Member postings for Tony Jeffree

Just spotted a slight typo in the text of the wooden mill article - the author wrongly refers to the spindle unit that he is using as being from a Sherline mill; it is in fact a Taig (Peatol) mill spindle, which would be obvious to any Taig or Sherline users reading the article, but might confuse others.

Regards,

Tony

Nothing at all wrong with wood - it was after all one of the earliest engineering materials. It is a good choice for making light duty machines - for example, it would make a good choice for something similar to the RepRap machines, and was the subject of a light duty router design in MEW fairly recently. As Michael observed, articles like this stimulate the brain cell.

Regards,

Tony

I agree - an excellent article.

Regards,

Tony

The standard type (with the metal fastners). I have replaced both belts.

Regards,

Tony

I bought T-link belts for my ML-7 a while back from **LINK** - they have worked very well for me, no worse than a standard belt slip-wise and much less vibration.

Regards,

Tony

Martin -

My professional background is in IT - I am a Chartered Engineer, but the route to that was via software engineering, not any of the more traditional engineering disciplines. So career-wise the early years were in software development for process control (controlling chemical plant, water purification plant, etc), then I moved into data communications and local area networks, and for most of the last 30 years I have been heavily involved in ISO and IEEE standards development for local area networking standards. If you use Ethernet and/or WiFi to access the internet, the equipment that makes it possible makes use of specifications that I had a hand in developing.

My interest in things mechanical has been pretty much life-long though - I was fascinated by clock mechanisms as a schoolboy and "repaired" various clocks with varying degrees of success, having only basic hand tools available at the time. It is only in the last 20 years or so that I have been able to establish a "proper" metal workshop, starting with a Peatol lathe which I used to make my first (and so far, only!) clock from sheet brass and bar stock. That experience caused me to get interested in CNC; having built a dividing head for my Peatol (which was also my first foray into writing for MEW), I discovered the delights of cutting "thin" gear teeth because your mind wanders after the first 2 or 3 cuts and you lose track of how many turns of the handle you have done. This made me think that there must be an easier way, and seeing an early CNC mill on display at the Peatol stand in Donnington one year, I realised what that easier way was. I bought the mill, developed a stepper-driven dividing head for it (also written up for MEW), and used the combination to cut the wheels for the clock. The mill also came in very useful for cutting out the clock plates and engraving the chapter ring.

Since then I have done various bits of CNC-related stuff, designed and built the Divisionmaster automatic division system, etc. etc., but haven't quite got back to the original plan, which was to build clocks. However, I am working on it!

Regards,

Tony

Edited By Tony Jeffree on 08/07/2012 12:27:32

Hi David -

You obviously missed your vocation

Regards,

Tony

Yep - exactly so. Drawings of any significant complexity share this characteristic with software - the one thing that you can always say about a piece of software is that it has bugs. Interestingly, as David has observed, every time you attempt to fix a bug in a programme (or a mistake in a drawing) you run the risk of introducing more problems that weren't there before, whether or not the original bug gets fixed in the process; also, the fact that a "bug" has been reported is no guarantee that the problem reported really is a problem or just a misinterpretation on the part of the reader/user.

Consequently, maintaining software of any kind, be it drawings, programmes, or whatever else, is a non-trivial problem, and frankly, one that My Hobbystore as an organization isn't geared up to handle - if it was, you could probably add a zero onto the price of the magazine (seriously), and I don't think any of us, including My Hobbystore, would be up for that.

IBM used to track the rate of bug reports on each software package they released & it goes through a repeatable pattern - initially, a high rate of reports (and fixes to them) when the package is first released, then it plateaus out as the major and obvious bugs are dealt with, then the rate starts to rise again as the fixes to the more obscure bugs start to generate more problems than they solve. At that point, they used to stop attempting to fix any further bugs, and (if necessary) started work on a total rewrite. But the point here is that you will never reach the point where there are no bugs to fix.

So, "Fit for purpose"? Most definitely yes - the purpose of the articles & designs published in these mags and in the re-printed plans is to provide a starting point and ideas for the budding Model Engineer to work with and to develop his/her creative abilities; emphasis on "starting point" and "Engineer" here - they aren't intended to be instructions provided to a production team in a factory. If you are expecting to be able to follow one of these drawings blindly, without applying any engineering thought and without checking that everything you see on the paper is correct, then it is YOU that is not fit for purpose, not the drawing.

I have built things over the years from various articles published in the various ME mags and books; I don't think there has been a single instance where I can say, hand on heart, that the drawings/build instructions were 100% accurate; equally, there hasn't been a single instance where I haven't said to myself "There's a better way of doing that" and followed a different path. Sometimes the different path has proved to be a dead end, and I have realised that I should have done what was suggested; other times, my ideas have improved on the original. Either way, you come out of the process knowing more about ME than when you started, and to me, that is the real purpose.

Regards,

Tony

Edited By Tony Jeffree on 01/07/2012 12:42:21

...but unfortunately, for that reason, it only becomes self-aligning when the hole is deeper than the "D" section of the drill. So you need a pilot hole, or a guide block of some kind, that is at least that deep to get it started properly.

Regards,

Tony

I had a Drill Doctor for a while; they are fitted as standard with a diamond wheel, and are most certainly intended for use on steel.

Regards,

Tony

That's ab-surd!

Regards,

Tony

either that or you're being deliberately obtuse...

Neil -

Too much more of this hyper-bolics & we will all be under the cosh.

Regards,

Tony

Well, they were clearly either real or imaginary...

Regards,

Tony

PS: I am assuming that people understood the "thou" pun too.

It all goes to show that units of measure are a pain in the ares. Mind you, after a hectoliter of best scotch, you would have a wee pain in the wallet, not to mention the head

Regards,

Tony

...and those Metric bigots all seem to be just a bit too "holier than thou" don't they?

I'll get my coat...

Regards,

Tony

Presumably it has been decimated...?

Regards,

Tony

One of the important considerations when buying an expensive machine is what kind of support is offered by the dealer, by whom, what it costs, and how quickly you can expect it to be available. I don't know how Tormach support their machines in the UK, but I was told by one of the chaps on the Syil stand at Harrogate that they farm out their support to a guy that does CNC support as a part time/2nd job (he is an airline pilot apparently!) and he charges £25/hour. Quite what happens if you want some support & he is somewere in Foreign for the next few days wasn't explained to me; also I didn't ask at the time whether there is any element of support "bundled" with a new machine, e.g., to install/set it up.

Regards,

Tony

Outstanding machine. He doesn't come from Barking by any chance...?

Regards,

Tony

Will these be bribes to keep us re-subscribing too, or do we have to unsubscribe & then resubscribe to take advantage?

Regards,

Tony