Member postings for David Colwill

I run mine on a rotary phase converter with no problems.

It may help if you can answer the following question.

Are you going to be working for NASA?

If the answer is no, then a rotary phase converter will be fine.

If the answer is yes then get a brand new surface grinder , the correct supply and stop trying to be cheap!

David.

When power tapping would be the obvious one.

Regards.

David.

Hi,

I have asked a couple of my stockholders and they don't keep it.

West Midlands Bright Bar was mentioned as worth a try.

David.

I have a need to be able to mark steel. Paint markers are okay but on my Coventry die heads this soon wears off. I don't want to etch or engrave and whilst I could fix some kind of tag this seems like bother.

The idea came to me that if I put some Blackfast solution into an empty marker pen, I could end up with a pen that would produce black writing that would not easily rub off.

It works... Sort of!

There are some issues.

Firstly it is too thin!

Secondly it doesn't stick very well.

The only thing I had to hand to try and thicken it with was some clay. This produced the result in the photo. I wiped the surface with IPA (not the bitter!) Then wrote on the steel. I waited about a minute and wiped it clean.

The writing can be taken off with scotchbrite but would appear to be pretty resistant otherwise.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to improve this?

David.

I think I need something solid to bang my head against!

This sounds like the sort of problem that could be solved with a 3D printer.

A 3D printed 2 foot stillson would certainly solve the problem whilst producing gasps of horror from anyone watching you use it!

David.

Having done various trials with this i am inclined to agree that it isn't really practical.

My first attempt did mark a piece of graphite and although it wasn't deep it didn't rub off. However the surface of the graphite was cut with a bandsaw and in reality the ridges of the cut were protecting the marking.

Another go with a smoother surface produced a similar marking but this time it was easily rubbed off.

Using slower speed for the engraving didn't make any difference nor did using air assist.

David.

The collet in question was 24mm.

I turned a piece of bar to 24mm and then tightened a 5C collet block on to it.

It looked rather Heath Robinson but worked very well.

David.

Hi,

I have one that is set up and ready to go.

I couldn't say what the true power is but suspect it isn't 40W.

PM me contact details as i do have some graphite and may be able to do a proof of concept.

Regards.

David.

The other day I needed to do a job that would involve a 5C collet with a stop.

Sadly my 5/16 collet did not have the internal thread for the stop to screw in. I do own the type that expands into a plain bore but don't like it.

I thought that I would have a go at threading the collet (a genuine Hardinge) but didn't think I would stand much chance.

I used a generic 60 degree 16ER type insert.

It was in the end very easy.

David.

I use a few delivery firms including Royal Mail and can safely say the they are all having problems. Not only are they having problems with staff shortages but the demand for delivery is higher.

I should say the my experience with Royal Mail and tracking numbers is that they can be wrong. Either saying that parcels have been delivered when they haven't or vice versa. On the plus side most parcels do seem to get there in the end but a wait of 4 / 5 weeks doesn't go down well with my customers and since I'm not about to start my own nationwide delivery service there isn't much I can do about it.

David.

Question.

What does the "B" in Benoir B Mandlebrot stand for?

Answer Benoir B Mandlebrot.

I'll get me hat!

Alas I have only watched the first ten minutes as I have work to do but it is saved for later.

Thank you.

David.

Yet another side to this is that some companies scaled back production thinking that the pandemic would cut demand. In truth the opposite has happened because no one went on holiday and instead many have spent this money on home improvements. The building trade is busier than ever.

A sadder and more serious (to us anyway) calamity is the Liberty Steel troubles. There is still no end in sight with this. They produced all of the EN16T (which I use a lot of and there is no real European equivalent), all the imperial hex sizes and most of the EN1a.

Even if there a buyer is found and production resumes (unlikely with a serious fraud investigation ongoing) it will take 6 months to be back to full swing.

It will be a very sad day indeed if this is not resolved!

David.

Don't worry.

Fusion is only 5 years away

I moved from Mach 3 to Linux because of the threading issues. I found Linux a pain to get going on but it has been great now I have it running.

There are a few Chinese controllers out there and I was tempted.

The super cheap CW20t was very tempting but I seem to be sorted for now.

I have two lathes on Linux, one running off a parallel port and 1 off a Mesa 7i96.

Both work very well.

David.

Tom Lipton has a Burgmaster and did a short video on it.

David.

Ps I too like the look of these and don't quite have the space for one!

I am currently working on a way of gaining access to this dimension as I plan to expand my workshop in to it. Obviously when I do, I will be asking that you and others please stop losing things into it, as I have enough trouble keeping my own junk tidy.

David.

Hi,

Here is a link to APT Link

If you google the tool code (SCBCRxxxx) you may find them on eBay.

David.

Edited By David Colwill on 29/04/2021 05:54:49

Things have gone full circle.

I thought that the latest mars rover was using some off the shelf cameras in it.

I may be wrong in this though.

David.