Member postings for ChrisH

larry - I must apologise for posting about French stuff on this thread and leading the thread in another direction - I thought I was in the "What did you do today" thread. Just shows what comfort the refreshing beers had in the car bootie village bar brought after the wander around!

Generally all the stuff for sale at the car boot sales here in France are just crap, other peoples rubbish, I only go for the bacon and sausage butty from Curry Heaven and an amble round on the off chance that one day there might, just might, be sommat worth buying.

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 06/08/2017 19:32:22

Well not today but yesterday, we went to Quintin in Brittany for an art festival as my daughter is into art. Unfortunately, although billed as being held on the Saturday and Sunday, on the Saturday it's only an evening wingding which they did not say beforehand - some women travelled from the other side of St Malo only to find that out and was not amused, she ripped into the tourist office for issuing wrong information - the actual art festival is on the Sunday only!. So we went round the local church instead and yet again I was just blown away by the workmanship of the stonework pillars.

Just how did they chisel out all those blocks that make the pillars, out of granite, with hand tools, with external right angle corners and round column pieces in the same block, and all matching, to get complex pillar configurations, getting a surface finish as good as a machine tool would today, by hand, back then 1000 years ago or so whenever it was, to achieve such a perfect end result? How did they mark it out and ensure all blocks matched and were square etc etc as they 'manufactured' them? One stands and looks and wonders in awe!

Today, this morning, we went to a local car boot sale in lovely warm sunshine, 75% stalls and customers are Brits, but every so often you are stunned to see there is a local French seller with boxes and tables spread with rusty, and I mean rusty, old hand tools, dodgy very old power tools, odd battered gas bottle gauges of ancient ages, random boxes of rusty screws and nails - sometimes even in boxes with water swilling around in the bottom, and half used pots of paint. How do they think will buy such rubbish? Anyone else would send it straight onto the tip, but no, they turn up and offer this stuff for sale. Not that I ever see anyone buying but.

Chris

John, have been following this thread without commenting, as all I would have said was already said, but just to say I am so pleased that your problem has been resolved and that your 'better half' was insistent that you kept your workshop intact, like me you are lucky in that respect and a diamond indeed (and an understanding one!).

Chris

I'm with Samsaranda (Dave) - go Apple and ditch the hassle that is Microsoft. Changed over about 14 years ago as I was fed up with Microsoft and have never looked back, and wouldn't go back either - everything just works (well, most of the time!!). I love it. Plus the desktop Mac, laptop (MacBook), iPad and iPhone all sync together no worries, makes life just so much easier if IT is important in your life. Plus very little in the way of virus's or trojans or other rubbish as it's all targeted at Microsoft.

Chris

Interestingly, I have just read in L.H.Sparey's excellent book "The Amateur's Lathe" a section on collets complete with a drawing of an adapter assembly to fit on a lathe nose plus collets, and to make the collets he suggests using "collet steel or nickel steel such as old car back axels". Ah, those were the days when you could scavenge in a breakers yard for stuff! But it sort of answers the question.

Chris

Thanks Thor - just bumping this up to the top again.......

Just out of interest does anyone know what steel collets are made from?

I have some collets for my lathe. They are thin walled and springy and hard too as they don't take marks, so obviously not your average EN1A steel. I did wonder if they had been heat treated after manufacture and the reground, but I really don't know how they are made or from what material, hence the opening question.

Chris

Good advice Jason, I took the swivel off my mill vice for both those reasons you give with the thought that if I ever did need it then it was sat on the shelf waiting.

Chris

Just a thought, but what about 'gluing' a small rod to the detent say with a drop of Araldite or plastic metal or JB weld or similar and try lifting the detent out the way when the Araldite or whatever sets? If I remember rightly the Araldite can be later removed with heat.

Have you asked Warco how it comes apart - they are usually quite helpful if you get to speak to the right person? Perhaps I would do that first!!

Chris

Sean, I have a 140 amp MMA welder from the early1980's (from Middleton Mail Order, the supplier advertised a lot back then).. A professional welder who used it said it was very smooth, I'll take his word for it, use it once in every blue moon and am no expert. If the metal sticks together, doesn't fall apart, and looks reasonable after tarting up with the angle grinder then I'm happy.

However, it also used to cut out after about 10 mins and then you had to wait about an hour to use it again. So I 'liberated' a 240 v ac fan from an old computer, fitted it in the back to blow over the transformer and wired it to come on when you plug it into the mains, which means it runs all the time it's plugged in - and problem solved, you can weld as long as you like! Hope this helps,

Chris

Clive - have freed off the box - don't know how or even what was binding but it's freed off now - and put the lot back. Like your idea for a 'shear' type pin and will do so in due course, has a 2mm nail in at the moment just to prove the system works, no more, got to sort out the toothless gear wheel next to get a run and then we shall see if all is OK! Getting there!

Chris

Eureka! The feed shaft is out. Holding the collar and turning the shaft did not work but , after noticing the collar would move in and out the box a little I had a sudden inspiration. I tapped the collar inwards whilst holding the shaft and collar out and it moved relative to the shaft. Pulling the shaft and collar out then tapping the collar in, and repeating and repeating worked, the shaft slid out. And Clive, you were quite correct, there was a pin sheared in the shaft and the shaft had at some time moved out about 3mm. Pin is now removed, new 2mm dia pin to find, and I can now sort the gear box out.

Just for the record, don't know what the exact internal set up is still, but there are two collars - you can see them in my pictures. When the inner collar is moved to the right it engages with the outer collar and both rotate together. When the inner collar is moved to the left it disengages with the outer collar, you can rotate it but the outer collar stays put. The outer collar provides the drive from the gearbox.  It sort of helps me understand, a bit!

Thank you to all who have contributed, it's nice to know there are people out there willing to help.

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 04/07/2017 11:51:39

Clive - on the collar and on the shaft are two what I think are witness marks - a little 'o' stamped on each. They are inline with each other which made me think that the shaft hadn't twisted round. However, that is not to say it hasn't moved in or out, or even around. At the moment I haven't been able to move the shaft round relative to the collar, but I will try again - and I have Plus Gas! I hope that the pin hasn't sheared and cause a seizure, that won't help at all, but it would explain the reluctance to move.

Chris

PS - indeed, the picture that KWIL posted does look different to mine, but I suppose the same basic design could have changed or evolved during the production run

Edited By ChrisH on 04/07/2017 10:48:23

KWIL - I was just looking at the link you posted and that exact picture. Slightly different arrangement there to mine I think, but there is a suggestion on other pictures on/in the link that at least some part of it unscrews. However on mine there are no flats or knurls to suggest a screw. The shaft MUST withdraw somehow. Are the pegs just temporary locators perhaps? I don't like butchering innocent parts but to unscrew mine I would have to use stilsons or similar to hold one bit whilst I turned another. Thinking out aloud here. Perhaps as it's been in there for so long there is a certain tightness developed? It needs another dose of 'looking at'!

Ian - Either side of the hole the collar and the shaft are marked with an 'o' which to me are witness marks, which in turn suggests the shaft should come out. The hole is only 2mm diameter and it appears solid a little way down, The same the other side. I can try grinding down a pin punch to fit the hole and see I can punch it through, see if that works

If not I will try drilling through the hole to ensure it's clear and then try pulling the shaft out again.

I agree, it surely should come out easily, the problem is, it doesn't. Story of engineering life really!

Roy - Indeed the shaft was in one piece when it went in, so it must come out. Trouble is, I don't know how it went in - I was hoping someone on here would know how, it must have been seen before.

Chris

OK - two photos of the problem:

So, the circlip is off and that's it. the feed shaft is still solid in the box. The little dark dot on the feed collar would suggest a pin through the shaft and it's collar, except that no pin is visible in the collar, it's just a hole down to the shaft (I think). I might try drilling through, just to be sure, it's a 2mm hole.

Pulling the shaft out through the apron is not an option, the feed shaft keyway does not extend to the end of the shaft.

My thought are now, if the feed shaft will not come out, I am thinking of cutting the shaft near the box, under the leadscrew sleeve above. This will free the box so I can get it to the bench. Then I will make a collar to cover the cut and secure it to both sides of the shaft with grub screws into the keyway, when it gets reinstalled Unless anyone can flag up a problem with doing this! Then at least I have a means to remove the box easily in the future, should it be necessary. I don't like the idea of cutting the shaft but I don't see an alternative.

Without any bright ideas on getting the feed shaft out the box I don't know what else to do. Cannot see any allen screws to undo to release the clutch, there appears nothing obvious. More pondering to do!

Chris

Hi Steve, I was in your position on my boat and as well as having a windy generator I also fitted a Sterling alternator 'smart' regulator which helped with keeping the 3 x 110ah (domestic) leisure batteries fully charged. As Neil says, traction batteries give a good life, but if you read what Charles Sterling (of the Sterling regulator and other electronic stuff fame - google him) has written about lead acid batteries then 2 years is about all you can expect from bog standard lead acid batteries. Seems like the alternatives are buy the cheapest deal you can at the time and replace every 2 years, or pay a lot more and replace every 3-4 years - if you do the maths the end costs are remarkably similar!

Doesn't help much I know!

Chris

Hi Ian, No pictures as yet, will try some tomorrow - am all cleaned up and in reflective beer supping mode now!

Sounds reasonable your solution, but where would the allen screw be? Not seen one, but that is not to say there isn't one. Will look again in the morning, it should be fairly visible if there is one, I would have thought.

Chris

I had a jam up on my lathe this afternoon which has caused damage somewhere in the Norton quick change gearbox - it also stripped several teeth off the input gear!

The lathe is a well built German Weiler LZ 280 lathe of uncertain vintage - probably late 1960's very early 1970's. The quick change gearbox has the usual two shaft outlets, a leadscrew for screw threading on top and a splined shaft - posh term for a shaft with a longitudinal keyway - in the bottom for power feeds.

I am trying to remove the gearbox to see what damage has been done and to repair it. The box has been detached from the lathe and the leadscrew is out but it is resisting all attempts to detach the power feed shaft. The manual gives no instruction for removal but states there is a "safety slip-clutch of spring-loaded key-drive design, located in the end bearing of feed shaft at quick change gear box, protection is assured against overload" (lost a little in the translation perhaps!) but the drawing is less than clear and offers little to no guidance to the shaft's removal.

Where the feed shaft disappears into the box there was a circlip which I thought might be holding things back but it's removal has not helped, it doesn't want to come out and prefers to just slide through the apron as I try to pull it clear.

As an extreme measure I suppose I could pull the feed shaft all the way out the apron, but then I fear the mating key might fall out and that would mean the apron would need stripping down, but before I venture down that route:

Has anyone any idea how the feed shaft is removed? There has got to be an easy way - I just don't know it!

All help gratefully received.

Chris

Muzzer & John S.

Definition of an 'Expert'. An 'ex' is a has-been, and a '(s)pert' is a leak under pressure. QED.

Life can get too serious!

Chris