Member postings for Bill Phinn

Thank you, Meunier and Michael!

I've worked out why I couldn't see what you were seeing, Michael; I was viewing the page on my desktop, which has a browser extension that blocks ads, trackers etc. I had to disable the browser extension in order to be able to see the actual questions and answers lurking beneath the tab of that name.

Sorry, Michael, I've searched the questions and answers section of that link high and low and I can see no safety data sheet.

That's right, Tim. I mentioned my use of borax in jewellery making earlier.

The "fancy" flux I sometimes use instead (on heating it bubbles up less than borax) is auroflux. It works well on gold and silver. I'd like to know what's in it.

One other thing jewellers often use is a boric acid slurry brushed on before soldering to reduce the dreaded fire-scale you can easily get when soldering sterling silver, and even with some gold alloys. Some people say the boric acid improves solder flow. I use it a lot but I'm not sure whether it does help, nor whether its help (in addition to the flux) is really needed if your soldering discipline is good.

Many thanks, Ian T and Keith, for your helpful answers.

Bill.

Ian T, just out of interest can you tell us specifically what flux you used for brazing those mild steel parts? You say you used SIF flux but there seem to be several varieties of SIF flux such as "bronze", "stainless", "aluminium", "cast iron". Which variety will work best with mild steel using silver solder, e.g. some Silverflo 55?

Also, will straight borax (I have a cone of it at home that I use for soldering silver and gold parts when jewellery making) be just as good a flux for mild steel when using a silver solder as opposed to brass wire?

Thanks!

Thanks, John. That's good to know.

I haven't yet, John. I only received it yesterday, and I was waiting for replies from ME forum members on the matter before deciding whether to contact the seller. Would you, under the circumstances?

He meant "its".

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 30/09/2018 00:37:04

I've just bought a 350ml bottle of Rocol RTD Cleancut liquid on ebay. It was discounted from the usual price. On arrival I was a little surprised to find that it's "shelf-life expiry" date was 5 months ago. No mention was made in the listing that the product was past its expiry date.

Is the fact that it's 5 months past its expiry date critical? I suspect not, but is there a time when it does become critical?

Just out of interest, can anyone tell me what sort of consistency, colour, and smell (e.g. detergenty/oily/solventy) a fresh bottle should have.

Many thanks for any help.

Yes, Bill, it was sloppy of me not to read things more carefully.

How about this? (It doesn't give the pitch though.)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3D-Printer-5mm-Threaded-Steel-Rod-Cut-to-Custom-Lengths-M5-Bar-Shaft/191065265336?hash=item2c7c6094b8%3Am%3Am4_BexbsCwa281GHDcTGaAQ&var=490261409733

I get threaded bar here:

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Screws+%26+Fixings/d90/Stainless+Range/sd1030/Stainless+Steel+Threaded+Bar/p61139

You're a real artist, Derek. I particularly like the lidded pot with the Chinese for "lucky" scribed on it. Your Chinese calligraphy is a whole lot better than mine.

In the case of jewellers' saws there's a very straightforward utilitarian reason why the blades are orientated with the teeth pointing towards the handle: the default position for the saw in use is vertical, with the handle at the bottom. Among other things, this allows gravity to assist the cut. The workpiece is usually held flat on the wooden benchpeg and shifted about as cutting proceeds.

Thanks for this further information, George.

I can't quite make out from the second photo what is between the square nut and the vice's underside, but it looks suspiciously like a spacer rather than just a portion of the threaded fastener whose conical tip can seen protruding from the square nut.

Assuming I've understood things correctly (and I know nothing about these vices or Myford milling slides), if this spacer is deeper than the distance between the two surfaces on the milling slide that the vice needs to clamp on to, then you will never get the vice to tighten down without shortening these spacers.

I'm sure someone will be able to give you a more authoritative answer soon.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 09/09/2018 20:10:17

Thanks for the information, Emgee.

Many thanks to everyone for your replies.

Robbo's testimony tells me that probably the only way I'm going to get to the bottom of the vagaries of Eclipse's sizing across the ages is to acquire all of their tap wrenches from all periods. On a positive note, it looks like my 143 on its own will accommodate most of the sizes I'm going to use regularly, though I'll probably want to acquire the 141 and 142 as well, just because they're out there. I do have several of their bar-type tap wrenches.

On the subject of tap wrenches generally, it strikes me that one reason why very small tap wrenches are commonly available when their medium or even large cousins will accommodate very small taps anyway is probably that smaller wrenches allow for more sensitive feedback as to what is going on at the end of the tap when you're winding it in, and so reduce the chance of breakages. Personally, if there is room for it I always try to use a fairly long-handled (and therefore big) wrench so that the handle can act as a more effective guide to keeping the tap straight in the hole.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 06/09/2018 16:55:01

Edited By Bill Phinn on 06/09/2018 16:55:20

Responding to my own query here, and perhaps rendering some of it redundant, I see that there is a step lower down the inside of the chuck, and if you use this you can accommodate taps as small as M3.

I'm unsure though whether this is in fact intended as a secure fixing point for smaller taps, and still confused about the stated sizings on the S&J website.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 05/09/2018 15:52:46

I recently acquired a secondhand Eclipse 143 tap wrench (the T-handle chuck-type). Before I got it I found, from looking at Spear and Jackson's specs on their Eclipse T-handle wrenches, that the capacity of the current 143 is between 3 and 8mm AF.

I was a little surprised then to find that the capacity of my secondhand one is actually 6-10mm AF approx. This means the smallest tap I can use out of the selection I own is an M8 tap (a Presto), or even M10 if it's an Aldi or Silverline one. If the capacity had been the same as given on the S&J website it looks like I'd have been able to use much smaller taps (down to M4) and lost a bit of capacity at the higher end, which would have suited me better.

Can anyone familiar with Eclipse T-handle wrenches, both old and new, confirm:

a). whether the capacities given on the S&J website for the current wrenches are correct;

b). whether the capacity of older spec Eclipse T-handle wrenches is bigger than their newer counterparts, and therefore that the capacity of my 143 is par for the course, given its age;

c). what I can expect the capacities of the two smaller Eclipse T-handle wrenches (141,142) to be if I buy obviously old (say 20th century at the latest) secondhand examples?

Many thanks for any help.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 05/09/2018 15:29:53

Toolstation's 40 piece Silverline tap and die set, currently priced at £34.84, is described as "made from tungsten steel". I bought a set chiefly because it contains taps and dies of two different pitches for each size, and it struck me the set might be useful for that reason.

I've also got the Aldi set, which was £14 when I bought it a few years ago. I think that one is just carbon steel. The first holes I ever tapped were with the Aldi set - 8 blind M3 holes in mild steel about 10mm deep. Fortunately I tapped all the holes successfully even though the only tap supplied was a taper tap.

I think the taps and dies in both sets are serviceable but I don't think the same can be said for the supplied tap and die wrenches, which seem nearer in consistency to cheese than metal. Fortunately there are plenty of better wrenches to be had for not much second hand.

I don't know how robust or otherwise your floorstanding drill is compared with the two under discussion here, but are there any bench-top drills of the same size and weight as the Axminster or Machine Mart examples we're discussing on whose tables you could put 60kg without experiencing any detectable deflection? Would it ever be advisable or necessary to put a 60kg workpiece on a bench-top drill of this size without extra support for the table and/or the workpiece? A 60kg workpiece weighs half as much again as the Machine Mart drill.