Member postings for Tomfilery

Nigel,

Re Dimensions in TC.

Select the dimensions button and draw one on your drawing (don't worry about it's style for the moment).

Once done, click on the "selector" button.

Click on the dimension to select it.

Click on the "properties" button (looks like a list, on a page) and this will give you access to changing the settings for the dimensions (including fonts, arrow sizes, etc).

Once you are done and exit "properties" your dimension will have the new properties, however, this will NOT become the new default. I assume there is a way of including this a default, by creating a new template which includes the setting, however, I've never successfully done this, except by adding a dimensioned line to the template, so that whenever you open a new drawing, you have one pre-formatted dimension to copy subsequently.

So, what I do is (having formatted one dimension), I draw in all the others I require, using the existing default dimension properties (i.e. NOT the ones you really want). Next click on the "format painter" (paintbrush button) and click on the dimension which does contain the formatting you want - this sets the format you will now "paint" onto the other dimensions. Now click on each dimension you want to modify, in turn, and your new format is painted onto them.

I know it sounds a faff, but it is a lot quicker to do, than to write up. I normally don't dimension the model space, instead, copy the component to a paper space and dimension it there. Helps minimise the clutter.

Similarly, re layers, draw something, select it and THEN tell the object which layer you want it to be. Once you have a number of layers in the drawing, you have to be carefull that you ensure the correct one is set, when drawing new lines - though you can easily change the properties afterwards, if you get it wrong. I have loco drawings where chassis, boiler, frames, etc. are all on different layers, so that I can readily work on parts without the other bits cluttering the work area.

Hope this helps.

Regards Tom

Andrew,

Would it wedge into the top of the pulley housing (once the belt cover is open), allowing the pointer to be engaged with the bull wheel gear for basic indexing?

Regards Tom

Bill,

I agree with you re the BT website tariffs and contracts - funny how they never manage to show you exactly what tariff you are on and the benefits you get so that you could compare it with the new proposal.

When I got the same letter, I rang them and told them that I felt their charges were outrageous and that I didn't want to pay them a penny more than currently. They looked at my phone usage and decided that there was an alternative to the tariff proposed and they added the technical help as well - something they've been trying to give me for ages at extra cost. My experience has been that every contract tweak doesn't necessarily cost me less, but I'm now at the stage where I refuse to pay more.

You may wish to consider adopting the same approach and should they subsequently ask you to provide feedback, give them both barrels (obviously not the call handler, but definitely the company).

Regards Tom

Martin,

Apologies because it doesn't answer your question, but there's a Bridget in 7.25" on eBay at the moment with a current bid of 3999.00.

Hope this helps.

Regards Tom

Anthony,

I don't have the Clarke, but do have an Axminster Micromill, which is basically the same machine.

Mine doesn't have the plate with slotted holes, but does have the allen screw screw you have labelled "1" and it is this which is definitely the quill lock! I replaced the allen screw with a handle, on mine.

The other socket screw, with locknut, is set to minimise the play on the quill I believe - the screw bears in a slot which runs down the length of the quill, hence why it locks the quill when tightened. I'd use the other one as a lock, if I were you.

Hope this helps.

Regards Tom

Paul Humphries,

You have a Private Message from me.

Regards Tom

Martyn,

You can still buy "key steel" in imperial sizes, but it will be expensive.

I assume it is used for keys to fix gears to shafts, so may not come in the exact size you need.

Regards Tom

Jon,

One other option (along the lines of your reground masonry drill) would be "locksmiths drills" which are normally ground drills, but with a carbide tip.

Got mine off ebay for £2-4 a piece and have been handy when drilling harder materials (or drilling out broken screws, etc.).

Regards Tom

Andrew,

The trouble is is all depends upon what you want to use it for and what your expectations are!

I have an Axminster micro mill, which I've owned for quite a few years and which has dome pretty much everything I wanted of it. I would have liked the longer table (which wasn't available at the time I bought mine), but have rarely really needed it.

I've done loads of drilling (usually in the range 1-6mm) and quite a lot of milling and it is Ok. As ever, on those occasions you want to take a deeper cut, or use a larger milling cutter, it will show it's deficiencies. I once broke one of the nylon gears when using a dovetail cutter too large for the machine to drive reasonably and got a spare from Axminster by return post - which I thought a bonus!

Most of my work is in respect of narrow gauge railway models at 16mm/ft.

Regards Tom

Garry,

As you are making a boiler, and therefore have pickle for cleaning it up, just put your boiler in the pickle and leave it overnight. You will likely find your drill will have disintegrated, or can readily be removed the next morning.

I first tried this with a similarly sized broken drill in brass and, much to my surprise, found the drill was broken up the next day and basically dropped out of the hole. I used clean citric acid (i.e. which had not had copper in it) as I didn't want a layer of copper depositing on my brass.

Regards Tom

Nigel,

Like IanT I too have used TC for many years and am reasonably proficient with it, using it primarily to draw 16mm/ft railway wagons and locos.

I never use construction lines and rarely use a viewport (though it is particularly useful if you want to scale down a drawing (in model space) you have drawn full size to build a model in a different scale, or want to rescale an existing model to something else).

To reduce the scale of an image in a viewport simply enter the scale you want i.e. 1:19.05 (for 16mm/ft). Getting dimensions in the viewport to appear as scale dimensions is a little involved, but readily doable.

Your observation re grouped objects is absolutely correct. To change the whole object to a different layer you have to:- highlight the object; select "edit group content" - the object opens in a different screen; select everything (CTRL A does it); then select the layer you want it to belong to - and the colour (if you don't have colour by layer selected); once it is as you want select "finish edit to group content" and you are done!

I tend to use Ubuntu for most things, these days and run my TC from Ubuntu, by use of VirtualBox but, like you have looked for alternatives. One of the big stumbling blocks for me is that I use a lot of keyboard commands with TC e.g. in "draw" I'll click on the end of an existing line then tab to the Line length box; enter the length I want; tab to the angle box and enter the angle of the line; then hit enter to finish. I find this save loads of time, over carefully positioning lines with the mouse and allows you to not have to rely upon the grid.

Hope this helps you get over your frustrations.

Regards Tom.

As usual SOD and Neil are both correct.

When you get it all to work properly Linux is great. When it doesn't work well, you are on your own!

Having said that, I use Ubuntu for most things and am very pleased with it. I'd like to flag one piece of software which hasn't been mentioned and that is Oracle VirtualBox (usual disclaimer). I use it under Ubuntu to run Windows Vista and through that, my TurboCad 16. It works well and I have a shared area where I get Windows to save all my files (so the virtual Windows disk is kept relatively small). Connecting to other devices can get complicated but, for instance, I can print from Windows to my wireless printer on the Ubuntu network.

Worth a look if you get too frustrated with WIndows.

Regards Tom

Brian,

I'm afraid I can't help with your particular machine, but a few years ago when I wanted to replace the opaque sight glass on my Super 7 lathe with a clear one, I found that watch glasses were readily and cheaply available, in a range of diameters, in size increments of 0.1mm. I think I got mine from eBay.

So, once you've checked that your size is available, you might well find you can go down the "brute force and ignorance" route, without worrying that the glass might be irreplaceable.

Regards Tom

Brian,

The chemical you mention is Alum, however, I managed to get a broken small drill (1.5mm dia) out of a brass item by leaving it soaking overnight in citric acid. The next day the drill had basically turned to rust and could be poked out with a scriber.

If you use clean citric acid, rather than some which has had copper in it, you won't get a deposit of copper on your item.

Good luck.

Regards Tom

Nigel,

Although TurboCad won't read your image files directly, you can insert them into a "drawing".

I frequently insert images (usually jpeg ones, perhaps copied from a book, or magazine) into a drawing, then blow them up to the correct size for my project. You often have to scale them separately for X and Y and most drawings do have some degree of distortion, so you won't be able to "trace" an image ultra accurately.

I usually draw my drawing, based upon the information in the image, then move the image over the drawing to check it looks about right.

Have done it with all sorts of locos and rolling stock - even used it to draw out a wagon, based on a few key measurements and a photograph.

Regards Tom

Too late for Mike, but just in case anyone else is interested - Gloster Tooling now do a range of larger ER32 collets which extend the 20 mill max (of ER320) up to 1 inch. That said, they are very expensive (around £20 each), so the extended range alone would cost as much as a complete set of the sizes up to 20mm. Might help get someone out of a hole and as Mike initially observed, being able to hold 1 inch material is quite handy.

Regards Tom

Andrew beat me to it!!!

Hope you like explosions!

The reason they use argon is because it is inert, natural gas isn't.

Some MIG welders use CO2 as a shielding gas, but it depends on what material you are welding (I think).

Tom

Mike,

In general, they are few and far between.

Wild Rose is a 2 foot gauge quarry Hunslet, which would run on 32mm track. If you built it to 7/8" scale (rather than 16mm) that would run on 45mm (as Bill suggests).

Otherwise, there is Keith Bucklitch's Brazil (now a very old design) and his Izubuntu (Isubuntu??) - which was meant to be built using no-longer available Roundhouse parts (for the cylinders and motion), so wasn't a "build it from scratch" job.

On the 16mm Association website, under resources are details of a couple more locos - but weird ones, rather than the general "British outline" you requested.

Good luck.

Regards Tom

Nigel,

IIRC you have to add your first dimension "normally" - i.e. not using the datum options.

Once you have the first one done, you can then select the appropriate alternative style (addititve, or referenced from one end) as necessary. And no, you don't have to turn the snaps off to use them (though to be clear, I'm talking abut "snap to vertex" options, rather than "snap to grid" - the latter which I normally have switched off).

Hope this helps.

Regards Tom

Bill,

Cellar every time.

I'm fortunate in that I have a very nice downstairs bedroom as my workshop (sorry, craft room) and whilst the extension which houses it was being built I had a year of working out of the garage. The thing nobody has mentioned is that going out in the cold puts a significant damper on going into the workshop. I only had background heating in the garage and so would have to steel myself before going out there (and donning appropriate warm clothing). It wasn't so much that it was too cold when you got out there (thought not cold enough to stop me from working) it was rather that it took time to adjust and acclimatise, therefore popping out for 10 minutes never happened - it was all too much of an ordeal.

Having the workshop indoors and warm means the above doesn't apply and I now pop in any time. I know it might sound a bit wimpy, but that few minutes of cold was a real turn off to getting down to work.

Regards Tom