Member postings for Swarf Maker

Unmatched belts can certainly cause some strange noises/vibrations/patterns in the finish. If you are experiencing any of these effects you could try operating with just a single belt. That is what I have done on both of my Master 2500 lathes and even though I work them hard, I don't spend all day taking huge cuts as would have perhaps been the case in a production environment. As a consequence all belt derived artifacts no longer arise, but a the same time there is no loss of transmitted power at the levels I require.

The removed belt becomes a spare for when it may be needed, although at least 10 years have gone by with no requirement!

That is a good motor configuration to have, but you do need to simulate a proper 400v 3 phase supply. As a general observation forget VFD's. A well specified rotary converter will serve very well for this. I have several 400v 3 phase machines with both single and two speed motors and a wide variation in power requirements. My 5HP rotary hums away quietly and serves all of the machines very adequately.

The headstock noise, along with the gearbox, driven as it is in that demo is typical 600 group lathe (Colchester/Harrison) noise - and usually noisier in reverse.

But if, as stated by Neil "the archives are not a significant source of income", what is MTM's objection to the old 'Flash' issues being put into a more accessible format, even with the 'risk' of them being pirated?

The demand for them, as perceived by MTM, is seemingly low and thus should be as unattractive to the pirates as it is to MTM.

I have more sympathy with the position regarding current HTML5 issues but the older archives can surely be treated as a separate, low financial risk, issue.

Andrew Tinsley, the 'as supplied' standard chuck key for these chucks has the hexagon key on one end of the 'T' bar, so as 'ega' says, plenty of leverage!

Vulnerable and registered? Makes no difference here. None of the supermarkets around here have the capacity to deliver and Sainsburys wont even allow me to register with them. I can occasionally get a click and collect Waitrose slot for 3 weeks hence, but only for a store that is 15 miles away. By that time there have been so many changes in stock levels that have led to items being flagged as unavailable, that the 'basket' has to be re-filled just before the click and collect date. Last time that happened they brought the time forward and I only found out by accident that I had a virtually empty 'basket'!

I am not complaining - just stating some of the weaknesses in the systems as they stand. It is important to acknowledge the amount of effort that has been expended in getting to the point where so many people are being supported. There will always be gaps and weaknesses to fall through.

Fortunately the neighbours, who are much better placed than I, have had deliveries for years and are still receiving them. They kindly add essentials to their order for my benefit - for which I am grateful. The other nice thing that has come out of this is the effort that the local greengrocer, butcher and craft brewery have put into adapting their businesses. They now serve my needs and although they had not previously had my business, they will from now on - always assuming that the wife and I survive!.

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Every thing that you Raphael, and your colleagues do, is truly appreciated by anybody with a modicum of understanding.

Unfortunately, circumstances such as these can illuminate the differences in both intellect and understanding across the wide ranging members of our society.

I sincerely hope that you and your colleagues remain safe, both for your own sakes and for the rest of us.

There are some good 'biking' roads near me. They are so good that a 50mph speed limit has been imposed to try and curb the number of 'biker' fatalities. Summer Sundays the road becomes a race track where it would seem that the objective is not to let your speed fall below the 50mph speed limit.

Although I live 2 miles away, the sound of the screaming engines and accompanying clutch-less gear changes is actually intrusive as these bikes travel a twisty length of around 4 miles. There is all too frequently an intermission as the sirens of the police and ambulance vehicles attend the latest carnage.

Now we are confined to barracks of course, but that means nothing has changed for these inconsiderate idiots. All day long the 'race track' has been active and no doubt that, with reduced traffic, new end-to-end records have been set.

I anticipate that anyone 'losing it' would still expect to be put back together by our over-stretched hospital staff. I cannot find polite words to convey how I feel about their irresponsible actions.

This kind of behaviour is why I am a 'motorcyclist' and not a 'biker'!

And the sky is silent and the birds are singing - now we can hear them!

I agree that Lars' videos are very good but unfortunately they are now 4 years or so out of date so the user interface for the software has evolved. He does cover the basics well though and as I said above, the principles are still the same.

You might be better off by using the F360 tutorials and learning, rather than Youtube - although some of those are Autodesk postings.

With F360 open, click the '?' at top right, select 'Learning & Documentation' and then 'Self-Paced Learning'.

Be aware that you may encounter screens that don't reflect the current updated status of the software, although the underlying functionality remains unchanged. Just that some of the menu items are in a different place!

Goes against the requirement for working further into old age as well.

NOS is an abbreviation for New Old Stock. Got beaten to the answer!

Edited By Swarf Maker on 21/12/2019 14:16:11

Well, I see the nice new cable with its plug going into the big switch box. What I don't see are any wires coming from the output contact set of that switch and into the lathe itself. Are they routed through the backplate of that switch? There is a hole for the wires to come out but nothing visible.

There seems to be some mis-reading of the circuit diagram going on here. The top set of switch contacts (6 off) in the upper part of the diagram all relate to the Santon switch.

Rotating the switch from 'OFF' to 'ON' just turns on the coolant pump and the contactor has no part in this.

Rotating the switch further additionally applies power to the terminals of the 'Motor Starter' (contactor). A contactor is used here to avoid the switch load on the Santon switch and to provide 'no-volt' release in the event of a power failure. It may also incorporate a means of disconnecting power to the motor if too much current is being taken.

I will leave things at that point rather than confuse the points made above.

As stated in the earlier part of my posting, you can still use F360 for free under a 'Personal' license. Everything will be as it was under the old 'startup' license except for some features that most hobby folk would not have used anyway.

There are some of us though who have been caught out as a consequence of not fitting into the current license structure. For example, I have used F360 to build up a comprehensive library of obsolete parts for a particular marque of motorcycle in the '30's era. This is for the record, not for any commercial purpose as even when a few new parts are made to these drawings, they are one-offs for individuals at their own expense. It's more akin to a museum archive activity.

It has been useful to use the collaboration aspects up until now as some of the contributors are spread around the globe. Some of them also have access to professional CAD software whose files I need to translate.

With a library of many hundreds of parts, assemblies and drawings I have to choose either to continue for free with a few limitations or to pay for the commercial license.

As many of us have in effect been Beta testers for this software which is still evolving, I certainly would not want to pay full price for a license. This special offer is perhaps a worthwhile thing for people like me though, where so much effort has already been invested.

And yes, I do have backups in generic file formats and could migrate to my other CAD packages or indeed another. However, F360 does suit my needs very well and it's ability to back-track the timeline and edit within assemblies is very useful.

I have no wish to promote the product but when Ian asked his question I saw that he was possibly confused by what Autodesk were doing. The reduced price offering, if it were to suit him, is not well advertised and I thought that he should be advised of it.

Ian, Are you quite clear about the new license structure for F360?

The previous 'free' license was confusingly called a 'startup' license because it's primary focus was on startup type businesses. Hobbyists were treated able to use the software under the same banner.

The new license structure separates hobby use - now called a 'Personal' license, from licenses issued to true startup business users.

If you are purely a hobby user then when your existing license comes up for renewal you you can renew with a 'Personal' license which continues to be free. You will however lose a few features such as collaborative working and the ability to import certain commercial file formats. Otherwise there is no difference.

There is a lot of confusion being expressed on the Autodesk F360 forums and Blogs, but that is the essence of the change.

Anybody who is currently operating with the free to use license can, until the end of this month, take up a special low price subscription offer of $310 (whatever that is in GBP +VAT) per annum in perpetuity.

It has taken a lot of effort for me to fully understand these changes (shame on Autodesk) but I think I have it cracked and can point you to various links on the Autodesk site for you to check it out. PM me if needed.

In my rural idyll we refer to 'cord wood'. By this is meant a piece of timber that would be included in a cord volume and as such would be approximately 4' long. After stacking that would be cut for 4 fire sized logs - or fewer if you had the Lord of the Manor's fire to feed!

In addition to the loss of collaboration facilities you also lose access to 'commercial file' translation - although open-standard file translation is still supported.

For those still confused, don't expect that the exchanges on the F360 forum will clear up much! However, it's still worth getting a word in.

If you choose not to change your licence you will still have access to all of the things that are being removed in the new licence until your current 'startup' licence comes up for renewal.

If you decide to go for a paid version, don't use the links that you are taken to by the banner. Instead, follow the link in a 'Blog' entitled 'New Free Fusion 360 Subscription Types' where a special offer, expiring end of October 2019, is posted.

All together now chaps!

It's a re-seating tool for water taps. The brass bodied kind of tap with a rubber washer.