Member postings for David Colwill

It's worth remembering (especially when choosing a dentist) that in all classes, somebody comes top and somebody scrapes through. Qualifications (of which which I don't have any) have the advantage of structure and while there is no doubt that this is not always perfect it does tend to produce people with an knowledge of a particular subject. For many this is where it ends. If you were to find that the pilot of your plane taking you on holiday had learnt to fly 30 years ago and been left to carry on on his own you would be quite alarmed. The fact is that they are tested and trained continuously.

Another point is that you have to choose your subjects quite young these days and not many kids truly know what they want to do, so many just chase the money. Many people are passionate about their hobby ( whatever it may be) and will spend hours both doing and learning it. A university cannot turn someone with no talent or inclination into a good engineer.

The good news is that none of this matters. Here is a forum with all walks of life and every qualification under the sun and it is surely the better for it!

I got some12v 4w mr16 led bulbs from ultraleds. I fitted one into the gooseneck light on the mill (had to take the switch out because it is a bit longer and fouled it) it is very bright and draws less than half an amp. They are £8.00 each but worth it in my opinion.

David

I'm pretty sure that they are different from the c7 type which are something like mj99e off the top of my head.

David

Plastics seem to produce more weight in swarf than the original bar. I am thinking of farming Nylon for a living!

David

Here are photos of the relevant page. Sorry about the quality but my manual is a photocopy.

Oh by the way there is no such thing as a dumb question only people who are so dumb they don't

ask!

Edited By David Colwill on 10/01/2014 21:02:00

On mine you retract the topslide until you uncover the single cap head screw and undo it. The topslide will (with a slight twisting motion pull off. Move it to the next position and tighten it. The locating boss on mine is quite a snug fit so it does need to be twisted in and out. I'll see if I can see what the manual says.

David

I too use chrome but have not experienced this. I suspect that it is something you have picked up elsewhere. Many trial programs include malicious code and search bars that you don't want.

David

Put me down as another satisfied zither user (80mm four jaw sc).

David.

I have cut aluminium 30mm thick by 400mm long on my wadkin circular saw with a standard wood blade. i use standard blades on my woodcutting bandsaw and chopsaw and often use them for ali. Eye protection is a must.

Dave

Many thanks for the replies. I am using ordinary soluble oil at the moment because I have it already but I'll maybe see if there is a more modern alternative that will be ok for sitting around in the grinder. I have just taken off the splash guard as it had numerous leaks. so this weekends task is to clean all the gunk off and replace it with new gunk then refit it. I also will look at a better delivery system as the tap that is fitted leaks like a strainer.

John I built a spray mist coolant system for my little CNC mill and had to abandon it due to the choking fumes. I really couldn't belive how bad ordinary coolant could be. You would need a powerful extraction system to cope with it. Having said that if you can get one to work I would be very interested to know how you do it.

Thanks again.

David

I have a J&S 540 surface grinder but little experience using it. There was some time ago an excellent post on grinding techniques that helped me form a couple of years of blundering about into a workable understanding. Coolant is often mentioned but seldom explained. When is it needed? Is it always an advantage and if you are using it how much and where is the best place to point it (at the wheel or the work).

Many thanks in advance.

David

I don't really know if this would work but.... if you can use an oven for the tempering you could try feeding an inert gas into it (mig welding shield gas should work) this would stop any oxidation while it was heating. Good luck anyway.

David

I too have wanted such a thing but doubt I will ever end up with such a well executed end result.

Dave.

Try looking for seamless hydraulic tube.

Many thanks for that.

I do feel that the price for the magazine is high enough that I should be able to expect professionally written articles without having to write them myself. I am also suprised that some of the "how to use a 3 jaw chuck" type articles are not put up on this website free. If the management want to encourage newcomers to the hobby then they have enough of a back catalogue of beginners "how to" already written and paid for to keep anyone happy. The things like CNC and the other subjects that can be contentious could be dealt with in the same way. Having seen how much Authors get paid for writing, I am sure that if the editor said that he didn't feel that he could publish the article but would be willing to put it up on this site, then many would be happy with that.

I also think that this is a great site but that it is not used to its best advantage. I would very much like to see it and MEW improve. I still get my copy from my newsagent and as a result feel that I have a right to post on this forum with my various cries for help and also am delighted if I can return the favour.

I had always assumed that the reason industrial CNC machines used such seemingly huge motors and drives was so they could get usable torque at low speed without having any gearing. The CNC router at work has a 20kw spindle motor which presumably gives enough power at the lower speeds. I would be interested to know if this is the case.

Hi I'm sure that I'm being an idiot here but....

I have a Herbert 2d round head capstan lathe and find it a real pain to fit the collet chuck without ending up with ball bearings flying all over the place. I'm sure there must be an easy way of doing this.

The main problem I have is that the inner part of the chuck has to bolt on to the flange (this is the part with the ball bearings) and then the outer part of the chuck has to fit over it at the same time a locating key (that can spin round for added fun) has to line up with a slot (which you can't see).

I do have the operating manual for it but it seems to think that such an easy job requires no explanation.

if anyone can shed any light on the procedure I would be very grateful.

Many thanks.

David

I should add that the top of the plate is on the right hand side. On mine this is the wheel on buttons.