Member postings for DMB

Extraordinary what risks a brainless thief will take. Many years ago, when ArcEuro and Maidstone Engineering had stands, along with other tool stands, there was a crowd gathered around another toolstand and I was at the back of the group. Someone on my left asked the stand holder a question, distracting him and someone on my right grabbed a handful of wooden file handles and disappeared. Probably only about 50p each then. I have seen small cheap items lifted a large chemist's and the culprit marched out fast. Also seen man and woman pushing small child in buggy around Debenhams, picking very expensive, at that time, £50 shirts, casually fold them up and place them on the shelf under the buggy. I had them stopped by Security. All very well having Alarm cables but only suitable for models on club stands. Potential trade stand customers want to pick up and examine items before purchasing. I think the kind of cctv screens used by supermarkets at their self checkouts would probably drive prospects away. Cost would likely be prohibitive for that purpose. I think you will find that the cheapest items are nearest the front on traders stands. I often buy eggs from a market stall in Brighton run by Steve Ovett's family. After he won an Olympic gold medal, it was put on display right at the back of the stand! Perhaps large Perspex type screens could be used for model and small tool displays.

Edited By DMB on 03/10/2023 22:17:19

JasonB s remark, " so the cut can be put on." Lightbulb lit up at last!

You need to have a cutter shank just a bit smaller than the bore to allow the cross slide to put on another incremental cut, really, really, small increment. I get the impression that Chris is going full depth from the start, no wonder busted tool! Another point is, even with bigger slots where the operator thinks he can get away with bigger cuts, is the extreme load placed upon the working components of the saddle. Slotting is a rather brutal method of metal butchery, requiring considerable effort. Think of the tiny incrementally sized teeth on a broach.

Care and patience!

John

Hi Chuffer

Oil is lighter than water and will therefore, 'sit' on top of water. Any water left in the cylinders will sit on the bottom with steam oil on top. Dont know how to deal with that, other than remove all cylinder covers and wipe cylinders dry with absorbent paper and oil them. What a pain! Otherwise, steam up monthly?

John

Andrew,

I would go along with Duncan's suggestion as being the simplest solution and avoid the wider axlebox idea like the plague. It will interfere with axle centres and possibly umpteen other measurements.

I made a big error once but it was more easily solved. Not trusting the worn/damaged end of the rule, I marked out my frames starting from the 1" position. Ended up with large hole in frames for exhaust pipe, 1" adrift from correct position. Cure, drill out new hole in correct position and patch plate over original hole. If it was good enough for the GWR to bodge their frames with riveted on plates then it's good enough for me and realistic!

John

MichaelG,

I consider that 'coy' pricing = hiding something! Beware!!

John

Noel, that's all very well, burning free pickup wood, like we do at the club for a BBQ, but Brighton and Hove council are not alone in snotty attitude to woodburning. I can smell why, cold evenings the air is very wood smokey here.

John

Greenhouse heating? Only grow stuff off floor, on staging. Keep a rabbit on the floor, its body heat will do the job for the price of some bunny food!

I dont have a pumped coolant system on either mill or the lathe, but would like to draw attention to an idea which I once read about, not tried it yet. A large receiver on the floor, draining from the drip tray. Another large tank placed high up in the workshop, on its side, feeding the flow control tap on the lathe cross slide, or mill table. When upper tank runs dry, swap the 2 tanks over. No pumps at all! My suggestion is to drain into a smaller tank first to act as a weir. It would work with a pipe running out of the top of the small tank which would drain down into the larger bottom tank. Exactly same as automatic flushing cisterns in urinal toilets. All the metal swarf would be deposited in the small upper tank, awaiting a muck out.

John

I have 'collected' devices and methods over the years, including 3 axis DRO, but still use one method out of habit, I suppose. Assume a piece of bar deliberately arranged to protrude from one side of the machine vise. Measure diameter with electronic digital calipers and add to 1/4" diameter of centre drill body, then halve answer. Move work towards centre drill body til a 10 thou feeler blade is nipped between the two. I now know how much to keep turning the hand wheel in the same direction to centre the drill over the work centre, having allowed/avoided any backlash. If there are 2 or more items to be drilled at the same distance from the end of the work, I will then set up a simple end stop, to enable both X and Y positional repeatability. This is sufficient for most jobs. The DRO is not so instantly available as each axis is dependent upon a battery being installed. I often remove batteries from various items just in case of failure, having had destructive leaks in the past. If I was clock making, I think that I would strive for greater accuracy, perhaps using the DRO and another method as a check. Only have a DRO on one mill at the moment and may well get another for the other mill. Don't feel the need for a DRO on the lathe, just use time honoured methods which serve me well.

I helped my electrician Father part-rewire our home many years ago. I cannot be certain but I think it remained on the old fisewired separate lead to each outlet. We put a switch each end of the hall downstairs and another on the landing between bedroom doors. Operating any of these 3 switches, lit the light near the bottom of the stairs and the landing light simultaneously. Difficulty was the amount of strapped wires required and buried in the walls with the old conduit tubing made from rolled up strips of steel sheet and clamp on elbows. Dangerous system as power to lights taken from upstairs and downstairs. It worked of course, like so many dangerous setups.

I rewired my current home many years ago, but I did a safer arrangement. Two separately powered 2way switched circuits. Double switch near front door. One linked to a switch at the other end of the hall, near the kitchen, controls only the hall light with power from the downstairs lighting ring main. The other one of the double switch at the front door controls the landing light with the other switch between the bedroom doors and power taken from the upstairs ring main. It passed official check when meter was re- installed. (Meter removed from re- possessed house before I purchased it.)

John

Referring to Chris' problem, always try to pay by card - DR for goods under £100 and CR for over. Then its charge back to your bank for less than £100 and 'Section 75' claim to CR card company. Only after failure to get satisfaction. Must try contacting retailer. Try to avoid 3rd party payment businesses like PayPal and others. Bank and CR card company will refuse to co-operate in those circumstances.

Golden rule is that you pay a supplier and make a contract to supply. Some try it on and refer customers to the manufacturer. This is wrong. If it's really bad, the retailer must refund faulty goods AND the postage/delivery cost but again some try to avoid repaying delivery cost. Retailer's responsibility to deal with their delivery contractor, not you.

Watch TV consumer programs and read all you can so keeping one step ahead.

Take care all, don't let 'em get away with it!

I understood that every property, private and business, is supposed to display prominently, their street number, allocated by the local council, I think. Seems like every other house doesn't comply and try playing I-spy for numbers along any major shopping street occupied by large shops. Western Road, Brighton, e.g.

Blame councils with dodgy priorities like being nasty to householders with bushes and trees overhanging pavements. Surely, if they have time and money to waste like that, it must be better to concentrate on property numbers to aid locating addresses? Or am I missing something, perhaps employees with crap uni degrees?

Can anyone please help?

I have a vague recollection of a simple signal wiring having been recently described, in either ME or EIM, but cannot be certain if in say the last couple of years and which mag? Any advice much appreciated, thank you.

John

Penetration is everything!

When I mentioned the grinder, it does have the standard metal end covers over most of the wheels. What I meant was those little perspex? bolt on screens above the exposed part of the wheels, presumably to deflect sparks. They are the ones missing and due to the apparent age of the grinder, probably not a requirement to retro - fit. Committee is anxious to be seen to make every effort at safety just in case....

Edited By DMB on 19/08/2023 21:10:44

I am uncertain about chuck guards but suspect that if a machine didn't have them fitted when sold new, then the machine can be sold second hand by a private or dealer seller without a guard. In other words, they need not be retro- fitted.

However, there has been some club committee concern about an absence of guards on any of our machinery, - MLSuper7, bench grinder, bench drill and huge mechanical power hacksaw, I believe is called a Manchester? Saw does have belt guards so is OK.

I see that RDG are asking £80+ for a Myford guard, so I'm scheming a home made copy. The big saw has belt guards so no prob there. I think that I can rig up a stronger guard for the bench grinder than the rubbish ones I have seen fitted by makers. We have got breathing masks, ear muffs and safety glasses and goggles. Problem is persuading members to use the gear. Bench drill is most difficult guarding problem, but I have an idea...All this came about because of the track Insurance policy.

Edited By DMB on 19/08/2023 21:03:09

I know safety has created a lot of jokes in the past. But it isn't a joke. The perpetrators of dangerous/ unsafe practices are the joke.

There is an otherwise good set of YouTube videos from someones workshop but with one potentially dangerous practice repeatedly shown. He switches off his lathe and drilling machine then impatiently holds the chucks with his hands as a brake. Sooner or later he could be holding a large item in the lathe chuck, causing the outer ends of the jaws to project beyond the circumference of the chuck body. Either his fingers will get bashed or a sleeve get caught up, dragging his hand down under the chuck - broken wrist or arm?

A deceased club member used to brag about being 'Bob 9and a half" displaying the remnant of a finger caught trying to use a rigid rule to measure work in his horizontal mill. His old school mate had a ML4 with a dodgy motor that wouldn't start and he used to switch it on and give the drive belt a tug. A senior club member who should know better, used a length of scrap wood jammed against a wheel to stop the club's bench grinder. Some 'got away' with it but is it really worth the risk?

Edited By DMB on 17/08/2023 20:44:07

Gray,

I once took a tatty belt to some supplier in Brighton and Hove area for a replacement and the guy produced a board with 2 pulleys mounted on it. One was moveable, allowing adjustment to make any belt fit tightly. He immediately told me what I needed by reading off Mark's on the board. Maybe a lot of suppliers use something similar.

John

So that's the solution to constipation - a custard powder blast! Problem would be placement in the right area.

I'll leave now, ha, ha.

Magpie,

Oh dear! So sorry to have read of your change of circumstances. Just read the above after replying to you on another thread. Try to make the best of things. There are many interesting YouTube films made by other model engineers in their workshops. I expect that you are very aware of them. Do keep in touch with the rest of us.

Good luck and very best wishes

John