Member postings for John Aitken

I understand that but they could have at least sent me an email saying something link "our minimum order is 20m" so we can't take your order. When I spoke to them in store I was told the minimum order was 500mm (50cm) so I can only think their communication skills suck and that's why I got no reply. I think I might use metals4U.

I've been trying to buy 316 steel of either 60mm or 2 3/8 inch diameter and I need 3x 40mm long sections. I contacted the two big steel suppliers in my city. Ones communication skills were so bad they were non-existent. After three emails and two calls no one answered or replied to I got given a quote for the wrong thing. I went in to talk to them and they were good and tried to get me a quote but the computer system was so bad they said they’d email me and guess what. No email so I’m done with them now.

The other quoted me £325 for a 3m long bar and when I asked what the minimum order was they sent me a quote for a 4m bar at £1040 (one thousand and forty) that’s not a typo.

Twice I’ve paid small online suppliers about £85 for the stuff to have my order cancelled and I really need this.

What do I do now? Anyone that has this is wanting me to buy far more than I need or is charging through the roof. Where can I buy this at a reasonable price.

Lots of good ideas here. I shall try some out. Thanks.

I did consider that I was just worried the shellac would gunk all the abrasive dust and brushes together.

I know this is a difficult one because I've been looking for months and only found one thing that might work but it will be £200.

I do jewellery repair and especially a lot of metal finishing, so polishing, brushing, sanitising etc and sometimes I need to do this on intricate chains and straps. I have techniques for doing this but they could be better which is why I’m looking for some sort varnish or lacquer that I can masks of polished areas with then apply abrasives to the whole work piece then dissolve the varnish so the polished parts stay polished and brushed parts are brushed.

I can and do use tape but it has its limits and is only so practice and is incredibly time consuming on some items. There are a few products aimed at the industry but they are useless to put it bluntly. They from a loose latex layer.

I really appreciate any suggestions and would like to add I’m not looking for a different way of doing things I’m just asking if anyone knows of a protective coat that can be applied to metal that can then be dissolved in anything that won’t damage the metal. Thanks.

I use slotting/slitting saw with a 5mm bore a lot and recently changed my mini mill so I had to lathe mt arbor down and I ruined it. Does anyone know where I can buy a metric strait shank saw arbor with a 5mm bore. Preferably the sank would be 6mm diameter or under.

I could make one myself but a bought one will be far better and I don't want to make one.

There is a company GenSwiss that makes them but they're $200 each and they want me to set up a USP collect account or something so I get charged whatever price UPS want to charge me when my parcel shows up.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks Bert. I don't doubt Millhilll will be able to get them for me but as they will be charging at Sherline prices I'm sure there has got to be somewhere that is cheaper.

I've got a Sherline lathe that came with a P1N T-shape parting tool with dimensions 0.04″ x 1/2 x 3-1/2. Link to Sherline website-

https://www.sherline.com/product/cut-off-tool-blade/

Does anyone know of a UK supplier of this tool as to import one would cost me about £20 not including postage. This is for the Rear Mount cut off tool holder so it has to be this part. Any help would be appreciated.

I was wanting to cut some 6mm HSS Lathe tools down a bit. I tried once with an 8mm end mill which failed probably because the tool was only for 45HRC.

I was wondering if the mill bit would work as it goes to 65HRC-

https://www.shop-apt.co.uk/high-hardness-high-speed-carbide-end-mills-4-flute-65hrc/high-hardness-high-speed-carbide-end-mill-8mm-diameter-4-flute-altins-coated-65hrc.html

The screws are from M1.2 to M0.9. Will a milling cutter cut HSS?

I think I made the shape to complex. Basically, I need to make a mine parting tool because I’m working with small screws. When you make a screw there is a small part of the shaft that is left unthreaded. This means that when the screw is screwed into the hole that the head will not rest against the part instead the unthreaded portion will jam.

So to solve this if I make a mini parting tool I can cut the unthreaded section to the minor diameter of the screw so it fits in the hole perfectly. Gravers don’t really work for this. This is why I need a grinding tool because I can’t buy tools like this. I’ve attached pictures for clarity.

I'm looking at buying a tool and cutter grinder for shaping 6mm HSS Lathe tool bits. My first question regarding this is how long does shaping take? I can find lots of guides but no one seems to give a time schedule. The tool below in the most complex thing I need to make (not drawn to scale).

I noticed Grizzly make a tool grinder for £1700 (not cheap) but then I noticed the U3 by some Chinese company is next to identical. You can see the comparison below. Grizzly is to top one. Every bolt and lever are in the same place. I have a bit of a reservation about buying a bit of precision equipment made in China when I have no reviews.

So can anyone recommend a good tool cutter and grinder to make 6mm HSS lathe parts?

Thank. They seem to have a good suply of all the teeth numbers I could ever want. I'll go with them.

I’m not buying the original Unimat attachment because it is out of stock everywhere and it doesn’t do the threading I need. If I make my own I will have a larger selection of thread I can make, it will be cheaper and I will have gained some skill I would not otherwise of had.

I have an Emco Unimat 3 lathe that I’m trying to make a screw threading attachment for. Specifically for ever four turns the work piece does I want the lead screw to do one turn. 4 threads per mm.

To do this I’d like a scours of high quality gears with a wide range of teeth numbers so can anyone recommend a good source?

Thank you