Member postings for David Colwill

I often find myself looking for things that I had just a moment ago and have now vanished into thin air.

I have developed a technique that is surprisingly good at finding them.

Pick up any random object and go to the last place you remember having the lost item.

Then start moving around the workshop trying to put the random object down (for some reason scratching your head with the free hand helps [or provides comfort]).

Look in all the places where the random object lands, until you find it.

If this doesn't work, repeat with a throwing motion.

If this still doesn't work chances are you will have forgotten what you were looking for anyway.

Go back to what you were doing (if you can remember).

The lost item will be there.

David.

I have been on managed payments for a while now. Once set up it is reliable. Mine is paid daily. It is another example of eBay telling you how great it is for the customer, whilst slipping in a crafty hike in fees.

David.

I have had a couple of jobs that required a number of holes that needed to be reamed to non standard sizes.

The cost of new reamers was quite high and they were not available on eBay. The answer tuned out to be fairly simple. Give the next size up to the local tool sharpening chap and have him resize it. The cost was about £15.00 each.

David.

Stefan Gotteswinter did a video about one.

You could also buy the 1/2" parallel shank arbors from Chronos for £4.50 each and sleeve them

Link

David.

You may be able to get 4 morse taper and turn the taper off to give the 3/4 shank.

It is also worth going to eBay.com which will take you to the American site where such things may be floating around.

David.

I started to get skin problems after changing to a new type of neat cutting oil. I ordered latex gloves and Rosalex barrier cream. I then tried other barrier creams ( gloves in a bottle and pr88) but didn't get on with them, mainly smell and stickyness but mostly because I liked Rosalex.

The neat cutting oil that caused the problems is now long gone. The latex gloves get used occasionally. The barrier cream is, however very much a part of my daily routine. I think that the question of which barrier cream is largely irrelevant, just find one that suits you and go with it.

It is easy to see why so many of us use safety glasses. One accident could easily leave you with permanent blindness in one or both eyes. Skin problems are much more likely to occur over time and are therefore able to slowly creep up on us. Anything that can prevent this is surely a good thing.

Perhaps those that are members of clubs (when clubs are a thing again) could persuade them to buy the main contenders so that people can try them.

David.

Undoubtedly fake. I recently bought the real thing from Cutwel and am very pleased with them. I also own a Moore and Wright one that I have had for ages and are good. Added to these are a pile of generic Chinese callipers that range from the pretty good to the downright awful (Aldi workzone £7.99 each but still accurate).

Personally I wouldn't waste my time with the fakes. There are better offerings for less money and from UK suppliers.

David.

Apologies fellow enlightened one.

I'm amazed that no one has said sodium bicarbonate. I was complaining of the thick tea stains on my mug to someone. they told me to try it. I wasn't expecting much and was surprised how well it works.

David.

For those interested, I just came across this on youtube.

Edited By David Colwill on 23/03/2021 18:24:57

Although I have seen most of those clips before I still wince every time I see them. I really feel for the poor sod who has to see the tool changer from his VMC lying on the bed or his shiny new CNC lathe lying on its side. That must be a terrible feeling.

I have had my share of CNC mishaps but nothing too serious. The worst of it is that once you have seen the cutter spinning at 3000 rpm and unexpectedly heading at rapid feed towards the table, the fear never quite goes away! Fortunately for me I was able to estop before it hit.

David.

HPC gears do 14dp in a range from 9t to 120t. To give you some idea, a 20 tooth is £16.05 and a 60 tooth is £42.58. Both plus VAT and carriage. You would still need to alter the bore and put any keyways in but most of the work is done.

Alternatively you could 3d print them. Not great for long term use but how much use are they going to get?

David.

I got one as I sometimes have the need for something more portable and was very impressed.

So +1 from me too!

As an avid (or so I thought {but clearly not compared to Michael and Sam}) I was under the impression that the work of Chris at clickspring was not related to the work by Tony Freeth. If so, this would mean that the BBC article doesn't tell the whole story.

Can someone clarify this?

David.

I think if you are spending £200 / £300 you are going to end up with a project. I am not saying that it can't be done for that money but I think you are unlikely to get good results without a fair amount of tweaking and playing around. Like John said above there are some pretty crappy offerings in amongst the mediocre. an old Denford starmill or novamill with a modified head would do it, if you can find one.

David.

All previous points noted and mostly agreed with, there are a few ways you can help yourself. Drilling is one of the cheapest and easiest ways of removing metal. Sawing is also another cheap and efficient way of removing metal, so you are on the right track but in my opinion using the wrong weapon. A metal cutting bandsaw or wood bandsaw modified to run much slower will allow you to make multiple cuts into a block to form a rough slot or cut out a step etc. The Aldi metal cutting bandsaw is a cheap and pretty good choice if you don't have anything already. There are also a few videos on youtube where people have modified the cheap small wood working bandsaws to use on metal.

Regards.

David.

Edited By David Colwill on 08/03/2021 08:48:59

Returning to Chinese end mill grinders.

This would appear to sum up the reason why I (and I suspect many others) don't have one.

David

My Mitutogo cost £7.00 and has held up pretty well.

David.

So why the 5.08? I have various calipers including Moore and Wright that do this.

I have recently ascended to the Mitutoyo club and am very pleased with them.

David.