Member postings for Punctured Bicycle

I had a call allegedly from BT (I am a BT customer), claiming I had viruses on my PC. I asked the caller's name, "Jonathan Smith" he says in a heavy Indian accent. I've had quite a lot of dealings with BT support over the years, so the Indian accent wasn't enough to put me off. Ignoring his questions, I asked what dept he was from and where the office was. Realising he'd been rumbled, he said "Mars". I replied "Ooh, I didn't know BT had a Mars office. How interesting!". I was about to hit him with a barrage of Mars-related questions when he hung up. Boo!

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I'm currently in a similar situation as an accident left my dominant hand out of action for a while and it won't be recovered for some time, if ever.

Last time I was in the US I picked up these:

https://www.harborfreight.com/metric-quick-release-magnetic-nutsetter-set-9-pc-60384.html

They seem pretty good quality and are identical to various sets available on ebay etc.

Or, if you're feeling flush, Kennedy stuff from Cromwell/Zoro is good

https://www.zoro.co.uk/shop/hand-tools/screwdriver-insert-bits-hexagon/6pc-hexagon-magnetic-nut-setter-1-4inch-dr-set/p/ZT1012983X

When drilling a hole of this size I would normally drill a pilot hole first, but this was just an experiment to see what my machine is capable of. The speed is probably a bit too slow as well as I'd set it to the slowest as I'd previously been using a hole saw and forgot to change it back.

I had another go at this last night. The drill is a 0.375KW 1420rpm plain pulley drive with V belts. The pulleys are plastic and the belts look to be in good condition. I have set the pulleys to be on the slowest speed of 280rpm.

I tried drilling some 5mm MS with a 10mm bit, no pilot hole. I did get through eventually but the whole machine would stall if I pressed too hard. No belt slippage or strange noises, everything just stopped. I also tried it with a 12mm bit which went a bit better (sharper drill I assume). I suppose I've reached the limits of this machine?

I do have a spare 1HP induction motor I could transplant into it, but it is 2800rpm, so the speeds would be a bit off. I also have a 3HP DC motor from a treadmill that I could use, but I hear that these kind of motors don't produce much torque at low rpm, which is why I was interested in the pull gear mentioned in my first post.

I have an approx 15 year old Axminster medium-sized pillar drill. It has the usual pulley arrangement, which I've configured for the slowest speed. However, when drilling holes >10mm in mild steel (6mm) it stalls. I think my drill bits are sharp and I'm using cutting oil. Am I asking too much of this machine? Would it benefit from a speed reducer like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsBs064cyOI

I picked up one of the 20V 4A batteries for my cordless angle grinder I got a few weeks ago. Haven't tried it in anger yet, but hopefully it will give it a bit more oomph and/or runtime. Very pleased with the grinder. Variable speed and much quieter than my mains-powered grinders.

I also got one of the cordless multi-tools. This seems pretty nice and has a tool-free blade change feature which is handy.

@mechman48 I don't know what part of the country you are in, but they had plenty of welders and helmets in the two Bristol Lidls I visited. This surprised me as those items aren't listed on the website as current offers.

Edited By Punctured Bicycle on 22/08/2018 16:00:37

Hello

New member from Bristol here. Recently got a Chinese mini-lathe and am learning to use it after not having touched a lathe since my school days (35 years ago). I work in software development, but have always enjoyed making things. Metalwork/machining is the most recent skill I'd like to acquire to support my other hobbies of furniture making, quadcopters, bicycles and electronics tinkering.

I recently visited the Bristol SMEE show and was impressed with the craftsmanship on display. I'm not into steam engines or modelling as such, but would like to be able to produce quality work like that someday.