Member postings for Brian G

+1 On using a Brother label printer - in my experience they survive UV and water, and don't even discolour or peel when washed multiple times in a dishwasher (my wife puts them on storage jars). Be careful when buying non-Brother labels to check that they have the extra spool for the laminate, many don't.

I keep a few inventories (taps & dies, reamers, milling cutters, books, model railway rolling stock and Britool spanners) as Excel spreadsheets. Unlike a paper list it is easy to insert items to keep them in order and to search for particular sizes, titles, running numbers as appropriate). Because they are backed up to onedrive I can access the spreadsheets on my phone as well. Whilst this is handy in the workshop it comes into its own at shows when I can quickly check "have I got one already" before grabbing a bargain, avoiding wasting money on duplicates.

Brian G

It might be worth contacting Essel Engineering, their website says "As a further service to modellers, we also supply a limited range of spare parts for the 'Hobbymat' machines. Otherwise I wonder if the SU300 Masterturn part will fit?

Brian G

EDIT: Unless perhaps one of these clamps similar to that suggested by Gene happened to be the right size?

Edited By Brian G on 01/06/2020 11:27:48

The device can only be used with the small end toward the workpiece as it has to be held between the internal point and the centre mark. The long end amplifies the movement in the same way as a lever indicator (here) making it easier to see the error.

Brian G

If you cannot get hold of the articles, Blackgates catalogue includes a range of David Lammas' tools and they list (or at least listed, my catalogue is the 2015 edition) the instructions and drawings as well as the casting set.

Brian Gates

As far as the difficulty of disposing of a workshop is concerned, you could always consider leaving it to somebody else, perhaps a local MES or a preservation group that could either keep the tools or sell them to raise funds, then your son wouldn't have to worry.

Brian

If you buy a machine like a Warco WM 240 or Chester DB10 with a t-slotted cross slide you could bore the yokes (and perhaps even cylinders) with a between-centres boring bar.

Brian

Drawings and instructions here for DIY manufacture and this video (which for some reason doesn't seem to display automatically, hence edits).

Brian

Edited By Brian G on 06/05/2020 08:43:27

Edited By Brian G on 06/05/2020 08:45:26

Edited By Brian G on 06/05/2020 08:45:50

I bought some 3/16" a while back from moss-europe.co.uk but the price gave me a shock!

Brian Gates

A pencil or coffee stirrer pressed against the thread of the nut may take enough of an impression of the thread to measure, or at least to compare to the thread on the machine.

Brian G

If you can wait for delivery perhaps the easiest thing to do is get them from eBay. The third listing I looked at offers M16 x 1.75 RH thin nuts in 304, but if want to make your own, a tap is cheaper than two nuts.

Brian G

Twenty 2020 dollars, remarkably similar to the price of one of these.

Brian G

With the phasing out of lead and cadmium stabilisers and biodegradable plastics contaminating the recycling stream, we may just have to get used to the idea that plastics don't last like they used to. (Does anything?)

Brian G

I found Aldi's "Mamia" baby wipes worked well on 30+ year old Minolta lenses, removing both the white deposit and the sticky residue from the "rubber" on the zoom rings. I don't know their effect on babies but they are my "Go To" degreaser and I use them to remove the shipping grease from machines and tools.

Brian G

There are a few frequently encountered exceptions to the rule, such as Emco's M12 x 1 and M14 x 1 on Unimats and Ronson's M4.5 x 0.75 for lighter filler valves, but apart from these as Martin says Metric coarse should cover most things. Personally, apart from these specials (and M8 x 1LH for leadscrews), I have only ever needed the preferred sizes M3, M4, M6, M8, M10 and M12.

Brian G

I have bought a couple of sets of cheap insert lathe tools via eBay and Amazon expecting to throw the inserts away. I was working on the basis that it is hard (but not impossible) to make a totally useless holder, and they were good value for the holders alone. I was surprised however to find the inserts were nowhere near as bad as I had expected and produced a perfectly acceptable finish, and that I have gone back to the same sellers for more.

Unfortunately I have never had the same good fortune with cheap HSS milling cutters and will stick with UK suppliers for these. There are excellent products coming out of China, but there is also plenty of rubbish, and having spent years importing finished goods and components from China, I would rather trust a specialist importer than myself to decide which vendors to use.

Brian G

I suspect drug dealers wouldn't be too bothered, as cash is easier to find, trace and confiscate than bitcoin, and there seems to be no shortage of people willing to act as money mules, accepting and passing on bank transfers to obscure their origins.

Brian G

Is this the best place to find this information Sam? My guess (and it is just a guess) is that there will be more variation in the sensitivity of different types of medical device than different brands of shaver. Perhaps the device (medical, not shaver) manufacturer, the hospital that carried out the procedure or the British Heart Foundation (who have a leaflet which includes recommended separation from different electrical devices) may be much better placed to advise you.

Brian G

My son's Chester has a similar (identical) gearbox and the warning at the top left is enough to stop me trying to change gears when moving, especially as it is his machine and may have to last another 60 years. No problems changing gear when stationary as long as I turn the output coupling whilst moving the lever.

Brian G

I'm reasonably happy with the (Aloris copy) piston type but should we change to the wedge type we won't need to buy new toolholders as both take the same type.

One thing to consider is whether your compound slide is flat-topped or there is a spigot on which the 4-way is mounted. If there is a spigot it is easy to machine the piston type to fit over it, but for a wedge type you will need to either remove the spigot completely or do as I have done and machine it down to fit the toolpost. I managed to do this on the mill, but otherwise you would need access to another lathe or a raising block for the 4-way (which could perhaps then be re-used as a rear toolpost).

Brian G

Similar "intermediary" websites exist for everything from driving tests and passports to parcel tracking, and they often appear before the real thing on searches. Unlike the "your renewal payment failed" emails, these are completely legal (if morally dubious) "services" as long as somewhere on the site they state that they are not the official websites. To quote Tom Waits "The large print giveth and the small print taketh away".

Brian G