Member postings for larry phelan 1

Like many others,I suspect,I am a coward.

The only blue chips I like are the ones we used to get from investments,years ago ! Anyone remember those days ?

That was before the bean counters moved in.

I dont think I would have the courage to try that,although I must say,it looks good.

Two beautiful Red Setters in full flight across a green field ! You,ve never seen it ? You dont know what you,re missing !

Second might be a bottle of good ed wine and a friend to share it with

Third might be a clean part off !

No 1 Can get this anytime

No 2 Now and then..

No 3 Once in a while if I,m lucky !

Two beautiful Red Setters in full flight across a green field !

You,ve never seen it ? You dont know what you,re missing !

Second best A bottle of good red wine,and a friend to share it with !

I seem to remember that at one time milk came in glass bottles with a cardboard lid,others had a tinfoil cover.

Now I read that milk must not be exposed to the light,so must be sold in cardboard containers,but yet it can still be bought in plastic 2lt containers.

Am I missing out on something here? Have I been misled for the last 80 years ? Am I in grave danger?

Or am I just listening to the usual crap ?

All the combines around my way are painted yellow,never seen a red one yet.

Like I said,loads of expert help out there. Give it a bash !

For what it,s worth [not much,perhaps ] but I have managed to cut good grooves in steel,using my rear mounted tool post,tool mounted upside down,even using form tools,which are never kind to lathes.

No doubt others more experienced will be along to help put you right,just hang in there.

By the way,I found a slow speed worked a bit better.

I dont think you would find too many radial drills in most home workshops,they tend to be,shall we say,"A little on the large size",apart from not being suitable for most of the work passing through. The are fine for the type of work they do,but not for hobby work.

As for the other "objects",the pretend drills,the remind me of something which was dreamed up after a few bad pints at the local. To call them useless would be a kindness,you would be better off with a good hand drill. They take up too much room and are inaccurate.Only ever saw one of them in a friends shop some years ago and he was less than happy with it,said it took too long to get it to run true.

Perhaps it seemed like a good idea at the time,but did they ever catch on ?

Another guy I knew came up with another idea when he needed to drill holes in sheets ,too big for his bench drill to handle. He made up a long arm,using box tubing,hinged to the wall so that it could swing in an arc. A carriage moved along this beam with a bench drill head fitted to it. It was a bit "iffy" but it worked and could handle fairly big sheets. It was simple and cheap and could be swung back to the wall when not required.

Just an idea.

Tried to use sash weights once,never again ! they are CRAP,and I mean CRAP !! The only thing they are fit for is in balancing windows,which I suppose is what the were made for. Not much use for anything else.

Now Aldi,s offering,I cannot comment on that,but I would approach it with caution. Why would they use good cast iron in something like that ?

These things happen !!

I bought a tapping years ago from Chronos,I think,for a job that never came along. I think I have used it about 3 or 4 times over the last 12 years ! For most jobs,it,s not worth the bother of setting it up,but it seemed like a good idea at the time ! Does this ring a bell?.

Am I alone in feeling that Europe and England seriously underestimated both the Japanese and the Chinese in more ways than one ?

At the risk of repeating myself,I say again, "What,s in a name? " The answer these days seems to be CRAP !

Stanley,Britool,how many other makes have gone the same road ?

The bottom line is that the name means NOTHING !! I have bought stuff in Aldi,s which was just as good as any brand name,at a fraction of the cost,so,work it out for yourself. Dont mind the name,ask around !

It,s said that every man has his price,it seems that every company has too !

You might ask yourself,who owns who ? Good question !!

Sometimes it,s a question of "Our Chinese junk is better than the other guy,s Chinese junk " [but not much ]

Not an expert,but I would think 1/3rd HP is a bit small for anything,never mind a lathe. Might be OK for a sanding disc or something like that. Might be better off looking for something in the 3/4 HP range. Most of the old Cromtom Parkinson [have I got the spelling right? ] motors could be reversed very simply and they went on for ever and a day.

I have some 50 years old and still going strong !

No sense in fitting a motor that,s too small,you end up with twice the work,having to replace it.

Think about it.

Jeff,you sure are in the right place,they even tolerate me,and that,s saying something ! This site covers almost everything,with input from people who know almost everything,about everything,so dont feel out of place. You will get all the help you need,and for free !!!. No matter what your question,someone out there has the answer,so,ask away,I do !

As another Member said,do look at Chinese machines,nothing much wrong with them,and a lot cheaper than other well known makes. Chances are they will suit your needs well enough ! You are not making spacecraft.

First knurling tool I bought was a simple one with one wheel which you just pushed into the work,and hoped for the best ! I soon scrapped that one [still hidden away somewhere ] and made one of the clamp type,with two wheels. It,s not very pretty,none of my stuff is,but it works. I feel that the clamp type is a lot easier on the machine than the simpler type. But then,who am I ?

Kind remarks only please !!!

If you want to do work,buy a lathe. If you want to play around,you have a great starting point.

Simple as that !!

Just a thought,how about setting the machine at an angle to to the wall ?

I am surprised that the motor projects so far,what is the reason for that ?. Most of the drills I have seen have the motor mounted just behind the column so that only the dia of the motor is the distance to the wall,and for a 1/2 or 3/4 HP motor,this would not be much. How close to the wall do you need to get ?

My Chinese 16mm floor drill has a fair sized 1/2 HP motor fitted and Chinese motors are not too small,but it still fits close enough to the wall. Also,very little movement is required to change the belts.

Going shopping with that kind of money and those requirements ?,I wish you luck ! Live in the real world,it,s not that bad.

This is like house hunting,you list off ten things which you consider important,if you can get seven of those,you are doing well. No way will you get all ten,or in your case,all three.

Despite what you have been told about Chinese machines/motors ect,take it all with a large pinch of salt.

They do make some crap [like many others I could mention ],but they make some good stuff too. My Chinese drilling machine 1983,is still going strong,as is my band saw,2001,as is my lathe and my mill,about 20 years old by now,so dont shoot them down too soon.

The bottom line is that you cannot expect too much for that kind of money,that,s common sense.

Buy something that suits for now and perhaps upgrade later on.