Member postings for John McNamara

Considering it was first postulated in 1965 by Gordon Moore

Moore's law has remained remarkably prescient.

**LINK**

If quantum computing is finally brought mainstream and out of the laboratory and IBM think they can, Computing power will go up several orders of magnitude.

Moore on steroids.

Amazing

I started out posting this here: http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=129275&p=1
Did not want to be a hijkacker so moved it here.

Hmm.....

I wondered if Google could find the image?

So I tried using the "Search Google for image" tool found by right clicking an image.
No It did not find it, however lower down on the result page was "Visually similar images" 
In a couple of days it will also find the image on the forum once it is added to the Google database.

The results are amazing to me.

At the moment it is confusing sewing machines with Shaper's and a couple of other machines, and yes it did find one Shaper, a pretty poor image of one too how did it work that one out?, it did determine that the object was a machine and not a dark cat like a Russian Blue ours is steely grey blue.

AI is becoming all pervasive. Its about 100 years since the industrial revolution got into full swing with the production line, and mass production on a grand scale.

I see a problem, In the past Mass production meant jobs with full employment once the 29 crash was over. Oh and that took less time than the GFC, we are still not over that.

But AI is different, Its more about job destruction not just production workers they have already been assailed by CNC and automation, clerical work has already been decimated, middle management will fall to AI its next!
There are some things it does really well like medical diagnosis in the hands of a good doctor. or finding images!

Google announced that they had updated their search engine, allowing it to in a way program it self learning as it goes. **LINK** They call it Deep Learning.

What does this mean in a year or two? will the same test find mostly shapers with only a couple of sewing machines or maybe all shapers.

Oh and Google is only one of many companies. **LINK** IBM is working on the hardware to crunch the numbers computers with unimaginable processing power.

To set the record straight No I am not a Luddite, I embrace CNC because of what it can do. I am however in a quandary? How do we make this new world work?

Sorry for this digression, I did not want to loose the train of thought.

Regards
John

Edited By John McNamara on 08/08/2017 15:10:29

Edited By John McNamara on 08/08/2017 15:12:39

Moved

Edited By John McNamara on 08/08/2017 15:06:03

A few thoughts.....

When I bought my lathe it must have been used for Long bar work, There was an expanding plug in the outside end of the mandrel, quite nicely made actually, it could be expanded to lock it in place, in the centre was a bored hole to fit the bar to reduce the bar whipping out of balance.

To centre drill a thin rod you could hole it in the fixed steady and then drill form the tail stock as usual?

Automatic lathes with bar feeders sometimes have a wood lined long thin box to hold the several metres of rod sticking out the back end of the lathe, The wood to reduce the noise, This method would require careful design, if the bar got out and started flaying around it would be a disaster.

Regards
john

Hi Nige

From time to time you may need to extend work beyond the normal diameter x 3 to 4 to one, well that's my rule of thumb. For a 19mm bar that should work fine as long as you are taking light cuts.
There should not be much deflection due to tool cutting pressure. there will however be some deflection and the part diameter may increase towards the unsupported end due to the work springing away from the tool.

For any beginners reading this, extending the work excessively can lead to the part bending due to centrifugal forces, There have been some serious accidents where the operator was whipped by the flaying bar.
Polishing a long bar held in the chuck even using the tail stock at high speed is particularly dangerous. If you dare Google lathe accident.

As far as the 3 jaw versus 4 jaw? Like most people I started using the 3 jaw and was annoyed to have to put on the 4 jaw because it was more difficult to set the work true. However the three jaw can never be as accurate as the 4 jaw (independent jaws type) chuck. With practise you can set the work in a 4 jaw within a tenth or two within a minute or so.

Now the only time I use the three jaw is when I have to make a lot of small parts the same from bar stock, the kind that are turned all over then parted off. If I had a collet set I could also use that.

On the other hand if the part was say a ground bar that needed to be accurately turned down to a shoulder It would best be done in the 4 jaw chuck having set it dead true. (and using copper packers to protect the finish on the bar)

Indicators.

I have a couple that sit next to the lathe.
A ten thousanths of an inch .0001" about .0025mm per division the other a "thou" per division .001" about .025mm

For cold rolled bar there is not much point using a tenth indicator, it will jiggle all over the place unless it has a ground or rolled finish. is is also more fragile and best kept for finely finished surfaces. For average work a thou indicator will be fine and you can interpolate between the division lines anyway.

A while back I purchased a new magnetic stand, the type that only has one knob that will tighten it in one go,**LINK**
These are a a great time saver.

Across the Atlantic pond Keith Fenner and Abom78 on you tube both show very clearly how quickly work can be set in the 4 Jaw.

Cheers
John

Edited By John McNamara on 06/08/2017 16:28:59

Hi Rainbows
Hi All

Just noticed your post re BT30 spindles
Did you go ahead and get one? If so how did it perform.

It would be nice if the manufacturer offered them with a quick change mechanism.

Regards
john

Hi Nige

You cant have too many packers, The I beam type are particularly handy for packing work clamped directly on the table, The typical wooden boxed Asian sets are too thin and not very stable. I Also keep a selection of cylinders squares and other shapes.

Regards
John

Yep Birchwood uses Selenous acid

See the safety sheet. **LINK**

My Father used to make cold blue in the 60's so a while back.

I am not trying to be a goody too shoes! Just suggesting that using it requires all due care.

Regards
John

Some cold bluing solutions contain Selenous acid, **LINK**
Best wear gloves and handle with care.

But then again some of the old hot bluing solutions contain Mercuric Chloride,  https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/mercuric_chloride#section=Top  When I was in my 20's I purchased a few ounces, Really nasty stuff and they just handed it over, all I had to do was sign a book. I used it to experiment with Howes formulas. found in the Modern Gunsmith. The result was very good but took a lot of time in and out of the bath then wire brushing many times between immersions. I survived.

As an aside I walked into an antique shop a few years back and there on some shelves was a collection of old chemist jars and bottles still full of various chemicals. One large jar was marked corrosive sublimate it was 3/4 full there must have been a KG of the stuff. I asked the owner if he knew what it was. He did not! Corrosive Sublimate is an old name for Mercuric Chloride. Surprisingly he was not concerned that that jar contained a seriously dangerous poison. Who knows what the other jars contained He liked the different colours!

Regards
John

Edited By John McNamara on 28/07/2017 09:09:55

I bought a 200mm 4 Jaw chuck at an auction recently, well about a year ago. Anyway it was an Asian model clearly not used much and it was surface rusty in various places. Most importantly for me it had 4 bolt holes that would work with my Vertex index table. there was also a lot of oily turned to varnish turned to rusty brown gunk.

So what to do about cleaning it up? My normal process is uses the following tools:

Hot (strong) detergent water

Paint thinner, metholated spirit, or terpentine to deal with varnish and the like

Ajax powder as used for scouring pots, but used with a sponge not a scouring pad. The sponge greatly reduces the surface scratching caused by the Ajax. used lightly on steel you get a nice very fine grained polish. Together with old toothbrushes, also the toothbrush shape and sized wire brushes you can get at the hardware these days. to get into deeper rust.

Thumb size small pieces of well worn down fine grit wet and dry paper used with water never dry, lightly, to deal with deeper rust areas.

Oh and a new tool in the arsenal a Vileda scouring pad these are great. I hope they are available in other countries In our kitchen they last for months way better than scotch brite. but this story is not about pots! just get one and try it! I have no connection with them **LINK**

My method is based on one premise, always start with the mildest methods first so its wash with detergent water to remove grease then use the heavier methods sparingly.

I don't like acid baths for light rust as they act on the entire surface of the part.

The chuck had a few areas of light pitting where the rust was deeper, I used a wire wheel on those but not the road sweeper grade you get at the hardware, a really fine almost soft to the touch 8" x 1" wire wheel, I found a new industrial grade one at a market. I should have bought two. it does not leave deep scratches.

The said chuck came up really well, a few areas of light pitting the rest was like new.

Oh... And hot soapy water Ajax and a sponge or with the hands will make freshly machined parts look a lot brighter, it removes the grey smear left by the cutting tool.

Naturally after immersing in water the parts will need to be properly dried and oiled or Mr Rust will be back.

Regards
John

Edited By John McNamara on 25/07/2017 15:36:12

Nice work Richard !

A few came my way when we replaced some rotten windows.

I tried milling one into a 30mm square rod one to test my scraping abilities on making a small straight edge. The surface was hard, chilled I guess, but once I got through the skin the machining was OK I used a carbide face cutter my mill is old and slow but able to take heavy cuts, no way as easy as Flowcast but doable. If there is a bin full you may be able to pick a thick one they came in many sizes. I would not like to pay a lot for one. The material scraped OK and I got a fair result, there were no voids. A few scratches but they were operator error not the material.

Hmm How would I do it with Autocad? I can export Acad solids to Fusion

OK Here is what I did

Drew a 20mm diameter circle centered on 0,0,0

Drew a helix 100 mm high 10mm radius, it will be cut down later

Set the helix to a quarter turn and payed with the height to generate about 45 degrees by eye, The math guys in here can work it out exactly if they like!

I then extruded a triangle (Pointing in to the center) along the helix to make a single solid of a cut line. I then put a small fillet on the solid to create a root for the cut. I could have done that on the crude triangle it does not matter.

Made an array of the solids spaced by eye to give a flat top on the finished knurl

The above will create a single angle knurl.

For a diamond knurl I mirrored the existing array then superimposed it on the first one creating diamonds.
Then exploded the arrays and trimmed the height to 8mm by subtracting a solid from the top and the bottom.
(Only explode an array of solids once or you will end up with useless lines that will not subtract from another solid)

See image below. (The cutter is made)

Next I made a plain cylinder put a hole in it and placed that centered within the cutter.

We are ready to cut!

The cut took a lot of time about 15 minutes! The processor was running at 100% So many points to resolve, Normally cutting a single solid takes about one second.

Finally I created the chamfers by revolving a shape then using it to cut away the corner

Done!

DWG file Exported to Fusion

Rendered in Fusion

Edited By John McNamara on 22/07/2017 16:38:05

Strange, I tried the link and there was no issue?

This is the text of the link.
"https://www.mediafire.com/upgrade/"

Just google Mediafire homepage to find it if you are worried about the link

John

When I started posting on forums quite a few years ago I used a site called Mediafire to store files, still do; you can have a free account with adverts or a paid account. I have a paid pro account, no adds. Nearly all my images in posts here are linked to it.
I am not affiliated in any way just a user.

**LINK**

Hi All

A mate just had the following scam thrown at him, very cunning. He did not fall for it but I guess many will.

He has a company that as is the law is registered with corporate affairs. Anyone can look up a company and see if they are registered and until when, the review date and also get the ABN the Australian business number and address details.

The Scam is to look for companies nearing renewal and ask for a renewal fee. Banking on the fact that a good citizen will want to renew ASAP not wanting to have an unregistered company. I guess they use some sort of trawling software to get the data.

Then out goes the email to you >>>>>>>>

The email looks genuine and has working proper links back to the government site, it looks normal and you can check your status as they did, All is OK until you press the pay button. If you fall for it the money will go into the malefactors account. Checking the link address will include a deceptive name that appears to be a government address.

Regards
John

Edited By John McNamara on 19/07/2017 13:39:46

By far the best book on Colouring metal I have found is the Modern Gunsmith By James Virgil Howe 2 vols 1941
I have mentioned this before. it is still the best I know of.
It covers bluing, browning, heat colouring steel, brass and other metals. also durable wood finishing.
And of course gun smithing and tool making, using hand methods and basic machinery.
Even If you are not interested in firearms it is a gold mine.

**LINK**

Regards
John

Would the moderators please remove the last few pages of this post. It is rapidly descending into the kind of conversation you might hear in a third rate bar near closing time. The thought bursts clearly show a host of tawdry isims and concepts, not suitable for any forum. and way below reasonable discourse.

Regards
John McNamara (Australia)

Hi Jason

From Memory that option was not available last year?
My receipt was for one year and I was given the renew price which is a little cheaper. so it appeared to know about me renewing?

Anyway the back office will have to look into it and correct any anomaly. I did not renew for two years only one.

All this was started when I was sent a renew reminder email that did not work.

regards
John

Hi

Just noticed that the invoice copy that was emailed to me was for STG 53.15
so why the 100.50 pending on the credit card?

Maybe I better look back at previous years payments.

Regards
John