Member postings for Alan Jackson

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

Thread: What did you do today (2015)
20/10/2015 10:09:01

One of the biggest reasons for the demise of the steel industry and many coal fired power stations is due to the previous government introducing rules to reduce emissions to set a low standard in the UK. Germany and China pay about half the price for their energy than the UK, so the closure of these big energy users in Britain was inevitable. To make them competitive would mean changing these unnecessary harsh emissions rules. Who is going to agree to that?

Alan

Thread: Universal Grinding machine construction series?
01/10/2015 18:47:08

Hi John,

You have my admiration for doing such a project. It is bound to be of interest to many. When I did the Stepperhead articles, I first thought just a description would be enough, but later on some people wanted a construction series and that is a lot more work. I drew about 68 drawings of about 180 components and only described the more difficult parts as to how I made them. Even this was considered by some as an overlong series. What else can you do? The magazines seem to want short interesting articles that will only occupy an few issues of the magazine. The alternative to long articles seems to be a proliferation of similar subjects like sharpening drills and end mills, or make a lathe bed stop. This can only be of interest to the new reader, the long in the tooth reader (me perhaps) has seen these articles repeated in various forms and only of a passing interest. Anyway more power to you John and good luck with all those drawings , who will check them?

Best Regards

Alan

Thread: No. 4501 The MEX Judges Reports
07/02/2015 11:51:25

I am in full agreement with Harold Hall. I also entered two items in the 2012 MEX. It was relatively easy for me because I attended the exhibition full time displaying my Stepperhead lathe. The MEW editor had mentioned many times before that entrants should be encouraged to enter exhibits. The two items I entered, a four jaw chuck and a lever locking topslide both items featured a novel ( to me so I applied for a patent) oval gib. I entered the items with detailed descriptions. At the show I found that due to lack of space for all the workshop items, all the workshop entries not just mine where crowded together so much so that the descriptions I had prepared where placed under the exhibits and where thus hardly visible. When I complained about this to one of the organisers, I was told that they had to do this because the photographers wanted more space to photo a series of award winning miniature horse and carts. Subsequent editions of the MEW and ME made very little mention of the workshop exhibits just listing eventually a list of names and awards. Surely a better effort should have been made for the time, trouble and expense an entrant makes.

Alan

Thread: Parting Off MEW225
06/02/2015 15:24:48

Muzzer- That is also a nice rigid lathe, I have an old Colchester Chipmaster which is much the same machine, its a pleasure to operate.

Alan

06/02/2015 13:24:14

Muzzer,

It is actually a HSS cutting bit brazed to a mild steel sheet. The machine is turning clockwise in this instance but I see no reason that it could be remounted for anti clockwise 'normal' rotation Here it is in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8HvS13L7MU

Alan

06/02/2015 11:25:03

Vertical Parting Tool

A while ago I tried out a vertical parting tool it worked ok but I must admit I did not give it exhaustive testing to destruction etc.

In order to clarify the operation of a vertical parting tool here is my rather primitive description of how I think it works.

Imagine that you are the parting tool holder whereby your two hands are held straight out from you body. You hands are gripped together and your fists are the cutting edge. You have a friend who represents the metal being cut and he (If you are a front parting tool) pushes down on your hands while you do you best to resist him pushing down. You can see that he can quite easily push your arms down. If you want to now become a rear parting tool you can turn round 180 degrees and your friend would now push your hands upwards still he can easily overcome your resistance to him pushing up. So in order to stiffen you up, say you are frozen solid or have rigor mortise and are wearing a large pair of lead diving boots to anchor you down. When your friend (or should I now say de-parting undertaker) pushes down on you hands he will not be able to move your arms down because they are rigidly fixed to your body and he have to apply more force until you tip forward on you toes. Note that as you tip forward you rotate about your toes moving your cutting tool hands deeper into the metal being cut. If you are now rotated 180 degrees to become a rear parting tool your friend (some friend) now has to apply more upward force until you tip backwards on your heels. Also note that your cutting tool hands now move away from the metal being cut as you rotate backwards on your heels. Now you have to play the part of a vertical parting tool as I am proposing, so you now can be thawed out or de- rigor mortised. So lay flat on your back and push one arm vertically upwards and clench your fist to form the cutting tool. Your friend now has to apply considerably more force to overcome your vertical arm. Your arm will be in direct compression and until your elbow or wrist give way you will have much less a problem resisting his downward cutting force. It will also not matter if you are a front or rear vertical parting tool as long as the rotating force is pushing down on your hands. You can now get up and go back to your work or whatever you were doing. I apologise for being so flippant but I hope it does explain the reasoning.

Regards

Alan

Thread: A better lathe ....
03/02/2015 11:09:35

If a lack of electronics is so necessary I dare say it would need to be treadle operated to ensure complete freedom from the nasty electronics and computers etc. Replies on a post card please headed "An Ideal Lathe circa 1940".

Alan

Thread: chipmaster motor
20/12/2014 10:57:53

I have got a 1.5hp 3 phase motor running with an inverter. The variator has been removed, it was ok but takes up too much power. This motor serves me well, it is probably a bit down on power for larger diameters where I sometime have to use the backgear. I would suggest a minimum of 2 hp but this will depend on what you use the lathe for.

Alan

Thread: Sandown photos and thoughts on the show
19/12/2014 12:04:22

I agree with Mike that the main reason I go to the show is to see the models, especially the new competition models. While seeing the older models displayed is quite interesting, if you have been before they become a bit jaded (saw them last year, sort of thing) The real problem is taking and collecting your exhibit which can be time consuming and expensive. The show, if you exhibit becomes quite a performance, you have to take your exhibit on Thursday before the show starts and then you have to go again on Sunday to take your exhibit away. The Judges are under time pressure to get round and judge the exhibits. This means that if you go on Friday you will probably not see their comments etc. I think Sandown is much more interesting than Ally Pally because of the competition exhibits. while there are only the good efforts of the clubs at Ally Pally which often tends to be a bit samey. Why is it so impossible for the two separate organisations to converge and make one bigger slightly longer show? There must be cost savings in doing this.

Alan

Thread: Lathe bed badly worn
27/11/2014 18:40:21

Frank I bought a 1956 Chipmaster and when I got it in my workshop (with great difficulty) I found it had the same conditions you described. So I took a series of measurements along the be using the dismantled tailstock base as a carrier with a dial guage measuring various points at say 1" intervals along the bed. I then made up some sanding blocks by gluing a belt sander belt cut in strips to pieces of wood and literally sanded the bed where it was not worn to get it down to the worn level. This may sound like a crude break it or fix it solution but it worked well. The tailstock base was also worn lower at the front so I shimmed it at the base so that it was parallel it both directions which then made it too high I think. This was solved by making a new eccentric Morse taper 3 external Morse taper 2 internal adaptor which I rotated to get at centre height and the tailstock can then be adjusted to get on centre at the base as normal. I wanted a Morse No2 tailstock anyway. The final result was a lathe which can turn over 20" length to within .0005". Good enough for me. People have told me that Chipmasters had hardened beds but if mine has it did not stop the the process. In a way I had no other choice but it worked out very well. I will add some photos to my other pics.

Alan

Edited By Alan Jackson on 27/11/2014 18:42:12

Thread: Stepperhead Lathe Construction - Technical Notes
16/10/2014 10:36:24

Andrew & Niel,

I have rearranged my text to show the settings clearer and updated the settings to what I have now hope this is more clear.

Regards

Alan

 

Stepper Motor Settings

Here are the settings I have been using on my machine. There is much scope for changing these settings for more power and faster performance. I have selected settings that work ok and are just powerful enough so the axis can be stopped on meeting too much resistance without hopefully too much damage if things go wrong. You may want to experiment with these settings to suit your requirements so feel free.

 

These are the dip switch settings on the stepper motor drivers.

 

Z Axis (Saddle)

SW1 ON

SW2 OFF

SW3 ON

SW4 ON

SW5 ON

SW6 OFF

SW7 OFF

SW8 OFF

 

1.46 A Peak

800pulses/rev

1 rev = 0.100”

 

 

 

X Axis (Cross slide)

SW1 ON

SW2 OFF

SW3 ON

SW4 ON

SW5 OFF

SW6 ON

SW7 ON

SW8 ON

 

1.46A Peak

400pulses/rev

1 rev = 0.005

 

 

 

A Axis (Headstock)

SW1 ON

SW2 OFF

SW3 ON

SW4 ON

SW5 OFF

SW6 ON

SW7 ON

SW8 ON

 

1.91A Peak

400pulses/rev

1 rev = 4°

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited By Alan Jackson on 16/10/2014 10:38:10

16/10/2014 10:01:54

Hi Andrew and Neil,

I have looked at the original text and the stepper motor settings seem to have got slightly out of sync in the MEW files. Here below was what was intended. Hope this clarifies things.

Regards

Alan

 

 

Stepper Motor Settings

Here are the settings I have been using on my machine. There is much scope for changing these settings for more power and faster performance. I have selected settings that work ok and are just powerful enough so the axis can be stopped on meeting too much resistance without hopefully too much damage if things go wrong. You may want to experiment with these settings to suit your requirements so feel free.

 

These are the dip switch settings on the stepper motor drivers.

 

Z Axis (Saddle) X Axis (Cross slide) A Axis (Headstock)

SW1 OFF SW1 OFF SW1 ON

SW2 ON SW2 ON SW2 OFF

SW3 ON SW3 ON SW3 ON

SW4 ON SW4 ON SW4 ON

SW5 ON SW5 OFF SW5 OFF

SW6 OFF SW6 ON SW6 ON

SW7 ON SW7 ON SW7 ON

SW8 ON SW8 ON SW7 ON

 

1.46 A Peak 1.46A Peak 1.91A Peak

800pulses/rev 400pulses/rev 400pulses/rev

1 rev = 0.100” 1 rev = 0.005” 1 rev = 4°

 

Something seems to go wrong in sending this, because what I sent shows the thee axes Z, X & A as headers with the individual sets of information listed below each axis., not like is shown in the MEW post. I will rearrange this text to show it better in the MEW post, because otherwise this will just add confusion to something I was trying to show as a simplification.

Edited By Alan Jackson on 16/10/2014 10:07:26

16/10/2014 09:43:33

Yes i think you are correct Michael. It seems to be a pdf error, the last line states "1 rev =4(square symbol)" should read "1 rev = 4 degrees" . I do not know how to input the degree symbol and neither does the pdf system. The whole data here is just a copy from the computer files and the pdf conversion has imported this error. I could correct this and resend it to Neil if it is deemed neccessary. Well spotted.

Regards

Alan

Thread: Favourite Engineering quotes.
26/09/2014 10:03:24

Here is a draughtsman's one. "You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead"

Alan

Edited By Alan Jackson on 26/09/2014 10:03:42

Thread: What pulleys to use for a milling machine and VFD.
07/08/2014 10:28:55

I have added a Polyvee drive to the Dore Westbury milling head on my Tom Senior M1 milling machine. It has three belt pulleys but I rarely use the other pulleys just the mid range and an inverter control to the half HP motor. This works very well. I Was going to add a couple of photos in my photos section, but I cannot not see how to do it. Has something changed? Found it under "Albums," Who would have thought it?

Alan

Edited By Alan Jackson on 07/08/2014 10:42:06

Edited By Alan Jackson on 07/08/2014 10:53:29

Thread: Granite Lathe Platform
12/06/2014 10:51:30

That at least gives a new dimension to turning in your grave.

Alan

Thread: Design & Machining Bevel Gears in MEW 216
08/05/2014 10:08:03

I would like to congratulate Andrew Johnston for his well researched and concise article on bevel gears. While I have no intention of doing the same thing, even if I had his skills, it is nice to see how he mastered CAD and CAM to get his great results. Looks like its going to be a great traction engine.

Alan

Thread: supercharged V12 2 stroke
09/04/2014 10:09:18

Dean, you cannot stop now. This work of art as you have shown is full of trials and tribulations and "can't be bothereditess" is the hurdle you must (just for your fans, me included) overcome. More power required Egore.

Alan

Thread: Fibre optic clock
02/04/2014 11:26:52

I have just tuned into this thread and learnt a lot about steampunkery etc and I am also very pleased to be able to see such originality, creativity and brilliant craftsmanship, superb.

Alan

Thread: Lathe facing convex or concave
22/03/2014 11:03:15

Assuming at first that the lathe mandrel axis is parallel to the bedways. and the lathe turns parallel. I think the best way to find out how accurate the cross slide axis is at right angles to the lathe mandrel axis is to do this. Place a parallel flat bar, approximately centrally, lightly clamped in the three or four jaw chuck. The length of the bar should be at least long enough to cover the full cross slide travel. Put a dial indicator on the cross slide or it can be mounted in the tool holder on the topslide. Bring the dial indicator into contact with one end of the horizontal bar and note the reading. Rotate the mandrel 180 degrees and again note the reading. Adjust the bar so that the two readings are equal. The outer face of the bar is now at right angles to the mandrel axis. With the bar set horizontally the dial indicator can now be traversed along the bar using the full travel of the cross slide to get a reading of the cross slide axis at right angles to the mandrel axis. (You can do this with the saddle locked and unlocked to note any difference). This will now tell you where the error, if any, lies. The only way this error can be corrected is to remove metal from the guide surface of either the saddle cross slide guide (front vee slide surface) or from the saddle bed guideway to get the cross slide guideway at right angles to the mandrel axis. It is probably easier to correct the error on the saddle bed guideway because it avoids having the mess with the parallel guideways of the crosslide. This may sound a dramatic fix but it is probably means only a few thou will be removed to get the desired result.

Alan

Edited By Alan Jackson on 22/03/2014 11:04:40

Edited By Alan Jackson on 22/03/2014 11:11:48

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