Member postings for ChrisH

Last night I read Roderick Jenkins' article in MEW No.229 of fitting a chuck backplate with some interest, as I had followed the exact same path last Christmas in machining a backplate in my 3 jaw chuck to fit my new 160mm 4 jaw chuck, except my register was 46mm diameter and the thread 45mm x 3.5mm pitch. So pleased was I with the new 4 jaw that I have used it continually, except for when I have needed to use a collet in the lathe, ever since, the 3 jaw hasn't had a look-in! Sat redundant, in the lathe cupboard.

But today I needed to use the 3 jaw chuck, as the 4 jaw had a part finished job set up in it.

So off with the 4 jaw, on with the 3 jaw, and then off again as I found the jaws had seized up in the 3 jaw due to all the cast iron dust from making the backplate. Botheration! Well, worse than that actually, but this is a public forum not my shed.

So today, so far, I have just spent over an hour and a half 'persuading' the jaws to come out (used Plus-Gas to help in the end, I feared it might cause it to seize more but it helped tremendously) and then completely stripping down the chuck, cleaning it out with paraffin, drying it off, spraying it with silicon which will dry off as I have lunch leaving just a dry film to provide a bit of dry lub. Hopefully. The dust was everywhere!

So now, back to where I was just over two hours ago, with a now clean chuck but no further on with the turning required. Ho humm.

Roderick, hope you cleaned your chuck well after! Enjoyed your article though!

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 27/05/2015 14:08:31

Hi Colin, thanks, all now clear! Won't have much to case harden and haven't got any propriety material, but have got charcoal for the barbie, always have that!

Chris

Hi Colin, thanks for that. The clay used for sealing - where exactly was that put? Was the clay put around the outside of the tin or inside around the tin lid? This is all a new chart for me, never done case hardening before!

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 20/05/2015 21:02:56

Hi, I read on a thread here a wee while ago about case hardening and someone mentioned using charcoal, as in wooden embers from a fire, as a hardening medium. Using my Bodges Logic, I have now thought of using charcoal, as in lump wood charcoal bought for the barbie, pounded down to dust, packed in a tin with a lid with the item to be hardened and then heated, would be the same.

Would this work? Would the charcoal dust catch fire, or would the fact that the lid was keeping the oxygen out stop the charcoal igniting?

How hot would the tin and contents have to be heated to - I had something in my mind that said red hot for 20 minutes, but I could have dreamt it!

What thoughts?

Chris

Hi Julian, many thanks for your kind offer. In fact I took the lock out today and had a look at it. Very basic. Got a blank key in town and it was so simple, just cut it down to a wee rectangle on the end of the round shaft and it worked a treat.

Anyway, many thanks again to all who contributed, now have another couple of brownie points from Senior Management to trade for more shed time.

Chris

Sorry Bob, stand corrected on the super-glue bit, it just looked that way as no clamp visible! Isn't very little play in the movable jaw a good thing? Thought it would hold better than just "reasonably well"........

Chris

Jason, yes, if you are ging to turn it in the lathe after then strictly speaking no need to clean it up with the mill, but cleaning it up in the mill takes but moments (you are all set up for it) and it's then nicer to turn is it not?

Anyway, another saying (following on from the "What did you do today?" thread) - " different ships different splices"!

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 04/05/2015 21:34:55

Edited By ChrisH on 04/05/2015 21:36:03

Bob, from your photos I noticed that firstly you must have 'super-glued' or equiv the cover onto the cylinder to drill the covers holes, and secondly that you were using Arc's Type 2 Precision Vice. I am just about to do the first for the very first time and purchase the second as soon as Senior Managements signs off the Capex!  I hope the vice will be as good as I am expecting it to be.

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 04/05/2015 20:17:18

Allan, as an alternative to stitch drilling consider plunge milling - you would not have to use the hacksaw (the tool I hate the most!) as, having plunge milled along then you can use the end mill to trim up the sides. Plunge milling seems kinder on the end milling cutter and less effort than stitch drilling and hacksawing, plus you end up with a better finish.

Chris

Thanks for the prompt responses - I will try Jesse and Gordon's suggestions first. I am not adverse to John's suggestion of removing the lock and removing the cover plate but would rather try that as a last resort, as knowing me and my luck I would remove the cover plate and there would be bits everywhere that would never go back again!

Thanks to all, Chris

A new problem has just arisen!

Senior Management has a piano. The keyboard for the piano has a lid. The lid has a lock. The lock has no key! Grandchildren like to plonk on the piano when allowed but have been know to slam the lid down. So Senior Managementt would like to be able to lock the lid.

How do I making a new key for the lock? I can do the key blank ok, I can obviously cut the little bits out the blank. How do I find out which little bits to cut out and from where? So that is my problem!

Any locksmiths out there?

Chris

John, why are Patterdales good shed dogs (sorry, never heard of them before), and what was the Lab crossed with, Border Collie suggests itself.

Chris

Loved all the quotes - really set me up for the day today, keep them coming guys.

Like most, the only one's I use on a regular basis are "if it aint broke don't fixed it" and "non illigitimus carborundum" , all whilst under the flag depicting the symbols of the "crossed shifting spanner and french letter" which means "fix it or ....... it".

Chris

Hi, I have used West (and SP) Systems Epoxy in the past, and very good they are too, but I've not tried it on teak. As stated above, neither are cheap. Plus at the moment I don't have any!

Cascamite I have also used in the past - I once had a wooden boat which had it's hull sheathed in cascamite and it's cloth and I had to repair a section. Again it was expensive and it was long ago dumped when out of shelf life.

I was going to try PU, until I read Vic's link, didn't make for very good reading. Maybe I will try one joint with it and see what happens.

Thanks to all who have helped here with their comments, much appreciated

Chris

Not quite model engineering, but I have some teak garden furniture which is cracking in places, and someone is bound to know the answer to my questions!

Given that teak is by nature an oily wood, what wood glue would the team recommend? I have some Polyurethane wood glue that says it glues just about anything, would that work?

Some of the failures are in load bearing bits of the chairs, some are just in decorative areas, none of it has been treated with teak oil for many years, which is probably good right now but also probably a contributory factor in the failures!

Chris

Well, Superglue it is then - many thanks for the advice chaps,

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 24/04/2015 23:37:34

Hi, This will have been covered before but can't find where, so please excuse me asking again.

I wish to temporarily 'glue' the cylinder cover to the top of a wee steam cylinder of a steam feed pump I am making so I can finish machining the top cover and drill the bolt holes in both cover and cylinder. Then, when done, remove the cover again, presumably by heating it up a bit.

The question is, what adhesive to use? I have Araldite and Loctite 603 equivalent in my shed, would either of these do? If so, how hot to heat to disassemble? Or what else could I use?

Chris

Hi Allen, thanks for the link, found that video very instructive. The method was very similar to the way I do it but far more logical and far quicker - look forward to trying it for real!

Chris

I have just been getting some little castings reading for turning and holding in a lathe collet chuck by turning down the chucking piece of the castings to a diameter that will fit one of the collets I have. I found I could get quite an accurate and acceptable set-up by using a 2mm parting tool in the toolholder, turning the lathe chuck by hand (power off, drive disengaged) and eye-balling the tool-to-work gap, good enough to be able to turn the chucking piece anyway.  The parting tool allowed an idea of the casting alignment to be gained by comparing the side of the casting to the side of the parting tool whilst the end of the tool (the business end as it were) showed how far the chucking piece was off being centred.

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 10/04/2015 20:15:04

Hi Allen, I am also a fan of Tom's and his advice has helped me a lot. I also use his formula for getting machining speeds but like you my available speeds don't go that high, in theory to 1600rpm on the lathe and 2150 on the mill.

The YouTube video on using the DTI on Tom's Techniques, which one was that? I think I am confusing myself as when I read your last post I convinced myself it was a video of using a 4 jaw chuck with the DTI, now I am not so sure! Certainly his use's of DTI and DRO's have been eye-openers for me, mainly because I don't have that experience.

Chris