By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more

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.

<< First < Prev 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 Next > Last >>
Thread: Small Milling Machine
27/09/2009 19:14:27
Hi David,
 
I see no-one else has come up with anything so I'll just relate my experiences.
 
For reasons of weight, ie a one man band, I decided that I wanted a milling machine of less that 100kgs. Also, I decided that I wanted a square column to avoid the possible loss of  sideways  registration when moving the head up and down. Effectively this meant I was limited to the Sieg X2 or equivalent.
 
Unfortunately this machine has two problems. One is that the electronics are suspect (MOSFET blowing) and the internal plastic gears are liable to break.
 
Now Warco have a MiniMill. It is not made by Sieg, but certainly does seem to be based on that design. Warco's machine has a 550W motor against the standard 350W so I hope the electronics have been suitably upgraded. In any case, for  me, changing a MOSFET is no big deal. However, as I quickly found out, it DOES have the plastic internal gears. And they DO break. Fortunately, Arc Euro Trade do have some metal gears for (I think) the C2 or C3 lathe (not sure which), and these are also suitable for the X2 and the Warco MiniMill.
 
Please note: I am not complaining about the MiniMill. I was aware of the possible problems, but hoped otherwise. Furthermore, I have no connection with Arc Euro Trade other than as a customer.
 
Good luck in your quest.
 
Peter G. Shaw

Thread: Subscribers only
17/09/2009 20:03:22
Ian,
 
Your money is no better, or worse, than mine. OK, perhaps I wasn't too clear there, but what is to stop someone buying one issue, and then downloading the rest?
 
I think I would agree with your "solution" as it certainly meets my objections. 
 
Regards,
 
Peter
Thread: Mini-lathe question
17/09/2009 19:57:18
Hi Meyrick,
 
Good idea. Thanks.
 
Peter
Thread: Subscribers only
17/09/2009 15:17:59
Over the years I have been an ad-hoc buyer, had regular orders with the local newsagent, one or two year subscriptions, and now have the automatic DD subscription.
 
The ad-hoc buyer requires to know that the magazine will be available on the shelf - not always done. In any case, and certainly now, means travelling in excess of 10 miles to get it.
 
The regular newsagent order did cause the occasional problem - missing issues, something which STILL happens today with the w/e papers.
 
The one or two year subscription got round the above problems, but requires renewal in good time. Therefore:
 
The DD subscription, for me, makes best sense.
 
Ok, the local newsagent is losing out, but why should I miss out just because the distributor makes a cock-up, or is too darned lazy to do the job right?
 
On the vexed question of subsription goodies or internet available content, the goodies question does sometimes rankle, but I can live with it, however the question of internet content, especially if downloadable quite frankly has to be a no-no for non-subscribers. After all, I've paid for mine. Why should they get it free? Indeed, I can't really see any need for the internet content as I have my own referral scheme which relies on a database of articles which is updated once a month and to which I can refer in order to find whatever it is I am looking for. I have to say that all of you reading this obviously have computers, hence could just as easily make up your own database referral system.
 
Another idea which someone else has already referred to, would be to create your own electronic version of the mag - it doesn't take long, and with today's enormous hard disks can be easily stored.
 
As regards missing copies, there is always the public library, or Ebay, or even MyHobbyStore. Failing that, although there may be legal difficulties, an appeal via these forums for a particular article.
 
To sum up then, those of us who have paid should not be expected to see non-payers getting it for free.
 
Regards
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Mini-lathe question
17/09/2009 14:43:39
I too am interested in this idea, but thought that if the adjusting screws were greater than the balls, then it should be possible to get the slide into place approximately, then insert the balls via the adjustment holes followed by the adjusting screws themselves.
 
Another thought was that perhaps the idea of using the dowel as suggested by Ken Wilson (Scribe a Line Issue 155) might also help in holding the gibstrip in place whilst the balls etc are inserted.
 
I think that whatever happens, we will have to accept that there will necessarily be a certain amount of fiddling around every time we dismantle the slide for cleaning.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Current Issue?
02/09/2009 21:54:06
Hi,
 
Me also. I do have 154 though - had it for a few weeks, but hadn't missed 155, but then I have been away.
 
So Mr. Editor, where are they?
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Lathe for Beginner
31/08/2009 19:42:57
Hi Dave,
I started with a s/h Hobbymat which I quickly found was not big enough. I now have a Warco 220 - 105mm centre height x about 500mm betwenn centres.
 
I would suggest that you get the biggest you can because as sure as anything, you will start cutting larger and larger lumps of metal.
 
Although I've no experience of Myfords, the Series 10 machines are relatively simple (compared to the Series 7 machines) but are slightly smaller at 3¼" centre height. If you've the chance of one, get it rather than any of the smaller machines. When all said and done you don't need to use all the facilities immediately. And don't forget that Myfords are UK based, and I understand have a good support system for spares & refurbishment etc.
 
Good luck,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Leveling a Warco 1224 Gear Head Lathe
07/08/2009 09:53:29
Hi,

It seems no-one else has attempted to help you, so although I'm no expert I'll have a go, If nothing else it may provoke someone more knowledgable to reply.

First of all, may I recommend Tubal Cain's book "Workholding in the lathe" (Workshop Practice Series No.5) in which he devotes the final chapter to setting up the lathe. He gives a number of methods of doing it, including one without taking measurements at all(!) and includes a design for a jacking screw. There are other readily available books which also describe the procedure, but Tubal Cain does explain in easily understood language just why these procedures are necessary. You may be able to borrow the book from the library.

Essentially the idea is to set up the bed to be approximately level, then by a combination of turning and measurement, to adjust the tailstock jacking screws to to achieve parallel turning within certain limits, ie the tailstock end of the test bar may be very slightly large.

For me, I use a fairly substantial wooden bench which is weighed down with a lot of other stuff as well so it doesn't move around. Unfortunately, as I eventually discovered, the floor slopes down from front to back so I ended up putting a piece of plywood under each of the rear legs to achieve some sort of coarse levelling of the bench. I then used a slightly modified version of Tubal Cain's jacking screws to level the bed using a cheap spirit level, followed by his turning method No. 3 to achieve final setting up.
(In actual fact, for all sorts of reasons I have never quite finished it! Somehow, I seem to end up doing all sorts of other jobs and the hobby ends up being put on the back burner!)

Best of luck.

Peter G. Shaw  
Thread: lathe tool cutting oils
10/07/2009 21:49:21
Hi,
 
For steel I have used Rocol RTD Cleancut diluted 1:1 with water. It's good, but expensive. I now use Warco's Neatcut - much cheaper for a much larger quantity. Seems to work ok.
 
For aluminium I use dirty paraffin - dirty 'cos it's been used to clean objects. Works a treat.
 
All applied by brush.
 
In respect of carbide tipped tools, which I don't like 'cos they seem to break at the least provocation, and they do wear - well at least mine do, I've tried dry, Rocol and Neatcut. Don't know which is best. Cracking? Don't know, unless the breakages are actually cracking!
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
 

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 10/07/2009 21:50:30

Thread: Long term rust prevention
10/07/2009 21:33:53
Hi,
 
Until I got some small machine heaters, I used to use WD40 sprayed liberally all over. Ok. it stunk somewhat, but prevented the dreaded rust. I bought a 5litre/1gallon pack of the stuff from Halford's, I think. Much cheaper than the aerosols.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Milling on Myford
06/07/2009 13:33:13
Hi,
 
I would concur with Circlip re HH's (presumably Harold Hall) book "Milling, a complete course". I would also suggest a look at Tubal Cain's (Tom Walshaw) "The Model Engineer's Handbook" which contains a table of materials in machinability groups and tables of feed rates and speeds for turning, slot drill milling, end milling and drilling.
 
I would also agree re manual feed because then you can adjust both up and down as you go along.
 
I don't have a Myford, but I have tried milling on my lathe - with not very good results. Except for the last time when I locked the saddle (which I don't like doing because it's a bolt straight onto the dovetail slide, managed to get the cross-slide very tight (there's actually no facility for locking the cross-slide on my lathe) and fed quite carefully taking reasonably fine cuts at an axial depth of about 10mm or 3/8ths inch. I used a 10mm end mill  running at either 500 or 710 rpm. This worked perfectly, I suspect due to the locking down of two of the three slides.
 
Also, I only apply coolant with a brush - which goes against Tubal Cain's/Tom Walshaw's advice.
 
Good luck,
 
Peter G. Shaw

Thread: A professional boiler - poor service
05/07/2009 17:22:53
Ok, so neither we, nor the magazines, nor the website can name and shame. But, on the other hand, would it not be possible to name those firms which have provided exemplary service? Perhaps using some sort of recommendations counter. That way, we would find out which firms did not get many recommendations.
 
Just an idea.
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Measuring tool accuracy
02/07/2009 16:05:03
Hi circlip,
 
I wondered who would query the quantity. So here goes.
 
The rules. Some were magazine mounts. One at least is many, many years old, probably the first I ever bought. Two are ½" wide flexible ones at least one of which was bought by me specifically for it's flexibility. The Rabone Chesterman was bought by me because it has a nice satin finish, but ain't much use . 
 
The imperial mic was bought many, many years ago when I was rubbing down shims (for want of the correct name) for use inside the "buckets" on a Maxi 1750cc engine camshaft. The metric one because I use metric. The .05mm vernier was the first metric measurement stick and was bought when I knew even less than I do now! The dial caliper because it seemed cheap(ish) some time later.  Electronic 1 was bought because I fancied it, whilst electronic 2 was bought with the idea of turning it into some sort of vertical measuring device for use on the workshop flat plate. In total, I don't think I've spent much more than £100.
 
And no, I don't work (now) for anyone, not even "Erin" if I can get away with it. (Erin = Er Indoors). Unfortunately, other things have a nasty habit of cropping up, such as the grandson's guinea pig palace, the bust (but now mended) pistol drill, the bicycles that need maintaining, the grass that needs cutting (and the moss/thatch that needs removing), and...... Well, I'm sure you get the picture.
 
Anyway, back to business. Yes I am aware of the differences in feel, so the readings were taken a number of times. I do use the ratchet on the mic, and approach it slowly until it clicks just once. 
 
In fact, I rather like the dial caliper, and have until recently, tended to use it for everything, but at 150mm, it's a bit too long, so for less than 25mm dia, I've started using the mic, but there is this discrepancy, so I am now trying to use electronic1 (despite it's battery eating tendency). What I would really like is a 100mm caliper, but having seen the above discrepancies, am somewhat concerned.
 
Yes, I do follow the idea of making parts to fit each other, but at the same time I am sometimes constrained by having to make pattern parts - eg the broken pistol drill mentioned above, and it is here that accurate measurement starts to be a necessity.
 
Regards, (and now back to some painting!),
 
Peter


01/07/2009 21:07:37
Hi folks,
 
Over the years I have acquired by various (legal) means six 6"/150mm steel rules, a metric and an imperial micrometer, a vernier caliper reading to 0.05mm, a dial caliper reading to 0.02mm, and two electronic calipers reading to 0.01mm. From which you will gather that I work in metric.
 
So, one day I did a comparison of the 150mm rules between 10mm and 150mm thus avoiding any problem with wear on the end. I was somewhat disconcerted to discover that my Rabone Chesterman Standard at 20°C rule was distinctly out when compared to the others. Repeating the comparison, but using 1" to 6" showed that all rules were about the same, hence it would seem to be the metric scale that is incorrect. Hence this rule is relegated to rough and ready readings.
 
I have also compared the metric micrometer and the calipers, and  discovered the following discrepancies:
 
Mic:                1.00       9.42          21.34
Vernier           1.00       9.41          21.37        30.75    45.55     58.40      103.65
Dial                0.98       9.43          21.37        30.79    45.59     58.47      103.79
Electronic1      1.01       9.41          21.33        30.71    45.51     58.36      103.66
Electronic2      0.98       9.46          21.35        30.74    45.54     58.40      103.72
 
For what it's worth, electronic caliper No. 1 is the only device that is fully specified and gives the following:
Accuracy: 0.02mm from 0 to 100mm
Repeatability: 0.01mm
Resolution: 0.01mm.
 
It seems to me that the micrometer and electronic1 caliper are the nearest to each other, with the vernier a close second. Electronic 2 is so far aout as to be useless, whilst the dial caliper sems to be considtently reading high (apart from the first reading).
 
Thoughts and comments then?
 
Peter G. Shaw
 
p.s. All the editing was to get the figures lined up!

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 01/07/2009 21:09:44

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 01/07/2009 21:10:09

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 01/07/2009 21:10:56

Thread: Magazine Latest Issue advert
01/07/2009 20:32:58
Thanks David.
 
Peter G. Shaw
01/07/2009 16:58:58
The home page advert for MEW is now out of date. It shows Issue 151, however Issue 153 is due out in 10 days time so surely the home page should be showing Issue 152.
 
I assume the same applies for ME, but as I do not take it, I can't say for sure.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Outrageous Set-ups!
30/06/2009 20:37:11
Circlip,
I doubt very much that Stephen is using ½" bar: more likely in the region of 1", and hence much more stiff.

I would also like to think that Stephen has used, as Richmond said. "an appropriate speed". And, let's face it - he has done the job both successfully and presumably safely, and that is what counts.

I think that we should accept that a lot of jobs are inherantly unsafe. The very fact that a machine with a half or three-quarter hp motor driving it is unsafe. Let's face it, how many people remove the chuck guards, or don't have a gearbox cover? What about the great lump of cast iron whirling around on a faceplate?  Or an off-centre job being balanced with change-wheels. All of these are inherantly unsafe. Then there is the milling machine with it's extremely sharp cutters. Or the double-ended grinder with it's wheels ready to fly apart. And the simplest machine one can get - a hand held pistol drill. I've lost count of the number of times when on slow speed the bit has jammed and the drill has turned through 90 degrees before I reacted fast enough to hold it, let alone release the trigger. That drill, by the way, had a power of 400W. I hate to think what one of these more modern higher powered drills would be like. Possibly even more dangerous.
 
The answer of course, is that it is up to each and everyone of us to exert the appropriate amount of care.
 
Now, I said that I had read about this idea somewhere else, and I've now taken the trouble to look it up. I would refer you to page 96 of Workholding in the Lathe by Tubal Cain in which he shows a 36" long  x 1" diameter bar being machined in lathe with a between centres distance of 19". From the description, Tubal Cain was reducing the ends to fit the available bearings, ie a very similar if not the exact job to that of Stephen's.
 
I have also looked up the idea of using the tailstock as a sort of travelling steady. Page 17 of Len Mason's Using the Small Lathe describes the idea. Indeed, Mason describes it as a method of supporting work too long to go between centres.
 
Circlip, I don't doubt that you know what you are doing, but when an accepted past master of engineering, Tubal Cain/T.D.Walshaw describes the idea, then I for one know who I am going to listen to. Same with Len Mason.
 
Finally, I still maintain that there was no need for the sarcasm, or for the superciliousness.
 
With that, I will go no further, except to say that on my lathe, I can't even do either of the above ideas, firstly because I haven't got (yet) a fixed steady, and even if I had, I haven't got the room at the tailstock end; and secondly, without a major dismantling, I can't move my tailstock as per Mason!
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw

30/06/2009 15:19:34
Ok, some practices are not good, however I do remember reading somewhere that Steve's idea was perfectly acceptable - it was either Tom Walshaw/Tubal Cain or Len Mason - as it effectively doubled the length of the lathe.
 
Another idea I have read about was to use the tailstock between the headstock and cross-slide, fitting a bored plug in the tailstock, and leaving the tailstock to lathe bed slack. The idea was that the tailstock would then act as a sort of travelling steady by being pushed along the bed by the cross-slide. I think this might have been Len Mason, but could be wrong.
 
I think the idea of using (safe) adaptations in the home workshop to achieve a particular aim is perfectly laudable, and hence I would back Steve. Professional machinists if they haven't got the adaptor ready made, aren't going to have the time to make one, well not without charging an exhorbitant amount - the old time is money adage - whereas hobby machinists are not going to be too bothered about the time.
 
I don't like to say this, but I really do not think Circlip's sarcasm is justified.
 
Regards,
 
Peter G. Shaw
Thread: Why so few profiles?
18/06/2009 12:03:32
Hi Alastair,
 
Thanks for the post - I hadn't ticked the box " Enable my public profile". Perhaps it's saying something!
 
Regards.
17/06/2009 21:23:50
Well, I've now put mine up. Good luck to anyone who want's to read it - it's nothing special. In fact, I wonder why I bothered.
 
Next thing will be to find a suitable photo. Usually it's me that takes 'em, so I might end up having to do one specially. At least with digital it's a lot easier than having to send off a film!
 
Regards,
 
latheman aka Peter G. Shaw

Edited By Latheman on 17/06/2009 21:24:32

<< First < Prev 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 Next > Last >>
Magazine Locator

Want the latest issue of Model Engineer or Model Engineers' Workshop? Use our magazine locator links to find your nearest stockist!

Find Model Engineer & Model Engineers' Workshop

Sign up to our Newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter and get a free digital issue.

You can unsubscribe at anytime. View our privacy policy at www.mortons.co.uk/privacy

Latest Forum Posts
Support Our Partners
cowells
Sarik
MERIDIENNE EXHIBITIONS LTD
Shopping Partners
Subscription Offer

Latest "For Sale" Ads
Latest "Wanted" Ads
Get In Touch!

Do you want to contact the Model Engineer and Model Engineers' Workshop team?

You can contact us by phone, mail or email about the magazines including becoming a contributor, submitting reader's letters or making queries about articles. You can also get in touch about this website, advertising or other general issues.

Click THIS LINK for full contact details.

For subscription issues please see THIS LINK.

Digital Back Issues

Social Media online

'Like' us on Facebook
Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
 Twitter Logo

Pin us on Pinterest

 

Donate

donate