. unless you cheat and use the Redsnow jailbreaker or similar.

Anyway these are my thoughts on the subject for what they are worth.

regards.

I am sure that there are many machinists on this forum could give you an answer. I am not sure how many have all the dimensions for Minnie castings. A little more info' would be of great help. I can only say that the heavier and more rigid the tooling you use the better the job is likely to turn out.

regards

Here is a more affordable ER32 tapping collett on Ebay

**LINK**~

3mm to 16mm sizes available

BUT you pays your money and takes your choice.

As NDIY says probably lack of lube. I never use my back gear now with the VFD but still give it a spot of oil now and then just in case. I always found when I did use it that a little twist of the chuck helped the engagement. I am sure you are aware that there are 2 oil points, 1. the hole above the back gear lever & 2. the oiler in the centre of the shaft in the housing.

regards

I am also with Neil on the Propane/Butane method.

Have a look at Rob in Australia. He has quite a few videos on brazing etc with a Bulfinch torch also many no nonsense ways to do things in the home workshop :-

**LINK**

regards

As far as I can work out their heavy lathes are Stankomashtroy which are Russian made.

Sorry know nothing else about them except they are Maltese based.

regards

Edited By Oldiron on 09/03/2018 12:45:23

Sorry, don't want to hijack this thread but I have a problem (Houston). I clicked on the post in "Latest Forum Posts"

BUT there are only 3 posts in the thread. ? The 1st is by SOD @ 18.34 dated today. There does not appear to be an original post here ie- the page/s previous to this one are not anywhere to be found. No previous or subsequent page numbers for navigation. Any ideas anyone. ?

Will add screen grab to my album :-

regards

Edited By Oldiron on 08/03/2018 22:27:52

Edited By Oldiron on 08/03/2018 22:32:55

Edited By Oldiron on 08/03/2018 22:35:25

IMHO Unless you are a Fred enthusiast why would you want to pay prices that are mostly high to start with then inflated by a 13% auction fee + VAT. Probably a long trip to collect/dismantle as well. The best bits have long gone. Photos of the items are also rubbish, too dark to see any detail.

I think a better idea would be to donate all of this stuff to places such as The Black Country Museum and similar places so they can be put it to use or preserved as Fred wanted in the 1st place.

regards

Hi Trevor. I have a Boxford AUD. My cabinet has no holes in the frame for bolting down. I drew a line around the frame on the inside of the end cabinets. I pulled the lathe away from the wall and drilled holes for the Rawlbolts. Slid the lathe back in position and knocked in the Rawlbolts and girder clamps to hold it down. I only used 4 clamps, 2 at each end. I did not graunch the nuts down so as not to distort the cabinet. The cabinet is supposed to be rigid enough that the lathe bed is properly supported by the cabinet to prevent twist. It is easy enough to knock in a few wedges to level the cabinet if needed.

Hope this helps.

regards

Edited By Oldiron on 07/03/2018 09:36:24

Hi Steve

Use caustic soda solution to clean the part. Rinse thoroughly. Make sure it is perfectly dry before using an etching primer. Then carry out the remedial paint job.

regards

Hi Ron. I did a quick Google and came up with these 2 sites that may help you. Both have clubs in Michigan listed.

Might be a good place to start.

**LINK**

**LINK**

regards