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Member postings for Martin Whittle

Here is a list of all the postings Martin Whittle has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.

Thread: Which lathe?
18/02/2016 22:38:50
Posted by Roderick I started with an old Zyto because that's what came along.

I did the same. I did a fair bit of restoration on it 30 years ago, and it has had various tweaking since. Since I took this photo, it has had a quick change tool post installed - I must take some more photos! It does not usually look this clean.

zyto.jpg

I still keep it despite having fully expected to replace it when I got my Warco WM250; in fact I would not be without it!. I find it very useful, often when I don't wish (or I am to lazy) to change the chuck or other setup on the Warco. The chuck runout is (finally) also significantly better at around or under 0.001", so useful on smaller stuff (noting the maximum diameter up the spindle is 10mm, with 1MT fitting).

There is an impressive example on fleabay at the moment, ref 262286370917, updated complete with 3-phase variable speed drive.

Good luck with whatever you choose, although I doubt you will go for the Zyto!

Martin

Thread: Gloves
31/12/2015 17:04:13

+1 vote for using disposable nitrile gloves almost all the time in the workshop, since I have dry skin prone to eczema. They give very useful protection against oils and other contaminants and dirt. The mechanical protection they give is minimal, so I might expect to go through a number of pairs during a day in the workshop.

Using the disposable blue type, there will be no risk with rotating machinery - the glove is thin and would be very easily torn and ripped off your hand in a dangerous situation, we are not talking a about a tough mechanically protective glove. Being thin, they also do not significantly affect hand dexterity and sense of feel.

They can be bought in boxes of 100 on the 'bay from around £5; search for 'bodyguard nitrile glove'; the ones I use come in blue packets with 'L/8.5 Large GL8953' identification.

Martin

Thread: Warco WM16 or WM18?
19/12/2015 00:08:38

Hi Grant

I have a WM250 lathe and WM16 mill. Before I purchased these, I had been considering their smaller brothers, in consideration of limited workshop space. I have never stretched the capabilities of these machines, apart from some difficulty drilling a work-piece held in an upright indexing head, when I was simply running out of height on the mill column.

I am pleased and content with my choice of machines, but also very glad that I did not buy smaller versions. I know that I do have the capability of working on larger items if necessary, and at greater speed than smaller machinery. For example, the swing on my lathe, like yours, will allow me to turn larger (but not very large!) flywheels if/when I want to make a steam or internal combustion engine.

It depends on how much room you have to place the machines, and how deep your pockets are. As you suggest, you will not know what projects will take your fancy in the future!

MT3 tooling will be more expensive than MT2, and in any case you may well find that tooling and work-holding costs will soon approach that of the machine, whichever you choose.

A larger milling table may allow room for two working set-ups on the table, or allow a set-up to be undisturbed while using the mill just for another drilling job.

This may not help you very much, but If you have room, and can afford it, the larger machine may be attractive. But as I say, I am happy with the WM16.

Martin.

Thread: #*¥@₩£§ NVR switches!
18/12/2015 23:02:40

John

Sounds good to me - I'm left handed, so right is the off position!

Martin

Edited By Martin Whittle on 18/12/2015 23:03:13

18/12/2015 22:15:33

Chris

As an electronics design engineer of almost 40 years experience before retirement, I can assure you that for all that time, most professional quality test equipment, on both sides of the pond, uses 'down' as the off position, push-buttons excepted!

In an emergency, it it much quicker to turn equipment off by knocking the switch down, rather than up! Hence emergency stop switches use push-buttons, rather than a pull action - it is just the same! Hence I do regard the use of switches with a down 'on' position as intrinsically less safe.

Martin devil

Thread: Workshop anti condensation heater.
08/12/2015 09:47:41

Chris Evans

Several issues here

How airtight is your workshop?

If your workshop is not moderately airtight, you would be trying to dry out the world, as noted above. For example, my workshop is approximately 4.7 x 2.3 x 2.2m in size, or 23.8 cu. m. The saturated content of air at say 20C is 17.3g per cu m (see **LINK** ), so total 411g, or 411ml, for my workshop. Of course I am only trying to reduce the humidity down to 50%, so I need to extract about 200g per air change. So, if my dehumidifier tank has a capacity of perhaps 3 litres (not sure exactly what it is), it will cope with 15 changes of saturated air. If you are emptying your dehumidifier several times a day, you either have a very large workshop, or it is not at all airtight, or you have a lot of damp material (wood, paper?) stored there (which will dry out before long).

In practice, it is dependant on the weather: in the most damp conditions, I might empty the dehumidifier once every 5 to 7 days. In drier conditions it might be once every few weeks. Dehumidifiers do not generally work efficiently below a few degrees C, but the coldest conditions tend to be the driest.

For reference, my workshop has 2 standard wooden doors with no special attempt at sealing, it is otherwise well sealed, and located in central southern England.

Note the dehumidifier will give a double benefit of both drying the workshop, and giving a small amount of background heat. The heat is both from direct power consumption, and additionally the recovery of the latent heat of evaporation of the recovered water. Assuming my dehumidifier reservoir capacity is 3 litres, then taking the latent heat of evaporation at 2265kJ/kg, I will have recovered almost 6.8MJ for each tankful, which is equivalent in total to the use of a 1kW heater for 1 hour 53 minutes.

As you note, keeping the air moving can help – this is where my draughty old wooden shed wins out over my brick garage. The real issue here is with changing weather conditions – after a period of cold weather, when a damp warm front comes over, the warmer moist air meets cold metal and causes condensation and rust. So the fan helps, mainly in that it assists the workshop contents to keep up with changing external conditions.

Another method used is local heating, perhaps attaching a powered resistor to large lumps of machinery to keep it slightly warm. For example, a rise of 10 degrees (perhaps more than necessary) would effectively halve the relative humidity at the surface of a machine. Like many physical and chemical processes, the water content of saturated air roughly doubles for each 10 degree C temperature rise.

Martin

Edited By Martin Whittle on 08/12/2015 09:50:28

05/12/2015 08:45:57

Hi Chris

It does depend on your workshop construction. My draughty wooden shed is always a lot drier in winter than my brick detached garage! If the workshop is fairly airtight and well insulated, it may be better to use a dehumidifier.

My workshop was constructed by lining and insulating one half of the double garage, using studding walls, insulated wall/floor/ceiling with Celotex. I knocked the plywood and glass panels out of the wooden back door, filled the openings with Celotex and covered the door with 6mm waterproof plywood skins.

With this insulation, the diurnal temperature variation is usually only 1 degree C or so inside the workshop, whatever the outside weather, until I go in there.

I run a dehumidifier 24/7/365 in the workshop. This is controlled by a humidity controller module from fleabay (around £15 from a supplier in China), built into a diecast box with mains socket on top. It is set to turn on when the humidity rises a little above 50%. So electricity consumption depends how high the external humidity is, at times it might be largely off for weeks; with damp weather it is on more often, but I think certainly less than 50% duty cycle even then. I think the overall electricity cost is minimal, especially considering the degree of protection to my machines and other tools. As a result of this, I now simply don't get rust in my workshop! The dehumidifier also gives a small degree of background heat, probably only 150W maximum at 50% duty cycle, but this can be enough to raise the workshop temperature by perhaps 2-3 degrees in winter.

The use of a dehumidifier does rely on having a fairly airtight building. If the building is very leaky (my shed), you will be trying to dry out the world! I would like to reduce run a dehumidifier in my (woodworking) shed, but I think it would require substantially better draught proofing. Note also that dehumidifiers do not work well at low temperatures - they need to be above a few degrees C to work, depending on type.

Martin

Thread: Help Identifying a 3 jaw chuck make
31/08/2015 16:52:11

I have a 4" / 100mm chuck of Polish manufacture which I believe I bought from Graham Engineering in the 1980s. It has a 1983 date code, and appears virtually identical to that on http://www.bison-bial.co.uk/lathe-chucks/3204-100 , including the Bison symbol, but with less other engraving on the front. Technical data is is available from a link on that page.

I still have the user instruction leaflet and the test card; if you wish I could scan a copy for you. It quotes a size range of 80 to 630mm, including your 160mm. The leaflet does not mention Bison by name, but includes the Bison symbol.

Martin

Thread: Conversion spreadsheet
15/06/2015 07:34:27
Posted by JohnF on 21/01/2014 18:02:55:

Still useful but take care it seems to me that much is based on the USA gallon and NOT the imperial gallon this also impacts on the fluid ounce etc etc,

E.G 1 UK imperial gallon is 10 pounds weight

1 US gallon is 8.34 pounds weight

Be aware also that the spreadsheet uses the USA 'short ton' of 2000 pounds, not the Imperial ton of 2240 pounds (known as the 'long ton' in USA)

Thread: The New AMAT25LV
29/05/2015 21:15:22

+1 vote for Warco WM16. I have been very happy with mine, with no major problems since purchase about 18 months ago at a Warco open day, slightly used.

I was contemplating a somewhat smaller machine before I bought it; but I absolutely agree with recommendations you will receive in respect of buying the largest machine you an afford or accommodate - I am glad I went for at least this size.

Depending on your intended use, you might find little problems with the workspace height. I have pushed the envelope occasionally when working on larger workpieces, or when using a dividing head (BS0) including 4 jaw chuck to mount the work, which does use a lot of height! It can help to use use drills in an ER holder, or use milling cutters instead of a drill, even if not the most immediately ideal solution, in this case.

You will surely have fun with your mill when you get it!

Martin

Edited By Martin Whittle on 29/05/2015 21:16:05

Thread: Warco minimill OR SIEG Super X2 OR none of them ?
16/01/2015 18:35:00

Clive

I believe your capacitor is polyester (PE, also known as PET). A data sheet is on http://surgecomponents.com/admin/pdfs/SRMA.pdf, although I would regard this as a poor sheet, as it does not specify dielectric type as polyester (it does elsewhere on the site); also despite the drawing showing lead spacing, it does not give dimensions (at a guess, you will find yours is 0.4" between leads). Any parts from Farnell or Maplins etc with the required value and voltage rating that is capable of physically fitting would be fine. Higher voltage rating is again perfectly acceptable.

If you search for 'polyester capacitor 100nF 400V' on a well known auction site, you will find pictures that look remarkably similar to your component!

A polypropylene capacitor would be fine, and is a superior type in terms of high pulse current handling and other aspects; they would typically be somewhat larger but may well fit. A 275V AC Class X2 (used for fail-safe use in decoupling 240V mains) part would also be OK.

Hope this helps, and that you don't find further problems!

Martin

16/01/2015 15:50:26

Slight correction: the capacitor value shown as 104 gives a value of 100nF.

The first two digits give the basic value, the last is a multiplier as a power of 10, so 104 is read as 10 x 10E4, i.e. 10^5 or 100,000pF

'K' gives a tolerance of +/-10%

Martin

Thread: What did you do today? (2014)
26/12/2014 19:39:38

I went to W*S today and decided to buy a copy of 'woodworking plans and projects'. I do however offer many apologies to my model engineering colleagues for such deviant behaviour!.

I tried the self-scan checkout, but was surprised to find the material was classified as 'restricted' and a staff member was required to attend. I waited at least a couple of minutes and there was no sign of said staff member appearing (no surprise there then).

I therefore went to the attended checkout, where it was confirmed that this was indeed restricted material. I presume this magazine is considered adult material, and includes advanced stuff, such as perhaps a picture of a router bit!

I am looking forward to reading it later! devil

Martin

Thread: CovMac Lathes
06/12/2014 00:50:16

It was great to help you with your lathe Chris - and it was serious fun smiley.

I very much enjoyed work on an historic machine which is so much larger than my own, and to meet a real enthusiast. And your wife makes great sandwiches - please thank her!

Martin

14/11/2014 21:53:28

Hi Chris

I have sent you a Private Message which you should receive on your usual email account, offering help if you need it while moving your machine (I live close to Southampton).

Martin

14/11/2014 21:17:35

PM sent

Martin

Thread: Warco WM 16 arbour removal
17/07/2014 22:16:56

There is a threaded 'cup' that screws down over the external thread on top of the spindle. Screw this down lightly (i.e. not even finger tight). When you then unscrew the drawbar using an 8 mm spanner on the square section on top, the drawbar pushes against the cup and thus ejects the tooling from from the taper at the lower end of the spindle.

Hope this helps

Martin

Note there is a very detailed manual for a very similar, but not identical machine (e.g. it uses R8 tooling rather than MT2) at cdn0.grizzly.com/manuals/g0704_m.pdf

 

 

Edited By Martin Whittle on 17/07/2014 22:31:55

Thread: Storage - How to?
21/03/2014 19:53:47

Ikea sell synthetic rubber DVD holder material, which can be easily cut to size, http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10105370/ .

I have used these in a similar Bisley cabinet. Also a very similar Ikea 'CD holder' sheet with narrower slots which I cannot currently locate on the Ikea site.

It works usefully for separating cutters, other tools, or materials, but the the relative size of the Ikea sheets and the Bisley drawers result in a lot of offcut material!

Martin

PS I think I originally found these somewhere on this forum smiley

Edited By Martin Whittle on 21/03/2014 19:55:50

Thread: Workshop floor construction
15/01/2013 17:01:29

Hi Gents

Thanks for a number of interesting and helpful replies.

I now feel confident in using foam insulation without battens on the floor. Not yet sure about thickness: 45mm would give a height close to the door threshold allowing for the chipboard and the floor surface layer. 70mm would give better insulation, but would mean the floor was above the door threshold.

As a matter of interest: the reason I was concerned about damp was the possible use of timber below the vapour control membrane. One could imagine a problem with damp due to thermal cycling and condensation, in just the same way that a double glazed windows mists up if there is an air leak. I don’t anticipate a damp problem with the workshop itself, after it is insulated and background heated. Nevertheless it is interesting that the detached garage, of standard brick (part 110mm, part 230mm thick, no cavities) and tile construction, is significantly more damp in the winter than my current draughty wooden workshed.

The garage floor has been levelled on the side intended for the workshop. The slope, varying from nothing up to approximately 1 brick height over the garage length, required approximately 0.8 tonnes of dry material for filling: around 24 bags of sharp sand and 6 of cement for the screed mix, and finally 4 bags of self-levelling compound to give a smoother finish. It has had a large domestic fan and a dehumidifier operating most of the last 7 weeks to help dry it out.

The workshop area will be boxed in using stud and plasterboard construction. The studs are 45 x 70mm, I expect to fill the space with 70mm insulation. I regret losing the floor area this takes, but this should give a good standard of insulation. I intend to use a minimal 25-30mm cavity between the outer brick wall, and the inner studding and insulation: I have already glued short pieces of batten to the brickwork at various heights behind the proposed stud locations, to hold the insulation in location. The roofspace framing is also 70mm depth, so I can use 70mm insulation between ceiling joists, and partially board the space above for light storage.

I did wonder about using 11mm OSB for cladding the walls. This would be stronger than plasterboard, and therefore easier to attach fixings for hooks, shelves, etc. It is however more expensive, has a rougher surface, and does not offer the fire protection of plasterboard. With plasterboard, shelving uprights can still be easily screwed into the studs to give extensive shelf storage.

Thanks again for the advice

Martin

Edited By Martin Whittle on 15/01/2013 17:03:07

14/01/2013 22:24:10

I am converting one side of a detached double garage for use as a workshop, and would appreciate some advice on floor construction.

The anticipated floor construction sequence is concrete subfloor / polythene damp proof membrane / polyisocyanurate foam insulation (probably 45 - 70mm) / polythene vapour control membrane / 22mm flooring chipboard / top floor surface layer.

Do I use treated timber battens to support the floor between the subfloor and chipboard, to take the load off the insulation? This seems often recommended, but I really don't like the idea of sandwiching wood between 2 damp proof membranes: if (when?) it gets damp, it cannot dry out! The compressive strength of the insulation appears adequate, for example Kingspan Thermafloor TF70 is rated 140 kPa at 10% compression and 125 kPa at 5%, or approximately 14 / 12.5 tonnes per square metre. I therefore assume a maximum practical load of say 5 tonnes/sq m.

A typical relatively heavy bench having 6 legs, and of 300kg laden weight (100kg bench, 100kg machine, 100kg miscellaneous material ) then requires each leg to have the load spread over a minimum 10cm square of insulation. This spreading should be adequately provided by the 22mm chipboard layer.

So is a fully floating chipboard layer resting on the insulation OK in respect of load bearing including machines on benches? This would be at variance to other recommendations seen for direct rigid mounting of machines to the concrete subfloor, but I am not anticipating machines weighing much over 100kg, or swinging very heavy unbalanced workpieces.

Any recommendations for floor surface? I have seen laminate flooring at the local DIY shed priced as low as £5/sq m, for a tolerably acceptable appearance, smooth surface, heavy domestic / light commercial rating. I wonder also about use of a heavy industrial grade of PVC flooring, in sheet or tile form.

Any opinions gratefully received, especially if they coincide with my own smiley

Martin

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