Member postings for Falco

Steve ,

To remove the head, wind it all the way down to rest on a timber block on the table. You can then loosen the bolts slightly, rotate it, rest it on it's side, remove the bolts and lift it off. It is a heavy lump on its own so have a clear passage to the bench.

BTW you don't have a bike lift that you could use to raise it on to the plinth?

Nice looking Norton Steve!

John

Hi Steve,

I have the same mill, bought from Amadeal several years ago. It has given good service and to date no real problems. I bought a spare set of plastic gears for the head as I read in several places that they can strip under heavy pressure. I'm still on the original set despite a few beginner's mistakes.

I found the construction to be simple, solid and functional. I would concur with the advice that you strip, clean and reassemble as there can be a lot of crud hidden inside from manufacture. The table works a whole lot smoother if you thoroughly clean and re-grease the lead-screws. I found that there was no means of controlling end-float on these but it was not excessive from new. I tried putting a slit in the nut and a screw to adjust it but it was only partly successful as it is nearly impossible to adjust when the whole thing is reassembled.

There was to my mind excess sloppiness in the fine feed mechanism on the head. I suggest you check yours in the early stages to satisfy yourself that it is acceptable.

I fitted a down-feed stop to mine I find it useful even with the digital readout on the spindle.

Carl's advice on Harold Hall's book is worth heeding. I found the no.1 requirement was clamping and holding accessories and he has useful plans for some of those.

Also make sure it is solidly bolted down to a good heavy bench. It makes quite a difference to smoothing out vibration under working loads........and ....count fingers before and after use.

Good luck with the mill.

John

Hi Jim,

That's a fine job you've done on the house. Not sure about the workshop though. Way too neat and tidy. You couldn't possibly work in there. Time you got a bit of swarf on the floor.

Seriously, I hope you enjoy many happy evenings in there.

John

Since acid burns have no great appeal I'll reluctantly go with dilution or neutralization. It will leave me feeling a bit defeated though because I will learn little from the exercise.

I wish my chemistry teacher had been a little like Danny M's. I would have lapped it up and learned a lot more! Anything with a whiff of danger surely does grab the attention. What a shame that science and maths are not taught with a bit more imagination in school, but that is another debate.

Thanks for all the good advice. Much appreciated.

John

You have made me think twice about exploring my brown bottle!

I don't actually know if it is acid, now that the question has been put to me. There is no sign of rusting in the vicinity and I have not opened it in years. Having read the posts I may do so carefully and have a smell but after that ....well, old sayings about curiosity and cats or no-go areas for angels treading spring to mind.

It can be difficult for the terminally curious to leave things alone but Bob, your point about purchasing a small amount of a KNOWN substance if/when needed perfect sense. As I have no immediate use in mind and there were few suggestions of what could be done with it, I agree my workshop might be a safer place if I can neutralise it or otherwise dispose of it.

Thank you all for your good advice. I learned a lot from the replies.

John

Being a hoarder, I have a large brown bottle of acid that came out of a school lab a good few years ago hidden in a dark place under my bench. It's most likely either Sulphuric or Hydrochloric since they generally didn't deal with anything more lethal on the school curriculum.

The problem is that there's no marking on the bottle, So I don't know which it might be.

Is there any easy way to test it. Maybe some members with a good chemical knowledge could advise please?

And then, when/if I do identify it, what would it be useful for in the workshop?

John

The following was given to me as an explanation of how the metric system ties together in the practical world.

It may help anyone not using to it to visualise the connection between length , volume and weight in the metric system.

The weight measurement is correct only if the contents are water.

A little cube box with sides 1 x1 x1cm. will hold 1ml. of water. The water contents, (excluding the weight of the actual box), will weigh 1 gram. (Think sugar lump)

A cube with sides of 10x10x10cm. will hold 1000 ml. (1 litre), and will weigh 1000 grams or 1 kilogram.(kg). (Think milk carton)

A cube with sides of 100x100x100cm, (ie. 1x1x1metre) will hold 1,000,000ml, or 1000 litres and the water contained will weigh 1,000,000 grams, or 1000kg or 1 tonne, (Think of the builders sand bags mentioned by MichaelG )

John

Romeo,

Since nobody so far has given info on the Bantam I'll pitch in with my experience on a 1979 1600 model (metric).

The Bantam was built to the same standards supposedly as the larger industrial Colchesters. It is a very solid, well built and relatively compact machine. It has power feed on both directions. The gearbox makes for convenient setup for screwcutting. The bore on the spindle is generous on a machine of its size. It is easy and straightforward to use. Mine is a 3phase ex-college machine and is run off a converter and mains household voltage. I've had no problems on this setup. There are plenty parts/accessories available yet for it. My best buy accessory yet was a rear mounted parting tool holder specifically produced for the Bantam by RDG (usual disclaimer). It comes with a small slotted base that can be used to fasten work on the cross slide also and costs c. £65 for base, tool and rear toolpost. Tool is 26mm and uses 3mm inserts. Works very well.

That brings me to the only fault I can find with the Bantam, ie. it has a plain rather than a slotted cross slide. Slotted slides are available but cost £275 or thereabouts. Apart from that it does anything I ask of it with no fuss.

Tail stock is MT3 so plenty drills etc. available for that. All in all a competent medium capacity lathe that will give good service.

John

Michael,

Thank you for posting the link.

That indeed is the saw and unfortunately I have already tried the contacts given but the results were as I have outlined earlier. I have tried their website and their customer care numbers in both England and Ireland.

Pity I don't have a bit of German. Maybe I should get on to the HQ!

John

That's an interesting article Lofty, thank you.

To be fair to the store (Aldi) the saw was indeed a very good one. The damaged part was my own fault so I never expected to have it repaired by the company. It was out of guarantee also.

What annoyed me really was the fact that I was left with a saw that was perfect apart from one damaged part which I could easily have replaced .....if I could get it. And that was the problem. The company would not, or could not, tell me who the manufacturer was. As it is now the saw is just scrap.

My reason for bringing it up in the first place was to alert owners to the fact that if their bought machines/tools might in the future need parts eg. plastic gears, that could wear out, they might think of sourcing the spares before the guarantee runs out and the seller is no longer dealing with the product.

John,

I agree Aldi are no different to any retailers. I certainly didn't expect them to repair it. My frustration is in not being able to source the part or the maker. I didn't find them helpful in that.

Graham, I make a very nice Sloe gin.

Seriously though, my workshop and my present expertise puts cutting a gear like that down the road a bit. However our chosen hobby thrives on solving problems so, another one on the to-do list for the future!

John

Thanks Cyril, but no, they don't list the part and the saw they presently list is different.

John

Just a word of caution to those who buy tools etc. from stores like Aldi. Like many, I have bought various machines and tools from their special buys over the years and have generally got good value for the outlay.

One of the purchases was an electric chain saw Model GCS2000S. A really excellent saw, it was a good buy. However, just out of guarantee, I got a bit over enthusiastic with the butt of a large sycamore and stripped a nylon bevel gear inside. My own fault entirely.

The problem is that Aldi don't take any interest once you are out of the guarantee period. On top of that they have changed their source of supply and the old source I'm told is out of business. Their present supplier didn't want to know.

I cannot find a supplier for the part so I am left with an otherwise perfect saw that is useless. What a waste.

Worth bearing in mind if you have any of their tools nearing their guarantee expiry!!!

PS. Anyone out there with a knackered GCS2000S with a serviceable nylon bevel gear?

John

My options are to some extent limited by the fact that the panel in question (basically an aluminium saddle to an outside patio double door) cannot be removed and can only be accessed in full when the door is open.

The use of the power washer is an interesting option but would demand a comprehensive bit of sealing before use as the twin patio doors will have to be open to gain access to the whole. It might be possible though and as John says unlikely to mark the aluminium.

So much for the theory! Next week I'll try to put some of it into practice.

Thanks again all.

John

Hi All,

Thanks for the wide range of suggestions. I will work through them, starting with the milder solutions. I will stay clear of Hydroflouric acid I think based on your advice.

My reference to plaster may have been misleading. The sand and cement exterior rendering is commonly and probably incorrectly called plaster here locally and that is what has got to be removed. It is not the interior smooth finish that is much finer and softer.

I still have another door tread to clean and experimenting with the various suggestions should be interesting. Thanks to all

John

Apart from the usual chipping and scraping, can anyone suggest a method of removing encrusted cement from a piece of metal (aluminium or mild steel) that would not leave the metal scratched or pitted .

I am thinking more along the lines of a chemical solution rather than a mechanical one.

The article in question is a new aluminium door tread that has been damaged by careless plastering.

I realise that this may not be ME specific but the solution, if there is one, may well be of wider interest as we all pick up bits of "scrap" metal from time to time that has to be cleaned up for machining.

Michael, I had the same problem and got good advice on the forum here (search for Dies etc.). You can cut the bar undersize by up to 10% and still get an acceptable thread as there is a certain amount of an extrusion effect as you cut with the die. Taper the end as suggested. I must agree that most of the cheap dies are a total waste of money. You must look at the dies under a magnifying glass to see how badly cut /shaped they actually are. Most have the three holes punched through at manufacture and the cutting edge is mis-shapen and rounded and just couldn't cut. You can try to improve them by dressing the hole with a round chainsaw file but really if you are going to be doing much threading there is no substitute for a properly made die. They are not cheap at anything from about £6 upwards each. Just buy what you need and you will be amazed at the difference.

I have never liked Swarfega, nor found it much good. Same goes for a lot of the cleaners on the market.

Lidl do a W5 heavy duty hand cleaner in a round tin that I find exceptionally good. A small amount does a very thorough clean. Feels very soapy when washing off. Rinse till the soapy feel goes and hands are spotless. Not at all severe on the hands and leaves skin soft . I wouldnt buy anything else now.

They only have it in occasionally and all the local motorheads have got to know it so it walks off the shelves on the days it is on offer. Worth a try.

I have not seen it mentioned here before, but for what its worth, I bought a set of spiral taps some time back for not a great fortune on ebay. They were a revelation in how much easier they were to use than the parallel fluted ones. They were admittedly good makes but they cut with a lot less force and cut a nice clean spiral as opposed to the grainy swarf from the parallel fluted ones. There's much less problem with the swarf clogging the cut also.

I do as much of my tapping as possible in the mill, turning the chuck by hand.

They might be worth considering if you were going to build up a set from various sources.

Thanks Fizzy. Probably, a lot of seasoned members would know but there are many learners who wouldn't and it makes a big difference to them to have tips like that to help them "cycle around the potholes".