Member postings for Mike Poole

You could take a perverse pleasure from knowing that the manufacturer has fitted optional components hoping you will be tempted to pay for them and then not paying for them. I expect you have actually paid for the hardware when you buy the vehicle and then you have to pay to use them. I am sure hacks will emerge to switch on the options but as cars seem to be connected to the manufacturer these days it may need that feature disabling so it doesn’t snitch on your tampering.

Mike

It seems unnecessary to build a low performance engine with components that are stressed close to their limits. I realise that it is an aircraft engine and probably running for long periods nearer to its maximum performance than a road going vehicle. It is rather different to lose a cylinder on the ground than when high above it though.

Mike

The plugs which have the fork to retain the jaw screws should knock out from the front. This can be necessary if the socket of the screw has been damaged and requires repair or replacement. The screws are available as a spare part for the likes of Pratt Burnerd chucks but probably not easy to find for an import from the far east. When reinserting it is important to get the fork end correctly aligned before pressing in.

Mike

One of my memorable machining mistakes was during a turning phase test when I was an apprentice. I was cutting a thread when the instructor informed me that it will never fit the other part. A quick check around and I realised I had set the screwcutting gearbox incorrecty, to give me a chance at completing the test I had to remake the part for which he gave me a one hour extension to the test. As the rest of the group finished their test they were setting up other lathes to save me having to do chuck changes, thanks again lads. Despite having to hurry I got 10/10 for my test, the instructor John Hopkin didn’t mark me down for the mistake.

Mike

The rocker covers on the Trident are barely adequate, the web’s supposed to reinforce the holes for the sleeve nuts crack at the slightest hint of over tightening. Norman Hyde used to supply a much heavier replacement cover as this problem was common. A top end rebuild for gasket replacement was a regular event but even though I would say I have mechanical sympathy the threads in the soft aluminium give up with repeated assembly so I just helicoiled all the 1/4” threads before they gave up. I must find the enthusiasm to get it back on the road, I have now owned it for 45 years.

Mike

The lead screw has the end ready made to accept the large handwheel accessory, this was standard on the Super 7. Engage the half nuts and use the leadscrew to traverse the saddle accurately. The top slide can be set to other angles to make fine adjustment to the cut easier. 30° will give 0.001” off diameter for a 0.001” adjustment on the top slide scale, a touch under 6° will give 0.0001” adjustment

Mike

To cut a perfect metric thread you will need to include a 127 tooth gear in the train. It is rather impractical so many trains have been devised that will cut an approximate metric pitch, the approximations are so close that unless you have a high end metrology lab at your disposal then the error can be regarded as immeasurable and for most practical purposes will not be a problem, a 21 tooth gear is often used in the metric gear trains but is usually listed as an extra to the standard set. If cutting metric lead screws for accurate movement of a slide then the error may be exposed but for other less demanding applications there should not be a problem. BA threads have some very awkward metric pitches that people rarely screw cut, the small size is not usually a problem for tap and die work.

Mike

A friend buys cheapy power tools for his business use as the are likely to be stolen before they are out of guarantee. If you buy a top of the range tool you may drop or damage it and have a very expensive repair job. A budget model could be replaced without shedding too many tears. A budget gauge may well be entirely satisfactory as Hopper has found. A high end gauge will give long service but eventually it will probably need some maintenance which is quite a specialist task and not likely to be cheap. I would be inclined to not buy the cheapest I can find but buy a wallet friendly item from a supplier who cares about what they sell.

Mike

Would it be easier to dismantle the garage? Obviously not if it is brick and tile construction.

Mike

The 7m and 11m levels of our body shop were constructed from flowforge, the thought is never far from your mind that there may be an insecure section. A 7m drop onto concrete would be bad but better than landing on one of 1100 robots or a conveyor. I am sure a February dip in the river was most unwelcome as well as serious injury. It sounds as though it could have been much worse an outcome although what you suffered is plenty bad enough. Has it put you off flowforge floors and catwalks?

Mike

I once did a bricklaying course and remember a story rod was made with all the openings to be built into the wall marked on it, it ensured that the courses could be adjusted to avoid cutting bricks. A perp lining up with the edge of an opening was also to be avoided so starting with a header or stretcher was also determined. The bricks were also measured by averaging a pile of 10. A good bricklayer will know where every brick is going before he lays a brick and the thickness of the mortar.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 10/03/2023 19:07:24

I noticed that our pipe fitters seemed to use Templars Temaxol for pipe threading but jig fitters and toolmakers tended to use Trefolex on jig and die work.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 09/03/2023 18:27:49

I like Trefolex for tapping but tallow was was the stuff we used on conduit, I quite like the smell of Trefolex but not too keen on tallow. If I didn’t have a tin and a half to get through I would buy a new tin, it’s worth the expense I think. If you are a member of a club or men’s shed group it might be worth splitting a tin between a few people as a small pot does go quite a long way.

Mike

WD40 tends to dry and go sticky with time so the improvement may not be permanent, it does seem to lead to answer being a clean and lube with a suitable lubricant is what is required to restore your dial gauge.

Mike

My Thor A

Our time and motion men used stop watches that used centiseconds, it made it much easier to add the individual parts of a process together to get an answer in seconds.

Mike

As others have said I think we still have so much imperial measurement in the hobby because of the legacy from the wealth of models designed before metrication of the UK. Being 66 years old I straddled the change to metric and feel comfortable in both systems. My mill is metric and my lathe is half metric. A DRO fitted to a machine should make working with either system fairly straightforward but as the hobby should be filling with metric trained people by now then imperial will become more of an anachronism. In another 20 years there will be few people left in the hobby who have not been brought up totally within the metric environment. Will people who have only used the metric system go to the trouble of familiarisation with imperial to build an old design or will they just opt to build a metric design? I get the feeling that even the USA are using more metric in their designs although I don’t think they have made an official transition. I have quite a bit of tooling for both disciplines which is obviously an additional cost but as I said I am as happy with a metric mic as I am with an imperial version. Strangely my wife who is a year younger than me does not relate to metric measurements at all but she is not an engineer and seems to have escaped the conversion to a metric world.

Mike

Thor do a size A copper/hide faced mallet, it has 25mm diameter faces, our millwrights would have called it a toffee hammer but I bought one just to use on my VMC mill for tapping duties.

Mike

Using the tailstock to keep the normal hand die stock square is a technique I have always used. Make sure the die holder is accurately made and the die seats properly in the holder. The dimples in the side of the die (if present) should align with the pinch screws so there is no tendency for the die to be prevented from seating against the back face of the die holder.
Mike

My tapping down tool is a small Thor mallet with a copper face and a hide face, if tapping down on to parallels I check the both parallels are gripped at both ends. Getting the blow just right seems as important as the implement used to apply the blow. Getting a feel for the process seems to be an important skill to learn and listening to the tap also indicates when the job is solidly down.

Mike