Member postings for JohnF

Andy, have a look in my album's at the Stirling Engine, this was built by my Grandson age 14 -- he's now 20 and most way through his engineering apprenticeship. He had used machine's since around 12 - always start young ! but this was the first proper project and he made everything himself under instruction - a great way to teach and they have something to show at the end.

This covered turning, milling, drilling & tapping, knurling, screw cutting, soldering, filing, sawing, marking out, so an all round project.

Good luck with your apprentice. John

Edited By JohnF on 30/06/2018 13:56:34 spellings etc ! darn auto correct !

Edited By JohnF on 30/06/2018 13:58:28

Have a look at this link, no connection other than a satisfied customer but you do need to buy from the sale flyers, I have Lyndon HSS ground thread taps and find them excellent, again best way is to bye when they are offering sets rather than single taps. Dies seem to be rarely on offer ! They also have a set of Ruko on offer which I'm sure will be ok -- HSS ground thread

On the main page select Special offers - sale flyers or Advantage + month --- this month look at pages 4 & 5

John
**LINK**

Hi John, cannot help with CNC but as far as the thread is concerned here goes -- the H6 probably refers to the thread stand of H6 which is a tolerance for general thread specification.

Regarding cutting the thread and dimensions: the OD is 0.375 the fact that you have measured commercial bolts etc and find them undersize is not surprising but the actual diameter is .375 however if you are not using a full form single point tool [usually a disposable tip type tool] then you will not be cutting a crest radius so it is necessary to truncate the thread i.e. reduce the OD by a few thou, as guide if you use half the crest/root radius you will not be far out in this case the rad is .0086" so make the OD 0.371"

Set your tool to the OD and use a depth of 0.038" ---- nominal 0.040" less half the truncation this will give you a very close fitting thread and you may need to gauge this and go an extra 1 or 2 thou to make an easier fit -- depends on what you are using the item for. For most ME work as long as it fit your other component it will be just fine, if you want to be sure use either a correctly made thread ring or calliper gauge or a thread micrometer but most people will not have any of these. An alternative is to use the 3 wire method and standard micrometer to measure the effective diameter -- a gauge point on the thread flank.

If you want more info on the gauge point etc let me know and I have some tables etc I can send to you - cannot post due to copyright I guess.

John PS where are you located ? nothing in your profile ?

Micheal, near Lancaster -- Bridegport available, PM me if it any good

Hi Ross, have look at this link, rough grind on the front of the wheel and finish on the side where necessary -- shock horror grinding on the side !

Well I have been doing this way - as shown as an apprentice - for close to 60 years and never had a problem and neither did anyone else to my knowledge.

Clearly you would not rough out on the side of the wheel but for finishing and getting a flat relief angle is fine IMO.

**LINK**

John

I am surprised that you have any perceptible runout, however it would be interesting to know if the internal / external readings are at the same point of rotation i.e. they coincide + & - at the same point.

Matthew it depends on what you want and how much you wish to spend but Terry Braithwaite restores Bridgeports and has an excellent reputation : -

Braithwaite Machine tool Restoration
Pinfold Lane Industrial Estate, Bridlington, YO16 6XS Tel 01262 606691

We purchased a fully restored machine from Terry many years ago and have to say it is superb. I think he worked at Adcock & Shipley originally. He may be able to help with just the scraping ? Only find out if you ask !
John

Hi Paul, the machine looks to be from the 1950's but go on Myford web site and look up the number -- stamped on the bed usually close to the chuck or tailstock end. Don't look at their prices it will probably give you false impression of the value of your machine.

A big plus is the gearbox this will enhance its value, however it looks to me as though it has been re-painted and there are signs of some rust but its not really possible to form a proper opinion of condition from the photo's.

Condition is everything -- well almost --with regard to value, as Thor says you really need some hands on advice so a local club may help or say where you are and there may well be a member close by who would help.

John

Hi Edh, Have a look at the links below you may be able to glean some info by making contact with the chaps on the forum or direct to the German company -- they were defiantly German origin I actually worked on one for avery brief period around 50 years ago but sorry I don't recall any details and not even sure it was the same model of machine.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/deckel-maho-aciera-abene-mills/steinel-milling-machine-109252/

http://www.muega.de/de/steinel/

John

Another link from across the pond, a bit old but worth a chance !

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/deckel-maho-aciera-abene-mills/steinel-milling-machine-sv4-1905-a-110185/

Edited By JohnF on 19/05/2018 18:08:48

Rik, cannot help with the castings but the micrometer unit looks like an adjustable micrometer stop from a jig or special purpose machine,

Look on the locking screw and it has PUT plus a number -- PUT was Production Unit Tool a company that specialised in manufacturing numerous standard jig and fixture parts such as this for the toolmaking industry including drilling, reaming bushes, liner bushes stops for jigs, screws of every description etc etc parts numbers many 100's and probably 1000's -- the number will have been their part number for that screw.

John

Alan, where did you zero your spindle centre ? did you clock the inside of the crank case or did you clock the drilled hole ? On first thoughts it seems to me you zeroed the spindle to the inside of the crank case and the drill hole is already off centre ??

A photo or drawing of the job may well help.

I have PM you as well John

Dave, a few thoughts --- consider what you intend to use the machine for and up to what hole size you are likely to drill. Also floor standing or bench drill, floor standing gives you greater capacity and for some things greater versatility

Also consider the speed range, many drills are far too fast for larger drills and for reamers in general, for this reason its worth considering a machine with a geared head [back gear] imported ones in particular fall into this category.

Lastly the spindle taper, be sure it is at least number 2 morse or even number 3 unless of course you intend light high speed use.

Personally I have a Meddings MF4 pretty old and has a few battle scars - not mine - but Meddings were very good with spares for such an old machine but keep in mind not everything is available.

Just my three pennyworth hope you find it useful John

Nice one Chris hope it serves you well

John

Richard, Roderick is spot on I have extended drills many times by this method, the only thing I would advise is buy a used 20mm HSS drill rather than using a blacksmiths drill, these are invariably carbon steel and not so great.

I bought a set some years ago thinking they may be handy but even run slow in MS they don't perform well, OK for none ferrous metals etc though.

As an additional security as well as the grub screws you can soft solder the modified shank into your extension piece and believe me soft solder is far stronger then you think and there is not enough heat to affect HSS.

John

Anyone planning any meet ups at Doncaster on Friday ?

Neil here is a sketch I made from an original Myford/Dickson tool holder for another forum member last year, he was/is in France hence me using metric dimensions--if you want imperial either convert them or let me know.

Hope its of use to you -- John

edit PS photo in my albums in "Workshop Stuff " file

Edited By JohnF on 06/05/2018 16:44:57

As far as the ready machined backplates are concerned I have tried several different ones for "modern" Myford and they are invariably oversize on the register bore therefore do not run true.

At least that's been my experience, I have measured several of them and they all seem to be plus 2 to 4 thou when they should be a max of plus a few tenths. The same seems to be the case with Myford fitting male adaptors for say rotary tables and they are the opposite being minus 2 to 3 thou on the register diameter.

I now make my own unless they come from a source that produces them within the correct tolerance.

John

Spencer the best way to mount a new chuck is to turn a new register on your existing backplate on YOUR lathe mounted on the spindle thus ensuring the chuck is better than 0.001" -- it must be providing the backplate fits your spindle correctly and assuming the new chuck is of good quality. The ultimate TIR of work mounted in the chuck has many variables not least the chuck itself.

This is assuming your backplate has enough thickness to accommodate a new register, if not make a new one, I just made one a couple of days ago for a pal and we fitted a new chuck to it on his machine. He's well pleased !

John

Mark not sure what you mean by the tumbler selector, are you referring to the reversible gear cluster inside the change wheel cover ? This changes from feed to screwcutting , or do you mean the tumble reverse lever?

You should be able to select any of the TPI or feed rates on the top plate by moving the lever A B C and the train selector on the front of the gearbox 1 to 8 plus of course selecting feeds or threads with the revesable gear cluster

Hope this helps John

HI Ian, I had a thought today but saw Niels post showing the clamp -- good idea, asa matter of interest I was thinking in terms of an expanding mandrel inserted into the spindle with a hex or square on the ned for a spanner but maybe the clamp style is easier to make and probably more effective ?

Good luck John

PS was close to you a few years back at a family wedding near Lake Coleridge