Member postings for Axel

I bought bunch of taps from Reeves2000 two years ago. I do not know if this is their own brand, but they are called Apex. Worst rubbish I have ever come across!T he smaller ones break all the time, even in soft BMS and soft finger pressure. Are there any ME thread taps available from a quality brand?

I have no idea what happend inside this motor, but particuarly one side of the commutator is scored and pitted. The brushes looks fine actually, and they are long with plenty of life left in them. Maybe some dirt got into the motor!?

Thanks for replies so far!

Here's what my Sherline motor looks like inside now. Today a fuse popped, when I was going to mill a piece of hardwood for a project. I fixed the fuse, and was going to carry on, when the motor started making a dragging rattling noice, and produced smoke,

Can this be fixed?

Thanks too all, I just figured it out myslef actually! (Not too stupid after all!)

I just want to know what AF means. I read in an instruction that the part is made from 4mm AF hex?

Using Oxy-Acetylene can locally overheat small areas where you can have cadmium boil off, this can me very bad for your health, even fatal if you keep it up. I would only use propane or propane-air with this old stock of ss.

I just renewed my subscription, and due to lack of space in my small home I choose a digital subcription this time. I have however no idea how to access it. I just got a mail from the publisher with a code, a three digit one, that I am supposed to use somewhere? I have clicked on the heading "DIGITAL" and found a number of choices, but none of them were for a MacBook Pro that I use, closest thing was "iPad".

Can someone give some good advice, please!?

If you want to colour case harden them, which is the same thing really except you get them to look pretty as well, I suggest The Machinist's Bedside Reader No2 and No3. Guy Lautard of Canada has in depth explanations how how it is done.

Other than that I know that the old gunsmith trick was (is) to just wrap the part in leather and bake in clay, but I have never done this, since I always used Kasenite that can be ordered from Brownell's in the USA. Or perhaps Triebel in Germany who also sells sundries and tools for gunsmiths.

Good suggestions all three of them! Thanks!

Thanks! I had hoped one of the more ME oriented suppliers would have it, since I doubt these guys would sent a short bit off to Sweden. And finding anything non metric here is very hard!

I've looked around and can not find any 2 ⅝" copper tubing anywhere, got a suggestion where I can get some?

I just found the drawings for the metric version. Browsing over them I noted that the boiler tube is 67mm, that is 2 ⅝" if I'm not mistaken, not a very common diameter is it? If this is suposed to be a metric version, why not make it 70mm on the drawing?!

Fair points!

I do not get MEW any longer. What I want is a magazine that prints articles on Model Engineering, so I get ME, and I am happy with it. Now I see the cover of MEW announces an article on a topic that definitely is not a "workshop" issue but very much a ME issue; making tracks for a tank. What is up with this!? Having trouble with the genres?

At the same time ME has more "Workshop" content now than it has had since MEW was started. Not a bad idea, it is something I can understand, but the "tank tracks" is definitely not at home in MEW. I feel the publisher just tries to screw me over so I take another subscription, just to get that one article I find interesting.

I'm just a young'un at 42, and maybe I need new spectacles, but I find the small print of the new design hard to read. I have to constantly sort my ME's cos so far I've been to lazy/poor/stupid to not buy the binders. As a consequence I am totally against these changes! And besides changes are usually bad. Concentrate on making articles on steam and such, do not change anything, If I wanted change I would go to YouTube!

Welcome Diane! Bye and thanks to David, you have done a superb job as editor. And you have chosen a very good sucsessor, I have enjoyed Diane´s writings very much. Maybe this will inspire more ladies and girls to join the hobby!? I hope Diane will try new ideas from her female perspective!

spent bulbs make decent handles for files

Heating the chuck kan perhaps help, it does wonders often on stuck threads!

For making chopper parts, even for 90 sized ones, u'd hardly need a very big machine. I'd say a Taig or something like it should be perfect. Get all good books on machining u can, they save u money in the long run! I like Sparey very much, and the Home Workshop series are superb too.

If I were u I'd get a sherline with mill column, and a hand shaper as a compliment too it.

Most vices are ok, except the screw often too small or badly made, if this is replaced any vice will do really! The only ones that Ive broken have bbeen cast iron that I over tightened. My fault really.