Member postings for Bizibilder

According to the Jet manual HERE it should be a VB-5M710 belt. One supplier here has them listed.

A swift google seems to suggest it is a Kennedy product.

The vertical slide is an early Warco one. This was designed with two hold-down bolts to fit the Myford cross-slide, either facing the spindle or at 90deg to it. The steel plate was an adapter plate, sold with the vertical slide, to allow it to fit the Warco 920 lathe and "allow rotation through 360deg". The three part vice was a standard fitting that came with the slide.  It cost £90 new and was advertised in ME around 1992.

Added:  I just noticed that someone has modified it by putting two spacers in to hold the end plate away from the slide - a darn good idea because one fault with the slide is you can only load the t-bolts from the "bottom" of the slide which is a right pain!  Note to self - make two spacers for my own slide!!

Edited By Bizibilder on 05/07/2020 20:13:49

Edited By Bizibilder on 05/07/2020 20:18:20

Edited By Bizibilder on 05/07/2020 20:22:14

You need about 1 ft by 2ft - but it depends on the size of the grinder. Best make it 6-7 inches clear at the front and on both sides of the grinder.

There is an updated/ modified version published May to November 1995 which includes drawings, pictures and some "simpler to build" modifications of the original 1955 Duplex machine. This one is by H A Holland. This has a tie rod that " maintains the distance between the motor pulley and the driven pulley so that the belt tension remains constant as the cutter head swings. It is made in two pieces so that it can be adjusted to suit the length of the belt". I would assume this is similar to the Duplex version. (I don't have my 1955 copies handy but If I can get to them I will confirm for you.

This may inspire you to build one: HERE

Something like a Mini-lathe is more than big enough for 99% of all clockmaking. This has a swing (diameter) of 180mm or 7". Apart from the occasional longcase dial there is very little you could not make on it for a clock - and you could make a longcase dial with a bit of a wrangle.

A lathe like the 250 series would certainly get around that issue (swing of 250mm or 10" diameter) and should cover just about everything you may need. Don't forget that you can make small parts on a big lathe but cannot make big parts on a small one!

As to accuracy - all the model engineering lathes you can buy today are easily sufficiently "accurate" for clockmaking, No lathe from a reputable dealer will be "big and sloppy"! In fact the only part of a clock that really has to be accurate is the dividing of the wheels in order to cut the teeth - almost all of the rest of it is "hand fitting" where you make each part fit with the others.

Apart from clock parts it is likely you will eventually want to make a few "fixtures and fittings" to help you and for those the larger lathe will have advantages - you can fit them on it to machine them!

As for new or second hand? If you buy second hand you really have no idea what you are getting unless you are ably to see and rigorously test any machine. If the one you are interested in has "marks on the bed" walk away from it! It is likely to be damaged and may or may not be useable. Over £2000 is a lot to pay for potential scrap metal! When buying new you get a machine that no one else has used, is built to a specification and comes with a guarantee against faults and problems from a dealer who has built up a reputation over many years.

For what its worth I currently use a Myford Super 7 for my clockmaking but am seriously considering swapping for a new Warco 250/280 or GH600 sized machine.

Edited By Bizibilder on 25/05/2020 16:49:41

That type of vice can still be bought - Proops sell them as "Work Holder Hand Vice with Wooden Handle, 6mm Wide Jaw Opening, Jewellery Making Tool. H4106"  I bought one a few years ago and they are very useful for holding small parts securely.

Edited By Bizibilder on 23/05/2020 20:09:53

That looks like a decent scope so don't attack it with bleach! Best to try simple warm soapy water and a soft cloth first - you can give it a good rub but don't damage the paint. If that doesn't clear it try isopropanol - you can get that via the internet. Keep well away from Meths/white spirit etc as they will almost certainly damage the paintwork.

I would leave at least two feet (24" ) clear if you have the space. This allows you more than enough room to open the covers and fiddle about with the change gears, to feed a two foot length of stock into the machine from the change gear cover end when required, use a "bonker" for knocking out morse tapers (I use a piece of brass rod for this), use a cleaning brush to push swarf out of the chuck end of the mandrel (the other way and you drop swarf all over the change gears!). It also allows you just enough room to get round for access to the motor and its pulleys (assuming you are slim enough !!

Edited By Bizibilder on 02/02/2020 14:56:27

Try this book: Book about £30 with no postage to pay. This tells you all you could possibly need to know about clock wheel cutting.

There are also clock wheel drawing and calculating programs available on the web - Google will help you.

You can buy cutters (which are extremely expensive!!) or make your own - which is quite easy to do, especially after a bit of practice.  Forget pressure angles and involute curves - these do not apply to clock wheels or pinions.

Edited By Bizibilder on 22/12/2019 13:17:27

Looks like the Alan Timmins design available Here . Try this: Dividing to calculate the divisions you can get from the head and plates that you have.

They should have those specified numbers of holes in them - possibly in the back?

Drill grinding jig.

Cutting edge on centre height and a flat topped tool (ie no top rake) for brass. The finish can also be affected by the grade of brass that you re trying to cut. If it is CZ121 (as used by clockamkers among others) it should cut freely and easily with the swarf coming off as thousands of tiny chips spraying all over the place! If it comes off as a string and forms a birdsnest of tangles you have the "wrong" sort of brass for machining. It will machine but you will struggle to get a decent finish.

Distilled (or deionised) water.

The old favourite is a piece of plate glass which is flat enough for amateur use as a surface plate. A modern alternative is a polished granite cutting board - under £20 from a well known auction site and many supermarkets. I checked mine with a new good quality 300mm steel ruler and feelers - I cannot get a 1.5 thou feeler between the ruler and the board in any position. More than good enough!

Here is a manual that says the milling head has a thread of M20 x 1.5mm. Another link Here to an old forum archive claims that it uses ER16 collets.

Edited By Bizibilder on 23/06/2019 16:38:32

You say you have Myford collets in Imperial and Cowells in Metric? You should be OK to turn clock arbours with them - Just hold the embryo arbour in the collet of choice and machine one end, turn the arbour round and machine the other end. Collets should hold the arbour with little or no run-out. There is no need for a tailstock centre for this work or to work between centres. I'm not saying you shouldn't work between centres, just that it is not essential. For final filing and burnishing you may find making a Jacot tool will help (Google will find info for you).

If you want to do some "bulk removal" of metal on an arbour - say to make an integral pinion - you can get most of the waste removed using the three-jaw and then change over to collets to finish off.

For pivots the finish you get from the late tool and the exact pivot size is not that important as pivots are always finished and burnished with a pivot file (which are expensive but essential!).

In clockmaking the hole for a pivot is always broached out to fit the pivot - you do not need to know the exact size - just drill the hole slightly undersize and broach to fit. Broaches make a tapered hole so that you only get a tiny "ring of contact" with the arbour to minimise friction. This can take a bit of practice to get right but is quite easy to do. John Wildings books do give more detail of how to do it.

It makes no difference if your arbours are metric or imperial - just use the appropriate collets and make all the parts to fit each other. If the design calls for 1/8" you can use 3mm (or 4mm) just as easily - or buy some blue pivot steel of the appropriate size and use that - it is not available in all sizes so you often have to compromise. Always use the "next size up" to avoid making things too flimsy - the loads on clock arbours can be quite high especially on arbours close to the weight or spring.

As for tooling HSS will work perfectly well and home made silver steel cutters also work.  Nothing wrong with carbides and inserted tool bits  - its just that they are not necessary.  It seems they have a reputation for solving your turning problems.  They don't.  A sharp tool presented to the work at the correct angle and at centre height will cut and give a good finish.

Edited By Bizibilder on 26/05/2019 12:08:55

Edited By Bizibilder on 26/05/2019 12:12:01

I've seen a garage (not mine) where the owner had put an insulated stud wall across the garage about 3-4 feet inside the main door. This turned most of the garage into a cosy workshop accessed by the side door and, by using the main garage door, you had a convenient small store room for garden equipment. It also left the building looking like a garage and again easily converted back to one if they should ever move away.

Edited By Bizibilder on 24/05/2019 20:01:28