Member postings for russell

my bench is made of 3" x 8" redgum garden timber 'sleepers', took a while to season, but now its as stable as you could want. Initally i dowelled and glued, but as it dried it moved and split, so i drilled holes all the way through and bolted. (all-thread, with counterbores for nuts. )

the legs were 3x5 fence posts, but probably a bit lighter and bolted to floor/wall would be better.

Its as solid as anyone could want, i can hammer in the middle with virtually no bounce. The big drawback is it is a major effort to move, around 80Kg just for the top.

i have small chests of drawers underneath.

If money was less an object, then flatpack kitchen cupboards/drawers would be nice, with a 38mm benchtop, or a couple of layers of thinner board well screwed or glued together. 1" thick is a bit thin for hammering on. A nice smooth laminate on top would be nice, but then one hesitates to drill holes in it to bolt things down...

Of course, i suppose it all depends on what you plan to do on your bench...

- russ

the gremlins in my shed aren't little... took the imperial drawbar for my mill, hid it for months, returned it a few days after i invested hard-earned in an overpriced 9/16 threaded rod and nuts and made a replacement.

russ

i can breathe again then!

i had wondered if perhaps there was material around making tooling for it as a follow-on.

perhaps an opportunity for a budding writer...

thanks for checking DC1.

-russ

this article concluded 'to be continued', but 3 mags later, still no sign. A bit disappointing when such a simple project is split over 2 months, when 'copper mining in Spain', has 3 consecutive issues so far. Interesting though it may be, it is not model engineering.

Is the press article 'in the bag' so to speak, or just a maybe?

regards

russ

i get a message 'this is subscriber only content' when i try to access any digital edition. I am also advised that there is no record of my subscriber number in my profile. i checked my profile, the number is recorded, hasn't expired, and was working yesterday. i've also logged on again.

any one else with an issue?

russell

well, from the links given there are a few differences. (presimably, you meant to say you DONT need the accuracy..)

the 'engineer' drill has a lower bottom speed, higher top speed, bigger motor, bigger chuck and weighs almost twice as much:

therefore you could expect to: drill bigger holes in metal; drill small holes more happily; less flex (i am staggered how much my DP flexes when pushing a drill into steel). and height changing is a necessity, without the rack it would be a real nuisance. (but there are ways of overcoming that using counter balances or struts).

i've had a quick look at what is on offer locally (Oz) - in comparison your engineering one seems quite low priced, but the ones i've found have bigger motors (say 500-750 W) ,weigh much more, and have 16 speed. mind you, i set mine on a fairly low speed and have never changed it since...

i suppose it depends on what you want to do with it, how often, and whether you have other plans for the extra budget required.

-hope this helps.

russ

which represents the biggest problem of all - remembering what one actually has! (not to mention where one put it...)

you could try a (wood working) carbide router bit.

alleged to work in Al.

-russ

Strictly i would expect any 'brightening' to remove material. The dull surface is typically an oxide layer, where metal has been oxidised. Making it shiny usually involves removing it, thus, loss of metal. but to all intents and purposes the metal has been lost already. polish isnt going to remove much.

of course, it will oxidise again eventually, possibly sooner rather than later, unless you coat it with something. But if you are worried about loss of metal from polishing, building up with a clear coat will be even more significant.

-russ

you could try 'Ctrl-F5' . It sounds like a corrupt file in your cache, ctrl-F5 is a full refresh, and should refetch everything instead of just checking for the latest version. Failing that, clearing the cache should work.

-russ

neither...

electrolytic cleaning is more or less a 'reverse electroplate' process - the soda or whatever is just to make the water conductive. I use Sodium Hydroxide, (caustic soda) on the basis that that was at the front of the shelf. I convinced myself that it would also act to remove any grease/oil on the surface, but at 2 teaspoons to a barrel i doubt it would have any effect anyway.

regards

russell

Perhaps I was just lucky, but the inverter I found, from 'PowTran' (via Ebay) provided 415 out, and it was at the bottom end of the price range. That avoided the star-delta change although my motor was dual voltage.

One problem i didnt expect converting a 3phase mill to run off a 3 phase VFD is that the built in light expects to run off 415 volts, and that is only available when the motor is running, (not a big deal, need to install a new transformer and globe, but still, its another hours work), and the original NVR switch, which i had planned to use as an emergency stop, with the original interlocks on covers etc, won't hold in with just the load of the inverter.

The wiring job therefore turned out bigger than i had expected.

-regards, russell

there are electronic types available which dont rely on conductivity of the material, but on movement of the contact probe.

In fact, one of the members of MSMEE (melbourne SMEE) has built his own based on his interpretation of a patent found 'on the net'. Cant remember the patent owner right now, but big in measuring tools...

It has 3 pairs of contacts (ball bearings) arranged in a circle (120 deg apart) and a spring loaded disk with contacts which sit between the balls. All is connected in series with a lamp. ANY movement of the probe, which is perpendicular to the disk, breaks the circuit.

he checked it against a 'real' one, with fine results. (he used a commercial probe, as for any edge finder its essential to know the precise dimension of the probe...)

- russ

Just had a thought...as its not 'spinning' when in use, its clearly essential the probe is concentric with its mounting spindle.  I dont think that is a consideration with the mechanical 2piece spring loaded one, so it probably requires more care to build...although the last 'how to' article i read on making one suggested that a cylindrical grinder was an essential tool in its construction.)

Edited By russell on 29/06/2012 04:51:42

don't forget though, that the direct modelling EXPRESS product is free....a free version of a high end product can better a paid version of a cheap product...if you can live without official support.

(of course, it aint necessarily so...)

i agree, open source can produce great code, although sometimes usability isnt as good, it seems interface/usability experts aren't so interested in open source.

Can anyone advise if there is any level of interoperability between different 3D products? Ie, is it likely that a model built in one tool can be imported to another? (in the event creo goes belly up...)

-russell

Hi MichaelG

my wife and i use Inkscape to develop designs for her paper cutter - (effectively a sign cutter) - this functions like a roll plotter, except with a sharp knife instead of a pen...

We found it fairly straightforward to learn. Somethings dont work as you'd first expect, and there is the odd bug, but in general its pretty good.

I decided it wasnt really suitable for 'engineering' type drawings, although i have no doubt it could be used for that. (i'm currently trying to learn CREOElements/ Direct Modelling Express which is a free 3D package. )

I've not tried g code in any shape or form so cant comment on that part...

Edited By russell on 28/06/2012 04:06:59

get yourself a 'diamond tool holder' - see lots of posts in lots of forums. easy to sharpen, great for standard turning (external diameter reduction and facing). Best thing i ever bought for my lathe.

(there are several designs for homemade 'tangential holders' which all do the same thing if you are up to it.)

-russ

Edited By russell on 17/06/2012 01:55:34

you have to be signed in for 'default to last' to work. and it doesnt seem to work when picking a thread from the last few displayed on the home page - i usually pick a message from there, read it, then select 'latest posts' - then it does jump to the last page...

-russ (also in Oz)

i found on IE8 that i had to use 'compatabiity mode' ( the little broken page pic next to the address bar) to fix this - happened on almost every post. Chrome doesnt have the problem. (unless there is a long link...)

-russell