Member postings for Swarf, Mostly!

I had another look for the earlier thread; it's at Fitting level vial

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Good morning, Steve,

Some time ago I replaced the vial in my Rabone 18" engineer's level. I described the process with photos in a thread on this forum - I had a quick search before coming to this post but I wasn't able to find it.

Here are a few observations in case you, or anyone else, decides to fit a new vial:

I bought the new vial from Level Developments. Some people thought that their price was expensive but I thought it fair considering that the vial is a precision component. I wouldn't like to try making them for that price!

The word at the time was that Level Developments make that sort of vial in batches and they aren't necessarily always in stock. But Level Developments themselves are, of course, the best source of information on that aspect.

There was a warning to be careful to protect the 'pip' on the end of the vial when back-filling the tube with plaster of Paris. I found this easy, my method is shown in the photos on the thread that I now can't find!!!

I do confess that I made a boo-boo - I should have painted the back of the new vial with white paint before fitting it. I backed mine with a piece of stiff paper, folded concertina fashion, but it shows through the rear of the vial and looks rubbish.

The plugs in the ends of the metal tube that houses the vial are (on the Rabone level, at least ) a push fit but it is a VERY TIGHT push fit. I found them tricky to remove, there isn't an easy way to hold the inner metal tube.

On refitting, the plugs need to be refitted with their flats level when the face of the vial is uppermost. And they are STILL a tight push fit and now there's an expensive new vial within the not inflexible metal tube.

My preferred sequence would be:
Fit one plug to the inner metal tube, taking care that the orientation of its flat extension aligns with the window in the metal tube,
Fit the outer metal tube and the two little leaf springs over the inner tube,
Fit the remaining plug, enuring that its flat extension aligns with the flat extension of the first plug and with the window in the inner metal tube,
Check your bench-top to ensure that you have no parts left over!
Refit the vial & tube assembly to the cast iron base of the level.

I hope that this helps.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 27/08/2022 10:20:21

Nigel Graham 2,

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, the tool-post base does have a tenon that locates in the cross-slide slot. However, the Dickson-style head has no corresponding feature to hold it square.

Both the base and the head have over-size holes and there is a close-fitting (hardened? ) sleeve that fits half & half in each. So the head is located accurately on-axis with respect to the base but only in 'X & Y', not in θ.

I have pondered drilling for a dowel to give angular location but I have no idea how to drill up into the head and then down into the base with sufficient accuracy to establish squareness of the head wrt the base. Plainly, if not properly performed, things would be worse rather than better with no opportunity for a second attempt. I have seen some heads which seem to have a small offset vertical hole but mine does not. Such a hole would obviously serve to guide the drilling of a matching hole in the base after initially setting up square. Furthemore, my (Dickson! ) head is hardened so I've never tried drilling one. (Smiley intended that time! )

On the subject of Tee nuts, I note that Myford are now listing steel Tee-strip to suit their Tee-slots; drill and tap your own holes.

The bolt that came with the 254 kit has a ⅜" BSW thread. It seems the thing is to use a coarse thread (rather than BSF or UNF ) to avoid excessive tightening forces.

Regarding securing machine-vices to vertical slides: the securing feet of my Myford machine vices have as-cast upper surfaces.  I milled mine flat to give the fixing nuts & washers a good landing.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 25/08/2022 13:38:23

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 25/08/2022 13:43:07

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 25/08/2022 13:43:39

I have a rear toolpost with a Dickson-style head for an Eclipse parting blade. The head originally came (via eBay) as part of the kit for a Myford 254. The label on the box reads '30/149 Rear Tool Post 254Plus V Plus'. I intended to make an ML7 size base for it but, before my 'planning' time had expired, eBay yielded a suitable base.

The 254 kit includes a central bolt with a Tee-slot head (foot???) and two Tee-slot bolts to secure the front extension in the next slot. The 254 bolt is obviously too long for the ML7 - I have yet to make satisfactory ML7-size central bolt.

Using the tool-post with such improvised bolts as I have tried has not been successful. The head tends to rotate about the central bolt. I have some plastic anti-slip mesh and I wonder whether interposing a square of that between the base and the head might prevent the rotation.

I also have a chunky cast rear tool-post that uses a 'boat' to permit adjustment of the tool height. I think it has a Myford part number but I don't have the literature to hand just now. I haven't found that one easy to use.

Now, a question or two about Tee-slots & bolts:

Am I right in thinking that one should arrange a substantial flat object to pull down on the Tee-slot flange to oppose the upward stress exerted by the head (foot???) of the Tee-bolt? I've always tried to do so.  In the case of the rear tool-post, the body of the tool-post performs this function.

The Tee-bolts and Tee-nuts sold by Beeston Myfords used to have circular heads with two flats to match the width of the slot. It's always seemed to me that such a design lacks contact with the cross-slide (in four places due to the circular shape) just where it's needed. I ought to add a diagram to show what I mean but I'm typing this post 'off the cuff'. (Maybe later! ) What do other folks think?

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 25/08/2022 10:42:55

Good evening, Haydn,

I suggest that, before delving into very technical test equipment, you disconnect your lathe from the electricity supply and then perform a very careful visual inspection. It's surprising what the Mk. 1 eyeball can find if given its opportunity.

The nature of the symptoms you describe suggest that you should be looking for illicit contacts between wires rather than for loose connections, though connections that are SO loose that they can make illicit contact are sometimes encountered.

I repeat: perform the checks I have suggested ONLY after the system is definitely isolated from the mains supply.

If the Mk. 1 eyeball finds nothing, then you may need the help of test equipment, initially a good multimeter.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Good morning, Bill,

Thank you for lightening my darkness.

I did contact Digital Micrometers Ltd., they have referred me to UK Metrology and Calibration, the guys that carry out TESA’s warranty repair service in the UK. Contacting them is next on my 'to do' list.

Thanks again and best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Good morning, all,

As I posted elsewhere this morning about a phone call I received, I thought some of you might be wondering about developments on our fibrephone saga.

We did eventually receive a visit from a Virgin Media technician. I have to write that he did not appear to be on top of the job! He did claim that 'we haven't been trained on phones' so I guess I shouldn't be too hard on the man but I'm not too pleased with his employers. He attacked my extension wiring with his side cutters when the relevant phone socket had screw terminals rather than Krone push-downs. Way back when I installed that extension wiring, I took pains to leave enough slack wire in the wall boxes to cater for any future needs. Little of that slack remains in that box since he supplemented the work of his side cutters with enthusiastic use of his Krone tool - some of you will know that the Krone tool incorporates a scissor cutter to remove any 'unwanted' wire after insertion into the IDC connector.

He eventually left us with a functional phone system after a mid-visit drama alleging that he had been mislead by a faulty length of cable 'straight off the drum'. Full marks for histrionics!

I mentioned in my earlier posts that the start of the domestic extension wiring and the Virgin 'hub' are at opposite ends of the living room so I knew we were going to have a length of cable linking the two, meandering across the hearth en-route; good job we don't have an open fire!

Whatever our visitor actually did to get us a working system is, so far, hidden behind a potted plant - I haven't had the courage to investigate it yet!

Those who wrote that our problem was caused by the need for a master socket with a ringing capacitor were correct. Our visiting technician must have added one but as yet I don't know where it is.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Good morning, all,

Our telephone rang this morning.

The caller, who sounded like Peter Sellers in 'Goodness, gracious me' mode, claimed to be calling from Virgin Media to tell me that our internet connection was about to be cut off.

(In our area, the Virgin Media phone numbers all start with a '3', I guess that's how he knew. )

I asked him what account number he thought he was calling.

He rang off!

Simples.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Good afternoon, Matthew,

I just want to make a plea that, when you do solve your problem (soon, I hope ), you will tell us and advise just which method eventually brought success.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

I agree with John. All this thread is doing since about page 4 is filling up 0s and 1s in the server's 'bits of grit' and moving us closer to the day we have to subscribe to the forum via PayPal or equivalent.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Good afternoon, all,

Just about within topic:

Regarding silver steel, it was part of my upbringing that silver steel, being centreless ground, could often be trilobar, not perfectly round. So it would always measure the same 'diameter' with a micrometer but would reveal its trilobar shape if rotated between centres and clocked with a dial gauge.

I've never actually tried it - has anyone else? Is it an urban myth?

I've always regarded silver steel as 'too posh' for mere shafting.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Good afternoon, all,

There was recently a mention on another thread of a firm who repair digital instruments. I can't find the thread now.

Please can anyone help out?

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Good afternoon, all,

I have a rather tired half-full tin of Galvefroid zinc rich primer and a metal shed with a rusty roof.

I'm posting here in the hope that our numbers include a paint chemist or two who can advise me about this primer.

It has gone rather hard in the tin over the years since I last used it. Will it have cured irretrievably or might I be able to revive it by adding the right thinners and some elbow grease?

I'd much rather use it than scrap it. I'm fairly confident that white spirit (aka turps substitute) isn't the right thinners. I do have some Hammerite thinners, might that do?

I'm asking here in advance rather than proceeding on a 'suck it and see' basis - I fear that trying the wrong stuff might be irreversible!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

I have great admiration for anyone who can get a worming tablet down a cat.

Our cat has emergency exit ports that form in his cheeks when required. That's 'required' by him, not by us.

At his recent annual check-up, the vet successfully got a worming tablet down him but, several years ago, even the senior vet needed several attempts and even then had to call for a second tablet after the first one got lost on the consulting room floor.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 11/08/2022 19:11:15

Good afternoon, Bob and Mark,

Carbon dioxide will diffuse in time, given the right energy and freedom of space. But it can build-up in other circumstances.

Bob, I think you sort-of referred to the case in Africa where some sort of volcanic activity sent a great quantity of undiluted carbon dioxide up through the bed of a lake. The lake water was retained by a natural dam and was at the top of a valley. Before it had time to diffuse, the mass of carbon dioxide, being heavier than air, spilt over the dam and flowed down the valley as an invisible cloud. It passed through a village, suffocating all the inhabitants, both human and livestock, all before it had the time and conditions to diffuse. It's diffused by now - every breath you take could contain a molecule or two of the carbon dioxide that came up through that lake!

Carbon dioxide build-up can be a danger in SCUBA equipment. Human exhalations contain lots of carbon dioxide. With the Cousteau-Gagnan Aqualung, the wearer breaths through a mouthpiece and the nose and eyes are separately covered by the diving mask. One-way valves in the breathing tubes achieve adequate 'traffic control' so you don't breathe in what you've just breathed out. Back in the 1960s/1970s there was a full face-mask, I forget the maker's name. With that gear, the wearer still breathed through a mouthpiece but wore a nose-clip to avoid breathing in any carbon dioxide build-up that might accumulate in the larger volume of the face-mask.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

P.S.: I see that Martin and I were typing at the same time.

Best regards, S,M!
 

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 10/08/2022 14:06:06

Nigel,

Thank you for posting the pictures. That looks good, though you might need to keep your foot on one arm of the base to prevent a tip-over!

You mention 'drill-grinding jig': there was a recent mention on this forum of the Reliance drill-grinding jig. I have one complete with the instruction sheet - however, I've forgotten where I've put them (two different places). I blame my age!

Talking of age, I'm currently trying to downsize. You have to be hard as nails. The other day I took a bag of perfectly good castors to our local tip (oops! I mean 'Household Waste Recycling Centre' ) . I guess/hope they went into their shop, not into one of the skips.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Nigel,

Please may we have a photo of your skip find? Either 'as found' or 'as developed' or both?

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

I don't think I've ever posted on this thread before. My activities today are small but the culmination of a project I've been anxious to complete successfully.

First of all, a bit of background: some time ago I fitted a quick-change gear-box to my Myford ML7 lathe. I bought this particular gear-box second-hand - it had previously been fitted to a Super Seven. I was advised that the change gear backplate that came with the gear-box would fit the ML7 but that I would need a new change gear cover. (Is it OK to refer to them as 'change gears' when all they do is connect the tumbler gear to the input shaft of the gear-box? ) I was further advised that Mytholmroyd Myford were offering the correct cover but only as a raw casting, no holes drilled or tapped and no paint-job. Before yesterday, I had fettled the casting, drilled and tapped most of the holes and a kind neighbour had spray-painted the casting for me. All that remained was the fitting of the label within the cover.

Here's the first picture:

This morning, I fitted the label using the four 'brassed' drive screws. I had drilled the holes in the casting yesterday after taking some time deciding what depth they should be.

The photo shows that the label is fitted on the top of an 'island' in the casting of the gear cover. It's obviously desirable to avoid drilling the holes too deep and breaking out on the exterior surface of the cover. I had thought of posting this as a new thread entitled 'Using the drill-press as a depth gauge'; that's just what I had to do to discover how much meat there was in the casting.

Because of the depth of the cover casting, the thickness of the 'island' can't be measured with a micrometer or a vernier caliper. I have seen calipers with curved legs and that have a built-in dial gauge but I don't have one of those. The method I employed was as follows:
I mounted the drill in the chuck of the drill press and lowered it until it contacted the machine table gently but firmly. I then locked the drill quill and wound down the twin nuts of the depth gauge until they contacted the head-stock lug. I then released the quill and wangled the gear cover under the drill and lowered the quill again until the drill contacted the surface of the casting within the label mounting area. The space between the twin nuts and the headstock lug was now equal to the thickness of the casting. My vernier caliper wouldn't fit there because the tail of the caliper fouled various features of the drill-press headstock so I used a stack of feeler gauge blades to fill the gap and measured their total thickness using the caliper. By comparison of the length of the drive screws with the thickness of the label and the measurement previously described I decided I needed to limit the depth of my drilling to 200 thou. I reset the drill-press twin nuts accordingly, held my breath and drilled the four holes. I had actually performed the measurement process several times, using various probes in the drill press and had also considered several other procedures.

Lateral position of the holes was dictated by the four dimples that Beeston Myford considerately provided in the surface of the label 'island'. I checked the position of the drilled holes by laying the label in position and inserting four half-toothpicks through the label into the holes in the casting. That gave me the confidence to fit the four drive screws after which I emitted a big sigh of relief! The depth of the cover casting prevents the use of just a hammer - I used a punch. That necessitated assistance from SWMBO to hold the casting steady.

Regarding the painting part of the project: I bought half a litre of Myford Grey enamel, some thinners and some etch primer from Paragon Paints. I was amazed that my neighbour's spray painting used only a couple of eggcup-fulls of the enamel!

I admit that I was scared that I might drill too deep and break out on the exterior surface of the cover casting so I did try securing the label with double-sided adhesive tape. This didn't work because the tape and the painted surface of the 'island' weren't compatible. I think it would have worked if we'd masked -off the 'island'.

All you gurus are probably thinking 'this is trivial stuff, why is he making so much of it?'. Well, I'm jolly pleased with the result so here are some more photos:

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 05/08/2022 16:49:41

I offer this in the hope it will help:

I cribbed it from G.H.Thomas' book - he recommended that we each maintain a version of this diagram corrected to show our own 'as-fitted' dimensions.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

I've just had a bit of a search in the hope of finding some more information concerning the engine to which I referred.

Here's one reference:

**LINK**

Scroll down to the 'SU' section.

I also discovered that what I described as a 'chain ferry' is alternatively described as a 'floating bridge'. The eastern end of the one I labelled as 'Southampton' was at Woolston, next to the now removed Vosper Thornycroft works.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 19/07/2022 10:54:41