Member postings for IanT

When I first obtained my 'sensitive' drill chuck - I used it held in an MT2 - 1/2" end-mill holder (the tool itself being secured by a grubscrew) to mount in my S7s tailstock - and it worked fine without a drawbar. It also helped to extend the device over the cross-slide btw. There's enough 'grip' in a well fitting MT2 taper to not mind the sprung drill being moved in & out. My issue with the device was that mine had a lot of slop when extended.

You could buy the device and fit it into a MT2 blank arbor by drilling the arbor to suit the diameter of the sliding part of the chuck mount but that would seem a relatively expensive approach to the problem...

Regards,

IanT

Arc sell a range of MT2 tapers with various tapers on the nose - and the chucks to match them.

I also purchased a 'sensitive' drill but frankly felt that the drill shaft was far too loose in it's body - so I remade it as mentioned a week or so back. However, I think it's worth pointing out that you don't really need this kind of drill holder (with knurled bearing) as when used in the tailstock, it doesn't need to revolve.

You could use any small chuck and just make a sliding shaft into an MT2 blank arbor.

The knurled bearing is required if you use it in a drill or mill - as then the body does spin. This 'sensitive' type of chuck & holder is also useful if you have a small horzontal mill with a vertical head that has no 'quill' (so drilling has to be done by raising/lowering the table). My re-built version has a reduced 10mm shaft end, so it can fit in an ER16 collet and be used on my Taig milling head.

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 27/01/2022 17:56:28

My Aldi bandsaw looks very similar - and as sold - also had a poor vice fitted to it. It moved several times on my early cuts.

So I removed the sliding jaw and fitted steel base plates with 6mm tapped holes instead. They extend support right out under the work to the blade. The clamps shown are quick acting but as the blade runs away from the jaw - the work can still move if I'm not careful. I've found conventional slotted clamps/hold-downs (as used for milling work) hold much better and you can also then clamp & cut things at angles if required. Sorry, I don't have a photo of these in use but hopefully you will get the general idea.

Regards, IanT

PS I used two steel plates as I didn't have anything in the scrap bin big enough to fit the job - but you could obviously just use one plate if you have a large enough piece.

One thing that doesn't get mentioned too much is the size of HSS tool blank you are starting out with.

It's easier to shape and sharpen a smaller HSS tool than a large one. I generally use 3/16th section these days and for some applications, hold them in a simple steel holder. Doesn't work for every application but worth considering as makes tool maintenance much quicker...

Regards,

IanT

I don't use my Diamond tangential on brass - just too easy to get a dig-in - which I most definately have had when I tried to do so. They were 'nasty' dig-ins too - spoiled the part, quite apart from frightening the bejezzers out of me.

Maybe my old S7 is not a 'typical' lathe in terms of age and wear - maybe a nice new shiney lathe would be just fine. But I certainly don't use my tangential on brass - and as it's pretty easy to grind a HSS tool for brass (with no back rake - just front/side clearance) it's really not a problem...

Regards,

IanT

I purchased an Optivisor (with loupe) a few years back - although I cannot recall exactly what it cost now. I wear it all the time in the workshop and find it essential now my eyesight is not what it was. I know I've spent much more on some tools that have probably only seen the light of day once or twice since.

Thinking about it, the Optivisor is almost certainly my most used tool.

Regards,

IanT

The radio control of live steam locos is not a new thing really - the 16mm guys have been doing it for a long time.

In 2.5" gauge, the first use of a (modern) R/C system was probably the one installed by Ralph Brewer in the early 1980's (which doesn't seem that long ago somehow). Ralph wrote about his system in one of the railway mags at the time and this was reproduced in the G3S Newsletter in 2007. It is one of the artcles available for download as a PDF from the G3S website - which if you are curious, you can find here...

G3S Article Downloads (scroll down!)

Ralph's article is number '005' - and the current owner (Julian) talks about Ralph (and his loco) in article number '050'.

I don't think there should be any great difference between R/C on a 5" versus 2.5" engine in most respects (things can be worked by servos - regulator, blower, whistle etc) - but maybe a brake would also be a nice idea.

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 17/01/2022 22:02:36

If you are limited by space or money and the work is small, then a small mill is fine for many things. But it's nice to have a choice of machine to use if you can afford & house them.

For example - end drilling a shaft. Could have done this in the lathe or (horizontal) mill with some bodging - but it was quicker and more convenient in the drill press. Most verticals would not have the headroom. As others have mentioned, a drill press is very handy for woodworking too...

Shaft was about 20" long and 1.5" diameter from memory.

Bottom support using V-Angle plate....(find mine to be very versatile)

Top end of shaft held in vice clamped to the table (which was swung to one side)

Regards,

IanT

If (and maybe I misunderstood the news piece) cyclists now have right of way when going straight across a junction and can 'undertake' a car about to turn left - then I imagine that there will be some very serious accidents - whether drivers know about this change or not.

I'm afraid many drivers don't seem to use their mirrors much these days anyway and this change is just asking for trouble. I thought I was pretty good with my mirrors but having been 'undertaken' by a guy on an e-Scooter whilst following a tractor recently (which really made me jump! ) I think you need eyes in the back of your head now.

Regards,

IanT

Well I wouldn't judge a CAD system by the number of icons you can count Hans.

For many years, I used TurboCAD by using the 'dropdown' menus before learning that I could completely remove them altogether and just work from the keyboard. The SE user interface is completely customisable and you can set it up to suit your preferences (and skills) or just select a template. Indeed when starting out, you are offered the choice of a simpler set of tools should you wish it. I decided to learn the "Balanced" tool set recommended for 'regular' users.

However, there are many shortcuts available. Hold the right mouse key down and you can access 16 commands from the quick access quadrant (not sure what it's really called) and you can again set this up to suit your own preferences. Most operations open a new 'bar' with context sensitive options which I find very straight forward in use. If I cannot find a command, then the 'find a command' (too obvious?) box will offer you options that might meet your needs - hover over one and it highlights the command icon and gives a brief animation. If you click it, then it's just like using the actual icon itself. Much harder to describe than use frankly...

As to my feeling about the Cloud, it's to do with the fact that I prefer 'local' operation and storage (nothing to do with privacy of data) as I use the Cloud for some backups - but the key thing is that I control access - not some one else.

As far as I can tell, with SE 2022 installed locally, it will not change (or be changed) overnight, unless I decide to update it - my current license having three years left. I obviously have local copies of all my work too, again under my direct control. We can argue the pros and cons but it all comes down to preference and these are mine. As I've said before, everyone has different needs and if you've invested time & effort in a particular product, that will most likely also strongly dictate your views in this area.

However, I do agree that you can agonise over these choices for far too long, when sometimes it may be much simpler to just decide which CAD solution you like the look of and just go for it.

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 03/01/2022 23:39:18

I wouldn't think it's anything to do with Win 7 Nigel - but assuming nothing else has changed ( "it would not work" is a rather broad fault description) it might be that your browser needs updating?

Regards,

IanT

PS

"Pity none of the SE users have not commented or shown how it can be done"

I'm afraid to admit that I've spent a great deal of time this past week bonding with my Grandson (and his new game console) - learning another new digital skill (Minecraft Dungeons) - very addictive I might add.

So just as well that he's taken it home with him.

Regards,

IanT

Well that video is about 'ST4' Gary and some eleven years old now. New users will be using SE 2022.

I've found these YTs by Dr Sief (made for his graduate engineering students) to be very good for my needs. The 'Labs' cover the basics of SE and the 'Exercises' are a blend of various SE techniques to practice with. He doesn't rush and you (e.g. me ) can follow what's going on. Some 'CAD' videos go so fast (with so little explanation) that they are frankly quite useless as learning material.

Solid Edge Videos - by Dr M Sief

However, to repeat my previous advice - there are very good SE 'getting going' tutorials available on the Siemens site (accessible from SE-CE) and these are a good starting point - but I do like the videos to remind myself of some things - a kind of video aide memoir for old(er) folk!

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 02/01/2022 12:25:56

Yes, works for me too!

IanT

Pretty sure this is a Timmins Dividing Head David - nice size for a Myford type machine, comes with a Myford chuck 'nose' and MT2 taper.

As David notes, it can be used on it's side (on a Myford or similar) or upright (on a Mill table). There's a matching tailstock casting too should you need one. Still available from Blackgates I believe (with the MT2 taper already machined). Doesn't "tilt" as such but you could probably work out a way to 'angle' it if required.

Big advantage is that they don't seem to go for the same kind of price as the other popular D/H alternatives but can still do just about everything the others can do too.

Regards,

IanT

Just to restate that I am happily running Solid Edge CE 2022 on a six year old laptop.

It has an Intel i5 CPU running at 2.2Ghz with 8Gb RAM. I am also running Windows 10 Home 21H1

It is normal for commercial software organisations to state the level of hardware & software that they support - which is often different to that which their software will actually run on. Having once worked for such a support organistion I know that if a customer phoned with a problem (and was not running the 'supported' level of hardware and software) they would have immediaty been told to 'update' as their first remedial step. This may not suit us 'hobby' users but it makes a good deal of sense where companies have binding 'level of service' contracts in place.

In the case of Siemens, their CAD systems can also be closely bound to Microsoft and other third party applications, which (for the reasons stated above) will be another reason why they will be telling their paying customers to stay current. I'm not trying to link my CAD to other MS apps (or enterpise solutions such as SAP) but many Siemens customers will be doing so as part of their intergrated manufacturing.

In summary, I have free access (for at least the next three years) to a premium CAD product that commercial customers pay about £2K pa for - and I'm very grateful to be able to do so. I'm also quite OK with upgradng my PC technology occassionaly to stay current. Win 10 is supported until late 2025 and my laptop will be about 10 years old by then (if it lasts that long) - not a bad investment for something I use daily.

BTW - Is anyone here still using WhatsApp on an old iPhone or Android? No, you've probably upgraded your mobile phone contract with a newer phone version. But in my case (just on Pay as You Go) I had to buy a new phone to retain WA (essential to my family communications). It seems OK when you have to update your mobile for the latest s/w, so why do folk think that PC's should be any different?

If someone wants to continue run on old PC hardware (& software) then it will very likely restrict their choice of available applications too. You pays your money (or not) and makes your choice.

Regards,

IanT

Nothing ventured, nothing gained Nigel.

Learning 3D CAD requires some effort and a bit of perseverance - what ever CAD system you eventually decide to use. In my case, I feel that this effort has been rewarded.

It has been a much better use of my time than trying to make something ill-suited to the task fit my needs.

Regards,

IanT

I believe that MS will officially support Win10 until October 25th 2025 Graham - but Win 10 will of course continue to work beyond that.

When opening a 'draft' (2D drawing) in Solid Edge, you first choose the paper size and then scale the part/assembly to fit as required. I don't know if you can scale 'up' (never needed to) but you can certainly scale down. 'Drafts' also support layers - so you can create different versions of the same drawing or use them (as in TC) when just drawing in 2D.

If you read my previous posts, you will find that I was able to download the very comprehensive SE tutorials as PDFs - they run to some 200+ pages each - more than detailed enough for most folk. They make a very good off-line reference too and I also provided a link to them at the time.

Solid Edge is very well documented.

That's about it - stick with what you have/know or upgrade to something new/different. Your decision.

You know my thoughts on this subject, others have their own opinion - and that's fine too of course. Time for bed.

Regards,

IanT

Hi Graham,

As you will know, I've used TC 2D for over 20 years and started migratiing to Solid Edge about two years ago.

I'll try to answer some of you questions but must say at the outset, that I think you may be over thinking this matter - something I'm afraid I regularly do myself. I have posted my advice to getting going in SE Community elsewhere, so won't repeat it but I certainly have no regrets in making this move from TC (although you may be using TC Pro, which has more features).

Solid Edge is a "hybrid" 3D/2D CAD system, you can use it just as a 2D system or as a full 3D system.

Assuming you have created a '3D' part, you can then very simply create drawings in whatever projection you prefer as well as an isometric projection. As SE is fully parametric, changes to the original part will be reflected in any drawings by simply clicking 'update'. It's worth moving to SE just for this.

Workplanes are important in sketching a 3D object but once you understand how to create. lock and use a workplane, it is very straighfordward to use. I never got to grips with 'planes' 3D in TC!

Once you creatd your 'parts' you then assemble them into an 'assembly' (surprisingly!) Again, the tools for doing this are very srtaightforward - e.g. combinations of axial align, plane align, edge align etc.

I can't tell you too much about SE's "internal format" but I'm pretty sure that it's cohesive.

Printing is very easy, having both 'paper' and '3D' print options for the current drawing . You can also choose from a very wide range of file types and export them. With regards '3D' print, there is a built-in slicer, so you can directly 3D print an .stl file if you wish.

Solid Edge Community is free to download and use. The license on my '2022' Edition was for just over three years. Siemens seem to be releasing annual Community versions in lockstep with the commercial version, so I will upgrade again next year and hopefully extend my license too. Even so I've had two years (2020) use already and still have nearly three years left on SE/CE 2022, so five years free for a very powerful 3D CAd system (and no Cloud) is OK by me.

At the end of the day, if you upgrade to Win 10, then try SE. Nothing to lose if you don't like it

But to (slightly-off) quote 10cc & Bob Marley - "I don't like SE, I love it!"

Regards,

IanT

I'm not certain but I think my Grandad had something like these in his shoe repair-box. Long time ago, when people used to repair their own shoes - of course that might not be what they were actually inteded for!

Regards,

IanT