Member postings for Mike Poole

I feel confident that I check properly without the recommended contortion, I also crack the door open to indicate that I am about to exit if I have missed anything passing me, a look through the gap for a last check and open the door. As a motorcyclist I would queue split but at a moderate speed and with super caution and observation.

Mike

I doubt there is such a thing as non warping wood but once wood has stabilised in a location that the temperature and humidity maintain reasonably constant levels it shouldn’t move much. A veneered man made board is much more likely to have reasonable stability and with some care can be very convincing as a solid board of timber

Mike

The maximus on the lathes archive seems to have the headstock cast with the bed, it is difficult to see if the bearing housing has a separate cap with two bolts or a single bolt to adjust the squeeze of the bearing. You say it has been repaired by welding so is it in a running condition or is the repair not completed? If you can post some pictures it would be helpful to see the problem.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 06/02/2022 13:48:25

The instinctive answer to the trolley problem is to save the most people but what if the single person was the one who was going to rid the world of cancer or dementia? The more you know of the future value of the decision you make could alter the decision but it is like you only know the quantity of people you could save.

Mike

When we no longer have to drive cars ourselves the signage on roads could be dispensed with as it could all be in the database for the navigation system. I sometimes wonder why every junction is different from all others, every aspect of a junction could be fairly rigidly defined and standardised. I know terrain is a factor but we do have the technology to move that around, obviously the roads in more ancient settlements are a difficult area as the modern vehicle requirements are rather different from the pedestrian and horse traffic that defined the original layout. It will be fascinating to see how things develop but unfortunately most of us will probably have checked out from this world before all the problems are sorted out and fusion power comes on line.

Mike

Lucy’s of Oxford used to generate their own electricity using diesel electric generators, they had a 1MW induction furnace to supply the casting shop. As an apprentice we visited their factory for a tour round, the main generating shop was unbelievably noisy with a number of generator sets running, another interesting thing they had was a private ASTA testing station which they used to test switchgear to destruction, this was powered by its own diesel generator. Unfortunately we were unable to witness a test but the damage to the railway sleeper lining to the test chamber bore some major gouges from previous tests. The inspection ports had six inch thick glass in the tiny windows.

Mike

The increase of 25p was 1/24th of the basic state pension so today would be £5.70 so it would still buy a pint and a bag of crisps if it had kept pace.

Mike

A morse taper only needs a light tap to grip enough to drive the drill so I don’t think the taper in the chuck needs too much of a hit to grip firmly, fitting a MT shank drill I would either press down on a piece of wood using the quill or give the drill a light tap with the Barson drift. I usually have a small copper mallet handy now to give the drill a light tap. Once you have run some drills near the capacity of the chuck the drilling pressure will secure the chuck but obviously you initially need the chuck to grip well enough to not slip. It does not need a severe beating to grip well.

Mike

The overload module can usually be set to reset automatically or manually, the stop button will often operate the reset button on the overload if manual reset is selected. The overload module has a contact wired into the NVR circuit so when an overload occurs it will trip the NVR. Reset may require a few minutes for the heaters and bimetal actuators to cool before the latches can be set again. There should be no need to open the box to reset the overload.

Mike

Yes, the full load current FLC is usually stated on the motor info. plate. The overload units usually have a current range of a few amps and an adjuster you set to match the FLC of your motor. The basic control is a box with push buttons and a contactor that has an operating coil that is suitable for your supply, for a single phase unit this will be somewhere in the range 220V to 240V typically. When you have your chosen motor then you will know the overload module required for the contactor box. Ideally the contactor and overload unit should be from the same manufacturer as they will fit together neatly.

Mike

Well that is a sensible balanced analysis of the changes. If cyclists and motorists use common courtesy and common sense there should be no problems. I got stitched up by a couple of cyclists once, driving on a B road with good visibility of two cyclists I decided to pass them without slowing too much, there was a small turning to the right which I had not allowed for the cyclists turning in to, one cyclist put his arm out and moved to the middle of the road, the other decided to stay on the left, the road is now completely blocked and I had to brake rather hard, I have to admit that I seriously misjudged that scenario but I feel the cyclist who moved to the middle did not note the speed with which I was approaching and contributed to the creation of a near miss. I fully accept that I should have read the situation better and slowed long before it became an emergency. It raised my heart rate but if I was one of the cyclists I would have needed a change of underwear. I traveled that road daily so I was totally familiar with the turning which has little use as it only goes to 4 houses but the cyclists manœvre was put your arm out and simultaneously move to the middle of the road, had I been the cyclist I would have indicated my intention to turn well before moving to the centre of the road which gives the motorist a bit more of a chance to respond to the situation. I feel it taught me a lesson but I wonder if the cyclist took anything from the event.

Mike

I think it was an 80th present from Edward Heath in 1971, it hasn’t changed since. It would have bought a pint and a bag of crisps then.

Mike

**LINK** **LINK**

the two components by IMO would make a starter with NVR function and motor protection overload, you are probably nearer to a Toolstation than you are to a rat these days. IMO are a good quality manufacturer.

**LINK**

This item from WEG is very attractively priced and although WEG are relatively new they are a large company based in Brazil and seem to be generating a good reputation. My personal choice would be the WEG as I feel reasonably comfortable that it would perform satisfactorily and the IMO is the thick end of a hundred quid and may or may not be a better device. The links are examples and you will need to select an overload with the range to cover your motors full load current and adjust to your exact requirement or in the case of the WEG select the unit to suit your motor. The IMO basic unit is for a 240v motor up to 4kW in power and will need the overload selected for your motor current. The WEG unit will need to be a single phase model to suit the motor you have. These are examples of what you are looking for so trawl the internet to see if there is a good deal to be found.

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Distribution_and_Switchgear_Index/DOL_Starters/index.html#Crompton_DOL_Starters

if you have a branch of TLC electrical near you this could be another option, again select a base unit and overload to suit your motor.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 04/02/2022 13:16:21

Inverter drive supermarket supply WEG Starters with overload fitted at very reasonable prices. A starter will include the NVR so once you have an NVR it is easy to incorporate remote EStop and cutoff switchs once the job is finished.

Mike

Hi Steve, I don’t know if you considered it but MDRO sell a summing unit that will make the display for Z show the result of moving the knee or the quill, it could be useful sometimes if you wish to move the quill and still know the position of the tool in Z. It does need both encoders to be quadrature type so a bit late now but it may be handy to know for future reference or somebody else contemplating displaying quill movement.

Mike

A 16mm shaft is a bit of an odd size, shafts are often 11mm,14mm then 19mm, double check that the shaft is not 5/8” which is 15.875mm. As the frame size is not on the plate then it would be useful to measure the bolt centres for the feet and the height of the shaft Centre from the foot mounting surface. There are plenty of drawings of motor dimensions to be found online and you may be looking at a motor around £100

Mike

A 3mm carbide end mill might need 30,000rpm to mill some aluminium at optimum speed, you are more likely to have not enough speed than too much to satisfy the calculated speed. Running slower than the theoretical speed will not do any harm but pay attention to whether the machine will have enough power at slow speeds to drive larger cutters, turning the speed down on an electronic control will also turn down the power available, mechanical speed reduction has the useful effect of multiplying torque and keeping the power up.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 03/02/2022 00:22:41

Motors do broadly follow various standards, the motor plate will often have the frame size as one of the parameters and this will define the mountings and shaft size and height. TEC have built a reputation for decent quality and a reasonable price, WEG are also a contender for an attractive price and quality. Google will find suppliers of both.

Mike

My apprenticeship was from sept. ‘72 to aug.’76 run under EITB guidance. The first year was run as a series of 5 week blocks with one block split into 2 weeks welding and 3 weeks sheet metalwork. Three 5 week blocks at the Tech.College were also part of the first year. The second year was when you got to choose which trade to follow and to an extent the most successful in the first year were given first choice. The electrical instructor called me to his office for a talk and from being a passionate metalworker he turned me to the dark side and electrical maintenance. The second year was supposed to be another year in the electrical training workshop with another set of block release at tech. The instructor returned to wales at Christmas and decided to go contracting with his brother so we were sent to the shop floor about nine months early. We moved to various areas in the factory which were all quite different, Press shop, Paint shop, Tool room, and various body build areas which were very different, we were making 5000 Marina bodies a week on one floor and 8 Rolls Royce bodies a day on another. The Rover P6 body was the last floor to run piecework in the factory and was a very different atmosphere, if a machine broke down the operator would be straight round to fetch you to fix the machine but the measured day worker didn’t care and would wait for someone to notice they had stopped. Our apprenticeship finished on your 20th birthday or after three and a half years so being August born I had an extra 5 months on apprentice pay compared to my mates. My absolute hate was the logbook and skill sheet task, I filled most of it in in the last few months with a number of semi fabricated jobs to get the skills ticked off. Some people produced beautifully written and illustrated logbooks but mine was an appalling mess to be hidden from any EITB inspection. I still have my EITB certificate of training somewhere but my indentures mean more to me. I think I still have the EITB module J2 and J22 books somewhere but much of it will be of little use these days.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 02/02/2022 13:32:54

Joe often uses a gentle puff to clear a vice of chips before repositioning a job, if I had air in my workshop I would do the same. As an apprentice blowing down was absolutely forbidden as was any fooling around with compressed air. One of the memorable warnings from the 3 day induction program was the compressed air safety. Pointing a 100psi airline at your skin could cause an embolism that could be fatal, Application of an airline to the rectum was also likely to result in death and I believe such an incident had occurred in the factory many years ago. Cleaning the weld spatter buildup from production jigs was done with a 200psi air blast with dry ice pellets, the noise is unbelievable and the chaps doing it would use foam earplugs and over ear defenders, leather gloves and a full visor and safety glasses and full dust suit hood and hat. The debris was blown out of the automated cells into the gangway where the cleaners would sweep it up with a ride on sweeper. This was a Saturday night job when only maintenance was being done and even if you had a job to do on the area being cleaned you would find something else to do as far away as possible from the area. A shop vac is a safe and effective way to clean machines and workshop after a rake and brush to clear the big stuff. Pick out all the bits you want to keep before they disappear up the vac though, I know this because if have had to go through the contents of the vac tub to recover bits and pieces.

Mike