Member postings for Nigel Smith 4

This is probably why my house is falling apart and my workshop is pretty much immaculate, luckily my other half doesn't visit the workshop

Edited By Nigel Smith 4 on 16/03/2021 14:28:16

Slightly off tangent to the original post, concerning Chinese lathes. I have a Harrison L6 lathe built in the UK in 1965, and a Chinese Sealey SM27 mini lathe built in 2020.

The finish of the Sealey is what I would describe as 'agricultural', for example bits of filler have fallen off and the castings are quite rough, the bearings are of an unknown quality. BUT... the finish and accuracy of anything I make on the Sealey lathe is just as good as anything I make on my 56 year old British Harrison lathe.

The Sealey is a cheap Chinese lathe (I paid around £2k with some accessories and a stand), the Harrison would have cost thousands in 1965. I admit I was sceptical buying 'Chinese crap' (as described earlier) but for the price I cannot complain, indeed if it were not for 'Chinese crap' many of us here would not be owners of lathes and enjoy the pleasures of turning.

For what it's worth, I did work for Rolls Royce!

Nigel.

I had a similar problem 2 years ago, missing issues then duplicate issues. In the end I cancelled the subscription. Couple of days ago I thought I would try again so paid for a new subscription. I appreciate there are postal delays, I just hope I don't have the same problems as before.

Nigel.

Thanks for that John, my only gripe with the Sealey SM27/Clarke CL430 (and one other that I can't remember?) is the limited range of compatable accessories. I did look at the CL430, identical in every respect apart from the colour. I will come clean and say I went for the SM27 because it matches my Harrison L6! .

The mrs has not forgiven my reasoning as I am about the least fashion concious person on the planet, I'll never live that one down

For many years my Harrison L6 has served me very well, but she's getting tired and due a complete overhaul rebuild which I'm quite looking forward too.

Since I cannot be without a lathe for the next 12 months! I went for a 'mini lathe' (albeit not that 'mini), a Sealey SM27 and it has exceeded my expectations in respect of 'cheap' Chinese lathes.

What I'm looking for is a quick change toolpost but to date this has eluded me, Sealey don't offer one and I've yet to source one.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? thanks chaps.

Nigel.

Hi Brian,

Thank you for taking the time to outline the proceedure, and as you say there are similarities.

Fortunately I do have an exploded diagram, so combined with your information things are looking a little more positive.

Thanks again,

Nigel.

I need to remove the carriage/apron assembly from my Harrison L6 lathe. It's not something I've needed to do before.

I'm assuming that by the removal of the right hand leadscrew/feed rod bracket the complete assembly would slide off the end of the bed (once the tailstock is removed of course)?

I was wondering if anyone here has undertaken this task on an L6 (or L5)? If so any advice/tips would be most welcome, thank you chaps.

Thanks Neil, but I've cancelled the subscription and requested a refund of the outstanding balance. I've still got the last 270 issues so I'll start from the begining again, I'm sure there's something of interest that I could have missed.

As advised, I've contacted customer services over the missing issues 275 and 276.

So they've sent me 2 issues of issue 275

As Victor Meldrew would say "I don't bloody believe!"

Thank god I've cancelled the subscription.

Edited By Nigel Smith 4 on 21/01/2019 13:41:02

I have issue 274, then nothing until 277 that arrived today? Was there no issue's 275 and 276? I've had MEW since issue 6 and never had a problem getting my copy from my newsagents. I had assumed that by subscribing it would make life easier, seems bloody unreliable if my experience is anything to go by. Won't be subscribing once this subscription runs out.

Am I right to assume there is no December issue of MEW? normally it arrives by post but nothing this month.

Well at least you were rewarded for your efforts, albeit jam on your veggy hot dog. The fact you noticed the difference in taste does score Ikea a couple of points!

I'm not one for visiting shops, however my wife wanted to go and my son offered to take us both. The nearest Ikea is an hour away. I have to say it was not a nice experience, the place was crowded and the patronising theme of following 'the arrows' didn't go down well. There was nothing in the place that remotely interested me apart from the 'Exit' door, it was an experience I would never wish to repeat. However, Ikea does have it's followers though I'm unsure why anyone would put themselves through such an experience

Hi John,

Good luck with your project, build during the summer and make sure it's weathertight before the onset of winter!

Nigel.

I won't dispute the fact, though I've never been there.

Should I change my holiday plans? Vancouver or Porthcawl?

Hi Neil,

I'm not from Wales, I'm from West Dorset and moved to Wales 2 years ago in preparation for retirement. On the edge of the Beacons near Brynmawr so lots of lovely walks nearby. The only thing I'm getting to grips with is the rain, never seems to stop! The agent through whom I bought the house told me summer here was only two days (I thought he was joking), I asked for the dates but unfortunately he didn't know!

Nigel.

Hi David,

I suppose my interest is anything I can make on the lathe. I've not worked in engineering since my late teens but always maintained an interest. In the last few years I've been asked to do various 'one offs' and a few small batch runs. Not particulary challenging work but nonetheless very enjoyable from my perspective. Now that I'm about to retire (counting the days!), hopefully I can do something for myself'. Time to do all those jobs I said I would do 'when I retire'!

Nigel.

As you will know the biggest enemy of any workshop is excess humidty, the central heating (along with proper insulation) should eliminate this problem. The workshop I had at my previous property I heated using a multi fuel burner, lovely and warm but the dust was something else. When I moved to my present property there was a wooden shed, it had to go hence building a new workshop. As for the size, I've had bigger workshops and smaller workshop, 30ft x 10ft suits me fine.

Hi guys,

A long time reader of Model Engineers Workshop, I thought it about time to join the 21st century and use the computer now that I've almost reached the big '65'. That said, despite what 'er indoors' says I'm still going to have the magazine each month.

So in anticipation of the pending retirement I've built a new workshop, a proper workshop built with blocks and cement. It has a boiler and central heating to keep humidity at bay, something my 10ft x 5ft wooden shed couldn't compete with. The new shed (sorry, workshop) is 30ft x 10ft so gives me a bit more room and comfort for myself and my Harrison L6 lathe. I'm sure we'll both be very happy in there.

That's enough of my rambling for now.

Nigel.