Member postings for William Chitham

That's right, 230v 135lbin, still working six months on. Powerful enough to feed smoothly even if I forget to unlock the table properly which I never do of course. Powered through a normal 13A plug and since I fearlessly use mains voltage power tools all the time I'm not concerned about that. I can't say how accurate or repeatable the limit stops are, I have never tried them for cutting to a shoulder but the mechanism is simple so should be reliable I would think. I will do some experiments.

William.

I really like the look of the Heavy Duty one with the profiled point but will probably go for the standard series with the extended point.

W.

I'm in the market for a new live centre for my Boxford. I have a big crusty old one that came with the lathe but it has a big body and a short point so it's always in the way of the tool. I have a slim body cheapy but I discovered that that is now all wibbly wobbly and causing chatter so I'm looking for something better. I quite fancy one with the long profiled nose, APT have a couple of contenders on sale at the moment but I'd welcome any recommendations before I spend.

Thanks, William.

Hi Tom, I have a Chester 626 and the manual is pretty dismal. Grizzly sell essentially the same machine in America and they do a much better one, there is a link to it in this thread: 626 thread

William.

I wanted to do the job without spending a lot on tools so I cut a test thread using one of the old nuts to check it. It wasn't till I'd made the test thread a little undersized that I realized that the sample nut was distorted so at that point I chickened out and bought a second hand tap to finish off. My gorilla was off that day so I had to do it myself and even though the tap was only taking off a smidgin I still needed 12" of scaffold tube on the end of a 12" wrench to turn it. Not the sharpest tap maybe but still, I definitely wouldn't fancy my chances of doing that way from scratch or getting the Boxford to turn it even if I could hold such a tap in the tailstock.

William.

All done now. Big cuts were to make big nuts for my brother in law's 1930s Ransome plough, 1 1/8" BSW 7tpi. He had some offcuts of 50mm x 25mm hot rolled (which were just too small to make 2 of course) so I started by rough cutting to length with an Aldi bandsaw. Then I milled to 41.5mm square 2 at a time using the aforementioned 60mm face mill. I did use the bandsaw to rough down the second side on some of them to see if it saved time on milling - it did. Final op on the mill was to centre drill then into the 4 jaw on the lathe to drill, bore and screwcut.

Getting more confident using my first mill, a Chester 626 and experimenting with heavier cuts now the novelty of it all is being overtaken by a desire to get the job done in reasonable time. I'm wondering what people would recommend for shifting metal fast on a small mill? For instance I've just been making big square nuts for an old plough and needed to take approx 8mm off the edge of some 25x50mm hot rolled steel bar. I found I could take a 1 mm cut with the big (60mm diameter maybe) brazed carbide tipped shell mill that came with the machine but once that is blunt I'm thinking to invest in something with replaceable inserts but would appreciate any advice on how big to go, how many inserts and what type will give the best performance?

Thanks, William.

Looks like a lovely job, is that made from silver steel, will you harden it? I'm a bit hazy about insert codes but does er22 denote an external thread insert intended for a 22mm bar, if so why not an internal NR type?

William.

I happened to be looking at V belts on the Simply Bearings web site yesterday and they have teeny tiny ones down to 5mm width as well - "VB Classical".

W.

I've just run into the same problem, can't get a big enough insert to cut a 7tpi BSW thread to fit my 16mm holder. A pre ground HSS tool solves my problem but don't suppose they are available for ACME profiles. To make one from scratch how about starting with a good size bar of silver steel and turn the thread profile on the end, instead of grinding. Then use the grinder to establish a cutting edge and reliefs and finally harden and hone. Hope this horrible sketch communicates the idea, not new I am sure.

William.

Now we are talking, that is definitely in my "take a punt" price range. Thanks to all for your thoughts.

William.

I've been reorganising the compressed air supply in my workshop and consequently messing about with PTFE tape. I saw a reference to liquid PTFE sealer but at £12 plus per 50ml bottle it is just above my Scrooge like just give it a punt threshold. Do people use it, is it more convenient/more efective than the tape?

William.

This is an excellent forum for all things old bicycle. RetroBike I'd recommend a bit more research before you buy an expensive die that you'll probably never use again, I would be amazed if you can't find a fork that will be a straight replacement.

William.

Couldn't say but I suppose those of a nervous disposition might consider a pressurized vessel could be a hazard. Between you and me I don't actually empty mine every night, I just crack open the valve for a second or two to blow out the condensate.

W.

How much water comes out on the big day? I am no expert but I believe it should be done very regularly, the manual for my compressor says weekly but I imagine it depends on usage - the point is that water sitting in there will eventually corrode the tank. I've also heard it said that it shouldn't be left with pressure in the tank when not in use so blowing down through the drain at the end of each day kills two birds with one stone.

William.

It would be pretty obvious if it became blocked but I expect blowing air through it at 100psi on a regular basis will keep it clear.

I have replaced my small noisy compressor with a larger quieter on and decided to fit a remote tap for the draining of the air receiver. The inaccessible valve on the old one always irritated but never got round to fixing it but the solution was extremely simple in the end. One swivel 1/4" BSPT elbow with 8mm push fit outlet, one 8mm push fit valve and a meter of 8mm plastic tube all from a helpful seller on ebay (cpmpneumatics) fitted in 15 minutes, should have done it years ago.

Maybe one of these?

**LINK**

Plus one for trepanning. I have just done my first one in 6mm steel aout 3" diameter. I screwed a square piece of stock to a piece of mdf and turned it in a 4 jaw. Went right through from one side, centre and ring popped out without drama.

William.

Brief use so far suggests the height is right but as you say I can always shim it if it needs to go up a bit. Can't shim it downwards though! If it turns out to be too high I can take a bit off the hook. The letters are very inexpertly done with a cheap set of punches.

W.