Member postings for Bowber

Just watched some of them FD vidoes, I'm not good with heights so now I feel slightly ill.

I used to have to work on the top of cement and Ash silos and they were bad enough with hand railings, caged ladders and stages, to climb up a single run of ladders and have nothing in the way of safety equipment just makes me come out in a sweat.

He's right about the feeling of a tall object swaying in the wind though, it is kind of relaxing.

Steve

I've got Meshcam and while it can do 4th Axis it does it in sections, so you can split the job into 2+ sides and then set the final cut depth to suit your needs.

It's quite easy to use and there is a trial version and active forum for questions.

Steve

I think there will be less backlash than a full set of gears with running clearance, plus the backlash will be damped rather than able to vibrate between the 2 extreames.

It's a good idea and now has me thinking of how to apply it to my Warco WM280, the compound gear set would be hard to replace with a straight belt drive from spindle to leadscrew gearbox input and keep the feeds slow enough.

Steve

I think I must be lucky, I don't get the slightest comment, unless I wash my hands in the kitchen sink and spread dirty water all over the clean dishes

Steve

No it does work and I've got it on my laptop (have had for about 2 months), bit underpowered on my laptop but it works similar to inventor, I've not done a huge amount with it but it looks to have all the normal tools.

Steve

I can't remember which version I'm running but it's been quite stable on my mill but my router can lock up seemingly at random, might try the older version.

Steve

I think there was a discussion once on the Mach forum about this and I "think" the conclusion was you should home occasionally because the difference from home zero to work zero can reach a very high number eventually and this can cause Mach problems.

Richard if your machine is heading off to the coordinates you type in the DRO box then Mach not working as expected

Like Michael said, just click in the box and type the value your wanting displayed, I do this sometime when I do a run from here after I've had a problem and had to reset.

Steve

I read recently that Moly grease doesn't create enough friction to make the rollers roll in taper bearings so they wear prematurely.

Steve

I use the foam mats from Halfords in front of my machines, makes it a lot more comfortable to stand there for a few hours and they don't suffer too much from swarf.
Other than that I've just used floor paint of left it. In the house we used an acid wash that melts and hardens the surface before laying the carpets.

Steve

Good motors, despite the reputation, if looked after. I used to race one in grasstrack tuned to the limit and it was nearly as fast as the 2 strokes and was reliable as long as you used Castor oil, they have a problem with heat destroying the oil as it passes through the cam follower block but castor oil could take the heat no problem.

Steve

I moved my old Victoria mill around on rollers and a bar, don't know how heavy it was but it was more than 1 tonne. Took a bit of doing but if you work slowly and carefully it's not a problem.

Steve

Used them and it can be quite entertaining, don't have anything flammable near by if you do use them.

I also used to use Stellite to face steel shoes for speedway and grasstrack, goes on nicely once you get the knack.

Steve

Looks like cast Ali to me, is your tip for Ali?

Steve

As you have found Neil it's the outer section that give the most stiffness, we used to have this demonstrated in classes years ago but I'm not sure they do it any more, my son is in his first year of an engineering course so I'll ask him if he's been shown with a demonstration.

As to making the tube stiffer, gluing a good fitting tube inside will add a lot of stiffness or a large diameter threaded rod tightened on to caps at each end may add a bit of stiffness.

Steve

Or pull the spindle out and reverse it in the headstock and turn, probebly easier than turning the whole headstock

Steve

Got any photos Graeme? I've been thinking about doing the same with my WM280.

You could true it up by hand, a lot of work but do-able.
Or make a hand operated tool that's located inside a sleeve screwed onto the thread on the end of the spindle.

Steve

I noticed in another article about grease that CV joint grease shouldn't be used in wheel bearings as the rollers can skid due to lack of friction and this leads to premature failure. So much for the "what'll do a lot will do a little" saying

Steve

Very interesting set of articles about grease there, we always had a list in the workshop for which grease to use on which job and also which greases not to mix with each other.

Classic oils don't have the additives in to keep contaminants suspended in the oil, that's why old car engines were dirty inside and modern engines are clean, however I thought they had most of the other additives in so I'm surprised you found such a difference in operation, I know the slideway oil I've been using is better than the engine oil I was using.

Steve

I'll second the slideway oil if you have the choice, just started using it on my new lathe and it's far better than new engine oil, stays on the slideways and leaves a thin layer on anything you apply it to so better for rust protection as well, plus the slides do more a bit smoother.
I've gone through nearly 1ltr so far but I did refill my mills oil pump and give it a good oiling on all the moving parts as well, also I've been oiling the new lathe after each use to clean out any dirt as it beds in.

Steve