Member postings for mechman48

Doesn't matter what machine I've been stood by my a**e has always been too near the floor..so any extensions will be minutely inspected for viability.. mind you at my age it seems to be getting closer to the floor each year..

George

I have 3 Stuarts kits waiting to be started... S10 / S50 / Progress, have spent too much time on other stuff, a couple of oscillators from plans, Johnboy Stirling engine (still to be completed ) mods on my machines & making stuff to make stuff to make stuff with...

George

I've had similar probs with M-Machine site, the majority of the site is fine but when tried downloading their metals catalogue I got a warning that this web page was insecure & caused IE to stop working, needed to reload page & tried again.. same message.. maybe will have to call them & pass the info along, could be a Trojan on that particular page.. strange as it doesn't seem to affect their other pages..?

George.

Welcome Daniel

Another couple of pointers for you to be aware of when you get your toy;

Keep the packing case for a day or two in case there is any reason to return machine,

Check that the gear end guard case tab ( bottom at rear ) is pressing the micro switch in correctly otherwise you'll be wondering why the machine won't start, it took me a while to figure that one out! it seems that this is a common problem ( bent in transit, easily missed  .

Check that the Emergency stop button securing / retaining clamp is fitted & tightened up as this seems another assembly fault & the Em. stop will just flop about, mine did & when I checked inside the casing I found the retainer clamp in the bottom of the casing.. soon rectified!. make sure it has been unplugged & any capacitor has discharged before diving into the wiring box ...DAMHIK !

Make sure the saddle runs all the way from headstock to tailstock freely as the first machine I received the saddle gear was binding hard against the frame casting giving a couple of quite tight spots making it difficult to move the saddle along. I sent my machine back because of this... lack of QA & assembly Inspection at factory / casting fault , Warco soon remedied that thankfully,

MIKE.. with ref to saddle lock; I took the bull by the horns & decided to modify the lock to cure the common problem.. I dropped the leadscrew block at the tailstock end after sliding the saddle to the tailstock, removed the 4 SHCS from the saddle top to gearbox & dropped the gearbox enough to move the saddle top along to give me room to take out the saddle lock, it's basically a block of cast iron to no defined measurements per se. nor is there any cam device, Just a SHCS into a tapped hole.. unless they have changed the design.. the clamping action, to work effectively needs to have the top of the casting filed / machined to allow the inner side of the block to pull up onto the front shear underside rather than the other way round where it clamped up to the underside of the saddle first... a matter of a minute amount really. I checked the gap prior to removal & iirc found at least a gap of .015" so in effect the saddle lock wasn't pulling up to grip the underside of the front shear.

Having removed the block, taking care not to drop it into the saddle gearbox, I filed approx .030" off the top of the block on the saddle side & refitted the block.. now according to mods ... **LINK** .. his lathe differs in the configuration of the saddle lock & he cut his block in two whereas my machine.. 250V-F has a different block design & SHCS spacing so I could leave my lock in one piece. Once refitted & reassembled my saddle lock now works really well, I still have to use an Allen key due the different design & screw spacing of the block but it doesn't take much to lock it up solid... on the down side I didn't take any pics, probably 'cos I wanted it back up & running to test it, neither did I take the opportunity to do a complete stripdown to flush the saddle gearbox out nor resolve the oil leak that has been there since day one...silly me! or more colloquially... stupid t***t, that's what come's of not planning properly, an on the spur of the mo' decision... never mind a redo in the summer is on the toduit list. I've also done the gear silencer mod... it does quieten things down

The only remaining downside I have is the amount of clearance behind the chuck for removal & refitting of said chuck; if you have short fat fingers...Like ME! it's a PITA to change the chuck so I fitted flanged nuts which help a lot instead of fu******* 'fiddling' about with washers... If Warco are listening.. or reading.. get a D1-4 camlock system fitted to this size of lathe, sooooo much a better system... even if they stick another £100 on the price well worth it I'm sure, or give another 10 mm clearance behind the chuck back plate.

All in all a decent machine that I'm pleased with for 'working straight out of the box', other opinions may differ but hey ho horses for courses!... one last /couple of points, get yourself a QCTP system, Dickson type or Aloris / Axa... saves faffing about with packing shims, also get or make a Tangential tool, ( ad on the left side of this forum ...usual disclaimer ) if you have the moolah/shekels/lolly, you will find that this will be the tool that you do most of your cutting with, & only one face to grind up! there are pics in my albums of some of the mods done if you / anyone one wants to nose. If I can be of further help please ask / drop me a pm.

Regards

George.

Edited By mechman48 on 28/02/2015 01:01:57

Neil's method is the easiest way to check alignment but also check for horizontal alignment with the same set up turn the rule horizontal & eyeball the rule from above & it should look straight across the bed, parallel with the chuck, thus confirming vertical & horizontal alignment. Going back to your tool centre height; one easy way to set centre height is to face off some material & look to see if there is a 'pip' left in the middle of the faced off surface, if so then adjust your facing tool up or down to get rid of this 'pip'... tool height centred .

George.

Bob is correct in the initial set up but having the two marks lined up doesn't guarantee alignment; it is always best to machine a test piece to confirm any deviation & tweak ea. adjusting screw until your test piece reads the same on two machined collars with at least 6" between collars, or as near as can be +/- .0005". There are quite a number of threads in here re. test piece alignment set up.

Pity I am up in Teesside.. 250+mile from you otherwise I would gladly help.

George

1st - Collet chuck only for a secure grip; or 2 - use collets that are made for use with a drawbar, that fit into the taper on the Myford... 5C..? .. Myford owners will advise better.

George.

It should be a left hand tool.. this presents the cutting edge to the material in the correct orientation with the mill motor / quill rotating clockwise ( normal rotation )

George.

Neil

Thanks for the info, have a particular use / idea for the digi scale.

George.

Neil

Have just renewed my Digital & print subscription for this year ... .. do the free offers apply to existing members or are they just enticers for new members... can I expect the latest 'free' offer to arrive some time soon?

George.

Raised the same question on the 18th.. no one seems to know, hopefully all is well.. maybe moderator ( Neil ?   ) could forward our collective best wishes..

George

Edited By mechman48 on 20/02/2015 16:49:54

If you're concerned about the amount of tool holders, don't be, I already had quite a few from my previous machine so have only bought about 6 over the last couple of years, I have since bought a Tangential tool holder 18 mo. ago & most of my tool holders are now sat on the shelf as I use the Tangy 95% of the time. Most of the others are set up with 'Pusher'(bearing) tool, chamfering tools, DTI set up, profile tool, knurling tool, parting tools etc.

George

Hi Richard

Get yourself a QCTP they're well worth the expense; either a Dickson type or a Axa type. I changed from the supplied 4 way as soon as I got my WM250 & have not regretted it. I believe for Dickson type you should go for the '0' or '00' size as I'm sure either will fit, Myford owners will no doubt put you right The Axa type would be either a 100 or 200 size, again Myford / Boxford owners will confirm. You will no doubt need numerous holders for either type; I have 18.. so far, & still look to change out tools on occasion so some more will be on the shopping list for the Harrogate MExh.

Regards

George

Anyone have an update on Graham... is he well ?

George

Stan...

....but I don't think you can still buy Kasnit... check this out

**LINK**

George

Have tried to access Amadeal website.. 'cannot display page' message comes up.. googled Amadeal UK.. same message.. site seems to be having probs today.. any one else tried it?

George

Depending on how big the patch is.. remove surface rust with wire brush / emery cloth, apply Jennolite / D rust / Ku rust or similar propriety rust neutraliser from Halfords ( usual disclaimer ).. let it dry, rub down lightly again, any embedded rust will have turned to a black oxide ready for primer coat, fill in any deep scratches, rub down with wet & dry, let it dry completely, apply primer / matching top coat.. wet & dry again, another top coat. Halfords will make up an exact match for your colour if you give them the manufacturers colour code.. did it on my last car.. an exact match!

I'm not a car mechanic / bodywork specialist so can only offer advice as to how I've done it in the past, no doubt there will be plenty of posts as to how to do it correctly... but FWIW..

George.

p.s. I also cleaned any road detritus from behind the affected panel /patch down to bare metal as well & gave that a coating of the anti rust gel too, then gave that a top coat spray followed by a coating of Waxoil or similar.. belt & braces scenario, rust does eat from both sides.. .

My lathe & mill are both metric simply as most equipment & fasteners are metric these days, albeit, as stated there is a lot of imperial stuff still kicking about, & will be so for many a year.. I still have a Snap On 1/4" drive socket set from over 40yrs ago, plus imperial allen keys, loose & clipped sets, around in my gear from yrs long gone.

George

I've always measured AF ..across flats.. Green

George