Member postings for larry phelan 1

I believe that as soon as some young lad shows an interest in any kind of work ,he should be encouraged.

So what if he gets a few cuts along the way, that,s par for the course.

There is no other way to learn except to "have a go" OK you point out the dangers and keep an eye on them but you cannot be there all the time ,the y must learn for themselves. Despite what people think, they are not all thick [well, some of them anyway ] so I say ,let them at it..

I built my first sawbench when I was 16,because I could not afford to buy one. Have built a few since then.

Think very hard before you enlarge your workshop !! Listen to the voice of experience !

Many moons ago, I operated from the basement of a house, with a floor area of about 100 sq ft and a height of 7 ft. and I could find everything I wanted.

Fast forward, and I moved house ,built a new garage/workshop 40ft x 20 ft inside which is now filled with stuff which will come in "useful" some day, [if I live long enough ] At this stage I cannot even get my van into the "garage"

Someone once said that "Junk expands to fill the room available " Never was a truer word spoken !

See my post above re the tidy workshop !

It,s very difficult to know where to draw the line [I,m still drawing it }

Dear God ,why do we ever get involved in things like this ?

Why bother with sq hd screws if they cost so much ? Hex Hd will work just as well.

I clean my workshop completely when I run out of tools to do even the simplest job, for example :

An Allen key

A rule

A spanner ,which I had 5 minuets ago

A hammer, of which I must have about 5 off.

The list goes on and on and on

So yes, I do clean my workshop [now and then ]

I,m sure there must be a name for this condition.

I found that a blowlamp was very effective at getting rid of snails/slugs. Leave a few boards lying against the wall for a few days in order to provide a rallying point for your local snails [they are very social bodies ] Then when they are all gathered together ready to attack, hit them with the blowlamp

Never fails !

Hi Blue Heeler,

There is no such thing as Dumb question time. As was pointed out to me by Neil, "No question is stupid if you don't know the answer " How true, so ask away, someone here has the answer.

If you think your question is dumb, you should hear some of the ones I have asked !, but the other Members were kind to me and set me right.

My machine is a 6" centre hight and I use 3/8" or 1/2" sq tool bits mostly but sometimes 3/16 1/4" sq. Depends on the job. And yes, rounding the tip does seem to improve the finish but others will give you far more details about this.

Don't be afraid to ask and to have a go, no better way to learn.

I never thought that one could cut gears with a B&D drill !

Just goes to show what some of these old timers could do !

Afraid not ! This idea/subject has been covered many ,many times on this forum and the answer is always the same it,s a no go ! The cutter will come adrift ,maybe taking the chuck with it. This seldom improves the finish on the job ,apart from doing damage to both the cutter and maybe the machine.

How do I know all this ? Simple, in a past life, when I "knew it all" I tried something similar [I did not have a milling machine at the time ]. The results were "interesting" to put it mildly. So much so that I never repeated it.

Hold fire until you can afford a mill, such ideas are all part of the learning curve, and I,m still learning.

Lucky guys !! Nothing like that around here nothing except clapped out hedge cutters ,lawnmowers ,chainsaws and boxes of rusty bolts/nuts.

Would it not be 5/16" ?

Just asking.

All my taps and dies are stored in simple open topped drawers under my milling machine as are my milling cutters, large drills ect.. My garage/workshop is separate from my house and unheated. This country is not known for its warm climate but to date, I have not had a problem with rusting of taps or dies , perhaps a little surface rust, but nothing to worry about.

I like your idea, I,m just too lazy to make one. Don't mind what others say, no matter what you do or say, someone will find fault with it. If it works for you, that,s all that matters.

Tell the doomsayers to just "Go away" or words to that effect !

Hopper, YOU AINT SEEN NOTHING YET !!

No matter what the question, someone here has the answer.

I bought a saw from Chester many moons ago and don't recall having any real problems with it. I have cut everything from 6mm round up to 4" round,6"x3" RSJ and everything inbetween including angle ,tee and channel and whatever comes along. If you are cutting mitre cuts ,don't depend on the scale on the machine, since none of those scales are very accurate even on table saws. Better to use a protractor, this will give better results.

All in all, for the price of these machine, they give good results [with a good blade ] and I don't think you will be too disappointed with either make [chances are, they both come from the same maker anyway ]

Good luck with your choice.

I have bought parting off tips [perhaps I should call them inserts ? ] from a supplier on Ali Express and found them to be OK. Like many others ,my parting off skills leave much to be desired but these ones work well enough and it,s no big deal if I break them since they are cheap enough.

Have never bought any of their turning inserts but they might be worth looking at.

Surprised that Chester did not stock bearings for the machine they sold you.

As the Bard said "What,s in a name ? "

I buy small magnets from Ali Express in China and find uses for them all around the workshop. They are dirt cheap ,although they do take a while to get here.

I have never bought anything from Ebay,having heard so much about it ,not all good. I find it is just as cheap to buy from known suppliers ,where you might have some comeback.

Speaking of Chronos, I have bought from them many times and have yet to find fault with them.

I have no connection with them, I just deal with them as required.

I do a bit of woodwork myself , but nothing anyway near that standard.

It is a fine piece of work, a credit to you, and every bit as good an example of engineering as I have seen.

So what if it,s made in wood ?, were not many of the machines made from wood ?

Beautiful piece of work, I admire you.

For cutting 60mm round you need a proper bandsaw, full stop !

Chop saws, miter saws ect are intended to cut wood and such like NOT STEEL.

Bought a cheap Chinese saw years ago ,have cut everything with it, including 6x4 RSJ AND 4" Round with no problems.

As they say "Horses for courses"