Member postings for larry phelan 1

Someone once said [on this Forum ,a long time ago } That if you cannot find a hammer when you need one, then no matter how many hammers you have, YOU DO NOT HAVE A HAMMER !!

I think I have about eight or ten, must count them later, although it seems I am only in the halfpenny place !

Now when it comes to G clamps ,Sash clamps, F clamps, big and small, I am in a world of my own !

Some bought but most homemade.

Never thought about this !

Around my way [out in the sticks ] the "roads" are like something left over from "D Day ,with potholes you could live in and ridges like tank traps. Even the town is littered with speed ramps ,d0nt see the need since you can never get above 30 mph anyway due to the narrow streets..

So far I have never broken a spring, but I hate to think about it since I drive a Hi Ace, very often loaded.

Scary !!!

I think this is what other Members refer to as "Experience" !

Sad to say, I,m still slowly acquiring it . Long way to go !

This often results in some weird set-up.s, and I mean WEIRD !

But as long as it works, so what?

Gone are the days when you could spend many happy hours poking around in your local scrapyard, and come away with a pile of useful material for a few bob. Not any longer ! Now they wont even let you into the yard, never let you poke around, and if they do sell you anything, they charge an arm and a leg for it.

Ah,, Happy days !

For what it*s worth;

Many moons ago, long before I had a lathe, I needed some drill bushes for a jig.

The finished size was 5mm ID X12MM OD X20mm long.

The price I was given was WAY over the top, so I had a go at making them myself using silver steel cut to length with a hacksaw.

Th blanks were mounted in the drill chuck and a centre drill mounted in a vice on the table, next best thing to a lathe.

First piece was marked and centre punched as near centre as I could get it, then lined up with the vise held centre drill, centre drilled, then drilled out 5mm with drill bit held in vise. Repeated this for the remainder, and to my surprise there was no runout that I could see. Having a few spares, I decided to see how big I could go before the drill broke through the side wall. I stopped at 10mm, leaving a wall of 1mm, so it can be done.

Just try keeping the drill fixed and the job revolving. Worth a try.

As advised, bypass the extension lead and plug in direct to a socket.

You might be surprised ! I find that leads are a mixed blessing, always get into knots and under your feet.

All my machines are plugged into their own sockets, so I use leads only when I have to

Like other Members , I doubt if the motor is dead.

When I bought my Lux mill, many moons ago, I had a choice between R8 and MT.

I went for the MT model, should have bought the R8,,price was the same at the time [open day at Chester ]

Can always go from R8 to MT if required, not so easy the other way around, so, I think SO30 might be the best way to go.

At the time ,I had no experience of other systems, only MT. All part of the learning curve.

I often wonder do the people who position these things ever try to remove them later ?

In order to get at the fuel filter in my van,one would need to be deformed.

And the oil filter is not much better placed, and yes, you would need a hand like a gorilla.

In my last place of employment, they used Dromos , or Dromus, not sure which spelling is right, so when I got my own lathe I began with that. Sad to say, I found that it caused rust to my lathe. I contacted Irish Shell about it and they agreed to send someone out to me to sort it out. Twenty years later, I.m still waiting !

I found a supplier in my local Farm Shop who sells a perfectly good soluble oil with an anti rust built in, for 28 Euro for 5 Litres. This mixes at about 20/1, so it goes a long way

I now get no rust problems no matter how long I use the coolant.

Have never used neat cutting oil, so cannot comment on that.

Welcome to the club, I too have two boxes of O rings which seem to fit everything except the job in question.

Trying to find one for a shower unit is not a job for the faint hearted, they are either too big or too small or too thick.

Needless to say, your local plumbing shop does not stock them and your shower has been replaced by a "New" model which has little in common with the model you have.

How do I know all this ? Don't even ask !!

Might find a use for my large stock of O rings somewhere along the line, for now, they are happy in their snug little boxes, knowing that they are unlikely to be disturbed any time soon.

This is WAY above my pay grade ! I can just about see the lathe, never mind what,s in it.

I do admire anyone who can do this stuff.

That is not the kind of machine I would like to have a disagreement with !

My cheapy cheapy Chiina made bandsaw is automatic in the sense that I can leave it to get on with the job while I do something else, knowing that it will turn itself off when the cut is complete.

Cant get more automatic than that, and it did not cost a bomb.

I seem to remember that Hitler used piano wire to strangle people he did not like.

I suppose it has other uses as well.

Not the kind of machine to fit in your 6x4 garden shed !

This looks like a machine made for SERIOUS work !

Would love to see it running when you get it set up.

Hi Jason, I am lucky in that I bought a longbed Craftsman lathe, although I never need the full length until now.

So, I might just get away with some of the ideas here.

There was little difference in the cost of the long and the short bed and since space was not an issue, I went for the long one.

Many thanks to all for their help.

Thanks Paul, I like that idea ,well worth a try.

As I have found out many times, it.s all part of the service !

Long may it last !!

As I expected there was a good response to my question. Some, I have already tried, others are new to me, all are welcome.

Yes, I did try setting the steady close to the chuck and then moving it along the bed, this produced the best results, although not perfect. I must admit I did not use my 4 jaw chuck, but will try that tomorrow.

The reason for the 600mm length is that is what is required for the job in question although it can be skimmed down slightly after mounting between centres.

Please accept my thanks to all who took the trouble to respond, as the say "Every little helps"

The workpiece is 50mm dia, so there is no way it can fit through the bore and being some 600 mm long, I do not like the idea of rotating unsupported while I try to drill it, I.m not that brave !

I will have another go at it later. Thank you for your reply.