Member postings for Douglas Johnston

Right then-cut to the chase-has anybody got them working yet. Being somewhat chicken I have a couple of them on the workbench while I fret over how to power them without killing them.

Doug

Hi Hopper - very much enjoyed reading your article in the latest copy of MEW and have been inspired to make one for my Myford Speed 10. I may have to alter the odd dimension to fit the Speed 10 but it looks like it will work. One thing you did not mention in the article was the hole spacing on the flat bar link, what did this turn out to be ?

Doug

What I tend to do Vic is surf ebay for the best deal for what I want. There can be large differences in price for the same items between different suppliers. Postage costs can also vary a lot but don't get me started on "Free Postage "

Doug

Like Keith I tend to buy more than I need for immediate use to create a stockpile for future needs. I often buy online and postage costs can be minimised by bulk buying. A few years ago I bought a large sheet of aluminium alloy, 12mm thick and thought at the time I would never use it all, but it has almost completely been used up.

Doug

This is a device I made some time ago from some bits from the scrap box. The dial gauge is set to the correct height and zeroed and then used to set the correct height for any tool in a quick change toolholder. The plunger on the gauge needs to have a flat foot.

How does one discharge the gas in order to cut them up safely, or do you just set the horizontal bandsaw up and run like hell ?

Doug

Thanks for that link Michael, when you read all the blurb you can be forgiven for thinking you will get a decent item. Sadly for me that was not the case so it pays to be sceptical when buying online.

Doug

From what people are saying it looks like I just got a bad one. The advert made out that the items were made in a modern Chinese factory which gave me some confidence about quality but the reality was quite different. At the very reasonable price I was not expecting perfection but the quality was very very poor and could not be used straight out of the box. The main castings were not too bad but very poorly machined with the running machined surfaces as rough as hell. I ended up re-machining all the important surfaces, throwing away the gib strips which were a joke and still have to sort out the handwheels. The trouble with ebay is you never really know who you are buying from and it is so easy to end up with a lemon.

Doug

About 6 months ago I bought a Vevor brand small x-y table and found the quality to be awful. I could not be bothered sending it back and have spent quite some time turning into something worth using (still an ongoing project ). Vevor seem to make quite a few items which look good in the pictures online but in my case the reality was quite shocking. Perhaps I just got a bad one but I would be interested to know whether others have had a similar or better experience with a Vevor item.

Doug

Nice thought but I am sure there will be a giant computer somewhere storing all the information about the use of every stamp. I sent some of the old stamps back to get replaced with the new ones and it took them ages to oblige, but they did replace all the second class ones with first class so I can't complain too much.

Doug

I feel your pain, you would have thought they would honour the lower price under the circumstances.

Doug

When I got my 18" by 12" granite surface plate I read all the stuff about how to mount it but in the end just plonked it down on a flat worktop (old kitchen worktop ) with an 18" by 12" sheet of cushioned vinyl flooring material under it. I reckoned that for a small plate any bending under its own weight would be negligible. There is no way I will ever know for sure if this was the ideal choice but I have never lost sleep thinking about it.

Doug

To be clear did Warco offer a refund of the total price of the lathe or was it just a refund of £200 for the damage/inconvenience?

Doug

Did you have any problem with getting rid of the S option Ady , I think I will probably do the same.

Doug

I recently bought a replacement for a clapped out laptop and only noticed it was installed with windows 11S when it arrived. This version of windows is supposed to be more secure, hence the S , but you can only download Microsoft apps with it which can be rather restricting. One can apparently revert to the standard W11 if desired although I have heard that it can sometimes be problematical.

Doug

I fitted a magnetic scale under the cross slide of my Myford ML 10 lathe a few years ago and I find it a superb addition to the lathe. It is hidden away and does not get in the way like fitting scales in other ways. It has worked perfectly and no swarf can get to it. I have some photos of it in my album if anybody wants to see it.

Doug

Just ordered 2 lengths of this for £25 including postage by using the clever discount finder that pops up on the page.

Doug

Yes, I have to agree, the old ones from the likes of Aldi/Lidl were decent quality but the more recent ones can be awful. I was tempted to buy a spare last year and it was just hopeless. The electronics worked ok but the movement was as rough as hell. It went back the next day for a refund and I won't be tempted again.

Doug

Just recently I replaced a 6 foot fluorescent tube in my loft with a single led bulb (100W equivalent ) and was amazed at how bright and well lit the loft space was. Perhaps say 4 of these bulbs in a medium sized workshop would be a cheaper alternative to led tubes...just a thought.

Doug

I have the poly-V pulley version of the VMB with variable speed invertor and it is almost impossible to get access to the bolts of the sliding plate to change the belt positions. As a result I never change the belt position and rely on the VFD for speed change. As you said it is a very poor design.

Doug