Member postings for larry phelan 1

I can never understand why some people feel the need to fit so many screws and keys to motor pullies.

I came across one such motor,1/2 HP fitted with two grubscrews, one key, and another screw tapped into the end of the shaft, all to cope with 1/2 HP !. Came across aa few others over the years. Surely one screw plus a key should be enough ?

Chris,

You could do worse than buy one of those Cheapy Crappy Chinese bandsaws !

I bought one some twenty years ago and it,s still working away, I have cut everything from inch x one eighth up to six x four RSJ and everything in between. At this stage it owes me nothing and will no doubt see me out. Needless to say, the hacksaw has an easy life these days.

Do yourself a favour and get one.

As long as you can walk to them.

Around here they prefer boltcutters or cordless anglegrinders, all very Hi-Tech! [Both made in China, of course ]

Bazyle, you mean there are teenagers around to-day who actually know how to use a hacksaw ??????

I think Dave hit the nail on the head, once again ! There is a limit to how much someone will pay for anything, no matter how good it is claimed to be. There is only so much money available. Also, many firms went to the wall by not listening to their customers, the very people who kept them in business !, you do that at your peril.

As they say, "He who pays the piper, calls the tune ". Reminds me of the way the motorbike makers bit the dust some years ago. Seems like a few machine makers went the same way, no matter how good they were. Just too dear .

Regarding Sparey being dated, as Jason said, whale oil would be somewhat scarce these days, but then, I suppose corsets might be too !

Just saying .

As others have said, it is Not a silly question !

A silly question is when you already know the answer, but waste other peoples time answering it.

You dont know the answer, it,s Not a silly question.

Seldom use flycutters myself, like Andrew, I find a face mill works better.

Too true Tony, and like many others, I suspect, that,s exactly what I do.

Takes a little longer, but the goods get here, well packed, well priced. Never had a bad deal yet, touch wood !

As the man said, "Buying anything from the UK is now a pain-in-the-arse "

Sad to say,I found the same thing, just not worth the hassle .

As Michael said, you may have the perfect fit, even if you dont want it !

You are not alone, I had a somewhat similar experience some years ago with a tapping unit which fitted into my milling machine spindle, using a morse taper sleeve.

Problem was, it fitted too well to the sleeve ! Got the unit free of the spindle OK, but no way could I remove the sleeve, which I needed for another job. Tried everything I could think of, and in the end the only way that worked was to make up a holder to support it and use a flypress to press it out. Lucky enough the sleeve was open end.

No use to you I know, but these things can really bond to each other

Dear Tim,

There is nothing worse than having you gasp flabbered!

There seems to be plenty of Artificial Intelligence around, but not much of the real kind !

Just saying .

Never had a problem with Hilti tool cables, best type I ever came across.

Also, plenty of room in the box for everything.

As for the others ???????????.

Suppressed Bob ??? Surely not !!!!

This has proved to be a most interesting thread indeed !

Just reading two of the recent posts, one from Dave, the other from Jason, both make very valid points.

I dont think anything is lost by learning the basics on a manual machine, makes sense to me, but if these kids are hoping to move into industry, it seems they will have to get to grips with CNC gear So perhaps the way to go is to use the machines you have to teach the basics and invest in a few CNC machines ? Might not be the answer, but no point in teaching them all about manual machines, when they will end up working on CNC [assuming there will be jobs for them, that is ]

I,m a bit long in the tooth to even think about CNC, and dont need it anyway, but I dont shoot it down, it,s here to stay and it works, so, what,s not to love ?. The only thing that makes me uneasy about these Super Duper machines is----what happens when you can no longer get the chips they live on ??? This happened to a man I know who runs a machine shop. He has three milling machines standing by the wall, useless because he cannot get suitable chips for them. The chips have been "upgraded" so quickly over the years that the first ones are now old hat! There are no operating handles on the machines, so you can do nothing with them.

The small shop still has a part to play, but for how long ?, their market is getting smaller by the day.

Not voting Yea or Nay, just making a few observations.

Thanks for your reply Jelly,

I did hear that they were looked at sideways when they first showed up, but as you said, that changed rapidly !. As I suspected, they were made for serious work, with a 4 HP motor hanging on to them, they were not intended for the hobby shop.

I remember looking at one years ago that was for sale, but it was far too big for my needs or space. It must have weighted about 3 tons with a motor like a barrel. The man who sent me to look at it knew nothing about lathes.

Just reading the comments regarding Far East v "Real" machines and I suspect this debate will go on for a long time yet. It may be hard to accept, but facts are facts and these imports are here to stay [just like the Jap bikes ]

Like the bikes, I think they can and will improve with time, since they now have the market.

Someone mentioned TOS lathes ? I always thought that they were highly regarded although I never recall seeing any small ones, they were all big machines built for serious work

Perhaps there is an element of "Rose tinted glasses" here?, if so, time to ditch it, those days are gone.

I think Clive might be right on the button there. The simple flypress can produce a vast range of stuff using simple tools and cheap and unskilled labour along with no power. Part of my mis-spent youth was lost in hanging out of one of those things, bashing out parts for heaters. Was impressed even then by the amount of bits it could produce, so these little machines might be something similar. Simple, cheap, effective.

Looking at the cost of the machines mentioned here, I suspect that I will have to stick with my trusty old Chinese crap model !!

Anyone else in the same club ??

,In the days of old, very few could afford to pay £500 for any machine, how many could now afford £15000/£17000 ?, not too many I would think. Schools might be different.

I have often looked at some of these new machines in showrooms, but that,s all I did, just looked ! Looking at the prices, you,de need to bring a chair with you .