Member postings for Mike Poole

Sensorless flux vector can maintain good torque down to a few hz, it uses some very complex maths to approximate the position of the rotor and hence improve low speed torque. Some inverters can use an encoder to to give rotor position and give 100% torque at 0rpm. These are not in the price bracket of the hobbiest but the sensor less type are, and worth having, remember that cooling will be compromised at low speeds. You will only have full torque but not full power, Using mechanical speed reduction maintains the power and multiplies the torque, using the extreme range of an inverter will not defy the laws of mechanics. I use a flux vector inverter on my Myford with a 1hp motor which is over motored for the lathe but gives a wide useful range. I still change belt range for the extremes of speed, but being able to adjust the speed to get the tool cutting sweetly is most useful. Much work will fall into the useful range in the mid speeds and a bit fast or a bit slow is no problem and swapping belts is not required too often.

Mike

Edited By Michael Poole on 24/07/2016 19:22:38

Brick cleaner as promoted a number of times on this site is very effective on steel but death to aluminium, I left an aluminium label on one item and a few hours later it was gone. Citric acid seems good for aluminium it was used to clean the wreck of the German plane they pulled out of the briney, a friend of mine used it to clean some unobtainable Honda radiators successfully(they were clogged and causing overheating) after a week long soak they kept the engine cool again.

Mike

I bought a Rapidor Manchester for 25 quid in A1 condition, the only problem is I can't resist watching it work instead of getting on with something else. It is very pleasurable to watch though.

Mike

I would check that the motor can be wired for delta which will give you a good choice of inverters to choose from, if delta connection is not possible with out digging the star point out of the windings then you are limited to one of the inverters that claim to give a 400v output from a single phase input. I would be interested to know how they do that.

Mike

I see from the link what they are up to, a similar fiddle to the 87hz trick.

Edited By Michael Poole on 22/07/2016 19:22:51

I would appear that the power consumption of a smart meter is not wildly different from an electo-mech type, the smart type must consume no more than 4.6W and the old type may use arround 4W on full load.

Mike

I doubt that the smart meter uses much more power than the electro mechanical type of watt hour meter, it is very difficult to measure something without consuming some of what you are trying to measure, with electronic measuring equipment it can have very high input impedance and Hall effect devices have very little effect on the source being measured so we might trade the losses from an old style meter for the load of the logging electronics and possibly maintain the status quo.

Mike

I have been down the Myford vertical slide and Rodney route and found that they do work as witnessed by many fine models having been built using this equipment (not by me). Having used industrial milling machines I am aware how limited these devices are and invested in a Warco VMC, still a significant contrast to industrial machines but a big step up from lathe milling. It is possible to do much of the work done by a milling machine with chisels, saws and files but this requires great skill and effort. The size of the work envelope even using the long cross slide is small but if it can accommodate the work envisaged it may be a solution to embrace, but I suspect when you meet the limitations you will have a milling machine on your wish list but remember that buying the machine is only the beginning of the costs. Using accessories soon uses up the daylight on the Rodney and the Amolco, a small vice and cutter holder wil use a few inches, using finger collets will maximise the useable height, power feed from the lead screw is possible but the throat depth on the Rodney is limited a little more on the Amolco fine down feed is available on both(manual) using a vertical slide gives plenty of effective daylight if you wish to use a boring head, small rotary tables can be used on the vertical slide but the daylight is an issue with the attachments. There are many creative setups to do jobs that are really too big for the machine but with care they work

Mike

Edited By Michael Poole on 18/07/2016 18:11:31

Edited By Michael Poole on 18/07/2016 18:43:44

I would imagine the reference is from the dot matrix tape and a camera, so once you are happy that the cutter is at the start point the cnc will adjust the cutter as you move the base. could be useful for site work as you only need to stick the dot tape down and the you can route a complex hole or shape anywhere you like.

Mike

Building a one off lock would probably be more secure than a commercial item as no one will know how it works even if standard techniques are used and you will know who has the keys and Timpsons won't have a blank to cut a duplicate.

Mike

I managed to lock my keys in my car recently and decided to break a small window to reach the keys, in front of a bus queue I repeatedly hit the window until it smashed, no one said a word. One of the motorcycle magazines set up a bike in a busy shopping area and pulled up in a van and loaded bike into it with alarm going off and locks still on, no one said a word.

Mike

Hi Martin, with your background I am sure you know the good locks from the bad but I bet that millions of British front doors would be very vulnerable to easily available equipment and a competent locksmith would open the door very quickly with no damage. Some of the Cowboys have appeared on tv whose first resort is to drill the lock and charge a fortune for replacement, the expert on the program said the lock could be opened easily by a competent locksmith with no damage. The demonstrations on the Internet are something of a double edged sword, it makes you realise that some locks are for privacy type use only but if you want security you will need to spend some serious money on locks and then look at the next vulnerable access points and address them. The downside is that it informs the criminal minded as well but they might know these thing anyway.

Mike

Tony, you will probably be shocked at how easy a Yale type lock is to pick. This is probably why they are not recommended by police or insurance companies, if I forget my work keys I find it quicker to pick the lock with a paper clip than go home and get the keys.

Mike

Using my teeth as wire strippers I split a lower incisor and later when biting into something the entire front of the tooth broke off. My dentist used a white type filling to repair the tooth, he did not hold high hopes of the durability of this repair but 18 months later it is holding up well and looking in the mirror I struggle to see which tooth it was. I suspect the future will require a much more expensive repair but so far am really impressed. I also now look a bit harder for the wire strippers.

Mike

Now that woodscrews all seem to be hardend the attrition on screwdrivers or bits seems to be severe, building my workshop using a drill driver showed how short the life could be of even decent quality bits. Fortunately reasonable quality bits are not outrageously expensive and should be replaced when wear becomes an issue.

Mike

I think l could make a one off that worked, but holding the tolerances of a commercial Yale lock would be an entirely different ballgame.

Mike

Having taken a Yale type lock apart to see how it worked it quickly became apparent how to pick this type of lock. YouTube makes you realise that you may as well leave your doors open as the only people who are deterred by a lock are honest people anyway. The equipment available on eBay can open most locks in seconds, very scary. Locksmiths seem to be some of the biggest crooks when you realise how easy it is to open a lock and the fees they charge for doing it.

Mike

I was at Thame Show when my casual interest in the Tesla on display attracted the salesman. I was concerned about the range and longevity of batteries, invited to sit in car he demonstrated the availability of charging points on my chosen journey to the south of France. Tesla fast charging points could put in 80% of the charge in 40 mins. As my long distance trips are punctuated by coffee and comfort breaks this made the 790 mile trip very doable. The charging points were free so a zero fuel cost. Range of the batteries decreased by about 10% over 7 years So not too much to worry about there. I was impressed by the practicality but the price of the car was still out of my range even when the whole life package was taken into to account. Don't hold me to the figures but I don't think I am far out.

Mike

I used to be famous for my messy desk but always amazed people when I could find anything in an instant. My workshop has now got too many things for my failing memory to keep track of so a logical system is going to be implemented to save me remembering where things are. This is going to be hard as being a messy worker for the last 50 years is going to be difficult to change.

Mike

I was taught to use a packing strip on top of a tool bit to spread the load of the screws.With the T00 holders the screws are usually Allen type which are tough rather than hard but on larger sizes and with old style 4 way tool posts the screws were probably left pretty hard to minimise wear to the square head and mushroom effect on the tips. I do not like to see screw marks on boring bars or tip holders and it is little trouble to keep some strips to take the marks rather than the tooling. With solid HSS tools they do not mark easily but to spread the contact area is probably good on small bits to avoid the possibility of fracture.

Mike

I have not used Acad for years but I seem to remember that redraw cleared stuff away that made things untidy.

Mike