Member postings for clivel

I bought a Noga some years ago - it has given sterling service right out of the box, still silky smooth the price is long since forgotten.

I was fortunate though, my local supplier just happened to have them on sale the day I went in to look for a DTI stand.

Clive

For completion's sake:

Ctrl + (control and +) will zoom in
Ctrl - (control and -) will zoom out.
Ctrl 0 (control and zero) will restore the default size.

Clive

Hi Pierre,
Some really good Unimat articles by Rex Tingley and others can be found in the Model Mechanics magazine. These include various bits of tooling, and even the complete build series for the "Sweet Sixteen" 16mmm to the foot traction engine built on the Unimat.

The good news is that the magazines are free to download from this website.

To do so, hover over FEATURES in the black toolbar near the top of the page, and then click on Magazine Reprints. You will find the list of Model Mechanics magazine ready to download at the bottom of the second page.

Clive

John,
Thanks for the advice, so far I really like Atom 3D, enough so that I am considering purchasing it. I'll wait until I have finished the MEW tutorial before deciding though.

Clive

Jason, Thanks for the link, on the assumption that the PDF tutorial is not much more than a reformatted version of the magazine articles it would probably be cheaper to buy the digital issue or I could just make a concerted effort to find the missing magazine in a box somewhere in the garage

Clive

When this tutorial was first released I successfully installed Atom 3D on my Linux laptop by running Windows in a VMWare Player virtual machine.

After confirming that it worked and never finding the time to go beyond the first tutorial, I eventually completely deleted the virtual machine as I was running low on disc space,

As an inveterate Linux user and open source proponent, I occasionally attempted to find a native Linux 3d CAD alternative in the intervening months. The most promising candidate was, of course, FreeCad but try as I might, I just couldn't bring myself to like it - I must have installed and then removed it three or four times.

Anyway, after procrastinating for months I eventually got around to upgrading my laptop hard drive which turned out to be a lot less painful a procedure than I imagined.

Now, with plenty of disc space and wanting to learn 3d CAD, I reinstalled the VMWare Player virtual machine and Windows. I fully expected to have to make do with a 30-day trial of Atom 3D but was gratified to find that the link given in MEW #274 is still active and still allowed one to install the 6 months trial.

This is great news for anyone who has access to the magazines and wants to work through the tutorial before deciding on whether to purchase a copy of Atom 3D.

I quickly whipped through the first tutorial, searched through my pile of back issues for the remaining tutorials, and found them all except for issue #275 which contains the second tutorial preventing me from making any further progress.

I vaguely recall that the tutorials could also be downloaded as a PDF, but can't seem to find the link, I would appreciate it if anyone is able to enlighten me.

Thanks,
Clive

Actually Lautard's "A Strokeagenius file rack" is quite nice despite the over-the-top description. It is compact and has a reasonably large capacity, but I doubt that it is unique.

Apparently, the specified lazy susan bearing was difficult to obtain in the UK, as a result, Tony Birkinshaw published a slightly modified version in MEW #62 Nov 1999 by under the title: "A Lazy Susan For A File Rack - A modified version of Guy Lautard's Strokeagenius file rack"

Clive

The South African Railway 4-8-4 Class 25 was built in the early 1950's. Ninety were Class 25C engines built with condensing equipment for use in the semi-desert Karoo, while fifty were Class 25NC built without the condensing equipment.

What is interesting is that David Wardale's famous Red Devil, SAR Class 26, was a rebuilt class 25NC.

Drawing of the full-size engines are available for purchase here: 25C Condensing 25NC Non-Condensing - also click on the links for photos of the engines.
However, I have no knowledge as to the quality of the drawings or what is included, I am only posting the links for informational purposes.

Clive

Edited By clivel on 11/06/2020 21:18:20

To my mind, the Unimat PC Basic is without a doubt the best Unimat that Emco ever made.

There is absolutely no comparison between the Unimat PC Basic and the Unimat SL other than a superficial similarity due to both having round bar-beds. However, the 20mm bars of the PC Basic bed are an order of magnitude more solid than the flimsy 12mm bars of the SL bed.

With its M14 x 1 spindle, the PC Basic is compatible with most Unimat 3 and 4 accessories. The exceptions being the few items that mount directly to the bed of which the only one I can think of offhand is the fixed steady, for which Emco provided one specifically for the PC Basic.

The PC Basic does however also offer a significant number of advantages when compared to the 3 or 4. Not only does it have a slightly larger capacity, 54mm centre height in comparison to the 46mm of the 3 and 4, but it also includes a variable speed DC motor, automatic fine feed and screwcutting gears.

I have had my Unimat PC BasIc for a number of years now, if within the budget definitely get yourself the Unimat ESX25 collet chuck along with a set of ER25 collets (they are compatible), the best investment I have made for the lathe and far more useful than ER16.
I use the collet chuck for almost everything, only switching to the 4 jaw chuck for items that don't fit. As for the top slide, mine sees very little use, but you might find different

The other purchase I have never regretted is the diamond tool from Eccentric Engineering who advertise on this site. Other than for some occasional boring it is essentially a permanent fixture on my lathe. It is the smallest size they carried, I think it was the T6, unfortunately they no longer seem to list it on their site.

Of course, nothing is perfect, the round bars and steel frame make for an extremely rigid little machine, but aren't as convenient for placing items such as a mag base for an indicator. The motor is not very powerful and easily stalled, although for the beginner this is actually an advantage and many a time saved me from doing serious damage to the machine the workpiece or myself.

And the most annoying of all is the placement of the power switches on the headstock, it is far too easy to lean on the power switch with the left hand while changing or tightening a chuck. It happened to me on more than one occasion. Partially due to the motor stalling, I was fortunate to not suffer injury or damage to the machine. To prevent this reoccurring I fitted a separate switch between the supply and the speed controller which I always make sure to turn off before changing or tightening the chuck.

And even though I bought a really nice Myford ML7 a year or two back, I still enjoy using the little Unimat for the smaller stuff, and it is very convenient having a second machine setup for secondary operations.

Clive

The details for Guy Lautard’s grease gun are apparently to be found in A Brief Treatise on Oiling Machine Tools priced at CDN$11 (about £7).

Unfortunately, however, he is not set up to take PayPal or credit cards, only bank drafts and cheques drawn on a Canadian bank which would likely increase the cost dramatically for anyone outside of Canada.

If anyone would like to order a copy and doesn't want to deal with the bank costs, as I am in Canada I would be happy to act as an intermediary, I can accept PayPal and then send him a cheque. Needless to say this would be at cost. Please feel free to contact me by private message if interested.

Clive

Edited By clivel on 29/05/2020 04:30:05

Then give serious consideration to the Sony RX100 III, IV or V. For most users there is not an enormous difference to choose between them so base your consideration on price.

The RX100 VI and VII with their 24-200mm (equivalent) zooms are insanely expensive, only for those where money is no object or someone who absolutely needs such a large zoom range in such a minute package.

The Sony RX100 line all share the same pocketable form factor and I doubt that you will find a more capable camera for the size. They are lovely cameras, excellent performers, and as mentioned earlier in this thread, I was all set to purchase one until I came across the Panasonic GX7.

If you do take a look at one, take your time handling it in the shop, for me, I found it actually too small making it difficult to hold, but you might find different.

Clive

The Micro Four Thirds Compact System Cameras from Panasonic, Olympus etc are considerably smaller and lighter than full-frame SLR style cameras yet offer many of the same benefits - albeit with a smaller sensor.

I bought a second hand Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 a year or so back, now sadly discontinued. For me, it offers the best of all worlds. Excellent image quality, the all-important viewfinder, which as already mentioned by Old Mart is absolutely essential in bright sunlight. interchangeable lenses, a pop-up flash which although I don't use it often is useful for fill-in purposes, all in a compact package that isn't too much of a burden to schlep around when travelling or visiting the track.

The camera came with a 12-32mm zoom lens (equivalent to 24-64mm on 35mm) which serves most of my needs, I supplemented it with a cheap Olympus 40-150 zoom (80-300mm equivalent) for the occasional shot of the jays in the back yard.

I was actually intending to buy a Sony RX100 IV when I went into the shop, while waiting to be served, browsing the trade-ins, I noticed the DMC-GX7. After comparing the two cameras, I was sold on the Panasonic, all of the features of the RX100 IV, plus the ability to accept interchangeable lenses although in a slightly larger and heavier package, which I actually preferred, the Sony RX100 camera although a marvel of modern technology is far too small to hold securely or comfortably, and of course even when new, the DMC-GX7 was considerably cheaper.

Although the DMC-GX7 has been discontinued, you may find old stock or take a look at the Lumix DMC-GX80 which is I believe the replacement.

Clive

As one of those overseas customers, I appreciate that MyTimeMedia is providing access to the archive to ensure that we are not subject to the vagaries of the postal system.

We have also been advised that we will not lose any issues, but what is not clear, is whether we will be receiving the missing issues once things return to normal, or whether the balance of our subscriptions will be made up by extending our subscriptions with newer issues.

As someone who spends their working day in front of a computer, I prefer to not spend my leisure hours in front of a screen as well, so I am not really enjoying reading the digital replacements, instead, I am hoping that I will eventually receive hard copies of the missing issues to catch up on my reading.

Clive

I don't recall seeing a commercial tailstock die holder for the Unimat, but they are not too difficult to make. I made mine from an article in the June 1979 issue of Model Mechanics magazine which I downloaded from this website.

To find the magazine, scroll up to the main menu bar - a black bar with white text: HOME FEATURES WORKSHOP .. etc.

If you hover your mouse over FEATURES, a little drop-down menu will open, choose "Magazine Reprints".
The Model Mechanics magazines are on the second page of the reprints, The issue you require can be found by clicking on "Model Mechanics Complete Issues for Download Parts 5 - 10" which will present you with a list of issues - The June 1979 issue is Vol 1 Issue 5.

The actual article is called "A tapping adaptor for the Unimat 3" by Peter Lumb
Clive

Richard Smith described an interesting tooling system for carbide inserts in the November 2016 issue (#248 ) of MEW: "A carbide insert based quick change tooling system for the lathe" subsequent articles included further details and expanded on the system.

I have been contemplating doing something similar for myself but haven't persevered as my diamond toolholder handles most of my needs for now.

I was wondering if anyone else had given this system a try?
Clive

I would like to purchase the Locomotives Large and Small magazine containing the Railmotor 3 article - Reeves still has a few issues so I am hoping that it is one of those, if someone could please let me have the issue number.
Alternatively, if anyone has a scan of the article that they could send me I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Clive

Unless you already have ER16 collets, instead of the ESX 16 chuck in the link above, you could consider the ESX 25 chuck for a larger holding capacity - https://www.emcomachinetools.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=5_69&product_id=424

Although these chucks are labelled as ESX 16 and ESX 25 they are compatible with ER collets. I bought the ESX 25 chuck a few years ago that I use it with a set of Vertex ER25 collets and have been very pleased with it.

Clive

Oh, I should have read your posting more closely, you do want to build LaserWeb4 from the source.

To do so, you will first need to install some development tools, I am not too familiar with Mac programming but you will probably need to install the Mac XCode development tools. Your script also makes use of git, yarn and npm. If any of these are not part of the Xcode development suite they will need to be installed separately.

Once you have the tools installed, open up a terminal, change to the directory containing the build.osx.sh file, make sure that the file has execute permission, and then execute it by typing:
./build.osx.sh

That should download the latest source code and build it.
Clive

Edited By clivel on 10/11/2019 15:46:12

What you have there is a "shell" script which is run from the command line in a terminal window. The "shell" is a program that processes the commands, two of the more popular shells are bash and zsh. It looks as if this particular script is used to build the application so unless you intend rebuilding it, is probably not really useful to you.

If you were a DOS user you may remember BAT files which ran a series of commands at the command line, a shell script is similar but vastly more powerful.

Comments in a shell script start with # so all text in your script that follows a # is ignored by the shell it is only there for the user's edification, all that is except for the first line:
#!/bin/sh which by convention indicate which application is used to execute the script, in this case /bin/sh (which is probably a link to the actual program),

The first thing your script does is set a few environment variables:
export SOMETHING=SOMETHING_ELSE

The content of an environment variable is retrieved by means of the $ symbol. So: for example using the "echo" command that displays text in the terminal e.g:

export XYZ=Hello
echo "The XYZ variable contains $XYZ"
would display
The XYZ variable contains Hello

That only just really touched the surface, if you are interested in learning more about shell scripts Google turned up some promising links when I searched for: introduction to shell script programming

Clive

A two-part series by Alan Jeeves; A ‘Swing’ Surface Grinder appeared in issues 45 and 46 of MEW (Sept/Oct 1997 and Nov 1997)

Clive