Member postings for old mart

I think it is very nice with a good range and being able to use a mic or caliper to set is a big advantage over the three legged type that have to use ring gauges. It will take more practice to get perfect results, though. The price is also very good.

I have just looked at industry standard parting blades in 26 and 32 mm depths, and the angle of the edge is 150 degrees. That is like the roof of a building with a shallow pitch of 150 degrees. That means the angle of the holder should be 15 degrees. The op's holder may not be a standard profile, but needs clarifying.

Edited By old mart on 31/12/2020 22:27:50

I have made three, 2 off 26mm and 1 off 32 mm for standard industrial parting blades. I used a standard dovetail cutter and angled the work to leave the required angle for the mini dovetail. As Martin Connelly has already suggested.

Edited By old mart on 31/12/2020 20:48:04

Make sure you have glass and not plastic and soak in a bath of ordinary washing up detergent such as Fairy Liquid. Keep just luke warm to start with and leave for an hour or so to soften up the stains before gently rubbing with a soft cloth or sponge. Rinse with luke warm water.

The graticule lines could have been engraved or produced photographically and etched with hydroflouric acid.

Edited By old mart on 31/12/2020 19:27:35

They are popular with Myford users and anyone who doesn't want to remove the spindle from a belt drive lathe. The Smart & Brown model A with a 1 1/2hp motor has a 1/2", 13mm wide linked belt from the motor to the gearbox as standard. I fitted a rivetted belt of 10mm width to the Tom Senior light vertical with the R8 spindle and 1hp motor. Unfortunately, the washers on the rivets started to come in contact with the narrow part of the pulley vees, and not only caused noise but also localised wear. I had to get a conventional vee belt.

PAT testing is not usually ever done on home appliamces during their lifetime. If you were to buy any mains electrical equipment second hand from a shop or charity, it would have to be tested first. We have hundreds of things PAT tested every year at the museum, and the only variations to the basic tests are for computers. We have not had any particular failures caused by testing that come to mind. Most failures are damaged cables and plugs. The VFD for the mill was tested this year and wasn't damaged.

Bad luck with your machine, the prices of new machines being low at the moment may make you think twice about the repair to yours.

Edited By old mart on 31/12/2020 15:33:11

Edited By old mart on 31/12/2020 15:34:41

Edited By old mart on 31/12/2020 15:37:32

An alternative grease which might be more in keeping with an old machine would be Castrol heavy, which is calcium based, but not high melting point.

Edited By old mart on 31/12/2020 15:23:31

When I bought the Alivar VFD for the motor on the Tom Senior mill, I was concerned about earth leakage. The Altivar has EMC filters and the manual mentioned earth leakage if the filter was enabled. As the machine was in a museum, I was not sure if the ELCB's might be 10mA rather than the domestic 30mA. As it happened, there was no sign of a problem. The Altivar can have the filter switched off to eliminate the earth leakage at the cost of loosing the EMC. You could try switching the filter off to see if that made any difference.

A lot of the noise from a compressor comes from the air inlet/filter. Adding some more pipe could reduce the noise, it is all a matter of experimentation.

Edited By old mart on 30/12/2020 20:44:12

Sounds like the faceplate just needs a skim. The problem is either the faceplate or the owner of the lathe.

I have a Ceratizit 50mm shell mill with 5 inserts and on the side is the maximum rpm. 12200 maximum, and in the Ceratizit pdf it says that the screws should be changed at the same time as the inserts if that speed is used. The inserts have either 4 or 8 stations before they are worn out. I can only manage 3000 rpm and the depths and feed rates depend on the power available. Most hobby machines run out of speed before the carbide tools do.

Drilling the 2.5mm hole could be difficult if the drawings are similar to the job. That is deep for the diameter. What is needed is a starter hole made with a stub drill and then change to a NEW split point drill of a quality make. Everything depends on the tolerances required.

You could just make it a sliding fit, after all, it is designed tighten up as the tapers are pulled together.

You may be able to find out about posting pictures by putting "pictures" into the keyword box.

What would you want with a die? You don't want to change the spindle.

Jason has given you an excellent choice. Should you decide to get a 2.5mm ball ended milling cutter to do the work, you will have to be very careful milling it. You will have to do the groove in careful stages to avoid breaking the cutter. With that size, I would recommend the following stages;

First cut 0.5mm deep.

Second cut 0.3mm deep.

Third cut 0.2mm deep.

Fourth cut 0.15mm deep

Fifth cut 0.1mm deep.

Run the mill at its maximum speed. Don't rush the feed rate. You can cut in either direction as you increase the depth.

Use oil if using HSS, or dry if solid carbide.

Edited By old mart on 29/12/2020 15:02:15

I changed the pot on my Warco 7 x 12 and it was the type which had an additional switch. I bought one from Maplins, (they are no longer with us) and the switch was the wrong gender. With a bit of scullduggery, I changed the way the switch worked. That is the switch started off to on, or vice versa, I cannot remember.

I know ARC sell these switches as spares, you could get in touch with them for advise as to which type you need.

A mate of mine once had an MOV in a MAC frame. He had the alloy barrel, but still had the cast iron head on it while he searched for an alloy head, it did look weird.

Ditto the 1.25 plunge with a 1.25mm rad ball end cutter (2.5mm diameter).

Of course that is not a groove, just a dimple.

Edited By old mart on 28/12/2020 18:04:58

The comments are valid, but as Jason said they do work and produce good results if you are treating them gently. A good and cheaper start for your milling. Later you will be looking at your space and budget with a dedicated mill in mind. A lot of people start milling this way, I have the vertical milling slide for my mini lathe, it is not easy to use, but I have the use of two mills when the Covid restrictions ease up.