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Member postings for Peter G. Shaw

Here is a list of all the postings Peter G. Shaw has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.

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Thread: Amadeal XJ300 miller T slots
03/01/2012 21:02:08
Well, you could make them, but....
 
You will need to make a total of four, that's two on the main shaft and two on the intermediate shaft. Plus each gear will require an internal keyway cutting. And then there will be either two spacers to make, or you cut each pair of gears out of one blank. Or for just under £26 you buy them ready made. Oh, and don't forget they are different teeth numbers so no bright ideas about one blank cut in two!
 
Now if you are an expert machinist.....
 
Which I am not....
 
So I have a set in stock ready for when I next break the plastic gears.
 
Incidently, there is a lot of info on the internet about the X2 and it's clones. Be aware that although the Warco MiniMill, and, I think, the Amadeal one, could be described as clones, there are some subtle differences. Hence one does need to be careful about mods to this machine. For instance, there is a gas strut mod available from Little Machine Shop which includes an extended rack, but, there are doubts as to whether or not it is suitable for this variant. By all means have a read, and a look, but just keep a wary eye open.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
03/01/2012 16:31:53
If, as I suspect, this machine is the same as the Warco MiniMill, then you may well receive in the toolkit TWO drawbars, one for 12mm and the other for 3/8 inch imperial.
 
I have the Warco MiniMill and suggest the following:
 
Depending on your requirements, buy a set of MT3 direct collets at around £7 each. These fit directly into the spindle with very little sticking out thus giving the maximum stiffness to the milling cutter. It also removes all the messing around with ER adaptors and collets etc.
 
There are two ranges, metric & imperial, but if you are like me, you will standardize on one set, eg metric. In any case, you can always buy individually as the need arises.
 
One advantage of the direct collets is that being as close to the head as they are does give an increase in the available daylight under the head. This may be important. (Later on after you have realised just how rubbish that side spring is, and you have discovered the gas strut modification, you will then be able to gain a further slight increase in the daylight available!)
 
My experience with the Warco machine, and a friends machine is that the plastic gears inside don't last too long initially. They are ok once you've smashed a set because you are then careful, but just in case, there are metal gears available from Arc Euro Trade: look for C3 spares where they are shown as C3/X2 gears.
 
Another thing you may wish to check is the fine feed function - to see if it actually works. Of course, it may just be that both myself and my friend were unlucky in that ours did not work properly initially. Mind you, there is a thread elsewhere on this site by MarcuSweden I think who also had this problem - and others.
 
Anyway, I don't wish to put the damper on your purchase, although I think I've now done just that, but as someone else said on another forum elsewhere: "Treat it as a kit of parts, fettle it up, and it will be a decent little machine". Of course, having never seen Amadeal's equipment, I could well be completely unjustified in saying the above: he may well have sorted out these little niggles.
 
Good luck,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Is 0.1 deg good enough..
19/12/2011 13:24:51
Tubal Cain aka Tom Walshaw gives a method of lathe bed adjustment by turning tests at the end of his book, Workholding in the Lathe, WSP15. He says that the turning test is the only way that a lathe can be correctly set up. He also gives a design for jacking screws thus eliminating any need for shims, paper or otherwise.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: fine adjustment
17/12/2011 17:43:40
John,
 
Unfortunately, although the manual does indeed show it, neither of the two Warco MiniMills that I have seen have the universal joint. Instead it is a straight rod. This I think is part of the problem because the block at the knob end is not accurately lined up with the hole where the worm is. The other problem was that the worm itself is too long for it's casing such that the keeper plate forces the worm into the hole thus jamming it. I had to insert a washer on the screws between the keeper head and the main block to gety it to work at all.
 
Regards,
 
Peter
16/12/2011 20:58:37
Hi,
 
From the look of the SX2 on the Axminster website, this machine in the Z department appears to be the same as the Warco MiniMill. In which case....
 
As already been said, to engage/disengage the fine feed it is necessary to push/pull the three-handled lever sideways to engage/disengage the the splines.
 
Unfortunately, it may not end there as on my machine, a friends machine, and that of someone else who asked for help on this site, the fine feed knob, it's drive rod and the worm drive may well be tight almost to the point of being unusable.
 
If you refer to this thread: Disassembly of MiniMill/X2/XJ-12 Ballbearings started by MarcuSweden 15/04/2010, you will find near the end some photos taken by me showing what I had to do to get mine working half-way decently.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Morse Taper Removal
16/12/2011 11:25:38
Jim,
 
On the Warco MiniMill and other Sieg X2 type milling machines, the complete head moves up and down the rack. What this means is that the actual spindle is rigidly located vertically (and horizontally) by the bearings inside the head hence any bashing on a drawbar transmits the shock onto the spindle, then via the bearings onto the head itself before reaching the rack which is part of the column.
 
Another way of looking at is to compare it to the lathe spindle. OK the lathe spindle is horizontal and doesn't move, but just the same, any bashing on a drawbar inserted from the rear of the lathe spindle must eventually end up being transmitted via the lathe headstock bearings.
 
Actually, I can't see how in your description the shock load does not go through the bearings as unless the rack is cut into the rotating spindle, then the bearings must be brought into play. I have a, ok cheap, vertical drill which has a rack cut into an outer sleeve which moves up and down inside the fixed head. Within this outer sleeve, there is the spindle, supported by two bearings, top & bottom. The spindle itself also slides up and down inside a square spline which is directly connected to the pulley drive system. The result is that if the rack is locked, any vertical shock loading on the spindle will pass from the spindle to the outer sleeve, and hence the rack via the bearings.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
15/12/2011 10:46:25
I have looked at the video, and do not like it.
 
The problem is that there is still a shock force needed to disengage the taper, and this shock is still transmitted through the bearings. Now I am not a trained engineer so know very little about what the bearings can withstand, but I do think that this shock load cannot do the bearings any good.
 
In MEW 96, Feb 2004, George McLatchie came up with a solution for the Warco MiniMill, and presumably usable for other X2 type milling machines which prevented this shock loading by keeping all the forces involved inside the spindle. Essentially, the idea was to create an additional closed end nut which would screw onto the end of the spindle (for the MiniMill it did require the existing nut to be thinned to provide sufficient thread). Through the closed end of the extra nut was fitted a tapped hole into which was inserted a normal bolt.
 
To disengage the taper, the spindle was first locked (a locking system was already supplied on this machine), then the drawbar slackened by a few millimetres. Next the additional nut was added, the unlocking bolt screwed down until it contacted the head of the drawbar. Further tightening of the bolt forced down the drawbar thus forcing the taper to separate.
 
No shock loading and all the forces are contained within the spindle.
 
For what it is worth, a similar device will be made at some time for my lathe, especially as there is already sufficient thread on the end of the spindle thus reducing the work required.

Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: MEW, would less be more?
07/12/2011 21:28:10
Just another comment, this time about submission of articles.
 
I have submitted a small number, of which two or three have been published. But, and this is the biggy for me, I have not had any acknowledgement as to whether or not they have been received, or that they are suitable.
 
As it happens, my earliest attempt has not been published - and I suspect I know why, and if my guess is correct then I can understand why. However, as I had heard nothing, I resubmitted, but this time following the latest guidelines just in case. I used a CD, and included other items for submission, one of which has appeared which does suggest that the CD has indeed been received. But nothing at all about the other three items.
 
I do think it would be helpful to acknowledge receipt of articles,and would also like to know why some are being rejected. As it is, the lack of feedback does not persuade me to continue submitting articles, not that I have many to contribute, but if I knew that I would get feedback, then I could be persuaded to produce more. After all, how much time does it take to email the author saying, eg. "CD received. Article on XYZ not considered suitable as being too dangerous/complex/simple whatever"?
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: ME Forum
07/12/2011 21:12:13
Mick H,
 
Can't actually remember what the error message is, but it implies that the system has failed to connect within whatever time is allowed to make the connection, hence "timed out".
 
Although today's systems are nothing like what I was trained on, when I was employed by BT, even then certain parts of the system had specific time-outs for certain conditions, after which the would disconnect itself. A good example today would be that if you leave the receiver off and don't make a call, you will eventually be connected to the "howler" which produces that very loud noise to attract your attention. That is what I mean by timed out.
 
I am on Firefox v.8 on Win XP, use BT as my broadband supplier, and usually achieve a download of around 3MB. Don't know the upload. And as others have said, no problems elsewhere.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
07/12/2011 15:05:09
For a few days now I have been timed out when accessing some ME/MEW pages. Other forums are OK. Which suggests that there is nothing wrong with my individual broadband access.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Motor Switches
28/11/2011 14:44:50
Neil,
 
Provided your power requirements are suitable, have a look at the RS Components offerings (Plug-in 230V Relays 3PCO) and the Maplin equivalent (much cheaper).
 
Provided that your power and switching requirements are within the relay's capability, you will find the RS one entirely satisfactory. I used one a few years ago to replace the contactor in my DOL switch when it failed.
 
There is a slight problem in that there is an inductive power limitation which I only found out about when I received the relay, but depending on your requirements, may not be an issue. In my case this limit is less than my lathe power, but under normal circumstances is irrelevant as power switching is not done by the relay.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
25/11/2011 12:26:18
Hi Ray,
When the DOL/NVR switch on my lathe failed, like you I knew nothing about how they worked, and, just like you found the replacement cost rather exhorbitant so I set about learning how they worked. Here's a summary:
 
The actual NVR portion is a relay, or contactor as electricians seem to prefer to call them, with four make contacts or switches. Three of the contacts are used to switch the three-phase mains supply through to the motor. The fourth contact is a holding hontact which simply parallels the ON switch. Note that apparently all DOL/NVR switches are made for three-phase working but have their internal wiring re-arranged for single-phase working.
 
Also included in mine at least, is a three-phase current monitor which monitors the current supplied to the motor, the idea being that as the motor becomes overloaded, so the current rises triggering the current monitor which then causes the disconnection of the power. Effectively this is a break contact. Note that htis is also a three-phase device which is re-arranged internally for single-phase working.
 
As Les has said, there may well be safety interlocks as well. All the safety interlocks are break contacts, ie if the interlock activates, then the contact breaks the circuit.
 
All the safety interlock break switches, the current monitor break switch, the OFF button switch (although this may be mechanical rather than electrical) and the relay/contactor hold contact are wired in series, hence for the relay/contactor to remain operated, all the break switches must be in the normal position and the relay/contactor hold contact must be operated. So, to initially operate the relay/contactor, the ON switch must be pressed. This contact shortcircuits the relay/contactor hold contact thus allowing the relay/contactor to operate, provided all the safety interlock switches, the current monitor switch and the OFF switch are in their correct unoperated position. The relay/contactor thus operates, and its hold contact takes over the function of the ON switch which is then released.

So, in your case, as the motor will start and run as long as the ON button is pressed in, then this suggests that the relay/contactor is working correctly in that it is operating and connecting the mains supply through to the motor. The fact that the motor stops when the ON button is released suggests that the relay/contactor hold circuit is not working as releasing the ON button is allowing the relay/contactor to release thus disconnecting the mains supply. I would therefore suggest that you need to investigate the holding circuit, ie are any of the safety interlocks out of adjustment? Is the current monitor tripping or out of adjustment? Is there an emergency stop button (which will be another break contact in series with the hold path) which has been tripped? Is the actual hold contact on the relay/contactor working correctly?
 
If you have a multimeter with an ohms range, it should be possible to check the hold path for continuity (disconnect the mains first) as there should be zero ohms around the path.
 
Despite the fact that I knew nothing about these devices when mine failed, I found that they are really quite simple circuits, and in fact, as it was the relay/contactor coil which had failed on mine, I found that I could easily replace it with a standard three-contact mains relay and press button, all for the princely sum of less than £20.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: How do I read this gauge
23/11/2011 19:55:00
Off top of my head, I suspect that you have got one for the BSW/Whitworth range of threads.
 
Like you, I wanted to be able to determine what particular threads were so I obtained three sets of thread gauges, one each for Metric, BA and BSW/Whitworth and mine do have lots of strange numbers & letters on the BSW/Whitworth ones.
 
As far as I can tell, the first number is the TPI, eg 18 tpi. The "G" I don't know even though mine has it. However, my 18G gauge is stamped 5/16 which is correct for BSW.
 
And yes, I also have one labelled simply 13 G.
 
Be interesting to find out!
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
 

Thread: Rigidity of X2 Mill
18/11/2011 20:02:58
Hi Neil,
 
Yes there are a number of alternative ideas available for stiffening up these columns, including one where the owner added a bracket from the top of the column to the wall. Given that his machine was bolted down to the bench, which in turn was fastened to the same wall, this would seem to be a very secure and rigid system.
 
As I have not yet tried any of them, I cannot really comment, however I do favour the idea of adding a substantial U bracket to the rear along with adjustment screws to set and fix the various angles correctly and solidly.
 
Another idea which I do not think I have seen anywhere (apologies if I am wrong) might be to add bracing from the top of the column to the bottom of the column in the form of a triangle with the centre of the triangle being connected to the vertical centre of the column., eg.
 
cb
c    b
c       b
c          b
c             b
csssssssssb
c             b
c          b
c    b
cb
 
where c is the column, b is the brace, and s is the horizontal bracing strut.
 
Just an idea!
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 18/11/2011 20:03:26

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 18/11/2011 20:04:09

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 18/11/2011 20:04:44

Thread: New Blocks on the Block
18/11/2011 19:49:18
May I add my voice to those saying thankyou for the info about these blocks, and to ignore the nitpickers etc.
 
For myself, I have seen some useful ideas from one or other of the two John's (sorry I don't know which) and allthough I haven't progressed with them, they are stored away mentally for future use - as is this idea.
 
Regards, and please keep posting.
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Building a miniature universal lathe
15/11/2011 13:07:38
As V8ENG has said, the book by Len Mason includes all the detailed instructions, including the order in which to do it, and how to align it, for a small screwcutting lathe. It is an old book, but may be available through your library. Depending on your view, the biggest problem may be that it is an imperial design and uses a lot of BA screws.
 
You will, of course, need a lathe to make it, or at least access to one.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
 
 
 
Thread: MiniMill Table Accuracy
11/11/2011 09:53:48
Martin,
 
I must admit to having concerns about lapping in on the new slide, but if you could see the existing mating slides you would realise why I said it. Probably the best thing now would be to scrape using the newly ground slide as the master.
 
Balls? (No, not being rude!).
 
I'm not an engineer, hence I am attempting to incorporate the suggestions made by other people,and the fitting of balls was one of them. In fact, the particular article said that this was probably the best of all possibilities and as it seemed relatively easy, I decided to do it. It is of course entirely possible that I am going well and truly over the top with this.
 
The idea of push pieces, made from copper or brass, may well be a possibility. I say copper/brass because my lathe uses them in a couple of places, one being the locking screw for the saddle, and I assume is used because it is softer than steel.
 
What is certain is that I wito look most carefully at how the machine is assembled as what I have already done has made re-assembly somewhat more difficult.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Why do small taps have a pointed end?
10/11/2011 21:04:17
I have done this on an occasional plug tap.
 
As I understand it, the pointy bit allows for re-sharpening, so if it is removed, then resharpening can't be done, however my limited experience is that I break more taps than I wear out so it does not matter.
 
I am not an engineer, so my understanding may be complete rubbish!
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: MiniMill Table Accuracy
10/11/2011 21:00:33
Hi folks,
 
An update on the above problem.
 
I sent the table to Brian Caddy of Slideway Services for regrinding. I have today received notification that it is now ready to be returned, along with the comment that this was one of the worst tables that he has ever had to regrind.
 
Which suggests that all my testing was absolutely spot on.
 
So it's now down to a major rebuild of the machine, scraping and lapping the badly ground slides and making and fitting new gibs. I have done one so far, and taken the opportunity to a) fit locating pins as suggested by "Former Member" and b) fitted 4mm balls between the adjustment screws and the gib strip itself. In order to ensure that the dimples were correctly located, the gib was clamped to the main slide, a screw inserted with a 4mm hole down the centre, and a 4mm drill inserted to create a dimple sufficiently deep to take the ball. This predrilled screw was made in the lathe so the hole should be concentric with the thread.
 
Unfortunately, this has lead to another problem in that the gib strip has to be in place before the two parts of the slide can be mated and this leads to other re-assembly problems. I think I can get round it, but if not, then it means that the locating pins may have to be screw-in instead of push-fit.
 
Ah well, it all adds to the fun!
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Milling from a sheet
10/11/2011 11:32:38
The problem I find with the Goscut, is that it gives a slightly crinkly and bent edge to the metal which thus requires filing down. Otherwise, as others have said, it can be tiring to use.
 
Useful in the main for shim material only.

Peter G. Shaw
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