Member postings for James B

Hi Garry,

Have been following your build diary with interest - great job!

Have a look at the 7th post down the page on the link below - uses an old centre drill to make a profile tool. I have saved this for future use, thought it was an excellent way of making a radius tool...

Profile Tool

James

Hi Ed,

Cromwell Tools list that size - 3/4" x 3/8" x 14" - in straight, right hand, left hand and checkered patterns.

James

Edited By James Burden on 29/05/2015 12:25:24

Ahh you mean like the new Nitromoors, specially formulated to protect paintwork...!

Hi John / Jon,

Brilliant - thanks. I have some gears from an old dividing head in a similar state, I will be trying this myself..!

I'm guessing having this inside the workshop could create rust problems on other components?

James

John,

Out of interest, how long did you leave those gears in the brick / patio cleaner to get those results?

I feel a visit to toolstation coming on...!

James

On the subject of grinding HSS, does anyone use extraction of any kind for off hand grinders? In particular for dressing wheels?

Thanks,

James

I keep mine in the airing cupboard - welding rods that is, not cheese...

James

Hi,

On the subject of vacuum forming, I made a simple vacuum former to make a plastic tray for my daughters school project when the schools vacuum former was not large enough. It was really quite simple but surprisingly effective. It basically consists of a box (I used MDF top and bottom and a square timber frame) with an outlet to connect to the vacuum cleaner. The silver foil tape you can see is to keep the box air tight, and the brown strip is draught excluder to form a seal. The mould you can see is over a couple of 50mm holes. Drill series of small holes around the periphery, and anywhere you want the plastic to pull into, particuarly internal corners:

Then we fixed the plastic sheet to an MDF frame as shown below. We got the sheet from a school supplier, they sell packs of vac form plastic sheets - was only a few pounds for a few sheets, and was the only thing we bought:-

Then, (waiting until the coast was clear) heated the plastic on the frame under the grill, then when compliant, quickly placed the frame over the mould and switched on the vacuum:

Allow to cool, remove and trim. Was quite a fun excercise and only thing we bought was the plastic sheets. Could do something similar for tool trays..?

James

Edited By James Burden on 24/03/2014 13:17:10

Hi Lee,

Also, if you send me your email address on a PM, I have a PDF manual for the 10M I can send you if you need one.

James

Hi Lee,

One thing to be aware of is motor speed. I have an Elliot 10M, and the 3 Phase motor is 6 Pole, meaning it runs at around 900 RPM. Usually 1 phase motors are 4 Pole - 1425 rpm approx. If you go for a straight motor swap with one of these, your ram speeds will increase accordingly, if you do not adjust the pulley sizes.

I ended up leaving my original motor and running mine from a rotary converter - a bit noisier, but all runs fine.

Good Luck,

James

Hi All,

Thanks for your comments / suggestions - I will have a look into these. I'm thinking a seperate vacuum unit might be ideal as space is tight, and I can use to clean up as well!

With the units like the CamVac or the Trend units above, I was worried that there may be a fire risk due to sparks / hot metal particles from the grinding process going into paper filters. Do you think this might be the case?

Thanks,

James

Hi All,

I wondered how others have gone about controlling grinding dust in your workshops?

I have a small manual surface grinder (dry) and an old clarkson cutter grinder in my workshop, as well as the usual off hand grinder - all of these are fairly close to other machines (lathe, etc)., and I have always been very conscious of the abrasive dust that these create.

Currently I cover other machines when grinding, as separating the machines is not an option (due to space).

Are there any good options for extraction? I assume that the woodworking type extractors are no good for this kind of work?

I would be interested to hear any suggestions / experiences you may have.

Thanks,

James

Edited By James Burden on 25/03/2013 16:59:36

Hi Terry,

Similar to Ians comment above, I would use one of these discs in a grinder, these leave a good finish, and as they are only 0.6mm thick (from memory) are not too aggressive. Also, when I have needed to control the cut, I have clamped a piece of scrap onto the part being cut, with the edge on the cutting line - this provides a cutting guide, and I've had good results like this.

LINK

James

Hi Raymond,

I like the flycutter - homemade? Is that a Glanze tipped tool you have in there? How do you find it works with the tipped insert?

Table looks good too!

Thanks

James

Hi All,

Thanks for taking time to reply with your suggestions.

Cutter Speed I would normally go for 1500 - 1800 for that application, so about right looking at your notes above. Hadn't used any lubricant, but will try some paraffin or WD40.

My mill is a bridgeport, holding the cutter directly in a R8 collet to avoid any additional factors. As above, I don't have any problems with other operations - just whenever I try this I hend up with a bad finish - certainly nothing like Johns photos above. Material either steel or ally.

Wasn't allowed out to play last night, so didn't get a chance to test, the above, but quietly confident that clamping the static slides up, and with a new cutter, I should get some better results. I was wondering if I was approaching the operation incorrectly, but you have reassured me - must be down to the above, plus feed rate maybe.

I will let you know how I get on.

Thanks.

James

Hi,

I have not long finished rebuilding the machine - slides have been reground, all correctly adjusted, and no play in the quill. I am thinking this must be related to speeds / feeds, possible sharpness of cutter, and maybe locking the appropriate slide / quill during the operation. I will have another go tonight and see where I get to.

John - could I ask roughly what speed (RPM) would you expect to run a 1/2 cutter at to mill the edge of say a 1/2" thick piece of Ally?

Thanks,

James

Also, coolant doesn't seem to make a difference to the finish - I think it may be not locking the slide that is the culprit...

Thanks,

James

Hi,

Thanks for the replys.

Climb Milling i usually try to avoid, but would be worth a try.

Have tried various depth of cuts, down to a couple of thou - the same result. Have also tried different cutters, but could try a brand new one I have to make sure.

Regarding locking the travel / quill - might have been one of the problems - will check and retry with locked travels and a new cutter.

Should I need to work down the material in steps (in the Z axis, like milling a slot) or should I set the cutter at a height to cut on the full material width in one pass?

Thanks,

James

Hi All,

I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction. When using a slot drill or end mill in the mill, it is my understanding that you can use the side flutes of the cutter to clean up the edge of a piece of material when held in the vice - for example cleaning up the sawn edge of a flat bar. However, whenever I have tried, the finish is about as good as the edge of a housebrick - to the point I avoid this operation. I have the same problem when using different materials.

I have checked all ususal suspects - speeds, feeds, made sure the work is rigidly held, no overhang, etc. My machine is a bridgeport. I don't have any problem with other techniques - just this one.

Clearly I am doing something wrong - can someone offer any advice?

Thanks,

James

Edited By James Burden on 13/08/2012 09:56:28

Edited By James Burden on 13/08/2012 09:57:06

Hi Chris,

You would be looking at replacement feedscrews and nuts for crossslide and top slide, plus the dials of course. For screwcutting metric threads, a new leadscrew and clasp nuts, plus a leadscrew handwheel, if your lathe has one, plus the relevant changewheels.

You might be better off looking at a cheap DRO setup - then you could switch between metric and imperial as you require?

James

Edited By James Burden on 06/07/2012 12:45:20

Edited By James Burden on 06/07/2012 12:47:13