Member postings for larry phelan 1

There are suppliers and suppliers,some take the trouble to explain things and help,others dont bother to do either.

How do I know? Guess !

I know I,ve said this before,but I dont think you can go too far wrong by buying a few pieces of HSS and grinding your own toolbits. Many people do it,it,s cheap,good training,and if you break a tool,so what ? you just regrind it !

Just to show how simple it is,even I can do it,and that,s saying something ! I seldom if ever use tipped tools or indeed buy in ready made turning tools,it,s much more fun making your own.

Having said that,when I first bought my lathe,I bought a cheap set of tools with it,five -in-a-pack type. Nothing wrong with them,still use them from time to time,then I got stingy and began grinding my own,turning,facing,threading,boring,ect. It,s no big deal,and you learn a lot along the way,so give it a try.

HSS is cheap enough and a little goes a long way,when you learn how to make holders for those little bits !!

Give it a go !!

S-O-D,

You do have a certain knack,which I admire !

Peter Shaw,

Welcome to the club,I also have defective hearing,but I prefer to think of it as selective hearing,since I can filter out most of the crap I dont want to hear anyway. Dont knock it,it has its advantages !

As regards music in the workshop No way !,the only sound I want to hear is that from the machine I,m using.

Yes,indeed you are !!! Be warned,there is NO way back !!!

However,having said that,you may find that you quite enjoy sliding down the slope ! Expensive ? Maybe,but then,how long is a piece of string ? How much have I spent since I first stood on the top of the slope ?

Dont even ask !!,I,m afraid to but I regard it as money well spent/wasted,take your choice !.

Jump in and dont look back as you slide further and further down the slope until there is no hope of getting back up,but guess what ? at that point you wont want to ! How do I know ? Ask me !

Been there , done that ,bought the lathe/mill/drill bandsaw ------------------and a whole heap of other stuff. Do I need it ? of course not ! Do I want it,do I enjoy it ? You bet !

Some people consider people like us to be nuts [not quite the full shilling],but you get used to it.

Have fun,that,s what it,s all about,remember,you,ll be a long time dead !

Japan at one time produced cheap junk,to get a toe in the market place,then they improved their products,and how !.

Then came the day when they found that other factors came into play,and their production costs increased. Needless to say the price of their goods also increased,so that to-day,Japanese products are no longer cheap.

China is going through the same thing,so in a few years time,their products will no longer be affordable to the small time operator. [Same thing happened to English made machines,over the years ] So,perhaps the way to go is to buy while you can afford it,next year you might not be able to. !

The quality of Chinese equipment will improve since I believe they will focus on the upper end of the market where the return is better. Needless to say,the price will reflect the shift.

No doubt at that stage,someone else will get in on the act.

Just my thoughts on the subject,for what they,re worth.

Almost everything you see is advertised as "Best quality"

I am reminded of the old saying that " A fishwife never sells rotten fish,it,s always fresh fish "

Same difference ?

Sorry,forgot to add that I do have a changewheel to go from Metric to Whit,came with the lathe.

I am surprised that your lathe will cut only Metric threads. I know that some machines are built this way,but for hobby use being able to cut the odd BSW thread is more than useful. My old Craftsman lathe cuts a fairly wide range of Metric and BSW threads and I find a need for both from time to time.

14 TPI is the old GB thread,and that comes along more often than you might think !

I managed to work out how to cut a few Metric threads which were not listed on my machine,by working out the ratios,using a calculator together with the gears supplied [too lazy to wake the old grey cells,what,s left of them ],so you might be able to do something similar. Even at this late stage BSW has not gone away !.

Never heard of that stuff before. I thought there was only HSS or Carbon.

I live and learn !

Never fails to surprise me what you can find in these shops ! In most cases,well worth twice the money,so,keep looking,I do. !

Have never lived over there,but I would seem that the simplest answer would be to replace the motor.

Motors are not that dear,despite what people say,and it gets you up and running straight away,with no messing. Also,I bet there are loads of second hand motors that size to be had for half nothing over there. Ask around.

Dont understand most of that Neil,but I sure learned a few new words. Not sure what they mean,but they sound great !!. Can,t wait to try them out !!

The only one of my machines bolted down is my lathe,although I doubt if it needs to be.

My mill sits on a box tube frame,bolted to it,but the frame is free standing.

My drill is not bolted down but has two 56 lb cast iron weights sitting on the base table to keep it from arsing around. There are times when I need to move it away from the wall to deal with odd jobs.

Neither my spindle moulder nor my planer are bolted down

I am well aware of the danger of a drilling machine tipping over,I,ve seen it happen,not nice !,perhaps a simple strap to the rear wall ?.

Axminster do a couple of models which would suit. I replaced the simple switch on my cheapy drill and upgraded my home made saw bench some time ago. Both are now a lot safer to use. Switches are not dear,and simple to fit.

Buy a goat,simple,cheap and you can even sell the milk !

Might need to be careful with the washing though !

I made one for my lathe using two pieces of 3 " x 3" x 1/2" with a spacer 2"x 2" between them. Screwed the whole lot together,never bothered about rake one way or the other,and have no trouble with it. If I were to make another,I might think about machining it from a solid block,just to avoid the bother of drilling/tapping,lining up the pieces ect.

Do make it solid enough,because you can,t beat having a bit of bulk there to deal with parting off.

That,s my tuppence worth anyway !

I seem to remember that the Vise Grip appeared in the early 1950 ,s,and I think it was American. I remember my father buying one,which I still have. I think the Mole Grip was an English make which came along later

Is this correct,or am I way off ?

Fair point ,Roderick.

No George,you are not sad,you are dead on !

As they say,"You got it on one" !!

Believe it or not,this was not unknown here years back,when car thieves would remove the steering wheel,complete with lock,replacing it with a Visegrip,and drive away. I suspect that,s how my van was stolen at the time,in spite of having a "State-of-the-art" steering wheel lock ! Even a chain wont stop them.