Member postings for Steve Rowbotham

pgk and Huub, many thanks for your very helpful suggestions and advice. The chuck guard is a key factor in driving unsupported length, it clashes with the top slide - I think I need to operate without it in place. a new plan of action is forming!

Thank you Emgee, another check to add to the list! Steve

Sorry to raise this old chestnut again, but I have just bought my first lathe and need a bit of guidance regarding reducing concentricity error. I have installed a new Warco WM280V onto a Warco metal stand, which is in turn bolted down to a concrete floor, see pic. The floor seemed pretty flat, and the stand did not rock. I made a dumbbell test bar using 25mm mild steel secured in the 3 jaw chuck, with a 120mm central section reduced by 2mm, see pic. I then made a 30mm long 0.05mm cut on each of the dumbbell ends using a carbide tool (SWGCR1215H06) using powered feed at the lowest speed rate (0.07), and spindle speed of 400 RPM. Note the total length of bar beyond the chuck jaws was 40mm (to clear the chuck guard) + 30mm + 120mm + 30mm, so 220mm in total. I then used a digital vernier to measure the resulting diameters, with the result that the tailstock end dia. was 0.15mm larger than the chuck end. I repeated and got the same result again (yes, the definition of madness!). I then tried relaxing the fixing bolt at the front tailstock end, with the same result. Before I start shimming and so twisting the bed, I want to make sure I'm not doing anything fundamentally wrong. Key questions are: 1) is the overall arrangement OK, 2) is the bar too long 3) would it make much difference if I used an HSS tool. Another issue that I don't understand is that I used the DRO to measure the 0.05mm cut, so expected 0.1mm to be reduced from diameter, but the actual reduction was over twice that - so maybe I need to calibrate the DRO (thus far I've only switch it on), and may inadvertently taken taken cuts in the region of 0.1mm. I have had to stop tonight for reasons of domestic harmony, and plan to crack on tomorrow - any views / guidance / suggestions would be gratefully received!

Thanks to all who have responded with helpful suggestions and advice, I now have lined up a pallet truck, a vehicle with 1.5T tail lift, lots of plywood sheets, and an engine hoist! So any assistance from the delivery driver plus a combination of the above should get the lathe and mill safely from drop-off to workshop. Just now need container to be liberated from Felixstowe! Steve

Hi Stuart, Thor, Ajax & Nick, thanks for your helpful responses, I am contemplating a hybrid of your suggestions. The difficulty I have is quite a long steep slope, and gravel laid on a retaining mat that I fitted to stop gravel migration down the slope and to make safe for motorcycles - see pics. Machine supplier advises the driver is only required to drop at kerb, but may be up for doing more, this is something I can discuss with delivery Co once they make contact. Planning on worst case that I need to move without assistance from delivery folk, current thinking is plywood sheets laid end over end like a caterpillar track with pallets rolling on wooden rollers, and a couple of able and willing friends armed with wedges to prevent the effects of gravity raised by Thor. However, I had not contemplated hiring a man and tracked lifting machine, that is a good suggestion that I will now investigate. On Nick's point, I agree this all needs detail planning before agreeing to delivery date else I could be stuck with several £1000 of equipment stuck on my drive.

Thanks for all your most welcoming and helpful replies. Regarding bikes, which Iv'e ridden from 17 to 64, I'm now a bit snookered medically which precipitated the decision that I need to switch to another past time; maybe this will change in the future, but for now I'm disposing of my 2 bikes - both Triumphs (not Laverda David). The bike I was riding at time of the accident wasn't mine, it was a demonstrator and sadly was written-off. As you say Chris there is the potential to combine restoration with machining in the future, I started out on BSAs and would go back down that route if I can get to ride again. Howard thank you for your instructive guidance, I have bought Howard Halls 'complete courses' on Lathework and Milling (34 & 36), will purchase one of the project books you suggest (and desist from launching into the oscillator until I have produced some of the practice items you suggest), will also look out the latter books you reference. Chris, thanks for the explanation of how you moved your mill, how far away from Leicester are you? Thanks again for welcoming me to the forum, it feels nice and safe to ask ask basic questions here without having to don a tin lid first. Steve

Hello all. Having recently retired from a 4 decade career in engineering, Plan A was to focus on my-life long hobby of riding and restoring motorcycles. However, a serious crash in August has prompted a bit of a re-think, and Plan B, Model Engineering, has now become plan A.

Whilst I did 'Workshop Practice' in my early years as an Engineer, and have used lathes occasionally over the years, I am without doubt a complete novice at ME. To get me up and running I visited Warco a few weeks back and got great advice on basic kit, and am now waiting for delivery of a shiny new Warco Lathe and Mill. I have also bought a Stuart singe cylinder Oscillator kit as a 'beginner' project to get started. I have now spent hours reviewing the drawing trying to work out machining sequence and clamping arrangements, and with help from threads in this forum and one particularly helpful individual (Thor) I am now raring to go, though do hope the standard casting is available to purchase as a stand alone item.

However, I am still waiting for confirmation of delivery date for my machines, which is just as well as I don't yet have a firm plan to move the pallets safely from 'kerbside drop-off' to my workshop, which is a bout 100 yards away up an inclined gravel drive. My current thoughts are to rent a pallet truck, and to use plywood sheets to form a 'caterpillar track', and to buy a 1T engine hoist for moving and lifting in the workshop (this is long overdue as I gave myself a hernia lifting a cast iron radiator just prior to the bike crash, retirement is proving to be a hazardous phase of my life!). So if there are any forum members in Leicester who have done this before, and have a bit of time on their hands, I would love to hear from you!

Will keep you posted on progress in all regards!

Steve

Dave, I completely agree with you about FlashPlayer, and the issue of future proofing digital media is a nightmare. I am involved with a large museum which has 100s of 1,000s of documents and photos that that need to be preserved for posterity and ideally be available to the public on-line, sorting a long-term digital strategy is a major challenge given the rate at which formats and standards change. Let's hope that resolving this is a priority for MyTimeMedia. Steve

Thanks for taking the trouble to confirm Stuart, I also have a MacBook Air. I would hope that ME mag get this sorted, access to the online archive was a key factor in my decision to subscribe. Steve

Stuart, thanks for this, I tried Chrome with Windows with no success and am reluctant to load Chrome on the MacBook as there are negative reviews on device performance. However, a very kind individual from this forum has sent me the editions for the Oscillator, so sorted for now thanks. Steve

Thanks for the reply Michael, still struggling with MacBook but will keep trying and post if I find a solution.

As a complete novice I have just bought a Stuart Oscillator kit, and like many others have some questions on machining sequence for the standard. From associated threads I discovered that this engine was covered in detail over 5 editions commencing 4396, and so took out a subscription to gain access to the on-line archive. However, on attempting to open the document I got the message that Flashplayer V9 or above is required, and on trying to find a download for MacBook found that Fashplayer went 'End Of Life' Dec 2020. Is there anyone out there who can advise how to view these older online editions without having Flashplayer, and/or point me to other helpful articles on the Stuart Oscillator. Please bear in mind when composing your response that I am a complete novice regarding model engineering, and fairly illiterate on all things IT!