Member postings for B Tulley

I wonder how many of us would have the tooling to be able to tighten an ER Collet Chuck to a specified Torque as well? Whilst I have Torque Wrenches for use with Sockets I don't have Torque Spanners.

Sorry - no idea I'm afraid; They were just pulled up "tight" but without leaning on them.....

presumably those issues wouldn't apply to drill blanks - or would they? I do like the s/steel option though.

Many thanks for the Rotagrip suggestion - they have numerous sizes including 5/8" dia x 1/4" thick & 1/4" bore, which would be fine I think.

One question - what number of teeth do others generally use - Rotagrip have a fair selection: 68, 74, 88, 92 and 120 Teeth. Of course I have no idea what diameter I'll be knurling, but as it's on a Taig it'll most likely be smaller diameters.

Ah, you have a point - I was getting confused between mm and inches....

So my 0.005" (worst collet measured) equates to 0.127mm; Arceurotrade sell 0.015mm (0.0006" collets in a set (12 collets - I got 10) for double what I paid. Was any of the runout measured due to the way I was doing it - almost certainly, because I had a collet holder (ER16) held by another collet holder (ER32) so twice the opportunity for runout to be introduced. Not sure how else I can check the collets though?

That's very kind of you David - many thanks. Unfortunately I need to make a simpler version of your own very nice knurling tool as I'll be using it on a Taig/Peatol Lathe and am very conscious of not overloading the (very small) Headstock.

Now that is a good idea - I had pondered HSS Drill Shanks but buying two drills and then scrapping them for the shanks seemed an awful waste (and a lot more expensive than drill blank). Many thanks

Many thanks - Silver Steel had crossed my mind as a Plan 2...

That's an option, but ideally I want 5/8" diameter and not too wide - Chronos have 5/16" wide at a good price with 7/32" holes. RDG's are 3/4" dia. with 1/4" holes - which is easier as regards the dowel pins. A friend managed to find 5/8" and only 3/16" wide, with 1/4" holes, though I'm not sure where from. 1/4" wide would be nice, though I've not seen any yet; price is also a consideration - it's an interesting project but if it gets too expensive it starts to make more sense just to buy a ready-made unit.

As the tool will be used on a Taig (and so on small components) I'm very conscious of not overloading or asking too much of the machine; the tool will be a twin wheel clamp-type device.

Brian

I'm looking for a supplier for two 7/32" dowel pins please (not tapered), 16mm or longer. I want to make my own Knurling tool and the pins will be used as axles for the wheels.

I can easily get them from Boneham at 12p each (the price is right   but then there's £7.50 +vat on top for postage, which makes a couple of dowel pins rather expensive

I've tried ebay etc. but 7/32" are a bit thin on the ground. Any suggestions please?

Many thanks,

Brian

An update to the above, as promised......

I checked the runout of the 6, 8, 9 and 10mm collets yesterday; the collets were held in one of these:

C12-ER16A-100L Metal Collet Straight Shank Chuck Holder CNC Milling Tool | eBay

(It was £5.99 when I bought it a few weeks ago!!)

- which in turn was held in an ER32 Collet fitted to a virtually brand new Chinese Clone Bridgeport (so zero wear).

I fitted the appropriate size of drill bit into each collet in turn and measured the runout on the drill shank using a 0.001" Dial Gauge; the worst was 0.005" and the best was 0.002".

I'll have that, thanks very much

A Happy Bunny.

Edited By B Tulley on 22/04/2022 17:10:16

An update:

I purchased these from Amazon:

Collets, ER16 Spring Collet Set ER16 1-10mm Elastic Collet Chuck Set Chuck Collet for CNC Engraving Machine & Mill Turning Tool, 1-10mm, 10PCS : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

(I paid £21-86)

Whilst I've yet to check the runout the finish is fine - no signs of any burrs or swarf. I'll keep you posted.

Edited By B Tulley on 15/04/2022 20:07:30

Hello All, and many thanks for all the excellent replies

Based on the above I've been looking at the offerings from CTC, APT, RDG, Ebay and Amazon; an email to RDG to ask what the runout is on their collet set resulted in a response of "less than a thou", which is 0.025mm or less - which compares pretty poorly to others (they're usually 0.015mm or better). Prices are ranging from (for a set of ten):

APT: £46

CTC: £30

RDG: £37-50

Ebay: £18 (long delivery time)

Amazon: £22

I've a mind to give the Amazon ones a chance first - if they're cr@p then I can return them at no cost, so no risk.

I'll report back....

Many thanks,

Brian

Edited By B Tulley on 08/04/2022 22:07:09

Has anyone purchased any ER16 Collets from Ebay fairly recently, and if so what was the quality like please? A link to your purchase would be useful if possible. My other option is a set from RDG, but they're more than double the price; I can swallow that if they're worth the extra - but not if theirs are the same as those on the 'bay but with a big mark-up......

Many thanks,

Brian

Hi all,

Firstly, many thanks for all the very helpful replies

Having received numerous recommendations for HPC Gears both on here and also elsewhere I'll suggest to the owner that would be his first starting point - ideally replacing both gears as a matched pair. I'll be seeing him tonight (Model Engineering Evening Class/Group) and it looks like the first job will be to investigate how easy (or not) removal of the other gear will be......

Kind Regards,

Brian

Do you know if this is a spiral bevel gear? Or a skew gear? Or something else?

Thanks for the replies; the manufacturer has been very unhelpful - I did ask about a drawing etc. but got nowhere.

I've not seen the exact position of the gear but am pretty sure it's in the head drive from motor to cutter; the mating gear is metal. I'll be seeing the owner in a couple of hours and will ask him more.

Kind Regards,

Brian

A friend has an Astra L2/L4 Milling Machine; the nylon(?) bevel gear in the head (which mates with a metal gear) is very worn - when the gear fails completely the machine will become a large lump of scrap.
Searches for a spare have failed - the Manufacturer in Italy still exists but they no longer supply spares for this model. So does anyone have any ideas please? Approximate dimensions are as follows: Overall Diameter 51mm, Plain Boss Diameter 35mm, Shaft Bore Diameter 15.3mm, Length 33mm, 25 Tooth (I think it's a spiral bevel gear - can anyone confirm?)
I'm told that removal of the mating gear would be very difficult, so replacement as a pair isn't really an option. Any ideas please - 3d printing etc. are waaay over our heads and he's naturally very protective of the existing gear and would be very uneasy about sending it away for copying, matching etc. So any supplier would need to be within reasonable travelling distance of M25 J25. Unless of course someone happens to have a decent spare in their shed, or know of a supplier....
Many thanks, Brian

Edited By BRIAN TULLEY 1 on 22/03/2022 09:07:50

A group of us attend a Model Engineering Evening Class; this is near to M25 Junction 25 and is on Thursday evenings from 6pm to 9pm. This is a small & very friendly closed/private group - so you won't find it advertised on the web.

Large modern workshop facility, with 5 Bridgeport size Vertical Mills (new, with DRO's and power feed), 16(?) modern Lathes with DRO's, Drills, Horizontal and Vertical Bandsaws, loads of bench space, Guillotine, tooling, some metal stocks etc.

Sadly no surface grinder - but we live in hope....

Qualified tuition & guidance available as required (from complete beginner upwards) or do your own thing on whatever project you are working on.

Costs? Well at the moment it appears that this year is free however this could change (and your own personal circumstances may affect this); as a guide previous years have been in the order of just under £100 for the entire year. There are currently ten of us in the group - sadly Covid claimed one of us and one or two others have moved away. However, we need to attract two or more to the group asap (the class has just started - enrollment is still ongoing though) otherwise there's a risk that the class could be cancelled).

So if you are interested - you must be aged 18+, house trained, friendly (no axe-wielding psychopaths) etc. then please contact me asap in the first instance.

Just one proviso though (and sorry to be blunt) - if you are (or were to be) a member of a Club and have an "Oi, you're sitting in MY chair..." attitude then this isn't the group for you. It's very friendly and helpful - and we'd really like to keep it that way....

Many thanks.

Many thanks for all the helpful replies; cooling in oil may prove to be the show stopper, since the furnace is located in a lab environment rather than a workshop - large (5L+) quantities of oil plus the risk of fumes etc. will prove problematic.

Over to Plan 2....

Kind Regards,

Brian