Member postings for Andyf

As to placing machines, I put my lathe with its back to the wall below a south-facing garage window, which gets the sun (if any!) until 3 or 4pm. I've moved it now; it was hard to see what I was doing because of the brightness above and behind the lathe, particularly in the winter when the sun was low in the sky. If I were building a shop from scratch, I'd be tempted to forget about a window in the wall, and go for roof lights only. Less chance of malefactors seeing what lies within, and would give a bit more wall space to hang things on.

Andy

Miss H G Fizzy looks a super new little person. I bet you're both besotted with her already.

Congrats on becoming a family!

Andy

Edited By Andyf on 05/05/2013 01:06:38

Paul, you might be able to improve those you have by upending them over something with a hole in it to accommodate the projecting part of the ball, then using a thin drift and hammer to give the ball a light tap or two on the back. That might make the brass lip of the hole conform with the ball.

Andy

Indeed!

In the UK, S60 of the Patents Act 1977 deals with infringement of patents, and the answer to the original question is given in subsection 5(a):

(5) An act which, apart from this subsection, would constitute an infringement of a patent for an invention shall not do so if -
(a) it is done privately and for purposes which are not commercial;
(b) it is done for experimental purposes relating to the subject-matter of the invention;
(c) (d) etc [other permissible activities not relevant to this discussion]

Andy

Edit: Sorry; I see this quotation was given by David Littlewood, much earlier in the thread. Interesting to speculate as to whether making replica Dysons in your garage (privately?) and giving one to each of your friends (hardly a commercial purpose) would constitute an infringement. them away spot-on. Would have made a good question in my law exams, had it been invented back then; Sir James is younger than me.  

Edited By Andyf on 03/05/2013 22:13:13

I bought a Warco stand for a WM180 lathe. It's OK, but no more than that. Big cupboards with only one shelf halfway up aren't that much use for storing tooling etc. I would have been better off with a substantial (not chipboard or MDF) old chest of drawers wth a beefed-up top.

Andy

No experience, Dave, but they should be OK. I don't know the laden weight of your loco + rolling stock, but it is probably something like a 2-person golf buggy, and (provided it doesn't derail and set off across country) the rolling resistance on rails will be much less than on a golf course, perhaps with sloping sections.

Andy

Those I've tried (and one is in use on my milling machine) don't cater for 167mm circumf, Ian. Perhaps not surprising, as 50mm dia. wheels would be a bit small on a pushbike .

Andy

Hi Gray,

The first thing I noticed about my useless brightly coloured set was the way they seemed to have been dipped in paint and left to dry the right way up, with the result that big uneven blobs of paint were present on the underside. That wasn't going to help mount them securely, or with any rigidity. And the tips all needed a regrind, which is difficult for a beginner. Even if he has a grinder, he probably hasn't got a green grit wheel.

Andy

Another five points to add to those already made:

The parting tool should be at right angles to the work, so its sides don't rub as you go in, and it's overhang from the toolholder should be no more than required to get you to the middle of the job.

Nor should the topslide overhang its base; overhang = loss of rigidity.

The tool should be on centre height; if above, any tendency for it to rock down under cutting pressure will cause it to dig in. OK, with experience you might set it a smidgeon above centre, so it dips to centre height.

It helps a lot to have a saddle lock, so the saddle is clamped to the bed. There are designs around on the Web, but a small C cramp can be pressed into service.

Again, it can help to lock up the topslide, on the basis that it is best to lock all slides except the one you are using, which is the cross slide when parting off. My lathe is of similar size to yours, and has four gib adjusters on the top slide. I added a fifth in the middle, with no lock nut, a little lever and a bit of protective brass as per one of Gray's suggestions.

Sixth bonus point: If you are using a brazed carbide parting tool from a set with brightly painted shanks which the vendor of the lathe thought you might find useful, it would probably be best discarded. The cutting edge on those is usually rather broad for a small lathe, and the carbide may be to the special Chinese easy-chip recipe. I had one, and the tip fell off the first time I tried it, because the brazing failed. It was part of a set my brother gave me as a birthday present (came from Machine Mart, I think), so I couldn't complain, though I've had better presents.

Andy

Edited By Andyf on 27/04/2013 18:46:58

I was a bit baffled by "tiers", Ian, but out of curiousity only (I don't critcise anyone's spelling; mine's bad enough) do you mean tyres (UK English; tires in the US), as in the black rubber things you force on to the wheel rim, often puncturing the inner tube in the process?

Andy

A post-script:

I find the best way of adjusting gibs is to remove the feedscrew and push the slide to and fro by hand. That way, you get a more sensitive feel for when each adjuster is just beginning to create a bit of drag.

Of course, as soon as you tighten up the lock nut, it pulls the screw back ever so slightly, even though you are using an Allen key to stop it turning. Sometimes, a few repetitions are needed.

Andy

Dave, do you mean that you can get a 3 thou feeler in along A-A on the side with the gib adjusters in it? The only gap along A-A (on either side) should be that caused by a thin film of oil.

Andy

Sounds an interesting read, Rick. I've ordered a second-hand copy (cheaper than a Kindle e-book).

The tiny generating set may have its counterpart in those bugs they were so fond of slipping into suspects' pockets in 60's and 70's spy novels, which were about the size of an aspirin yet could transmit speech or whereabouts (in pre-GPS days) over remarkable distances for hours on end. A shame that that sort of technology seems lost to us now

Andy

It may be that the dimples for the gib adjusters are misplaced, so the gib is pushing on the flat surface next to the male dovetail and forcing that side of the slide upwards. Indeed, if you have removed/replaced the gib, could it be that it is the wrong way up, so all the dimples are at the wrong height?

Have a look at this sketch. The caption should conclude: ".. it contacts the green base at X", but it would be a chore to redo the sketch and post the corrected version on Photobucket.

Of course, it could be something else entirely, but you shouldn't be able to get a feeler gauge in along either of the A-A surfaces, whereas you should be able to slide one in along B-B, and (though it would need a narrow feeler) under the gib at X. .

Andy

Edited By Andyf on 26/04/2013 18:25:58

Exactly, Les. If it were truly tangential, the tool would rub rather than cut. But you're right; it was pedantic of me to mention it. Everyone knows what a tangential tool is.

Andy

Andy, in the first reply you received, Chris mentioned this, which might be the easiest way to make a holder to hold a tool at 12° from vertical in two planes.

(another) Andy

PS Anyone know why they are called "tangential"? To me, no part of the tool seems tangential to the workpiece. A 100 year old tome on my bookshelf calls them diamond tools, which describes the rhomboid look of the ground surface as viewed from above.

I experienced the 50Hz arm to arm ripple years ago, when electric drills had metal casings. Drill in one hand, unplugging it with the other. The back came off the 13A plug, with the rest remaining in the socket, and my fingers brushed across the fuseholder. Ironically, had the drill not been earthed, It would have been less memorable. Though everything in the shop runs through an RCD, that event made me careful - I use switched sockets and turn them off before unplugging, in case my other hand is resting on something which is earthed.

Getting vaguely back on topic, I have made one or two NVR switches for use on single phase. It's not hard, and you can put as many conveniently situated push-to-break emergency stop switches as you like in series with the big red one on the switch housing. I toyed with the idea of a push-to-make "dead man's footswitch" in series, so that stepping back from a machine would shut it down.

Andy.

Ian, if the bike computer has no RPM function, set it to read out in kph rather than mph, and make it think it is reading from a bike wheel of 1667mm circumference (530mm diameter). Then, a readout of 34.5 kph represents 345 rpm. Some of them only go up to 99.9kph, but others go up to 199.9kph (equivalent to 999 or 1999rpm). Either would be pretty speedy on a pushbike! Because it only gets one blip per revolution, the display can be slow to settle. Usually, the sensor is a tiny reed switch encapsulated in plastic (rather than a Hall effect switch) and can be a bit fragile.

Andy

Chris, I've just had a look at MEW issue 1. The drawings are readable on screen and when printed off, despite some of them having a grey background. Not wonderfully clear, but readable without straining too hard. The photos are a mixture of colour and black and white. On screen, the former are clearer than the latter, where it is hard to distinguish the different shades of grey (no jokes, please!). The monochrome ones print poorly, too; my laser printer is b/w, so I can't say how well the colour ones will print out.

Of course, I've only looked at one edition of MEW (the earliest), and the quality may vary from issue to issue. Perhaps others will chip in if they have found drawings in later issues hard to read, or if they can comment on the digital version of ME.

Andy

Glad you've found someone to do the job. Looking forward to the construction photos.

Andy