Member postings for Philip Rowe

Andrew,

There are always going to be issues with some people but as you say they should just keep it to themselves. Personally I like to see your progress as it is on a very large scale compared to my activities.

Also I used to thoroughly enjoy your postings about your flying and gliding experiences. Phil

I have a recollection of that swimming pool being used for the boats that were displayed at the exhibition, this would have been circa 1970 - 72.

My earliest memories of the ME exhibitions were at the Horticultural Hall in Westminster in the early 50s, where amongst all the usual exhibitors there was control line flying around a central pole and tethered racing cars. Very exciting to a 5 year old. I can't remember for certain whether there was any safety netting/barrier, but I don't think there was, imagine doing that nowadays!

Phil

I think the Post Office might have something to say about you using second-hand stamps.

Phil

The traditional way would be to bush the worn hole with a commercially produced bush from one of the clock makers suppliers or if only one to repair, turn one from a suitable piece of brass. One of the problems here is picking up the true centre but with patience it is possible. However I think that you have more problems with this timepiece as can be seen from the badly bent leaves on the escape wheel. I have only just touched on the issues here, I'm sure someone with more experience than me will be along to give more detail. Phil

Edit. Michael types faster than me.

Edited By Philip Rowe on 13/06/2023 13:28:54

I inherited a Homemaker from my father and sad to say have never used it in anger, I've played around with it to see what it's capable of but like most universal devices it doesn't do anything particularly well, especially with the very underpowered drills that were intended to be fitted at that time. I seem to recall that my father only really used it as a drilling machine l don't ever remember it being used for any wood work projects. The handle that you refer to was intended to be bolted to the table when it was removed from the column, inverted and used as a portable saw. The item that you have arrowed looks to me like a shop made arbor for mounting saw blades. Phil

Unfortunately the MKl D/W only has a 5/16" clearance hole through the spindle, not sure about the MKll machine. So using standard 3/8" or 10mm drawbar and accessories won't work. I overcame this annoyance on my D/W by making adapter pieces that are threaded 3/8" Whit on the male end and tapped 5/16" on the other end. These were permanently attached to the collet, drill chuck morse taper etc with screwlock. The top end of the drawbar was threaded 5/16" to take a nut and washer that acts against the top of the spindle. To release l give the drawbar a smart blow with a lead hammer. Has worked for me these last 40 years since I constructed the machine. Phil

Curiously enough I received my update letter today, but it was dated 10-03-23 so the wheels of the pension service or the post office move exceedingly slowly. However I'm not complaining about the increase! Phil

I know it's not answering your original question but consider for a moment a different approach. A small car bottle jack positioned under the D/W column would give a simple and easy way of raising and lowering the column, not to mention cheap. I have seen jacks which would be eminently suitable on the net for less than £20. Its a mod that I have been promising myself to do to my D/W but have yet to get round to. Phil

This is shown with tongue very firmly in cheek as I'm quite sure you don't want to spend probably thousands of pounds on tobacco just to get the empty tins! This collection was done over a long period some forty years ago, but I have seen small component trays which have hinged lids with around 20 odd spaces ideal for different screw sizes. These in turn could be contained in a rack and labelled for easy identification. I've seen some good but pricey Stanley ones in the DIY sheds and also very cheap versions in the likes of Lidl and Aldi. Phil

And also the ML1 had the headstock and bed as a single casting, from the ML2 onwards the headstock was a separate casting retained by bolts. Phil

I've recently bought a Dickson style quick release rear tool post to supplement my GHT rear parting tool which is a great bit of kit but I feel that to be able to use other tools, for example chamfering, rounding etc would be advantageous. When it arrived I was disappointed to find that it sits about 25mm too high, I have a Super7 and I suspect this particular tool post was made for the Myford 254 with the greater centre height. I know that I could return it but there're not that common and it is something that I've wanted for a long while, so my intention is to cut 24mm off the mounting block and then machine the last 1mm either in the lathe in a 4 jaw or maybe flycut it in the mill. Before I attack the casting with the bandsaw can anyone see a reason why this won't work.

Unfortunately in the photo below the difference in height between the font and rear tool posts doesn't show but I can assure you that it is 25mm. Thanks in advance for any assistance. Phil

I may have missed the point here (not difficult nowadays) but would it not be easier to construct this from steel stock angle? I see that 32 x 32 x 6mm is available as a stock size and as the OP is intending to reduce one side anyway, it would not be that onerous to reduce 2 sides and I really don't think the additional 1mm thickness would show that much on what is really just a decorative feature. Just a thought.

Phil

Thanks for that Roy, but surely it would have been easier with a square taper whereas this one is rectangular. Phil

Gentlemen, I realise that this is a very old thread but I have found in the box that the "contact file" was in, yet another peculiar needle file.

This has an overall length of 90mm and if you look carefully the cutting portion of the file is approximately 55mm long. The tip measures 0.5 x 1.5mm and it tapers to approximately 1.25 x 2.5mm, the cut is extremely fine, it barely makes any mark on brass (haven't tried it on steel) and I can barely see a mark when running it across a finger nail. Using a 10x magnifier l can't find any markings on the plain portion ie handle.

Have any of you any ideas what this could have been for? I did think that it might have had a clock/watch connection but I've not been able to prove/disprove this idea.

Phil

Many thanks for all the information so freely given in response to my query. I have now ordered some more wire from hopefully a better source (thanks Ramon) so I will report back later when I've had the opportunity to experiment further. Phil

I'm wanting to bend some piano wire circa 0.6 - 0.8mm to make an omega loop, to prevent over travel on servo operated points for a garden railway. Obviously the wire is hard and tends to snap if I bend cold, I can anneal the wire to allow it to bend but that destroys the temper. With my lack of skills I have been unable to re - temper the wire to return it to its original springiness, if that is a real word.

It doesn't have to be a true omega loop, a Z shape will work just as well and will probably be easier to bend.

Anyone have any ideas? Phil

I like that idea, very intuitive. I know I wouldn't have thought of using two boxes, instead probably wasting hours of time trawling the net looking for something that doesn't exist!

Phil

I moved about 160 miles a few years back, estimates from 3 different removal companies and make sure that you are sitting down when you open the envelopes, it's going to cost big time. I was lucky in that my relocation was being paid for by my new employer but it's still a daunting process. I hired about thirty plastic crates and still had to buy more to store all the small stuff in and packed those myself, the big stuff, lathe, mill etc I left to the removal company. I was amused to see on the estimate the statement "we note that you have some heavy tools", as you can imagine the removal men on the day were less than impressed by those words! However it all went smoothly spread over three days, first day three men loaded everything except for the bed, fridge and one armchair. Second day two men loaded the last items and drove to the destination and started the unload, they worked till gone seven pm and slept overnight in the van and on the third day unloaded the last items and finally finished late morning. Then of course the real work began but that's another story. I wish you well with your removal, it's not something that I ever want to go through again.

Phil

I know less than nothing about casting metal, apart from what I read here but those results are mind blowing. You must be very proud of your achievements. Phil

Going back to the nut making video, can anyone shed any light on the tumbler process? It looked as if the operative added a bowl full of wood shavings to the tumbler, what good would that do apart from absorbing oil but later they are flooding with some kind of cutting fluid during the tapping process?

Maybe I'm just being dense!

Phil