Member postings for Iain Gordon

My complete workshop is for sale. listed in the classified section

PM me for further information.

Iain

Due to failing health I am having to dispose of my wokshop. It has taken me a while to realise that increasing infirmity is making it dangerous for me to be around machinery.

I have put adverts for lathe, mill and bandsaw in the classified section.

Nigel, please get yourself to your local A&E department and have your hip x-rayed.

Last February I developed groin pain and eventually,after about 3 weeks, got an appointment with my GP. Was sent off for an x-ray at one of our perhipheral hospitals. On viewing the x-ray they went into panic mode, had me on a trolley and swiftly transfered to the Major Trauma Unit in the city. Fracured Neck of Femur. I'm now the proud owner of 3 titanium screws in my right hip, and still suffering abit of pain. One of the screws has penetrated a bit too far and is within a couple of mm of penetrating the bone. Screws hopefully will eventually be removed sometime this year.

Groin pain is not to be taken lightly.

Good luck

Iain

Have a look at this Tom Lipton video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4kaXRgUHGs

Iain

Larry,

The incidents were on separate days, the gear on Sunday and the belt on Tuesday. The belt was my own fault as I ran the tool into the chuck, for the first time ever! The belt is an M5710, it's only 5mm wide. I think it did well to last 16 years.

Pete,

That was my plan if I was unable to source a replacement.

regards Iain

I contacted Warco on Monday as suggested and explained me problem to Peter in the spares department. Although my model mill is obsolete the do still sell it's bigger brother. Peter spent some time looking through parts manuals and identified the part. He offered to dig the part out and measure it to see if it was identical, which it was apart from the bore which was 14mm where mine was 12mm. Part ordered and paid for and delivered this morning.

Set about hunting for some suitable tube to make a sleeve but nothing anywhere near. So set about drilling & boring some MS bar. Job done, now to fit it all together. Bugger, the new pinion is fractionally too wide. Put casting in the mill vice and Luckily my longest endmill was just long enough for me to skim the insides of the bearing arms. Job finally done and it works sweet as a nut.

Well done Peter at Warco; excellent service.

Went to do another job on the lathe and the bloody belt broke. Took the remnants of the belt to the local bearing supplier who offered to chase one up. He phoned me a couple of minutes ago, said he could source one at a price. I'm glad I was sitting down: £19 + VAT plus £12 + VAT carriage. What planet are these people on? £12 carriage for something that will fit in a Jiffy Bag. Just managed to source a belt on Amazon £16.26 inc delivery.

Rant over.

Iain

Got it out with the aid of a BFH. Why it had to be so tight I don't know. I light press fit would have been enough. I've run a reamer through the holes in the casting and polished the shaft and it is now a good fit. Now I have to find a replacement pinion or have one made. If only I knew of a model engineer who could make one in exchange for a few beer vouchers...........

Mark, you are correct the rack teeth are helical, but you have to look closely as the slope is only about 5 degrees.

Iain

Jeff, Unfortunately I have no access to either Propane or an arbour press. I'll try jacking it out as you suggest.

Brian, I've tried Warco in the past for a part, but they said they don't hold any spares. I bought the mill 14 years ago and I think it was one of the last ones they sold.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Iain

I don't think they are open on a Sunday! I'll give them a call tomorrow, but I don't hold out much hope as I asked them about spares for this machine a few years ago and they said that they carried no spares for this machine.

Iain

I've owned this Warco Economy Mill from new. Over the past year or two I've found it increasingly more difficult to raise and lower the head and put it down to advancing years.

I decided to dismantle the rack and pinion today and found a sorry sight. The rack pinion is mangled, hopefully not beyond recovery. If I can remove the gear from the shaft I might be able to salvage it. But, there is always a "but", I cant budge the shaft from the housing. Ive tried moderate force to no avail. I don't want to be too brutal in case I damage the cast iron housing.

The shaft is 12mm dia. as near as I can measure. It is plane on one end and has a 6mm threaded hole in the other.

In case I can't salvage the gear I will need to source another. It is 33mm o.d., 24mm wide, 12mm i.d., 16 teeth with a 5 degree helix angle. Anyone got ideas as to where I might find such a gear.?

Iain

Out walking the dogs this morning, about 9:30, Heard the sound of rotors, but something seemed different about the sound. Then came the distinctive sound of twin rotors, but again something about the sound was off. Then I caught sight of 2 Chinooks flying line astern separated by about 2 fusalage lengths. They were at less than 1000ft and flying north. The probably passed about a kilometer to the west of LBA.

Don't see many of them in this area.

Iain

Hi Christine,

If your lathe is the generic 920 then you will need a backplate to fit the chuck. They are available in the States but I've not been able to locate one here, and I've been looking for years.

You can buy a blank backplate casting and machine it yourself but the lowest speed on the lathe is too fast and the short length of the thread makes this a hazardous operation.

I asked on here a while ago for help in machining a backplate but there was no-one within reasonable distance able to help.

I'm sorry I can't help further.

Regards,

Iain

There is one word in the Engish language that Americans are universally totally unable to pronounce correctly.

That would be Laboratory

Iain

Robbo, I am aware of the late Steve Bedair's site. It is full of very usefull information.

Iain

Frank, that's a good idea, I will give it some thought

Iain

Stan, I intend to finish the machining on this lathe. I only need the bore threading and the spindle register machining by someone else.

Iain

Photos of the 4 jaw chuck. As you can see it quite crude. There is so much backlash in the adjusting screws that it is a really tedious job centering work.

second attempt at posting this.

Not possible Jason. The existing chuck is more like a faceplate with 4 jaws in the slots. It's a really crude piece of kit. I'll post some pictures later when I get the chance.

Regards,

Iain

Hi Richard,

I did buy it new, but that was about 13 years ago. I've struggled along with it but now I would prefer to get something decent. I believe that this particular style of chuck was originally meant for wood turning lathes.

Iain

Edited By Iain Gordon on 10/05/2016 10:45:58

My chinese 9x20 lathe came with a 4 jaw chuck that is worse than useless. so I need to get something decent to replace it. This means having to bore and thread a backplate casting 39 x 4mm. This is beyond my skill level.

Is there anyone in the Leeds / Bradford area willing to machine this for me?

Many thanks,

Iain