Member postings for old mart

I have not tried XCP, but WD40 and AC90 are useful to sparingly lubricate aluminium when it is machined to prevent welding to the cutters. I find that the new type of folding long and short nozzles are a sly way to make you use more of the product than needed.

Just put a little tray underneath, the capacity is about a cupful, yours will probably not have any. When reassembling, you only need sealant along the bottom and a couple of inches up the sides. Check the worm gear shaft for straightness, it comes out easily. We did a major rebushing and also made several new shafts also Mike got the oil pump working. That pump oils the saddle and cross slide as well as the leadscrew nut and all the shafts and bearings inside the apron. Do you have the parts drawings?

Edited By old mart on 20/07/2022 21:33:17

The 1000 pound capacity motorcycle lifting stand came today, fully boxed and everything was in order. My greatest struggle was to attach the wheels and casters, I had to lift each side in succession to fit them. As the Suzuki Burgman 400 K8 has to be parked on the stand, there was one slight problem which most people would not encounter. The wheel gripper for the front wheel needs to be modified for my use as the bike cannot be locked unless the front wheel is turned to the left. I am thinking of a pivot where the wheel sits for the gripper, so the wheel can be turned after setting on the centre stand. Of course the bike would not start, so I actually managed to push it onto the stand which is 7" high. At the moment, the prop stand sticks out too much for the width of the stand, I will make a small outrigger which can be detached. One thing I found is if you walk on the stand, it will tip up as you get to the front, not dangerous, I tried doing it after the front jacks were deployed and it still tipped. It cost £485 with delivery and took 48 hours from ordering. One thing I haven't tried is to get it off the centre stand, I hope the stand does not slide forward. Another thing to watch out for with a big machine is it hitting things as you raise the stand. I nearly knocked the smart gas meter with a mirror, and I will have to reorganise the garage to move everything a foot further in from the door as the bike comes close when it is up in the air. The stand is 160Kg, but not hard to move about, and I can lift either end off the ground.

You can remove the apron cover with care for assessment.

Remove the leadscrew lever, one grubscrew, woodruff key and slacken off the threading dial friction adjuster (that grubscrew shown in the picture, then remove the dial). Remove the fine feed lever (taper pin small end at bottom). Remove the main wheel and woodruff key which moves the saddle. There are 5 SHCS holding the fromt on and when they are removed, carefully use a thin blade to work it off the dowel pins. The 2 dowels are top right and bottom left. If you do need to remove the plate at the bottom, make sure that the front lefthand screw is the short one, as it intersects with the screw holding the front on.

Post a picture of the mechanism.

Today was not quite as hot in W-S-M, despite last weeks forcast making it the hottest day. It is now 29.6C outside and 28C indoors. I decided to cut the grass, but for the first time in 15 years the Bosch mower would not work, the switch seemed to be the culprit, after testing, but I'm not 100% sure. A new switch is on order at £11.99, and if that is not the problem, I will get another mower. The same size of Bosch is about £84, plenty big enough to cut the grass in about 45 minutes. There were a few spots of rain, but it didn't come to anything.

My £70 policy was from Carol Nash, I didn't bother with comprehensive as the bike would only be worth £2000 or less. The underwriters are based in Gibraltar.

I have been cleaning up part of my garage to make room for a motorcycle lifting stand I have ordered. One trip to the tip so far. If it stays this hot, I might not get the grass in the back garden cut, shame, I get charged £45 a season for fortnightly green waste collections whether I fill the bin or not. It did creep up to 36C during the afternoon.

33.7C outside and 29.6C inside in sunny Weston Super Mare at 7:30 pm. The See Monster has finally arrived, I hope somebody makes a tv documentary about it.

I know the feeling. The Smart & Brown model A Mk 1.5 at the museum has had the fine feed sort of working for years until about a couple of months ago, when the lever would not engage. The automatic disengagement when hitting the stops for the saddle never did work. So a month ago, we took the apron completely off and partially dismantled it. The leadscrew and feedscrew have to come off at the same time. The parts drawings available do not show everything, unfortunately, so they are of limited help. The correct working of the feedscrew is for automatic disengagement when hitting saddle stops in either direction, but as there are no stops on the cross slide other than running out of movement the onus is on the operator to stop before that happens. We spent many frustrating hours making the limited adjustments and I have fitted a weaker spring to the cam mechanism for the worm drive. I know exactly how it should work, but that is not enough to actually get the ancient design actually working. There is an interlock to prevent the leadscrew nut being engaged at the same time as the feedscrew mechanism, and vice versa. One thing I found was that the hinged part with the worm, cam and spring was dropping down too low for the lever to be able to raise it without help. Shimming the block which is bolted to the base of the apron solved that, but the height of the flat part of the ramp which holds the worm gears together must be lowered an equal ammount to the shim thickness. Be prepared for a long slog to get things right, and while you are about it, replace any bushes and shafts which are worn. The picture only shows half of the total number  of gears in the apron, the others are hidden.The selector mechanism for changing from saddle or cross slide is right in the centre of the apron, behind the worm gear.

Edited By old mart on 18/07/2022 19:24:28

Edited By old mart on 18/07/2022 19:25:39

I have been making sure there is space in my standard size garage for the platform. The bike will have to sit on it when garaged, so I will have no choice but to ride it on. The bike weighs 425 pounds, so I won't be able to push it up the ramp, backing off will be easy, especially as both brakes are on the handlebars. The height minimum is 7" and the width is 26.7". My centre stand is 19" wide and the prop stand sticks out about 5" wider. I may make a slight lip to fit to the left side of the lift where the prop stand goes for security, it can be QD. Also, I will make wooden platforms 7" high and one foot wide to place either side when parking or backing off the stand for security.

A bump stop would be a safety feature, although there is a heavy cupboard which would stop over runs.

As for insurance, I have just paid £70 for TPF&T with a 2000 mile limit, the bike is not vintage by any means, being 2008 registered.

I have been away from riding for 4 years because of my knees, but the new ones are ready to get back on two wheels. I have a Suzuki Burgman 400 K8 scooter because for the last 20 years I have been unable to manage a clutch lever because the arthritis is also in my fingers. Using brakes the same as bicycle brakes is ok, though. The arthritis is also in my back, neck and left shoulder, so working on the bike is very difficult. I have just ordered a bike lifting stand after checking prices and sizes. The one I have ordered is the widest and it is under £500 delivered. When it is working, I will post my thoughts regarding its ease of use.

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I found this by googling, it is slightly bigger diameter and I dont know if the helix angle runs on the correct direction.

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If you have a lathe which can singlepoint 8 per inch, why not cut an ACME thread and slot it axially to make a cutter for bronze. I could lend you a 16mm tool with an 8 ACME insert in it. Your 18 tooth gear would be just under 3/4" diameter, so Diogenese is right to be concerned about such a relatively coarse thread being able to cut sucessfully.

There is already a thread on a similar subject, "square thread" running at the moment.

Edited By old mart on 17/07/2022 20:02:10

Edited By old mart on 17/07/2022 20:06:06

I used to Alochrome lots of aircraft parts, because the anodising is non conductive electrically, and the Alochrome gives corrosion protection and allowed electrical bonding as protection from lightening strikes. The spark must not be allowed to jump. I would not think there is any abrasion resistance, though, you can pretty much rub it off with your finger.

If you can remove the aluminium parts and separate them from any other metals, you might try anodising them. That would kill any corrosion and leave a resistant coating. Try googling "anodising at home", the bath is very simple and easy to run. The PTFE sprays would be the best lubricant, The WD40 one is not sticky to attract dust.

I see that the Tracey Tools one is £35, I have a 3/4 x 5 RH and need the left hand version. I would not like to try a 5/8 x 8 into bronze, the tap could easily break with the extreme torque needed. You might try Kingston engineering, they do nuts in several styles.

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I have the WD40 dry PTFE spray, it is good for my application. Recently, I bought a can of PTFE spray from Lidl, 300ml, cheaper, made in Germany and did a test on some polythene sheet. It is slightly greasier than the WD40, but nothing like normal sprays. It says "shake can vigorously for 1 minute".

One thing I had forgotten was that the knee raising jack goes straight into the coolant tank, I thought it had a sleeve. I have had to plug the hole while the mill is in bits, all the spanners and screwdrivers want to drop inside.

Several 1/16" pins fitted axially through the thread would be very secure. I would check the dimensions carefully before machining the parts.

Did you notice the Tom Senior bodge to make things fit? A clue, look at the hole in the green cast iron nut support.

Edited By old mart on 16/07/2022 19:17:34

Edited By old mart on 16/07/2022 19:20:44

A 40tpi thread would take up a very small part of the diameter, we don't have enough heat available to silver solder that size. When I renewed the leadscrew nut on the Smart & Brown, I made a thinwall inlay and soft soldered it onto the bored out block, but that had a much greater surface area, about 5 square inches.