Member postings for Fred Bloggs 3

Thanks JasonB, yes, you have given me great ideas on how to tackle my boring jobs with relative ease as long as I buy the right machine. Boring a set of bike yokes is easier than those jobs you posted in yor last post. The yokes are slotted with pinch bolts onto the forks so massive precision capability is simply not needed. +/-0.05mm is amply adequate. Right now, the Chester machine looks favourite, though at list price it's well blown the budget.

FB

Thanks Howard, this information is gold dust to be honest. I had never imagined slotted cross slide would be so useful but it is the perefect answer to not having enough swing over the bed. My use of such boring jobs is seldom bit very, very useful. A set of custom made bike yokes is around £500 give or take if you buy them. The material cost is about thirty quid at a guess. Brilliant to be able to make them. That Chester DB10 is a budget buster for me, but what a capable piece of kit it would be. I wonder if I can look out for an ex-demo or something similar machine?

FB

That's exactly my train of thought now, Brian. In fact boring to 54mm max, but only to a depth/thickness of 25mm max in alloy, I could in fact turn such a machine into a pseudo boring machine. The boring bar would be short enough and stiff enough to be carried in the chuck only? In fact, I'd go so far as saying a slotted cross slide is now essential.

FB.

Edited By Fred Bloggs 3 on 06/05/2020 12:30:25

Edited By Fred Bloggs 3 on 06/05/2020 12:31:09

Cheers Kiwi Bloke, indeed. My imagination is running riot. Armed with a little more knowledge I will do my research this weekend and see where I land. The ex-display machine at Chester Machine Tools looks very attractive at £500. And leaves plenty of money over for other toys. Now, about this bench mount pillar drill I need..............

As an aside, has anyone recently sen the utter junk on eBay that people seem to think are lathes? A Colchester Sudent for £6500? I really don't think so. LOL!

FB.

Edited By Fred Bloggs 3 on 06/05/2020 12:00:04

Thanks Howard, thoughts and input greatly appreciated.

FB

Cheers John.

FB.

Thanks guys, yes, I like the Warco machines very much. I know enough now thanks to the input here. I'll do more research over the coming weekend and see where I land on cost/budget/capability. I know now that I can rule out making a set of fork yokes start to finish. But I'd make maybe one set this year and one set next year. So, it's not a deal breaker.

Cheers.

FB.

Purely random selection from google but a good picture. Typically, the top and bottom yokes are 6061 or 6082 alloy. Typically the centre stem hole is around 25mm and the fork holes are anywhere between 40 and 54mm diamter. Thickness anywhere between 20 and 30mm. Thank you so much for your interest Niels.

https://www.motolanna.com/ourshop/prod_3199050-Yoke-Set-Billet-CNC-All-Alloy.html

Edited to add - the 7075 referred to on that page will be the steering stem in the centre.

FB

Edited By Fred Bloggs 3 on 06/05/2020 08:04:10

Thanks Jason B, I need a 250mm radius to bore the yokes which I see thse days is considered 500mm swing. Very clearly I am not going to get a machine that will do that. My understanding has come a long way the last 24 hours.

FB

Thanks not done it yet and Hopper, your input is duly noted. And yes, in the early 70's lathe swing was definitely always radius, never diameter.

FB

Thanks Hopper. That makes perfect sense now. It looks like I will have to get a mate to finsih bore yokes for 50/54mm USD forks. I appreciate the time spent answering my dumb questions. But I last used a lathe >40 years ago.

FB.

Thanks for the suggestion of a second hand CL430, yes, if they are cr*p there will be plenty hardly used ones out there cheap!

Now forgive me, here. In the olden days, Hopper, lathe swing was radius from spindle centre to bed. Often with a gap (removable section to increase swing). So, I need a 250mm swing (radius) to bore fork yokes. The CL430 305mm "swing" is not radius then, it's diameter? In other words, in my understanding that is 152.5mm, swing not 305. If that's true, then, no I cannot bore yokes on it. Thanks for the input.

Cheers.

FB.

Edited By Fred Bloggs 3 on 06/05/2020 07:21:22

Thanks a lot all. I am nothing if not realistic about this stuff. Before I came here I knew my ideal spec machine did not exist for about a £1000-ish. Which is in fact why, being impressed browsing the forum, I joined and asked the question. The feedback has mostly been very helpful even if if some of the posts remind me of the 1970's conversations - "I am buying a new bike, I think a Honda 500/4 or a Suzuki T500". Mates down the pub - "No, you don't want a Honda, you want a BSA". Anyway, to answer MadMike, I am near Manchester. As I already said, I do not expect much beyond simply being able to do what I explained. Wheel spindles, yoke spindles, sundry spacers, every now and then swing a set of fork yokes to bore. Even a piece of "cr*p" Chinese machine tool "should" be able to meet my needs. I'm not looking for anything capable of building space rockets. The formerly mentioned Clarke CL430 is 99% perfect. If I can get one at a 20% discount, it's even in budget. If there is something else out there that can do what that mahine (on paper) can do for around about that kind of money, I'm all ears. The 1% of stuff that CL430 type machine tool couldn't do, I'd get a mate to do it. As I said before, compromise is the name of the game. Budget v Capability. If that circle cannot be satisfactorily squared, then not buying a lathe at all is still an open option.

Thanks again fr the ongoing support, it's highly appreciated. It's been really helpful being here.

FB

Edited By Fred Bloggs 3 on 06/05/2020 02:18:44

Thank you. If it can manage +/-0.05mm that's plenty good enough. When I need a bearing fit on a wheel spindle I fully expect to polish the final fit of bearing to spindle. Heresy, I know. But I am not proud and happy to do this.

FB

The most arduous job I can think of as likely is boring a set of bike yokes (some folk will know what I mean, hence the required swing for faceplate mounting the yokes) up to 55mm (max) for a depth of around 25mm max material thickness. Typically 6082 or 6061 alloy. I recognise this is not what this machine is for but if I do that four times in two years I'd be going well on my projects. I see lots of light cuts in my future when boring a set of yokes!

Indeed, happy hours of hand fettling is definitely in my plan.

FB

My 99% spec machine? No 30mm bar feed in the headstock, but not bad in other ways. Could use a bt more than 550watts perhaps. But again I expect to turn mostly aluminium alloys and bit of steel now and then. I just need a VAT free offer. Can you register for those at all?

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cl430-metal-lathe/

FB.

Simply a part of my ideal spec to be able to easily centre drill 30mm bar. But I may hve found my 99% machine............

FB

"Open box", "shop soiled", "ex-display" etc.... All considered. Right now I am typing this on an "open box" laptop that I couldn't afford in a sealed box! I am not expecting to be able to make nuclear reactors.

FB.

Oooh, I missed that one. I had dismissed the Clarke range as just a bit too small. But that is worth a look. I'll go and look right now. Thank you.

FB

LOL! Happy to oblige. As an engineer in industry, if you have low excpectations you are seldom disapointed.

FB