Member postings for Peter Hall

I used to make my Startrite blade guides from brass.

Pete

Hubert Elffer's lathe was a small one (2" c/h). He described its construction in an article in MEW no.155.

It may not be quite your thing but it could be worth looking at **LINK** for inspiration.

Pete

DC1 - don't you dare pull the plug.

Pete

I'd like to describe this thread as riveting.

But I'd hate to be accused of taking it off topic, so I won't.

Pete

So do I, Sir!

I think they have been superseded. I had a BV20 from Axminster about 10 years back. I found it crude and noisy, it leaked oil from the gearbox and most of the fastenings seemed to be made of cheese. It was cheap, but ultimately it wasn't worth persevering with and I sold it and moved up a bit. I think I remember reading somewhere that it was a Chinese copy of a Russian knock-off. This was not a BV25, but it may help you.

I don't know what a current equivalent will be, but Arc Euro, Warco, Chester et al. all supply similar machines to the same market sector.

Pete

Edit: I've just read that last paragraph back to myself and it's not quite right. The market has moved on over the last decade and the machines available now from the suppliers I mentioned are better than the equivalents in 2002. I have owned equipment bought from Warco and Arc and can recommend you look at both, and I have no reason to suppose Chester is any different.

Edited By Peter Hall on 10/12/2012 20:59:23

That last video is a delight to behold. Well done, Stew; keep 'em coming.

Ian,
I have just looked up the words 'motor' and 'engine' in the dictionary, and this is definitely an engine. If not, then over 200 years of engineering history will have to be rewritten to take account of all those wrongly labelled steam motors which did so much to lay the foundations for the industrial world we know today.

Pete

I was wondering if it may be a training lathe of some sort.

Pete

Worry not, Ttelips Noedeg. The secret of your real name is safe with me.

Pete

I hate to throw a spanner into the works, but would anyone care to define the word "Engineer"? It seems to be used to describe anyone from a spotty sixteen year-old to a Rocket Scientist.

Pete

Thank-you, Gentlemen. Plenty of useful advice there. A shrouded machine with an air supply will be the way to go I think.

Pete

Thank you, Andrew. I was sure I had seen video of small mills with air jets directed to the cutting tool; now I know why it was done. I have a background in woodwork, so am pretty much ignorant of industrial practices where metalwork is concerned. Swarf removal would be good though, so if I go this route, I'll probably use it.

If you have any links to information on the use of small carbide rotary cutters, that would be very useful. I'm starting from scratch with cnc, but have some hobby experience with HSS and indexable carbide tools on small lathes and mills.

Pete

Edited By Peter Hall on 20/09/2012 20:53:51

I am looking into small-scale cnc milling (think Taig/Sherline). Is it feasible to use a compressed air jet as an efficient coolant?

Any info or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Pete

Alex, please seek advice from an electrician. If you don't know what you are doing, you could kill yourself.

Pete

I have a Perris lathe which takes 0 morse tooling, but it is a shortened taper i.e. only the smaller end. Yours could be the same.

Pete

Unimat, Perris, Peatol, Cowells, Simat, Flexispeed, ToyoML210.... All too small and under-powered for what you want. Believe me, when that coin collector commissions a cabinet from you and you have 25 pairs of brass knobs to turn, you'll wish you'd bought something bigger.

I have a Unimat, a Perris and a small Toyo because I like small, intricate things, but the lathe I actually use all the time is a Myford Speed 10. David Clarke is spot on; C3 (Axminster C2) or similar is big enough for what you need but doesn't take up too much room and is just about small enough to store in a cupboard and bring out when you need it (if you have a strong back). Myfords will do fine, but will require their own permanent bench space. An Emco Compact 5 would do the job too; I sold one last year for £450 including tooling. That one lived under my bench. I used to make furniture, and for years used an old Chinese lathe which was sold by Axminster as the BV20. It was crude, heavy, noisy and leaked oil copiously from the gearbox, but was capable of good work in this field. Newer Chinese lathes are much better. Siegs from Arc Euro Trade are well recommended.

Occasional milling can be done perfectly well in the lathe; you'll need a vertical slide for that. There are several books in print which will show you how to do it.

£500 will get you kitted out nicely with a second-hand machine, but don't forget to allow for tooling. I think the rule of thumb round here is to allow the same amount for tooling as you paid for the lathe. Try to find one with tooling included and you will save money over having to buy stuff separately.

Good luck.

Pete

Edited By Peter Hall on 29/04/2012 09:53:50

Blimey!

You'll have someone's eye out with that.