Member postings for Andrew Johnston

I've never had much of a problem with the handle on my Kurt. It is heavy enough that if you give it a good swing it'll go round a few times on its own. That makes it quick to move the jaw some distance.

Manufacturers choose the length of the handle to provide proper tightening without the risk of over-tightening and resultant damage. it seems that the nice new handle is rather shorter than the supplied handle so will be less useful in tightening the vice.

Andrew

What's wrong with the bottom handle? Looks similar, if slightly rougher, to the one that came with my Kurt machine vice, which works well for me.

Andrew

I wouldn't faff around trying to set it up in the mill. Make a suitable tool and do it by hand. The surface is only being cleaned up not really machined. I'd make the tool from silver steel and harden it, albeit not strictly needed for brass.

Andrew

I have three copies of Machinery's Handbook from the 1930s, 1940s and 1990s, and refer to them regularly. I never look at my Zeus, not even sure where it is.

Andrew

I use a 12" rotary table on my Bridgeport. Horizontal/vertical capability is a necessity:

I prefer a parallel central hole, not Morse taper. A parallel hole means it is simple to make locating pegs:

There is a rotary table hidden under the wheel!

Andrew

It will be through hardened, not case hardened.

Andrew

That's useful to know; I think I'll cross it off my list!

Andrew

A picture would help before commenting, as there are variations on table size. power feed and especially the type of vertical head.

Andrew

It's a return crank and provides a secondary, out of phase, drive to the valve rod via a combination lever. The primary, in-phase, drive is provided from the crosshead via the other end of the combination lever.

Andrew

Time is a great healer, take a break and don't worry about it. I did some machining yesterday for the first time in several months due to physical and mental health problems. The mental health problems resulted in a total lack of interest for doing anything on my engines, on the computer or in the workshop. I am only now just beginning to get back my enthusiasm.

Andrew

Cutwel stock them, made by Presto, not cheap!

BSPT Tap

Andrew

More likely that the French metric system used 3x0.6 as standard until sometime after WW2, and was presumably copied by Japanese industry. For thread diameters below 3mm the French system used thread angles of either 50° or 60°.

I came across 3x0.6 when making replacement parts for a guitar for a friend of a friend. I only identified the thread when I noticed that the guitar was made in Japan.

Andrew

Seven is a prime number so can't be factorised?

Andrew

Probably used for direct indexing for gear cutting and similar. The disc looks like clockmaking rather than industrial. I don't know if the nuimbers are common tooth counts for clocks.

Andrew

Not necessarily; M3x0.6 is used in Japan, and to some extent the US.

Andrew

Not wasted my time! The valuable lesson here is that it is tricky to do tests on machine tools that measure one parameter, and one parameter only. It is common on here to see a measurement made, and solutions sought, for a problem that doesn't actually exist. It is best to make a series of measurements, with an open mind, and find a cause, before contemplating "solutions".

Andrew

That may be the case for Rego-Fix but not necessarily for other professional suppliers. Cutwel for instance only gaurantee the specified runout at nominal diameter; at least for their precision and super-precision ER collets.

Andrew

I was going to post a picture of my tube micrometer having had supper. But lost enthusiasm; I'll go and start setting up the CNC mill instead.

Andrew

A tube micrometer will do the job. The fixed anvil is not a blade but a cylinder at right angles to the axis of the work to be measured.

Andrew

Same issue arises with some industrial lathes. As above be creative with the tool positioning:

Andrew