Member postings for Mike Hurley

We often grumble about excessive H&S these days, but things like this do make you think.

Edited By Mike Hurley on 13/02/2023 09:37:10

Is that a known fact showing up in some research data somewhere or simply your experience? I'm genuinely interested to know.

Regards Mike

I have been dissapointed with my Rolson since buying it many years back at a show. The lens assy never seems to stay in position when bending forward and the led spotlight is worse than useless, when its not flickering due to a bad swich /connection. Tinkering with mechanical adjustments and wiring etc made no useful difference The head band was most uncomfortable. Apart from that it was fine!

Gave up using it a bit ago and binned it. May look to invest in an Optivisor following some positive comments above though.

Mike

Is obviously quite old and difficult to identify from the pics / description. Worth a punt at that sort of price if you've got the facilities to move it and your friend has a strong workshop floor,but not knowing the spindle taper could be a drawback. Does appear to have quite a few 'accesoroes' from the write up so they would be useful if it turns out to be a non starter in the end.

regards Mike.

Impressive - bur are you sure its not another Chinese spy balloon.?

What a beauty! Would just fit lovely in my garden, but the wife wants the rockery extended.

Jesting apart - at least it's going as a unit and not being broken up / asset stripped. So fingers crossed it finds a good home..

regards Mike

I would feel that the type of tooling being used is a consideration as most HSS have rakes ground such that they essentially cut primarily leftwards or right! Inserts are a different matter as they will be unidirectional.

Samuel's observation about irregular pieces being knocked out of true makes me wonder if either the mounting was inadequate or the initial cuts were too heavy (or a combination), as I can't see any difference between the direction of cut causing the issue - even when working centre outwards you will still experience the same irregular parts that cause vibration etc

I often cut in both directions, but as I use HSS a lot, the outward cut is usually very light, more a case of feeling I am doing something useful whizzing the feed handle around rather than just winding it back!

From all the replies to date, I still don't see a convincing case that it might always be better 'outward'

regards Mike

I'm sure they'll be going on strike soon like everyone else in the NHS

1. Buy the Workshop Practice series book no 38 'Tool & cutter Sharpening' for about £8

2 Make a versatile tool grinding rest as detailed therein - (excellent general machining practice anyway)

3. Keep the grinding wheels unclogged

4 Practice lots

Simples!

That's a nice video, haven't seen any of Clickspring's before - seem well made and informative, and the guy really appears to know what hes talking about. Have already learmed a few new tips.

My Dad worked very long hours and us kids rarely saw him. Sunday's were his day off (though 9 times out of 10 he'd still have to 'go in' to fix something!) however, on one when he was free I clearly remember him talking me for a walk, I must have been on about 4 at the time, which ended up at the level crossing on part of the Birmingham to Wolverhampton main line close to where we lived, and the quite terrifying site and sound of a massive (was to me at that age) noisy express appearing in the distance and finally thundering through the crossing. (They used to get quite a speed on over that very long straight stretch).

Funny how things stick in your mind, I can fully picture the scene now in fine detail, some 65+ years after the event! Left me with a real love of engineering & steam in particular!

regards

Again, thanks for the very useful contributions. I think that the crux of the matter, from what most people have said, is that in the majority of cases, working as I do, i do need to quench at the appropriate time!

I feel much happier with the tempering process now & confident my future results will be better. As usual this forum is quite amazing in the breadth of experience available and willingness of its members to share & help others.

Regards to all, Mike

Thanks KB - It's nice to get something right occasionaly!

regards

Interesting. I've made all manner of stuff over the years but never a clock - always had one in the back of my mind but cautious about how to get started. Cooincidently I've just finished fitting my Universal Dividing head into my mill (an old unit I inherited and has been sat in a box for years) so maybe I'll now look into this clock build as my next project as it sounds as if this particular set up will lead you step by step? Majority of my kit is Metric based, do you forsee any issues? ( I'm well used to doing imperial to metric conversions, but its still a pain sometimes)

Regards Mike

Thanks to all who replied with plenty of detail and useful info. As I tried to make clear originally, my query was simply about tempering. I've never had an issue with the understanding of, or the practice of hardening in most cases. The general drift I get from the responses is, probably as I expected, there is no one-size-fits-all answer!
Discounting 'special' or 'exotic' metals, industrial practice or access to more advanced kit, and the fact that I am using a simple propane blowtorch directly or indirectly via dry sand or heated plate, and working typically on silver steel or very similar; trying to summarise -

• Once correctly hardened, the re-heating to a relatively low temperature makes the otherwise brittle material more malleable & less prone to fracture
• Quenching itself at these temperatures does not directly affect the structure of the material, it is simply a method of stopping the heating at a specific temperature (or as near as practical) which itself is what modifies the material's characteristics.
• If heating a thin / small piece by directly heating one end for example, and watching the colour change advancing, quenching when the required colour gets to a specifc point, as desired, is the only way to to stop the temperature rise moving on past the point desired.
• If heating indirectly, eg via sand or with a hot auxiliary plate, carefully watching the colour and removing the heat source / carefully modulating same to maintain an even heat for as long as appropriate for the size of metal, quenching is not necessary.

Within the simple practical constraints I outlined earlier, does this make sense or am I talking through my hat! (Not unusual) Further comments encouraged and most welcome

Regards Mike

Can someone clarify my confusion on this matter. If I read a dozen articles on the subject I seem to get a dozen different answers. I'm talking here about tempering in the home workshop - just occasional on-off jobs with fairly bog standard carbon steels. Hardening OK, but I remain confused as many sources say 'Quench' when appropriate colour is reached (to halt the process) others indicate 'air cooling'.

I've a copy of Workshop Practice 1 (tubal Cain) on the subject which is very, very thorough, but I still can't seem to disseminate the correct answer which I feel comfortable with! I've hardened and tempered various stuff over the years, (with variable results) and have a little job on the go and so decided to raise the question to set my mind at rest once and for all!

I appreciate this can be a very complicated process when looked into in detail with specific steels / equipment / Industrial methods etc, but I'm looking for (if it's possible) a non-nonsense straightforward answer for Joe Public working in his shed-cum-workshop.

Regards, Mike

Hi John, welcome to the forum (I'm a midlander also). Plenty of expertise here + friendly advice & comment. That clock looks interesting - I've just watched a short youtube vid about it. What arrangements are you thinking of for cutting the gear wheels? Can be a tricky process and you need some fairly accurate method of indexing. Let us know how you get on.

All the best. Mike

Health & safety gone mad! What's wrong with a trusty old stanley knife blade and the added excitement of the resultant bloodbath when when a piece breaks off!

Yes, surprising just how many they seem to produce! You wouldn't think there was the market these days.

If you have a search for a simila one for Mamod Mamod build (its a bit older video when production was at its height I think) that shows quite a bit of detail in the build process.

To be fair to many who have responded, they tried to be helpful to someone admitting to be a bit of an engineering novice. Perhaps the wording originally was confusing as I quite clearly read the drift to be ' I'm into woodworking and have kit, but am interested in getting into engineering and I want to modify my drill..... ' so understandably some confusion might have occured, if so, apologies.