Member postings for Chris Crew

I also bought a cheap Chinese chuck (San Ou) via eBay, £108 for an 8" 4-jaw self-centring, delivered from within the UK within 3 working days by courier. I had to source an L0 fitting (£50 eBay) and make an interstitial plate and I did take a great deal of time and trouble over the fitting together of the three items but when I checked the chuck on the lathe with a 1" ground test bar I found the run-out to be less than 0.001" near the chuck jaws and less than 1.5 thou. 12 inches out. Everything about the chuck smacks of quality materials and manufacturing.

Personally, I just don't get all the Sino-phobic nonsense you sometimes read in this forum, there have been good and bad products of varying quality from all manufacturing nations, not least the UK in years gone by. Everything is made to hit a particular price point in the market and the Chinese certainly seem to hit the target with ever increasing value and quality.

Edited By Chris Crew on 11/07/2021 08:39:46

Coventry Grinders is good for silver steel rod and ground gauge plate. Good service and very reasonable too, still cheaper than the usual 'model engineer' suppliers despite their P&P being a little higher.

I have used K-Steels in Huddersfield too who were very helpful and reasonable for noggins and heavy off-cuts in the past but I don't think they do mail order, although I could be wrong. I tended not to buy MS stock in dribs and drabs when acquiring materials. Why buy a 2ft length of rod from an ME supplier when you can buy a 3 metre length for nearly the same price from a local steel stock-holder and you have then got almost a lifetime's supply. You can cut it into 2ft lengths yourself if that's what you want.

I had a not so dissimilar problem with a Tom Tom, approximately 7 years old. For no apparent reason the screen suddenly would not function upon being switched on the first time, but after several attempts and resets it would appear and then function normally. The number of resets then began to increase until I thought it may be an internal connection not making good contact. A YouTube video showed how to dismantle the device, an operation which I performed and re-seated and cleaned all the connectors, especially the ribbon to the display. All to no avail, the device malfunctioned exactly as before.

As Tom Tom had been bombarding me with 'promotions' and discounts for the last couple of years in an attempt to get me to purchase another device, I strongly suspect that these devices are programmed to self-destruct after a set period of time, rather like Apple slowing down the functions of their mobile phones as reported a while back.

I gave up in the end and disposed of the device in the electronic waste bin at the local tip and now just use the integral sat-nav of my car, but as car sat-navs do not come with regular free map upgrades it is a little out of date. Maybe I can use my phone's navigation facility or even go back to the old AA road atlas that got me to everywhere I ever wanted to go in the course of my itinerant employment in the days before reliance on electronic devices became the norm. I wonder if many other people have had similar experiences?

We have been through all the issues on parting-off so many times. On numerous occasions I have parted-off 5" & 6" noggins of mild steel in a Colchester Student to make back-plates for the Myford with no trouble whatsoever (if only because I had a lot of heavy steel bar to hand). On 'normal' size work I just part-off as a matter of course. And the 'secret', if indeed it is a secret for deep parting cuts is this: Use a sharp inverted tool in a rear tool-post and pump coolant into the cut because dabbing it on or the odd squirt is pointless I.M. (humble) O. I suppose because it keeps the tool cool, lubricates the sides of the cut and swills out the swarf. Keep a steady cut going once the 'plastic flow' starts. If it squeals your starting speed is too high, but don't be afraid to increase the speed as a deep cut progresses, say at steps of a third of the diameter. Aim for a nice 'hiss' as in all successful turning. Keep the cut as close to the chuck as is practicable making sure the work is securely held.

If you still have trouble, read what George Thomas had to say on trouble-shooting parting-off issues, but don't waste your time making his rear tool-post, I did and found it to be flimsy and useless, but that's just me. Rear tool-posts with parting tools securely fitted 'live' on my lathes. Forgive me, but I sometimes fail to understand why so many people seem to have so many problems with parting-off which to me is a straight forward basic lathe operation, probably the second operation we learnt to do after reducing a diameter in the apprentice training school I attended in the 1960's when we were introduced to turning and we didn't have rear tool-posts on the lathes back then.

OK, upon consideration, I am being a bit 'sharp' and forgetting that I have a fair amount of experience which makes things easy and almost 'second nature' whereas 'newbie's' have no background to fall back on. I apologise for that and merely offer my advice in the hope that it will help somebody somewhere to overcome their difficulties and add to their education.

Edited By Chris Crew on 07/07/2021 23:53:01

Colin, I am pleased you managed to win some of my late colleague's kit. I used to buy from that auction house years ago before everything went online and found them to be reasonable to deal with. As you say, there is no way of finding what everything else went for out of interest.

It doesn't matter what order you place the gears on the banjo, provided that the 'drivers' remain drivers and the 'driven' remain driven. You may find that you have to re-arrange the gears on the banjo in order to actually get them in the space available but you must observe the above rule on the studs. If you invest a few pounds in one of the many excellent publications that are available, and personally I think Martin Cleeve's 'Screw-cutting in the Lathe' is one of the best, you will have all the answers you need at your fingertips. Ivan Law's 'Gears and Gear Cutting' provides excellent easy to understand information for calculating change-wheel combinations for 'odd' threads contained in worms etc. which can also be used for screw-cutting purposes.

Edited By Chris Crew on 06/07/2021 22:46:22

This is one of the reasons my ML-7R-cum-Super 7 will never have a gearbox. For metric threads and multi-start worms etc., for my two-pennyworth, the change-wheels provide for greater flexibility and outweigh the convenience of a gearbox any day of the week.

Paul L, Please check this because I could be way off the mark, but I understand what you are saying is correct in normal circumstances if the sale goods have a commercial origin. My understanding is that if the sale item has originated from a private source or education then VAT is only payable on the buyers premium.

I am only stating this as I am located not too far from the auction house and, although over twenty years ago now, I used to go regularly to the sales and I bid for several machines and tooling there. To the best of my recollection I did not pay VAT on the hammer price for a Boxford shaper and a Harrison miller because they had originated in education, but VAT was levied on the buyers commission. I can recall paying VAT on the total net price for some tooling I bought out of industry.

I could be wrong and my memory is playing tricks on me, but that is my understanding until I am corrected. I am certain for anyone who is interested in bidding, a quick phone call to the auctioneers should clear up any mis-understanding.

Edited By Chris Crew on 02/07/2021 08:55:43

I don't know if it's exactly the same book as Boxford's 'Know Your Lathe', but there is a book of the same title by Denford's Engineering Company listed at TEE Publishing for £4.95. I suspect it's an earlier edition of the same book as Boxford's and Denford's were almost the same company, I believe, or at least co-operated closely with each other. Of course, I stand to be corrected, but in any event a fiver is hardly any great loss if the book is purchased in error.

Just out of the blue I have been contacted by the son of a late model engineering colleague who died a number of years ago. Apparently, the family have only just got round to clearing his workshop and all the machinery and tools have been passed to an auction house in Scunthorpe.called Edison's CJM, Queensway Industrial Estate, 6 Dunlop Way, Scunthorpe DN16 3RN Tel. 01724 334411.

I know my late friend had a very little used Myford Super 7 with gearbox, the smallest type horizontal mill made by Adcock & Shipley, I think a Meddings pillar drill and a Chinese vertical mill. His son has told me there are boxes upon boxes of un-used brand new chucks and tooling together with a part-built traction engine and numerous small stationary engines in various stages of completion as my late friend was more of a hoarder than a builder.

I am informed that the online auction is on Monday 5th July. I don't need anything myself but it may be worth looking up if you are in the market for any machinery and tooling.

I have visited the workshop of Roy Milner, nr. Lincoln, when I collected a Myford S7 cross-slide from him that I won on eBay. I am not qualified enough to comment on the technical attributes of his big-bore conversions, but simply by observation of his work and the finished examples of his converted lathes, I have to say the products I observed looked absolutely superb.

In fact, had I not had the Maitresse de Maison in tow, I would have been tempted to buy the long-bed example he was selling at the time on the spot. Only the fear of a severe reprimand prevented me from doing so.

Edited By Chris Crew on 30/06/2021 13:27:43

With reference to the opening post: Why do you think machine tools that are built in China are junk? Personally, I don't believe they are and if it came to changing my old British built mills, a Harrison M1 and a Tom Senior, both of which are now well worn and irreplaceable by an indigenous product, I would have no hesitation in buying a far-eastern machine. I acquired my machines at a time when manufacturing industry was collapsing and the school curriculum was changing meaning these things were auctioned off for what amounted to 'peanuts' at the time. For example, I once acquired a Brown & Sharp No.13 universal cylindrical grinder with all the best collets and chucks money could buy at that time for £50, but it cost me £250 to get it shipped home!

You have to accept that old British machine tools, although nice to have if in well restored condition, which I would suggest is very few and far between these days, will continue to deteriorate as they go on to pass between owners over the years. Considering the cost of 'continental' machines which are still manufactured against their 'Chinese' counterparts which you can go and inspect at such as Axminster or Warco, the type of which even Myford re-badged, for my budget and for use in a back-shed workshop the choice would be a total no-brainer.

Edited By Chris Crew on 30/06/2021 08:44:43

With respect to the above, let me qualify the term 'butchery' and the context in which it was meant in my comment. IMO there is nothing wrong with carefully modifying or enhancing a machine tool to accommodate attachments or facilitate greater convenience of use. Indeed, my own cherished Myford has been suitably, and I hope properly, adapted to permit the use of head-stock dividing attachments etc. and I am contemplating modifying the apron to fit a rapid threading device.

I was thinking more along the lines of drilling and tapping holes in slides and face-plates to facilitate the machining of possibly just one job. I would have thought that this, besides anything else, would have detracted from the value of the machine alone when the time came to sell it on. Notwithstanding the unsightly appearance of apparently randomly drilled and tapped holes.

Each to their own, the machines are the individual's property and they are perfectly entitled to do whatever they want with them as I do with mine. I was just making the point, possibly very badly, that it would never do for me personally and not a way of working that I would ever adopt. Again, IMO, there is usually a way around everything with a little thought without resorting to 'butchery'.

I am having an attack of the 'eeby-jeebies' here just reading about people butchering Myford and other lathes.

Absolute sacrilege - Stop it immediately!

I have bought several involute cutters from RDG and found them to be very satisfactory. I would not hesitate in ordering some more when required. I have cut gears and racks using the 'Myford' method, with the dividing head mounted on the vertical slide and now mostly on an horizontal mill with a Vertex BS 0 dividing head. Both methods worked for me and the gears and racks mesh and perform their intended function. How precise they are I have no idea but as an amateur pottering around in a back-shed workshop I don't have to submit to any inspection process. I can also highly recommend Ivan Law's book.

Edited By Chris Crew on 24/06/2021 08:26:11

Assuming your lathe is mounted on the original Raglan stand, the first thing I would do is make sure it is not bolted down. This doesn't look a very heavy machine to me and if you are only shifting round 90 degs a pinch bar rammed under one end and a slewing round in radial movements of the bar should do the trick, I would have thought. It's the way I would do it. Are you sure it really won't move at all? Seems a bit strange to me, it surely must be either bolted down or grouted in?

I would suggest you don't know exactly how you are going to deal with a machine until you actually see it and buy it. What size of machines are you wanting? Are you buying new from, say Warco who I understand will deliver, or used from a dealer, for example? Are you looking for small bench-top machines or those larger types from industry or education which have the stand integral to the machine? I have shifted a few machines of all sizes and weights up to 2-tons over the years, and into some very awkward locations too, and I would suggest the lift you have indicated in the link is totally unsuitable for shifting anything much but the smallest and lightest machine tool. For a start, any lathe around 'Myford' size two of you can usually lift and shift that without much trouble, if it's 'Colchester' size then I suggest you lever it up on blocks and slip a pallet under it. It can then be moved, given the room, easily with a pallet truck. Make sure you strap any machine down when shifting because most of them are top heavy and will topple very easily and once they start to go you can only stand and watch because there is absolutely no stopping them. It would be very dangerous to try in any event. Machines with integral stands can also be shifted on level ground by levering round bars as rollers under them and inching them along with a pinch bar. There are any number of ways of shifting machines including jacking them on to machine skates. I have been banging on in other threads about just using common sense in all things and its no different when shifting a machine tool. Assess the tool, assess the move and then decide on the best way of doing the job. It's not rocket science, but if you feel you must buy something to move a machine I would suggest you buy a cheap 2500Kg pallet truck for about two-hundred quid on eBay, they are not as good as the proper Swedish BT make but they at least do the job. I have shifted a 2-ton J&S cylindrical grinder on one, it creaked and moaned a bit but it did the job. With or without a pallet make sure you strap any top heavy machine down and, if you are making tight manoeuvres with the machine on the truck where the rear wheels will be at right angles to the rollers, bolt or clamp some stabilising bars to it to arrest any possible tilt beyond the point of no return because if it starts to roll you will never stop it. Think about what you doing, try to anticipate any possible risk and above all do it all slowly for safety's sake, you are not in a race. I always wear PPE when moving machines, safety boots, heavy duty gloves etc. I would also suggest that you think about doing the same when the time comes.

Edited By Chris Crew on 21/06/2021 06:07:53

Off the top of my head, I have no idea if the parts are inter-changeable but if they are I would suggest fitting as a replacement a ML7-R or Super 7 bull-wheel and back gear. The reason being that the 60 tooth 7R/S7 gear is so much more useful than the 55 tooth (I think) ML7 bull-wheel for dividing/stroke indexing purposes. A simple detent will give you 2/3/4/5/6/10/12/15/20/30 and a Radford/Thomas head-stock attachment will give you almost all the rest.

Just a further thought, if the cost of the replacement parts is prohibitive, may be breaking the lathe and selling the parts would finance the purchase of a ML7-R or better still a Super 7. I don't think you would ever regret up-grading even if you had to subsidise the purchase of a superior machine a little.

Edited By Chris Crew on 20/06/2021 08:35:09

Michael, and I sort of agree with you too. I am no 'exhibition standard' craftsman, I just always try to do my best, but I would give any 'newbie' the benefit of my limited experience and knowledge and encourage them in the hobby. I guess the point I was really trying to make was that manual lathe work, or any sort of machine shop work for that matter, is not a 'black art' and if you just sometimes stand back and appraise its requirements you will more than likely come up with a solution to any problem and identify any potential pitfalls yourself without having every little detail explained and confirmed. Good to chat with you, thanks.