Member postings for John Coates

I've had mine for 10 years now - and bought a second for spares which came with the thread dial indicator as well (bonus)

Have converted mine to 3 phase via an inverter which does away with the speed wheels and gives infinite speed control. Bored out a quick change tool post from RDG to go on the top slide.

I broke the saddle lock so have to use a G clamp until I either swap over the saddle from the spare or make a new clamping fixture. I have toyed with the idea of welding and stitching the cast iron around the original clamp

I've never found a manual for one. Now I've got two the prospect of a full strip, clean, repair and restore is a distinct possibility when retirement arrives

Edited By John Coates on 09/06/2020 17:55:48

Posted by Ketan Swali on 20/05/2020 14:42:35:

"I have often seen long threads where many have helped, without any expectation of thanks, and then suddenly the receiver of the knowledge comes back in on another thread giving the impression that 'he knows everything' on a subject, and is suddenly in expert"

Aah the old Armchair Internet Warrior. They have multiplied like rats during lockdown in many of my forums (here, motorcycling) to add to those who were there before

I've bought stuff from Arc (usually prompted by the Christmas catalogue coming with MEW) and from RDG and Chronos. All tooling and workshop equipment, no major machinery as I'd rather take my chances buying second hand stuff from eBay that I never see before parting with cash (did you get the irony there?). When retirement comes and the pension pot is accessible I will treat myself.

In reading their posts and articles I find Neil and Jason very knowledgeable and with a great willingness to teach and an ability to impart learning. Similarly from his posts and responses I find Ketan the same. Some degree of commercialism is to be expected when products have to be reviewed as very few of us have bottomless pockets. If they were not provided for free or on loan then there would be no reviews. Better to produce a series on machinery and equipment that the newbie could buy and start with than a hotch potch of old stuff that infest our workshops and sheds.

For anybody to criticise in the way that Ketan describes I personally find despicable and cowardly. But then I refer to my opening statement about AIW's - a plague on all their houses.

Well done Neil, Jason and Ketan for promoting and advancing our hobby

John

Good luck Fred

I needed a lathe for exactly the same reasons - motorcycle tinkering - but went old school for the mass and rigidity

So far only made some tapered pins and top hats for some after market foot pegs but had lots of practice turning large lumps of metal into swarf and having huge fun learning along the way.

I find this forum and the magazine invaluable - the forum for help and the magazine for inspiration

All the best

John

Welcome fellow man blessed by birth

I was Yorkshire born (Goole) but am now a Yellowbelly (Lincolnshire)

Welcome to a hobby that will prove more expensive than several mistresses!

At least your tea drinking ability will not doubt have been finely honed over the years

All the best

John

Made Airfix kits from about 7. Had Meccano and Lego. When dad left home I was 17 and had to learn how to fix and maintain things around the home for mum. Always did the brakes and exhausts on my first cars, fixing holes with baked bean tins and jubilee clips!

Motorbikes came along at 23 and in 2009 I was looking at adapting bits off other models to fit to mine. All the info I got from owner's clubs (plans and specs) required access to a machine shop so I decided to teach myself how to use the machinery to get it done.

One Barker 5x24 lathe, Champion round column mill and an Elliott 10" shaper later I love the hobby and this site and the magazine and just long for more time to be able to devote to it

Plant operators have pushed back on councils regarding the range of plastics they will allow due to the fall in value of paper and plastic on world markets. Previous high values subsidised receiving and dealing with the low value or cost items. The fall in values has ended this practice so these are now classed as contaminants or waste and we get charged for them hence why a council in this situation prefers to have it in the general waste so it is collected and paid for as that rather than being separated out and charged for as general.

No this is exactly the right thread in the right bit of the forum to give me a good laugh when taking my lunch break

Don't stop Ancient Bemoaners - you are brightening my day!

Personally I blame the lawyers for seeking every opportunity to extract cash from the law abiding as reparation for the stupidity of some half wit e.g. the US case where they sued an airfield or plane owner or plane manufacturer when someone broke in and started up a plane and drove it around or flew it and did something like killed themselves or somebody else or a possum [probably fake news but you remember it?]

Owners manuals for motorcycles now state "No part of this machine is edible"

On my motorbike websites you can't post ads until a minimum post count has been reached say 10. This proves you are there for the forum and to contribute and not just some free marketing space for your sales

John

You bugger! Almost spilled my tea and coughed and spluttered over my keyboard after reading that!

Hopefully not the whole laptop Ady!

Waste electronic equipment is the fastest growing problem for those of us in the industry. The replacement life cycle of modern consumer electronics is frightening given that they utilise most of the world's scarcest metals which will not be replenished once they are all built into equipment, either ones in use or redundant ones in landfills

So folks please think about the reuse or recycling options before you get rid of your unwanted electronic equipment. As previously discussed laptops that can't run the latest version of Windows will perform very happily running Linux. Community groups know this and can take unwanted laptops and install Linux and give some deserving person a fully functioning laptop that (to Micro$hafts displeasure) can do everything a normal human being needs just without Windows

Younger than my 2009 HP Pavilion running Linux so if you want to dispose of your 5 year old laptop I'll take it off your hands Chris

In the 70's my dad went through a period of DIYing egged on by some publication that was printed at that time (there were also adventures into a veg patch in the back garden and walking as well) . He knocked down a wall and put in a decorative wooden arch. And wired in the extension built by our next door neighbour. They divorced and afterwards mum had some electrical problems so had to get an electrician in. He was astounded how the extension was wired up. Apparently taken off the cooker circuit. Dad's little adventure into DIY cost my poor destitute mum a lot of money she couldn't afford.

Hi John

I began knowing nowt in 2009 and followed some tuturials in MEW and on't web or in books (Harold Hallls Complete Lathework and Milling will teach you a lot) so it's a question of getting stuck in (which you already have!)

Good luck! The journey is as much fun as the finished item

t'other John

Edited By John Coates on 10/07/2017 12:33:15

Einstein was a clerk when he published his general theory of relativity

I'm an amateur bodger. I have a need to make something that fits to do a job and I use the skills I have acquired (metal working, wood working, welding, electrical circuits) to design and make the thing. Sometimes it even fits and works first time! (but not always)

My professional skills are in none of the above. I developed these skills after my dad left home when I was 17 and someone had to keep the house we lived in maintained. At 23 I found motorcycles and after I got bored just riding and cleaning them I bought a bit of a wreck to strip it down to see how an engine worked. After that my enthusiastic amateurishness just grew and grew into other areas.

I consider the "model" bit of our hobby to mean we can make things really accurately at a small size

Back in 2009 I wanted a lathe to fabricate some fittings to enable me to fit forks from a different motorcycle on to mine. Plans for the spacers were provided by the online owners club. So I found lathes.co.uk and a Barker 5x24 and then read up on that lathe. It was down in Hereford. Arranged with a mate to lend a hand and set off down to Hereford where the lathe was duly demonstrated, loaded into my Vectra estate after much cussing and heavng, and we set off back home. My pal said "Be bloody careful, we must have half a ton of metal behind us!". All went well until we were reaching a junction where we would turn off. All of a sudden cars, lorries and a National Express coach began swerving around in front of us. Then a blue Rover 75 towing a caravan swerved and launched the caravan about a foot in the air! Then we saw the cause of the problem - a set of ladders spinning across the M1 carriageway heading our way. I gingerly applied the brakes and steered towards the off ramp. The ladders lazily passed just in front of us on their journey to the outside lane. We both needed a stiff drink after that!

I managed to get an Elliott 10" shaper for £112 on ebay after the seller had only put "model engineer" in the title so hardly anybody was bidding on it. It was collection only but for £40 he loaded into his van (lived about 15 miles away) and out of it on to my drive and into my garage. Bargain!

In my business (waste) the consumer credit driven society of the 60's was the start of the throw away society. Every household could have any thing if they bought it on credit. And the marketeers began marketing what they could convince you to want not what you needed. And consumerism became a disease.

I drive my wife nuts as I'm always intercepting things between her and the bin because they are either recyclable, either by me in the workshop or by through our kerbside collections by the council (that's me BTW in the day job).

I've only done one repair job - for a friend who owned a café. His Panini warming machine was broken so I fixed it. I got a bottle of red as a thank you but more enjoyable was working out how to overcome the problem with the tools and materials I had available. Deep joy!

There must be links to the decline of apprenticeships matching the decline in mass employment industries and the cheapness of goods coming from China making fixing stuff that can be cheaply replaced a no brainer. But keeping old machinery going should be justification enough for retaining these problem solving and machining skills

So what if it is discontinued? That's not your problem

If it is within their warranty period and they can't replace it they can give you a refund

If they disagree tell them you'll go to Trading Standards

Edited By John Coates on 26/01/2017 07:07:25

Thanks Ady I really enjoyed reading that. Brightened my lunch break

Well the main concern will be the centre height of the dividing head if you intend to use it on a lathe. Less of a concern if for use on a milling machine.

I plan to make Harold's design when time allows. My gear wheels are larger than Myford ones but part of the challenge will be to follow Harold's principles but adapt for my machinery.

I will have a look at the Youtube videos when I get home from work tonight

regards

John

Harold Hall built one. It was a series in MEW and then a chapter in his book "Milling: a complete course"