Member postings for Tomfilery

Chris,

Sorry, perhaps I'm just being thick, but how does a 90 degree insert allow you to do chamfers without it first being rotated to 45 degrees?

I use triangular TCMT inserts and one of my turning tools has the insert set at a 15 degreee angle, so that the cutting edge is at 45 degreees to the axis of the lathe. In this arrangement, you use the edge of the tool (or part of it) as a "forming" cutter (even thought it is a straight edge) and when used in conjunction with a QCTP makes doing chamfers dead easy. Obviously, I have both left and right hand versions for chamfering both ways. You could use one of these tools mounted along the axis of the lathe for your internal chamfering if the job prevented "normal" mounting (at right angles to the lathe axis).

Regards Tom

Tim,

I had the same problem (and provided a response to a similar question from someone else on this forum - but can't find it).

I adjusted the screw until the clutch worked reliably (if only for a few seconds) then counted how many turns it needed to remove the screw, introduced a tiny amount of Loctite (nutlock, NOT studlock) into the thread, using a piece of wire, then put the screw back in and screwed it in the appropriate number of turns. Problem solved!

I have read of a second screw being tightened up behind the first one to act as a lock - but would imagine that if the first one rattled loose, the second one is likely to do so as well.

Regards Tom

Nick,

+1 for John's comments above.

I have an ER32 collet chuck and rarely use anything else these days. Coincidentally, the other chuck I use most often is an 80mm 4 jaw.

ER32 goes up to 20mm and will close on 2mm. If you do get one, get a proper collet spanner and consider a ballrace nut.

Regards Tom

David,

Although not critical for operation of your lathe, a QCTP makes things a lot easier and quicker. In "normal" turning you invariably end up having to change tools, fairly regularly. I found that a 2, 3 or 4 way toolpost tends to get in the way. Be aware that others use tangential tools which seem to work as multi-purpose tools covering many different operations, so a tangential tool might be a useful one to have in your arsenal - though I don't have one and use a QCTP.

There are simple free toolpost designs out there which could be made on a lathe - though a milling machine does help - I suggest you investigate them. Obviously you start off with a couple of holders and make more as you need them - but beware - you need at least 2 spares as you'll always find something else to use with them, e.g. I have one for my DTI, one for my knurling tool, and one I use with a fine slitting saw for chopping up small metal sections (saw in the chuck and stock in the tool holder)!

Would I go back to a normal toolpost now - no way!

Regards Tom

Robert,

I have a Cowells 90 and made a QCTP for it (dovetail cut out on the fixed part and mating "key" on the holder. Worked great and made life so much easier! I cut the dovetail block on my Axminster micro mill (which only just managed to do it!) and ended up cutting the mating "keys" from aluminium. Given the small cuts you are forced to make using the Cowells, rigidity wasn't an issue.

Were I doing it again (I won't as I bought a Myford and now rarely use the Cowells) I'd make the holders which have a simple large hole bored in them and which clamp onto a central large circular vertical pin. Once you get a production line going you soon turn them out (pun intended).

Regards Tom

I don't want to get into a "my preference is better than yours" argument but I use carbide tipped tooling almost exclusively on my Myford S7 and have been very pleased with the results when compared with HSS (which I never persevered with the grinding thereof)! I haven't tried a tangential tool, but have seen pretty good work done with them (in post on this and other fora).

One thing you do have to watch is the quality of the insert. My tools were all cheapies (£7.50 including key and tip) from Chronos (they were Glanze stock being sold off for some reason and are no longer available). Over a period of time, I bought about 8 of them (various handings and configurations). The original tips were brilliant, very hard to wear out - even with stainless steel. I found newer replacements from Chronos (although now much cheaper) are less hard wearing, so I'm trying out similar tips from Axminster and RDG Tools. The Axminster one is looking good, but at £4 per tip is more than twice the price of the Chronos ones - I haven't tried the RDG ones yet, but they were about £2.50 each).

If you do go down the carbide route and find tips don't last, look for alternatives - you don't have to get into the Greenwood tools league, but may have to test a few different suppliers' wares to hit good ones. Many other posters have made similar comments in other threads in the past.

Despite my current issues with the cheap tips, I use my carbide tooling for everything (except parting off, where I have a conventional HSS tool) and shall continue to do so. Don't let others put you off!

Regards Tom

John,

Sorry - missed it on first read - if I recall correctly, I obtained all my bearings and needle rollers form Simply Bearings who only charged a couple of quid postage however much/little you bought.

Regards Tom

John,

I used to have this problem also. I'd stripped my lathe down to refurbish it, fitted new clutch bearings, etc., and on reassembly found the clutch kept slipping. I knew, from my inspection of the component parts, that all should be well and assumed that the grub screw was just working loose. I carefully (so as not to lock up the hole thing and using a pin so as to place only the smallest amount in position) put some nutlock in the screw hole and adjusted the clutch as normal - problem solved.

Mine hadn't had a second locking screw in place and I wasn't aware of that trick at the time.

Hope this helps you.

Regards Tom

It seems to me that views are split between "I can't manage without one" and "it's a waste of money". My own view is as per the latter!

In general, whenever I want to ensure my taps start cutting square I simply drill the hole (using my pillar drill) with the appropriate tapping drill, remove the drill and chuck the tap, then TURNING THE DRILL CHUCK BY HAND, start the tap off in the hole using the lever feed on the drill to apply downward pressure until the tap bites after which it will pull itself into the work. You only need a couple of turns to ensure the tap starts off straight. Then, unscrew the tap, unchuck it and move onto the next hole, repeating as necessary. Of course to do this, your work needs to be clamped down, or held in the drill vice. I use the same technique, even with small taps (i.e. M1.2) and in steel!

Regards Tom

Ady,

I had a similar problem, but needed to drill 4 holes (for M3 screws), to make a depth DRO for my Super7 tailstock.

I managed to drill the holes in the "fixed" leg (i.e. the one which did not contain the electronics) but had the same trouble as you with the other two holes. My solution was to strip all the plastic parts off the caliper "carriage" , heat it bright red with my blowtorch and then anneal it, by quenching in water. I then had no trouble finishing off the part-drilled holes.

Hope this helps.

Regards Tom

Roger,

Although it doesn't answer your original question, Tony Bird is current explaining (with excellent pictures) how he makes water gauges for his boilers on the Home Model Engine Machinist forum. The thread is titled "Water Gauges for Boilers" and might be worth viewing - at least it will give you some ideas as to how to fabricate your own.

Regards Tom

Diane,

Surely you mean for MEW (rather than ME) - otherwise what is the point in having the two titles?

Regards Tom

All,

I read, with some dismay, the "I don't want to learn CAD/CNC" comments and feel that some are missing a trick!

I have an engineering background, both heavy electrical and electronic, but have never been able to produce drawings to a good standard. A good few years ago I bought TurboCad and now use that for anything I either make, or want to plan. This has included:- extending my house, rearranging the bathroom, refitting the kitchen, planning the block paving layout for the garden/patio, as well as drawing up numerous narrow gauge locos and rolling stock in 16mm scale - both for actual building and for "lets see if I can use that power unit in that loco". For me, CAD lets me draw to a standard I could never have achieved with a pencil and lets me try things out and move items around the drawing without having to start copying and cutting out paper shapes, or messing around with tracing paper. When away from my workshop (e.g. on holiday), I take a small notebook PC and continue my drawing/ planning.

Ok - I still do "back of a fag packet" sketches for bit and bobs, but if I'm doing something more involved, then I usually draw it all out on CAD. OK, so I don't produce a full set of workshop drawings and only dimension what I really need. However, it is dead easy to go back and check dimensions you might have missed off. One really crucial feature for modellers is the ability to measure something in the real world (say a railway wagon) draw it out full size and then scale it and dimension it in your chosen modelling scale, meaning that if you need a version in a different scale, you just resize it and don't have to redraw/ redimension.

Ok - so I'm a convert and many of you aren't, however, Ireally do want MEW to keep me informed of new developments and (perhaps more importantly) want to be able to assess what kit and expertise I would need, should I decide that I do want to take the plunge into CNC (or any other technology). We have had a couple of articles recently explaining some of this detail, but I still feel that if someone could produce an "idiots guide" showing "what cnc could do for you" that would be really helpful. John Stevenson has done this a few times in his posts and long may he continue.

If we continue to adopt the "bah humbug" approach to newer workshop technologies, we will definitely die out as a hobby. At least the CNC side might bring younger people into the hobby, who might then develop a greater interest in general engineering and actually building things in the real world.

Regards Tom

Hi Steve

Apologies - I completely misread your post (and the one following).  My comments below apply to the MK1 clutch fitted to a Super 7, not yours.  You may however, find the link of interest.  I presume you will NOT need to lubricate the moped brake type clutch.

If you copy and paste the following link into your browser, you'll get details of part of the clutch mechanism.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/myfordrebuild/www.onepoint6.co.uk/Myford/Countershaft_and_Clutch.htm

Don't worry about the text as he is rebuilding an ML7. The main part of your clutch is inside the cone pulley (sadly, not shown) and is activated by the bits in the first picture in the link.

The clutch is basically a spring clip (like you'd put onto a shaft and which fits in a groove), but is around 20mm thick. The ends get pushed apart by the clutch push-rod and causes the outer diamerer to engage with the inside of the cone pulley.

Lubricate it (oil only and fairly sparingly) via the nipple in the cone pulley.

The only thing you might need to do is adjust the push rod (through the hole in the pulley, should the clutch slip. Mine was adjusted the once and has been OK since (touch wood).

Spares are no longer available for this clutch, so if it breaks you are in trouble. You can apparently fit one of the newer Myford clutches (it would be interesting for someone who has done this to provide comment re difficulty, etc.). I recently bought a little used Mk1 clutch complete, on fleabay for £90 - just in case.

Hope this helps.

Regards Tom

Edited By Tomfilery on 20/08/2013 16:45:24

Edited By Tomfilery on 20/08/2013 16:45:47

Hi,

I find that layout blue and marker pen both come off on your fingers when the piece you are working on is subject to a lot of handling. I often fret out things like axleguards for 16mm scale rolling stock and you end up with most of the blue on your hands, rather than the metal.

As a result of previous posts on this site, I bought some copper sulphate (to use for marking out), however, all it seems to do is deposit a very thin layer of copper on the metal (I was using mild steel) which is easily wiped off with your finger. However, what did seem to work well was dipping the steel in used Citric Acid "pickle", which deposited a thin and reasonably long-lasting coating of copper on the steel. That is the way I shall go in the future - unless anyone else has any better ideas?

Regards Tom

John,

Have sent you a PM.

Regards Tom

My local garage wants to clear some space and have a Colchester Bantam 2000 lathe and ancient pillar drill which they are willing to donate to anyone who collects them (either, or both). The lathe is about 8 feet long and presumably weighs a couple of tons. The drill is free standing and has a substantial base! Both appear to be single phase.

The lathe is in a fairly dirty condition, but probably has seen little use (the garage changed hands about a year ago and the lathe hasn't been used since, but has been switched on). It has a QCTP and a couple of tool holders. There isn't much tooling other than 3 jaw chuck and drill chuck (but there might be more in the cabinet). Swing over the bed is around 6 - 8 inches. I didn't think to check whether it is Imperial or Metric.

The drill is minus belt and top cover (I don't know if they are still there) and a very poor picture is below.

Please let me know if you are interested and I will make the necessary introductions. I have no connection with the garage, other than as a customer. It is pretty near to me, so if you wanted more detail I could get it fairly easily.

Regards Tom

I am now going to pose an alternative view!

Prior to their move to new premises, earlier this year, Chronos offerred a range of Glanze 10mm sqare tools with replacable carbide tips for £7.00 each (including tip and torx key). I have, over a period, built up a set and use little else for all my turning on my 1956 Myford Super 7. Triangular tips are £3.00 each (or less if you buy 10 or so) and give you 3 cutting edges. I've worn a couple of tips out - I tend to turn dry and work on the usual materials (brass, steel, stainless) and have yet to chip one (though am careful how they are stored).

Clearly, having the ability to work grind your own HSS tools is desirable, but my advice would be not to dismiss tipped tools as you can get straight on with playing with your lathe, instead of having to hone (pun intended) your grinding skills before you start!

The tips handle interrupted cuts well (e.g. turning 3/4" hex round), though having been brought up on a small Cowells lathe, I tend to only take relatively light cuts, rather than "industrial" ones.

So, you don't have to spend a fortune on tipped tools, nor need to be a master grinder before you start.

Regards Tom

Mike,

Re the clutch - I assume you've removed the pushrod and all of the operating lever parts and double checked that you have removed all of the grub screws (some of which fit into machined flats on the shaft).

I had some difficulty with mine when I took it apart and the shaft can only go one way - i.e. I knocked mine out from the righthand side of the headstock (chuck side). Someone had previously bashed the end of the shaft with a hammer, so it took a little work with a file to remove the distortion.. Even then, I had to drift it out (and back in again after inspection/ repair) with a wooden dowel. It most definitely was not a sliding fit through the bearing in the cone pulley.

Hope this helps you.

Regards Tom

Mike,

There is a diagram of the clutch actuating mechanism HERE (hope that works) - though it doesn't show the actual clutch, which sits inside the cone pulley as Maurice describes above.

The adjuster screw is a BSF one (1/4 or 5/16 from memory).

The chrome ring around the sight glass unscrews, allowing easy removal - mine had an opaque plastic "glass" which I replaced with a crystal watch glass, bought online and which are available in 0.1 mm incremental sizes - cost about £4.

Your machine is clearly early - mine has a serial no in the 5600s and left the factory in late Nov 1956.

Regards Tom