Member postings for Steve Withnell

Taking this from a different angle. Table stakes to get started with new Chinese kit focused around the lathe as the key piece of kit, I'd guess are over £1000. That ignores all the fancy bits. There are some things that are mandatory - you need to be able to measure the work and mark it out. The you need to be able to cut it.

I'll get shot down, but I cannot work out how you can run a lathe without an off-hand grinder.

My suggestion would be:

a) Be clear about what your "thing" is - mine happens to be small engines.

b) Use that to size machine requirements

c) Price up the minimum but complete set of things you need to complete your first project - still interested?

d) Try and find a local club / college course or Old timer who can help you set up.

e) Buy new, warranted kit until you get enough experience to sort out secondhand stuff

Steve

Moaning Poms?

At the end of WW2, an Australian military pilot serving with the RAF in the UK, found it almost impossible to get home. So he bought a Halifax on £1 and take it away for scrap deal , stripped out the armaments installed some seats. Then advertised in the Times for Australians also wanting to get back home willing to share the fuel etc. The flight back took three weeks or so. On final approach into Mascot, he was refused permission to land...

Steve

The Chinese have been doing it for years, thats why nothing bloody fits!

Steve

On my Victoria, I took a light skim off both sides of the steam chest to tidy up. My steam chest is made of two standard steam chest castings.

Ive a feeling I cleaned up the steam chest ends by skimming in the lathe.

Steve

Co-ordinate Measuring Machines. I remember going to see the manufacturer of a CMM range many years (25?) ago (With a view to converting to CNC...). Anyway the machine base was a piece of polished granite about 2m x 1m x 1m. The sales guy related how he had just offered another customer a deal based on a new machine but with a refurbished base. The customer turned down the special offer insisting on new granite...

Steve

On your point about holding "thin stuff" try one of these -

**LINK**

The other photo's in the series show how it is used.

All it is, is a blank arbor from Arcurotrade, drilled and tapped 12mm then a piece of 12mm threaded rod, a couple of nuts an an appropriate slice of cast iron bar, machined to whatever suits your purpose.

Fit the arbor in the chuck, set the cast iron 'face' to the correct depth, then just take a light skim to ensure it is flat and true. Then you have a backstop for your thin pieces.

You must skim the backstop everytime it's adjusted as it's likely to go out of true.

[Stunned at your ability to keep your machines and fixtures looking like they are straight of the box! Mine look like that only once...]

Steve

Good quality SR44 (ie Duracell) can be had cheap as chips on eBay. The biggest killer seems to be very low workshop temps. Avoiding low temperatures, mine typically do a "yearish" , I go through quite a few batteries, but only because I've got quite afew things that use them.

Everything needs to be really clean before you start, then following Jason's line, make sure you are letting the heat flow to the joint, don't apply direct heat to the flux and solder. Mixing the flux with water ensures you get the flux right where you want it and no where else, so you get good control of where the solder is flowing.

If was looking to solder two strips of metal to form a "X" shape, I'd be putting the direct heat on one of the legs away from the centre of the X and letting the heat flow into the joint. Just a bit of patience and practice, that all.

Steve

Thanks guys. Ordered CK slot, philips and torx in the end... My son bought a set off eBay six screwdrivers in a plastic box for 80p including P&P. No I'm not reccomending them. They were far too expensive, seriously.

On the point about some Pozi bits not meeting the standard profile, the local timber merchant sells boxes of woodscrews which come with the correct Pozi bit in the box. The difference between a perfect match and one that is "close" is amazing.

Steve

Hi Clive - I can't get that url to perform - can you check it ?

Steve

Cheers Barry, I'll give them a try.

Steve

Any particular brands that are particularly good quality? Need both slot and pozi blades.

Straight blades between 1mm and 5mm and pozi in the same area is what I'm looking for.

Regards

Steve

Hmm. This is not a public forum so the owners, ie the people that fund the operation of this website kind of have the right to determine what goes on here and what does not. We have of course a right to complain about that.

Best to move to a more public forum such as HMEM which is not operated by a private company to publish posts more freely, where the standard is "legal and ethical" rather than a forum like this which sets not only "legal and ethical" guidelines but also retains the right to censor what it doesn't like or is not in its interest to do so.

If I lend you my car - I have the right to tell you what you can and cannot do with it.

This forum is not "ours" in any sense at all. If it was, it wouldn;t have flashing adverts for a start!

On the topic of the RDG piece, I don't buy from them after the last time this kicked off. Arc supply pretty much everything I need. Thats something within my control.

Steve

What I found with the Victoria was that the castings are actually quite soft, so you need to take care not to overdo things when cleaning the up, it's easy to take off far too much material.

None of my Groups has the new interface. My luddism is that I don't like browser based groups...USENET forever (but I think it died a while back)

Steve

I'm in need of some #6 x 1/4 and #6 x 3/8 sheet metal screws, slotted, pan head, grey zinc finish, which are a US spec. These equate to a 3.5mm diameter in metric terms, but can't seem to find a vendor selling these in "home user" quantities, don't want to buy more than 50 of each size.

Any good leads?

Many thanks

Steve

The only reason I use a three jaw chuck is for holding hex bar... I use a four jaw self centering for round and square bar and a four jaw independent for placing the workpiece where I want it rather than where the chuck wants it

Steve

Combining two is one thing, I know of one case where one was "sawn" in half to make a motorbike engine. The engine I'm sure was from a Morris, not an Austin though.

Look up Harold Hall for a damn good book - "Lathework A Complete Course" He has a similar title for Milling, also good.

One of the old classics is **LINK**

But it is an old classic. He will have you mixing your own marking out fluid from sulphuric acid + copper sulphate solution, when what you need is a big dobber of a spirit marker from WHS. Nothing wrong with his marking out solution, just not the best option anymore, but still a good book.