Member postings for Bill Pudney

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

Thread: What do we really mean when we say we work in "X" units.
07/11/2010 20:28:12
"X" is what you think in.  Everything else is a compromise.
cheers
Bill Pudney
 
Thread: Tool and cutter grinder head
02/11/2010 22:17:47
Motorcycle fork legs are VERY highly stressed, so the material is of a high quality, certainly higher than silver or ordinary stainless steels.  As the legs also have bushes and oil seals sliding up and down when on a motorcycle, they are very well and consistently finished.
So your fork legs would make really good machine tool parts!!
 
As has been said, be careful cutting them tough.
Best of luck
cheers
Bill Pudney
Thread: Metric vs Imperial - Practical or Traditional?
27/10/2010 04:39:11
All the talk about measuring things in fractions of a horsehair made me think of when I had to work for a living....only a couple of years ago.  I was sort of responsible for buying machinery for a small machine shop.  One of the ongoing jobs had...and required very tight tolerances.  Generally tolerances were only tight where required, but there were lots of inter-related features with tight tolerances, in the order of +/- 0.01mm for instance. It could end up having a tolerance of "0" in fact if all the tolerance range was used up earlier in the process.  The various suppliers of co-ordinate measuring machines (CMM) were contacted with details of the spec required.  They were all really interested to start with but gradually said "...its too much for us".
 We ended up having to make a laboratory standard enclosure, with its own air conditioning system controlled to +/- 1 degree Centigrade 24 hours a day, each CMM mounted on its own concrete base shock/vibration insulated from the machine shop floor.  The CMMs (we ended up with 3) were CNC and took about 3 hours to fully inspect about 90% of the features they also generated a report which we had to keep.  The items to be inspected were left in the CMM room for 24 hours to thermally adjust before inspecting, and were handled as little as possible....those hot handed inspectors!!
The first items that we made took about 50 hours to machine and another 70 or 80 to inspect....it was very very fiddly!!
When I retired the machining time was about 7 hours and inspection time was about 3.5 hours total.

Edited By Bill Pudney on 27/10/2010 04:40:00

Thread: Vice/rotary table question
22/10/2010 04:45:45
"You be your own boss and have what you like on there, the purists can self flagellate if they want to, there is no need to join the same religious sect as them."
 
Well said Bogs, spot on.  This hobby is about enjoying yourself and one thing that helps the enjoyment is decent quality tooling.  Not for the bling factor, but because it does what its manufacturers claim it will do.
 
cheers
Bill Pudney
Thread: plastic containers
27/09/2010 01:14:02
Posted by Axel on 26/09/2010 11:24:08:
Befriend a pipesmoker, although they are a dying breed, they can be found. I smoke myself and all the tins are great for storage!
 
 Not in Australia!!  I smoke roll ups and haven't seen a tobacco tin for about 20 years.  Really sad as they are an ideal storage method.
I also fly model aircraft (Free Flight....F1B) and have a need for storing small sizes of (typically) nuts and bolts, M1 up to M2 screws for instance.  I asked the local chemists if they could save me some 35mm film canisters which they were happy to do.  Even these day when film has been  superceded by digital they still collected about 50 for me in a week!!
 
 My wife has a bottle of "Yakult" yoghurt every day, I'm trying to think of a use for them, we have about 60, any ideas??
cheers
Bill Pudney
 
 
 
 
Thread: Coventry Die Head
08/08/2010 02:52:12
I have started the cleaning and tidying up.  Underneath the crud of years imagine my surprise when I found in tiny (about 1.4 to 1.6mm high) etched letters the following, only legible with a loupe
 
"SUTTON T & O
MELBOURNE
5/16" DIEHEAD"
 
Comparing mine with the illustrations in the Coventry  manual it's similar but not quite the same, I would think that its either a straight copy (surely not in Australia?), or made under licence.  So I wrote to Suttons in Melbourne asking if they had any information.  Surprisingly I heard back from them today (Sunday here) via email with a "No, too old, no data".
So there we go
cheers
Bill Pudney
Thread: What price frustration?
08/08/2010 02:38:43
When I had to work for a living one of my jobs was to select and buy new
machine tools.
The last project was quite significant by Australian standards.  The first phase was for three very specialised large capacity 5 axis CNC mills.  The company that I worked for was getting all excited by the size of this deal, until it was pointed out very politely by each of the three companies we were dealing with (one Japanese, one Swiss, one German) that they were a bit stretched at the time because of the twenty and thirty large capacity 5 axis CNC machines being installed in China, PER MONTH.
They may not be producing  equivalent quality machines yet, but they will, as sure as water flows downhill
cheers
Bill Pudney
Thread: Coventry Die Head
03/08/2010 02:31:57
Hi there,
I changed web browser from Mozilla to Explorer, googled again and Bingo!!
I've downloaded the multi page manual and it seems to have all the information required.
A final question....why don't "they" write manuals like this these days??  Nowadays manuals seem to be full of beware, beware, danger, danger.
 
Anyway thanks folks I should be ok from here!!
cheers
Bill Pudney
Adelaide, Australia
02/08/2010 01:11:39
Fair enough a good squirt of penetrating oil it is.
I had googled "Coventry die head" "coventry die head manual" and found that there are lots of companies selling chasers, but only a couple with any maintenance information.  They were both fairly old links and were broken, hence my posting here.
I remember using one of these a million years ago, in the '60's, and its unlikely that I would ever use this one.  However I would like to get it cleaned up and usable, so that I have the option!
cheers
Bill Pudney
Adelaide, Australia
01/08/2010 04:44:55
In amongst a load of bits and pieces, I have scored a Coventry Die Head.  Its about 45mm (1.75") diameter, the spigot at the back, for fitting to a tailstock or turret etc is 0.625" diameter.  I can't see any recognisable identification marks, although it is a bit dirty so any marks may be hidden.  Sadly there are no chasers.
My question is are these things fairly easy to dismantle, it seems to be fairly smooth in operation, but stiff.  My first (and second) thoughts are that it needs at least a good clean.
Does anyone have any advice, hints, tips, even a book of instructions with pictures??
cheers
Bill Pudney
Adelaide, Australia
Thread: Do you get what you pay for ?.
20/06/2010 09:33:19
I have generally bought HSS ground thread taps and dies as required, Tracy Tools have excellent service.  I'm a very cautious about carbon steel taps, and especially cautious about cut threads (as against ground), every tap I have that ISN'T ground thread has large burrs which make the thread form a bit unrecognisable.  Just have a look at a cut thread tap with a loupe and explain to me how that can be expected to cut a decent thread, especially in Al Alloy which I use most.
I bought a couple of ME taps and a die from an Australian supplier (I have the good fortune to live in Australia) they were a reasonable price, not cheap, and was assured by the supplier that they were good quality, they were awful.  
Be careful, and buy "quality" HSS/GT as required (i.e. not in sets) is my advice! 
cheers
Bill Pudney
Thread: Box for Rotary Table
23/05/2010 01:37:08
On the health issues. 
Back in the '80's I was carving some F1B (Wakefield, model aeroplane) prop blades from WRC.  I had to take the job outside because the dust was upsetting my sinus'.  "Outside" in Adelaide is always windy.  I was quite ill for a couple of days.
Then just before Christmas 2009, I was making an MDF box for my ER32 collets.  It was all cut on my bandsaw, as a result the edges needed minimal sanding (we aren't talking Rolls Royce boxes here, just boxes to keep the dust and muck out).  As I was cutting this stuff I remember coughing and spluttering.  I ended up with the worst flu symptoms I can remember.  I felt bad for about two weeks.
The next time I cut any of this rubbish I WILL wear a mask!!
cheers
Bill Pudney
22/05/2010 09:41:02
O.K.  Thanks for all that information.  The only reason that I fancied using western red cedar is because I have it!!  I certainly wouldn't PAY for it.  However on advice I will use MDF and use the WRC for something less strategic/important.
Thanks again.
Bill Pudney
Adelaide, 'straya
Thread: ED Racer 'times two'
21/05/2010 01:01:31
Ramon,
I'm with Martin, absolutely superb.  The Racer was always a handsome engine, in my opinion and your two motors are even better! Thanks
cheers
Bill Pudney
Adelaide, Australia
p.s. What material did you use for the crankshaft??
Thread: Box for Rotary Table
20/05/2010 22:46:32
Between other tasks I have been making storage boxes for collets, drills etc.  Normally I have been using MDF (sawdust held together with some indescribable muck).  Its cheap and only requires a full body suit and respirator when working.
The next box off the blocks is one for the rotary table and associated bits.  As it happens I have some long bits of Western Red Cedar which I was planning to use.  Somewhere I'm fairly sure that I've read about wood outgassing toxic stuff, and leeching sticky stuff and corroding metal.
Does anyone have any thoughts on the use of western red cedar for tool boxes.
cheers
Bill Pudney
Adelaide, Australia
 
 
 
 
 

Thread: Drawing projection, first or third?
23/02/2010 21:26:56
Hi David,
I was a draftsman in the UK and here in Australia, from the 1960's to the 1990's.  At one stage I was contracting so I spent six months here and six months somewhere else, so I became fairly versatile!!.  Most companies here now use 3rd Angle, which if I remember  correctly used to be called "American Projection", where 1st Angle used to be called "English Projection".
If I had to make a choice I would have to plump for 3rd Angle as to me it seems more logical. 
cheers
Bill Pudney
Adelaide, Australia
Thread: Sugden Special Castings
08/11/2009 01:27:06
Morning all,
When I've finished my current project (an ML Midge 0.8cc side port diesel) I fancied having a go at a Sugden Special, partly inspired by the recent articles in ME.
The problem is getting a crankcase casting.  I have emailed a couple of people mentioned in various places so far without success or even a reply.
Anyone got any ideas if these castings are still available??
cheers
Bill Pudney
Adelaide, Australia
Thread: End mills in a drill chuck
05/10/2009 03:20:03
I was once a draftsman for the UK Government.  Across the back wall of the office was about 70 feet of shelves full of Design Guideline books.  These covered almost every conceivable aspect of warship design.  As a newcomer the boss explained to me in my early days, that they were GUIDANCE.  If your particular situation matched those shown you had a proven solution.  However, if there was no match then the Wise Draftsman would use the guidelines as closely as possible.
Many of the rules in Engineering are based on precedent.  This applies equally to manufacturing.  The rules work because they are based on experience. 
However sometimes we must avoid being bound too tightly by The Rules.
cheers
Bill Pudney
Thread: instrument oil?
05/10/2009 03:03:01
Lighter fuel is basically very clean petrol, also known up here in 'straya as Shellite which is available from the local hardware store for a much lower cost than lighter fuel.  Another alternative for instrument cleaning is Iso Propyl Alcohol (IPA).
Try and get some instructions from somewhere before bogging in and dismantling ANY sort of instrument, please don't ask me how I know!!
Best of luck.
cheers
Bill Pudney
in sunny Adelaide
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