Member postings for ega

GHT graduated to a PCF model and if I remember aright used to part off under power. An earlier ME contributor was Martin Cleeve who was of the same opinion as John Stevenson, although the latter is understating the Seven's cross slide movement.

Is there anything in the idea that the keyway in the PCF leadscrew has a "tapping" effect on the half nuts?

JAR did describe "A Thread Milling Attachment for the Lathe"; apart from ME, it is in the TEE Publishing book "Improvements & Accessories for your Lathe".

I believe the Quick Step Mill will do the same job.

mick:

I have never heard them called that! Halfords used to do a useful mixed roll pin set in metric sizes. Perhaps a 1.5mm pin would do?

Neil Wyatt:

Thanks for the helpful link and for giving some indication of its content. Whilst I take for granted the good intentions of those who post links on this site, I do like to have some idea of what is in the bag I am about to put my head into and have often been reluctant to click on a link where there is no indication of what it does. I have no doubt this has meant going without useful information on occasion and should appreciate others following your example.

Rik Shaw

I have sent you a message.

Rik Shaw

The late Denis Chaddock went into the process in some detail in his book about the Quorn. I could email an extract to you.

For what it is worth, I do not share the current general enthusiasm for powder coating either.

After the initial fettling, it can be helpful to apply an initial coat of primer before machining which seems to make for a cleaner job.

John McNamara:

Many thanks for the additional practical points which reminded me of the problems I faced when rebuilding my Super Seven. I had the bed professionally ground and remachined the saddle, etc myself. If I had had the advantage of knowing your method then I would certainly have considered it. I didn't record the amount of wear in my case but I doubt if it was as much as 2mm and I suppose that in your case the lathe had simply had a lot of use.

Someone commented on your Antipodean location which reminded me that the late J A Radford of New Zealand was an Araldite exponent.

John McNamara:

I found a good deal of interest in this revived thread, not least in your presentation once I was able to view it!

I dumped MS Office some years ago and currently use the ("free" Document Foundation suite. In retaliation (?) MS Windows Firewall blocked the Document Foundation presentation program from displaying your low-res images so I took a hint from Michael Gilligan and viewed them satisfactorily on my (Samsung) tablet via the bundled Polaris office suite.

It was very encouraging to see your splendid lathe rehabilitated through the magic of epoxy resin.

Your last slide asked for questions. Was there any discussion of slideway lubrication and whether it is needed with this method?

"STARRETT Hold Downs are of improved design to firmly hold work flat on a machine bed or in a vise. They are particularly useful for holding small work or thin materials without distortion.

The contact edges are tapered to hold the work securely and to force it downward to the bed of the machine or against any parallel surface.

The hold downs are made of tool steel, hardened and ground."

Extract from Starrett catalogue - hope it helps.

Rob Mod

Just a thought, and I hope I'm not insulting your intelligence - have you checked that the gears you have are the correct diametral pitch and pressure angle? If by chance they aren't, then they clearly aren't suitable.

I recall buying gears from Nottingham and having to lap the nominal 5/8" bore out to fit my Super 7.

I have done this and seem to remember using a cobalt drill, probably with some Rocol RTD. You certainly could use a carbide drill; the Asbo brand, no longer advertised, worked well.

"the merits of a bit of ingenuity and improvisation"

These interesting comments remind me of the "Handmaiden" series by the late T D Walshaw in ME - as I recall, a small steam engine built almost entirely with hand tools.

In my case the other day the answer was "only just". I had planned to shorten a pair of cycle cranks, overlooking the fact that the spider carrying the chainrings projects slightly more if the outer spider arm is in line with the crank (some have the inline arm inboard). In the event, I was just able to get the job in by removing the sheet cover to the bed. My photo shows a 1p coin declining to enter the gap.

Edited By ega on 06/03/2014 10:23:49

I was about to try the "scrap of kitchen paper" tip when a variation on the idea occurred to me. Although my Wanner oil gun has a sealing ring inside its nozzle, it leaks when applied to the screw-cum-nipples on the Super 7 gear train between spindle and gearbox. Rather than go into the kitchen, I looked out a suitable O ring and interposed this between nozzle and nipple with a very satisfactory resistant squelch telling me the oil was going where it was meant to. At the end of the exercise I parked the O ring on top of the nipple for the rear spindle bearing for use next time.

Like the OP I had trouble lubing the nipple in the pulley for the backgear but it helped to remove the nozzle and reduce its diameter slightly.

None of these ideas will work if oilways are blocked by congealed grease, of course. It might help if we stopped calling them "grease nipples"!

I know of someone who has fitted hydraulic nipples to his Myford, apparently with great satisfaction. I have to say, however, I have yet to find a sensibly-priced oil gun for hydraulic nipples that doesn't leak unacceptably.

Perhaps worth mentioning despite OT, my large four jaw seems very happy with a short extension and tommy bar from a 3/8" sq drive socket set. As someone mentioned, the same approach allows the use of two keys.

Based on my own experience of the Soba I would recommend examining the example you buy if possible. My first one was impossibly stiff and had to be exchanged, a fault which would have been easily apparent on inspection. I believe the manual is downloadable and would be worth a look in advance of purchase.

I have no experience of the Vertex but I wouldn't want to be without their excellent tapping chuck.

Diane Carney

I am pleased to have started this interesting hare - or should I say doe?

David Lodge's novel Nice Work (1988) contains a revealing section about male engineers' attitudes to women. The heroine ventures into the machine shop - I will venture a brief quote:

"Wolf-whistles and catcalls, audible in spite of the mechanical din, followed her as she hurried through the factory."

She was no Ruby Loftus, of course, and in truth had no business there. I hope and believe circumstances have changed.

Matt's excellent pictures don't appear on my Android tablet, either but my Flash-enabled Windows 7 machine shows them.

More power to his elbow!

Graham Meek:

Thank you again - I am minded to follow your advice.

The reason I dismantled was that I wanted to provide some better means of lubricating the y-axis ways and associated leadscrew and nut. However, I recall GHT advising the removal of the Myford cross slide when necessary for cleaning. This assembly does not have the advantage of oil nipples and oilways, unlike the saddle, and I suppose this may be one occasion when dismantling is justified.

Here is a photo of the bluing on the defective ways:

By way of explanation, I applied the thinnest and most even coat of blue I could achieve to the corresponding ways on the fixed base of the mill, offered up the casting without touching the blued areas, lowered the casting into contact, moved to and fro once and then lifted and removed the casting. I had previously confirmed that there is no corner-to-corner rocking by testing with a dial gauge and the bluing seems to support this although it looks as though my bluing was too thick on the inner edges.

Ironic that the operator seems to have machined the parallel, non-contact, faces visible in the photo to a respectable finish.

Ketan Swali: thanks for your kind advice. As an occasional customer, I find it very gratifying that you are prepared to take an interest.