Member postings for larry phelan 1

Hi Ady1 An angle grinder ?

Hi Hopper,

I too always use the parting off tool mounted in the rear toolpost,but never tried parting off as shown in your picture !! I seldom use a steady but I can see how useful it could be when dealing with big dia bars.

Thanks for the post.

Sad to say,this answers the original question.

I read many of his articles ,and while they were way above my standard,the were always well worth reading,as I,m sure others will agree. Such people come along,once in a lifetime,and if you are lucky enough to know them or meet them,that is a bonus.

Others may put it better,all I can say is May God rest him,he will be sadly missed.

Yes indeed Howard !!

When you get to the stage where you can just about make out the lines on a 6" rule,precision takes on a whole new meaning !!

When it comes to screwcutting,I just turn the bar to the full size and thread away,have a nut to hand to check the fit.

Nothing fancy,but it works [most times ]

My spindle moulder came from a "Well known and respected" maker,brand new.

First time I used it,I found that the two fences were not in line with each other. This was due to the horseshoe casting being faulty. I believe that this was due to stresses which were not released because it was not left long enough to "weather". It seems this is no longer done,for cost reasons,I suppose.

Returning it to the makers was not an option,due to cost,so I took it to a local machine shop to have the faces ground true. I was told that there was quite an error,most likely caused by the casting being machined while too fresh. The unit did not strike me as being a very good design,since it went from fairly thick sections to very thin ones,not a good idea ! I was advised to "keep an eye on it" since it might go off a little more later on,but if it does,bring it back and we will skim it for you" Fair deal !

They said castings are treated using "New methods",which dont always work,they believed the old way was better.

I often wonder if some of these companies really want your business,or are they just showing off.

As regards "Press 1 for this,2 for that 3 for something else" that just gives me a pain in my arse. plus the fact that you will be left hanging on-and-on-and on,listening to silly "music",fit for a two year old half-wit.

This must be one of the biggest clubs in the World,and it,s Free to join !!!

Yes,I,ve had a few jobs like that. Now,I tend to think twice,before leaving things alone,since the "cure" is often worse than the fault.

Harsh words from Dave,but,so true,so true !!

Neither a borrower nor a lender be--------Else you end up with nothing.

The worklight on my Craftsman lathe uses standard 24 v headlamp bulbs,which I can get in my local Auto shop.

Can,t remember when I last had to replace a bulb. These lamps were flogged off by Chester at one of their "Open Days" some years ago and I bought two of them for £10. One for my lathe,one for the Mill. Good deal!.

They look like the old searchlights,but they work !

Hi Robert,

I have a Chester Craftsman long bed lathe which will cut 26tpi straight off. It cuts quite a wide range of threads,both Metric and Whit,and has a 1 1/2" bore. Might be wort looking at.

Yes Postal Orders are still around,over here anyway.Strange to say,there are still a few places which will not accept cash [not many ! ],cheques or cards.

Some years ago when I went to tax my car,an import, I had to present it in person,to the Revenue so that they could check the engine/frame number,ect. and give me a new reg number. For this they charged 100 Euro,but to my surprise,would not accept cash,cheque,or card ! They wanted a good old-fashioned Postal Order,nothing else !

As it happened,the Post Office was just across the road,so I got one there. The Post Office teller was not surprised when I explained what it was for. He said "We gave up years ago trying to understand that shower,they live in a world of their own"

Fast forward a few more years to when Property Tax came along,this time around REVENUE had no problem accepting cards !! Maybe someone turned on the lights. ?

Drilling machines are for drilling holes

Milling machines are for cutting slots [along with other things ]

Simple as that !

The short answer would have to be-----not really a good idea.

Sparey showed something like that in his book,he said it was the best type for threading,and easy to make.

Not sure that you need much more speed for screw cutting ??

Noting the high number of shells which failed [and are still being dug up to-day],home workshop production would have had very little real value. The serious work was/still is done in factories.

Having read that book,it,s just a matter of putting it into practice,you can,t go too far wrong,it,s all solid advice.

Just be warned !! Once you start,there,s no going back,you,re HOOKED !!

All that aside,you have a nice little machine and I wish you many happy hours with it.

Have fun .

PS Make sure to get a big bucket for the swarf,you might be surprised how fast it mounts up !

Having read that book,it,s just a matter of putting it into practice,you can,t go too far wrong,it,s all solid advice.

Just be warned !! Once you start,there,s no going back,you,re HOOKED !!

All that aside,you have a nice little machine and I wish you many happy hours with it.

Have fun .

PS Make sure to get a big bucket for the swarf,you might be surprised how fast it mounts up !

Or summa like that !!

Surprised that no-one mentioned the Cubit. It was good enough to build the ARK,which did not sink,unlike some others I could mention !!