Member postings for David Colwill

Hi Roger

My DSG doesn't have the auto trip but I do like your arrangement. That's another thing on the to do list

Many thanks.

David.

I've just ordered a set so thanks for the info and I will report back.

Regards.

David.

Can it turn 6 foot diameter?

One other point in favour of the smaller lathe if you are a beginner is that they are not very forgiving and require sharp tools and good setups to achieve results. This does promote good working practice which is transferable to larger machines.

Regards.

David.

(who has just finished using the DSG)

And yes she is some girlfriend!

I should have pointed out that I use my workshop for earning a living. I can heat my workshop by the woodburning stove but that isn't as nice as a warm house. I take on the comments about cars, bycycles etc (which is why I also have a Smart and Brown 1024) but even swapping chucks on a Warco BH600 is a pain especially if you are doing it often. The reason that I raised this point is that the "buy the biggest lathe you can fit in" advice seems to be quite glibly trotted out and I felt that the disadvantages should discussed.

Regards David.

I often hear people say buy the biggest machine that you can possibly fit in your workshop and would like to put an opposing view. In my main workshop I have a number of machines, the largest lathe is a Dean Smith and Grace 13x30, the largest mill is a Bridgeport clone. I also have a bench in the spare room at my girlfriends house, this contains a C3 mini lathe and an X2 mill. 95% of what I make can be done on these two machines. Over the last couple of weeks I have had to do a number of jobs on a fairly tight time budget. I have found myself gravitating to the (warm and cosy) bench at my girlfriends. These jobs were so much easier on the smaller machines. Changing chucks on the DSG is a job that I have to brace myself for, even pulling the tailstock for drilling is not for weaklings ( I do use proper slideway oil and this helps).

Given that most posters on this forum are nearer 70 than 20, should this be taken into account when choosing machines.

Obviously when I need to remove large amounts of metal I head over to the workshop and wouldn't want to be without that facility but if I could only have one lathe and mill, I would have quite a dilema.

Any thoughts.

Regards David

Edited By David Colwill on 05/12/2014 08:33:49

Over the last couple of days I made two magic wands. They had to have a small pyro in the end which lights when you press a button. I used E-cigarette batteries which have the button built in to provide power. These batteries are worth looking at if you need a compact easily charged battery. I think they are lithium ion or lithium polymer. The ones I used are called vision spinners and give an output of 3.3V - 4.8V. There is some kind of short circuit protection built in but I don't know how that kicks in.

Although they work fine and everyone seems happy with them, they aren't quite right. I've been waving and wishing quite a lot but as yet haven't noticed any improvement in the tidiness of the workshop .

Regards.

David.

I would say that you need to find help! I have got and had both new Chinese and second hand British machines. I can now definitively answer the age old question of which is better old British or new Chinese, and here it is:-

A good second hand machine is better than a bad new one and a good new machine is better than a worn out old one.

I realise that this isn't much help which is why I think you would be best to enlist some help.

There are second hand machines out there that are fantastic, if you can find something out of a university or research dept then you could end up with an excellent machine that hasn't had much use (and cost five times the amount of a new Chinese one). These machines tend to be operated by the most skilled engineers and because they are not in a production environment tend to be properly maintained. Machines that are used in the cut and thrust of manufacturing tend to be worked hard and often, by whoever can get the job done and only got rid of when they are worn out.

New imported machines are by and large very good if not excellent but if you read the postings here you will find that every now and then a duffer crops up. As a new recruit how would you know that you had got something with a fault? There have been a few cases I have read about where someone has bought a new machine and only discovered the fault after a few years when they have gained sufficient experience, by this time it is well out of guarantee.

It is possible to fit a vfd ( variable frequency drive )to most three phase machines and this will give speed control and allow you to run on single phase. Cost would be somewhere around £500 / £750 if you had to call someone in although some machine dealers may do this for you to secure the order.

Get a DRO if you can as this will make life much easier for you.

If you can get some help and end up with a machine that is in good order and has been checked out by someone who knows what they are doing then if something is not going well then at least you know it isn't the machine!

£6K is a good budget for setting up a workshop and you should end up with great machines that will be a pleasure to use.

One final thing if you are buying a drill press get an old British one!

Regards.

David.

I too am guilty of the jumper round the leadscrew trick. In my case the lathe in question was an old Cardiff with no reverse. Fortunately I was screw cutting at the time and it was running very slowly. The first I knew was an irresistible pull towards the lathe. I managed to hit the stop switch (just) and found myself stuck. The only way out was tediously winding back the chuck until I could get out.

Lesson learned!

David

Can anyone tell me what issues of ME the build was serialised in and of course the issue with the errors.

Any Ideas where i can get hold of them would be good too.

Many thanks in advance.

David.

Ps I tried searching the index but don't have a suitable database program.

"Guardian angel of engineers; must have been her that invented Loctite."

Now battling the demon "Nyloc"

I have a Britool strap wrench that has a plastic body and fabric strap which is perfect for the odd time that they lock so tight you can't undo them.

David

Thank you for sorting that mess out Neil

Mustn't post with phone.

**LINK**

Regards.

David.

I feel your pain.

I too have looked at this on smaller lathes and not found an answer. I did wonder about the possibility of machining the cross slide so that the scale fitted within the casting. I'm sure that the reading head could be thinned down by removal of the plastic case. Hopefully one day soon somebody will invent a scale that works round corners, Until then I will have to manage without or suffer something tagged onto the side.

I eagerly await your solution.

Regards.

David