Member postings for Graham Meek

Now that the post seems to be concluded I thought I would add another use of the differential thread principle that I used on my Squeeze riveter.

I wont bore you with why I chose the screw thread over the more conventional lever, but below is a close up of the working part.

The reader will clearly see the two different sizes of screw thread used. Below is the results on my Clayton Timber Wagon chassis.

If a torque wrench is used the tool gives extremely good and consistent results. There are a couple of more photographs in "My Album".

Regards

Gray,

The idea is called the differential screw thread. If you have two pitches which differ by 0,05 mm ie 0.7 & 0.75 mm then one full turn of the threaded items will advance 0.05 mm. One thread is in a static member and one thread is in the sliding member.

I used this method successfully in a Micrometer Box Turning Tool recently described in Home Sop Machinist. This is used to run down long lengths of small diameter material in the lathe. (I have not listed a photo as I did not want to change the topic).

Regards

Gray,

Rather than modify the blade holder you have would it not be better to talk to RDG and exchange the holder for one of their smaller blade holders. A blade which is 10mm high will probably fit better than your current set-up.

It needs to be remembered that Myford machines were designed around the use of 1/4" to 5/16" HSS tool blanks.

The opening shot of the ground parting tool has far too much top rake. I do, and have always used zero top rake.

Regards

Gray,

I think that is how a lot of people feel. Our current car will probably out last me, so why should we change. We bought it just prior to the first lockdown. What with my shielding and being confined to barracks I have only filled it up 10 times in that time, and each time I need to take out another mortgage.

From what I have seen in reports by the motoring journalists the infra-structure as regards charging etc is not anywhere near ready. Those sites which are installed seldom work correctly.

I did have a quiet chuckle to myself last night when I saw an advert to "subscribe" to an electric vehicle. I think they have finally woke up to the fact that these cars are just too expensive. Reminds me of the television rental companies of my youth when TV's were similarly expensive compared to wages.

To get back to KWIL's original post. My thoughts went back to my Grandparents evenings sat in front of the coal fire, no lights on, and listening to the battery powered radio. We have moved on 70 plus years since then, but we certainly have not progressed very far really, if the energy companies want us to return to this way of life. Looks like we will have to sink a shaft in the back garden and tap into the Forest of Dean's coal reserves.

One has to ask what will happen to peak viewing on the TV? The Soap Opera ratings will soon be a thing of the past.

Regards

Gray,

Just before the last heat wave I made a start on something I have been meaning to do for a good many years on the Compact 5. I have felt for a long time the tailstock should have an adjustable dial. Graduations are provided on the C5's little brother the Unimat and to be honest it is something I miss.

While adding the dial advantage was taken to incorporate two Radial Ball races. This mod alone is well worth the extra work. Drilling is now a doddle compared to how it was previously.

In order to accommodate the bearings a longer feedscrew was required. This also allowed the bearing housing to be made longer to take the Dial backing ring which carries the Zero line. This is adjustable to suit the operators preference.

Rather than have the dial rotating on the plastic of the handwheel and all the stick-tion problems that brings. I have made a separate steel sleeve which uses my trusty friction spring from the Myford Super 7 Handwheel dial. A peg at the back of the sleeve stops this rotating. The dial I have made from aluminium and while I was at it I have made two more to replace the leadscrew and cross-slide plastic dials.

I cannot show the finished unit as I need to finish the 40:1 Dividing attachment to allow me to do the graduations on the dials. More details soon.

Regards

Gray,

Hi Neil,

Thanks for your response. It has gone someway to confirm my understanding of the situation. As I do not own the design in question these days, registering it will be down to the owner. Given that it has been in the public domain for so long I doubt this will be possible now.

I never considered a patent at the time I designed the item, as to me it was not novel enough to warrant a patent and to be honest I did not have the funds back then to pursue this avenue.

Regards

Gray,

I am with Tony on this one, my knowledge was given to me freely and I reciprocate this,

Regards

Gray,

Hi John,

I have sent you a PM which explains the situation better and does not commandeer this post.

Regards

Gray,

Hooper, John,

Thanks for your input. I agree there may well be a patent issue in the second instance.

I am more concerned with someone using the drawing from an article, or book to produce "His or Her" own drawings to work from for profit. I would have thought this to be a copyright infringement against the publisher, and the author.

Taking a dimension from a published drawing and using it in AutoCad, or similar, is still copying to me. The finished product will be no different to the original.

I have always assumed any published designs to be for personal use only by the purchaser of the magazine or book. Making one or two for friends does not bother me either.

Regards

Gray,

Dear Neil,

You are probably the best person to ask this question concerning copyright.

I have always assumed that the drawings supplied in an article are covered by the copyright on the article. My reasoning being that without the drawings there is no article. Is this assumption correct?

Secondly anyone making their own drawings from the article drawings to further their business, ie market the item as a product, is breaking the copyright laws. Am I also right on this one?

Regards

Gray,

I am not anti renewables but I am against technology being introduced on a large scare with no thought or provision being made to recycle that technology, before it's introduction.

Lithium will probably run out by 2030 according to some sources. Current recycling of Lithium Ion batteries recovers only the easily recoverable metals, copper, zinc etc. Where the black magnesium, cobalt and lithium mixture goes is anyone's guess.

Yes I know companies are working on this, but one technique involves chemicals, the other involves high temperatures. One then has to ask does the cost to the planet in terms of large chemical disposal and extra energy requirements to run this and the high heat process add-up. I don't think it will.

As the temperatures rise from today, here is another thought. I read recently that 80% or the worlds energy production by 2035 will be used to power Air Conditioning units.

Regards

Gray,

My experience with Smart meters is they tell lies.

Ours never shows the tariff we are on, and will often show different readings each morning when the same things have been running overnight. Not to mention the times when it is not working at all.

An old style electric meter wired into the workshop supply would give a much better reading.

Regards

Gray,

John Slater has once again worked his magic on my drawings and made things hopefully a lot clearer as regards what is going on, on the inside.

Two simple eccentric cams work the two micro switches to give left and right feed directions.

The Dog clutch is a little more complicated but both sets of Selector Knobs have a spring loaded ball to ensure the knobs stay engaged, or disengaged, during any vibration that might arise due to intermittent cutting action.

Regards

Gray,

Edited By Graham Meek on 04/08/2022 17:28:52

Jouke,

I have not altered the standard Emco cross-slide in any way. Thanks for the info on the depth of the hole in the cross-slide. this will make fitting the replacement feedscrew easier if what you say is the case.

Regards

Gray,

Some while back after completing the Retracting Topslide I promised those following this post some photographs on cutting the 10 TPI Worm for my 40:1 Dividing attachment.

I must admit I would not want to cut such a coarse thread on the Compact 5 without the screwcutting clutch. My nerves nor reactions could stand it.

Here is a closer view of the work in progress. I was just about to check the size using the wires in the foreground. At this point there is a further 0.2 mm to be removed.

While I had laid out all the Metric gear trains in the design stage of the screwcutting clutch, there is always one that will bite back. On all the other gear trains the 72T gear is mating with the 20T output gear on the Clutch. However with 10 TPI the 72T gear is lower down in the train and as such it would, if mounted on the standard quadrant mesh with the smaller Tufnol Idler gear in the output train from the Clutch.

To get by I have made an off-set mounting block this drops down the 72T gear 16mm below the normal centreline of the quadrant. Thus another "Round to it" for the "To Do" list, is to make a new quadrant with a double row of slots to take the offending gear. This is not such a bad thing as the standard quadrant is now too long and I do consider it to be on the flimsy side.

Regards

Gray,

My lathe was one of the last of the Yellow models with the latest cross-slide fitting, according to the serial number. As an upgrade I fitted the ball bearing feedscrew bracket. This also removed the need to keep moving the topslide from one location to the other as it allows the cross-slide to go a further 15 mm inwards. The downside of this is the feedscrew is now not long enough as regards the outward movement. This is not a problem as a new longer feedscrew will put things right, but, it may mean drilling the feedscrew clearance hole on through the carriage. As yet I have not checked or made the new feedscrew, it is on the "to do" list.

Thus fitting the ball bearing bracket to an older lathe should give an additional 5 mm of inwards travel when combined with fitting the new carriage.

Regards

Gray,

Good morning Jouke,

No problem with questions, it is how we learn things.

The Lathe was an Old Stock item which had been sitting in a shop for years still boxed. One would have thought it would be in tip-top condition. However the Tailstock alignment was off by quite a bit. I did take the headstock off to see if this had been disturbed in transit but no such luck.

Correcting the original machined set up was always going to be a problem. If the flat at the rear of the bed is just 0.03 higher than it should be. Then this will throw the tailstock out of alignment both vertically and horizontally, towards the operator. The body pivoting about the front vee way, and of course visa versa.

Thus in order to get the machine up and running, many years back, I bought a second hand Tailstock. I knew this was never going to be right for the lathe, which it was not, so I went about making a new base and modifying this new Tailstock body.

The separate base follows any standard Tailstock design with a transverse location tongue to keep things aligned and some form of adjustment to bring the whole on centre line.

There is a convenient hole in the rear of the body as standard and through this hole I can access two Allen grubscrews. The larger M6 grubscrew is drilled through to allow the Allen key to reach the smaller M5 grubscrew which is in front.

Both screws are in a large headed pin which is pressed into the new base and sits in a convenient cavity. This Pin protrudes down far enough to engage with a hole in the clamping plate which stops this rotating during movement up the bedway, or during tightening and loosening.

The M5 impinges on the internal face of the body and moves the whole body towards the Operator. The M6 works on the rear wall of the Tailstock body and takes it in the other direction. This screw is off course turned anti-clockwise to achieve this. Once the machine is turning parallel between centres the two screws are locked by opposing forces.

One of my next jobs is to rectify the old Tailstock body. Perhaps I will show later on how I go about doing this.

Hope this helps,

Regards

Gray,

Here is the drawing for the Ball bearing C5 Endplate. To make things simple the bore goes straight through and an internal circlip provides the abutment face for each bearing.

I hope this has come out OK. If there is a problem perhaps one of the Moderators can upload a PDF which I can do easily.

Regards

Gray,

Hi Jamie,

Some how I do not see your first sentence coming to fruition, but it is a nice thought on your part.

I am just in the process of making a Jpg of the drawing for this Handwheel bearing mod, maybe I can post it later today.

As regards the spares there is a considerable amount still available, even a new lathe Bed. There are two different versions as regards the Carriage, one Metric and the other Imperial. The cost at the moment is 108 Euro's for the metric one. Which I thought was good value for a new part. Postage is about 28-29 Euro, and as regards the import duty I think this is on a sliding scale. How it is worked out I have not got a clue. My order came to more than the above 108 Euro, and of course they have to add in a "Handling Charge" which was £12 on its own in my case. You actually pay Parcel Force what is due.

I hope this helps?

Regards

Gray.

Hi Howard,

I am humbled by your comments.

My Father was responsible for the standard of work I produce. He gave me the desire to always look to do a better job and the skills to do it with. Plus I had some of the best training available during my apprenticeship.

Having been used to a better machine in the Maximat Super 11, the Compact 5 is now reaching a standard at which I am more than happy with. This machine continues to surprise me as regards it's accuracy, what work it can do and the finish it produces. Obviously you do not watch the clock as things take a bit longer than they did, but I am beginning to enjoy my machine time more.

Regards

Gray,

Hello Jouke,

My wording of the actual reduction in width, may have mis-led you somewhat. The dimension from left to right of the carriage, the bit that sits parallel to the lathe centreline has been changed from 115 to 90 mm.

I was aware of the changes made during the Emco upgrade, and I think my ball bearing version for the cross-slide Handwheel Bracket will restore the correct travel on the earlier lathes. As well as giving an improvement to the cross-slide handwheel bearing.

Regards

Gray,

I thought those Compact 5 owners with cross slide feedscrew backlash problems might like to see what was in my post from Emco Holz & Hobby this morning.

This is a brand new part and machined from the solid. It utilises the newer inserted feedscrew nut with backlash elimination. I think most of the feedscrew parts are available separately.

The underside view shows the bearing surfaces to be continuous not as in the original die cast version, which had pockets moulded into the bearing surface. Because there is now probably more bearing surface the width of the Carriage has been reduced by 15 mm. From what I can tell most of this is taken off the front edge of the carriage.

Regards

Gray,