Member postings for Philip Rowe

Wot! You didn't ask to see the calibration certificate?

Phil

I can see that in some arty farty antique shop selling for around £300! So I suggest that we all have a rummage under the bench and start producing antiques for the future.

Phil

Money stuffed under the mattress?

Phil

I bought a 220 grit version earlier today with a 'click-lock' fitting which is a convenient but not necessary means of attaching to the mandrel. To say I'm impressed would be an understatement, it is obviously coarser than the brass bristled brush that I have been using and consequently removes crud a lot faster but more importantly for me is the total lack of bristle shedding. Also being a larger diameter I can get in to more difficult places than with the brass version. Thanks again to Bill Phinn for bringing these to my attention, I will be buying more of these with different grades in the near future but not I hasten to add from any diy shed, their prices are no match from the source in Bill's link.

Phil

Thanks for the link Bill, looks like this maybe exactly what I am looking for. However I am somewhat puzzled by the product information on the Cookson website that states that the product is fitted with a British 3 pin plug ! Need to think about that.

Phil

Thanks everybody all the suggestions and ideas, I have already tried the stainless brushes and I've found them a bit too aggressive for what I trying go do. However I've not tried the scotch brite variety so I think a bit of experimenting is called for. I will be nosing around my local dealer tomorrow (10% day @ B&Q) so I'll have a look.

Phil

I'm sure that a lot of members here use the little rotary brass bristled brushes in a Dremel or similar rotary device. I use them from time to time for cleaning up steam fittings that need to look clean but not polished to a mirror finish. The problem that I have with them is that they shed the bristles at an alarming rate and I get fed up with picking the pieces out of my hair and clothing, I do wear full face protection because of this. Really just wondered if anyone has found a better quality brush that maybe doesn't shed so rapidly or perhaps a better way of cleaning the brass.

Phil

I too have experienced annoying battery failures at the most inconvenient times but nowadays I will only buy the silver oxide variety of button and coin cell types. I generally get about a year from the batteries in my calipers and the DROs that I've fitted to my lathe but I am quite careful about switching them off. Whatever you do, don't buy from supermarkets or other high street outlets, they never seem to have much shelf life left and you will pay way over the odds for them. One of the best sources that I have found is from ARC (usual disclaimer) and I always keep a spare set to hand just in case.

Phil

I know that you say that you don't want to make union nuts but seriously they do only take a few minutes each to make. I have had similar issues with pipe and union sizes in the past and my standard default is to make my own, that way I get exactly what I want without trawling through supplier's lists.

Phil

Thank you gentlemen, you have given me some food for thought. The quality of the advice given on this forum really is second to none. Also on the subject of quality, the accuracy the humps is not so important I just want to get them all the same, I'm going to do some experimenting over the next few days with some of these ideas and will report back in due course.

Phil

Strangely that is a technique that I had considered but I don't have any experiences of using these small grinding points and to be honest I don't think I have ever seen one just 2mm in diameter.

Phil

I want make a form tool to produce a series of 'humps' (similar to clock frame spacers ) on a piece of 6mm diameter stainless bar. Normally for a one off I would use files and emery but this time there are several to do and for cosmetic reasons I want to keep them all the same. I am thinking of making the form tool from a piece of gauge plate, by drilling a hole 2mm diameter at an appropriate angle to give relief to the cutting edge, mill away half of the diameter and then harden the plate by quenching in oil. Not sure if tempering is necessary as there are only 6 humps to form.

Any advice on the validity of this method would be most welcome, I have done the same in the past with brass but stainless is a whole new ball game for me.

Phil

To be honest it was yesterday, I broke a M5 tap don't ask how but it was my own stupidity. Ordered a replacement from Tracy Tools along with some other bits that had been on the list for a while. Order timed at 16.27 with ordinary postage, package arrived earlier this morning. How's that for service, not only by the supplier but also the Royal Mail.

Needless to say I have no connection with either organisation apart from being a very satisfied user.

Phil

Today I finished a lantern chuck that I have been making, unashamedly pinched the idea from another post on here about shortening screws, thanks to all of you for the ideas. I think that I may have slightly over engineered it but I feel justified in that it can be used for quite a range of screw sizes.

The photo shows it set up with a 2mm screw fitted ready for shortening along with some collars for other sized screws and a few blanks for screws of unknown size that will inevitably require working on. Although not seen in the photo the knurled ring is double sided, so with another clamp ring (which I haven't yet made) it will be capable of dealing with larger screws up to 8mm.

Phil

I too watched the programme and was impressed with the relative ease with which quite complex shapes could be produced, obviously ideal for jewelry but it didn't stop me from thinking about how a bronze/copper clay could be used for cosmetic items in model engineering. The only downside apart from cost is the necessity to be able to sculpt the item in the first place, a technique that I have absolutely zero ability.

Phil

Many years ago I worked for a radio valve manufacturer and an aluminium/brass alloy was often used in the forming of the glass envelope of the valves as it had the same coefficient of expansion. I have no idea what the alloy proportions were but it had definite grey tinge, nothing like traditional brass colours. I still have a piece somewhere and even after 50+ years there is no discoloration or patina showing.

Apologies for wandering off topic.

Phil

Steve, that looks like a very useful lathe accessory - at least for the things that I do. One thing does puzzle me, it appears from the photos that the individual collets are not threaded, I would have thought that if they were it would give you more control over where the screw sits in the chuck, or am I seeing a problem that isn't really there?

Phil

Wandering off topic again, has anybody ever dismantled one of the newer ceramic valved taps? Just curious as to how they operate.

Phil

I've only recently switched to using a spotting drill thanks to advice on this forum, initially to be able to get chatter free countersunk holes in brass, but have found them so useful in other areas. So much more rigid and no annoying pip to get broken off. Expensive in comparison but I think money well spent, well so far for me at least.

Phil

As this thread seems to have wandered slightly, I thought that I would add that in 1973 when I bought my Super 7 supplied new by an ironmongers in Worthing it cost me from memory about £380. As a basic machine it didn't come with any chucks or even a motor, however you did get a faceplate, catch plate and a couple of centres but I can't remember if it had a drive dog. An expensive piece of kit that was unusable as supplied.

Phil