Member postings for Muzzer

You'd be wanting a pretty small electrode and wire for 1mm, otherwise it's difficult to control the arc position and dab the filler where you need it. What are you using? Is it the smallest you can get? Also, are you using a copper backing strip? That can help.

Does the pedal control from min to max but you are trying to use just the very fine end of the scale? My machine allows me to set the maximum current for the pedal, so if you are doing fine work, the pedal is scaled back suitably. If you can't do that, it may be making control very difficult. In which case a mechanical stop might help.

Not sure whether balancing is a significant factor. I suspect there are other issues to deal with.

There are loads of Youtube videos that show you how to TIG weld loominum. That and practice are required in abundance before you can hope to make a good weld.

Muzzer

One of the benefits of WD40 apart from its (relatively) limited cooling effect is to lubricate the tool and its cutting edge. In many cases the surface finish is visibly improved, so you might reasonably deduce that the action at the cutting edge is being affected for the good and the power consumption / heat generation is being reduced.

Obviously this would only hold true when the tool and workpiece are below the temperature at which WD40 ceases to be - but for many of the operations described, that's probably valid..

For larger and longer duration jobs, I use the coolant in the certain knowledge that if I don't, the tools will soon lose their edge and need to be replaced or resharpened before the work is completed.

Muzzer

I had the same problem with my old Interlas / Miller machine. I ended up fitting a Type C 63A MCB into the consumer unit (MK Sentry). This worked most of the time but occasionally (frequently enough to be annoying), it would still trip out when I closed the contactor. This would normally happen when I was all garbed up and poised for the weld.

This secondary problem was due to the remanence of the steel transformer ie the residual field left at the instant of turn-off when the contactor last opened. If the next time the contactor closed, the applied voltage was in the same sense as the residual field, the transformer could (did) saturate for the first cycle or two, at which point the current was limited by a combination of the supply impedence and the rest of the welder primary circuit.

The only cure for this problem is to make or procure a soft starter for the transformer. There are several ways to do this but in my case I used a low-ish value resistor (something like 10 Ohms) and a timer relay (a few hundred milliseconds) to get the transformer fluxed up and balanced before the main contactor closes. Works a treat and is a lot cheaper than an industrial phase control soft start unit.

If you make the resistor too small you don't achieve any useful limiting. If you make it too large it doesn't drive the transformer enough.

Your solution (wired fuse) is commendably simple but in my case the house was already on an RCD so I wanted to protect against damaging it by controlling the surge current to something sensible.

Muzzer

I think I mentioned that my first lathe was a Portass S and it served me well for quite a few years. The main problem is that it's not very rigid and has plain bearings, so you have to keep it well adjusted and lubricated and you can't take big cuts. As suggested above, use the tailstock where possible and minimise the overhang from the headstock as much as possible

You should make sure the main bearings are nipped up so they are just not quite about to bind and keep things well oiled (it, not you!). Also tighten up and lubricate the gib strips and leadscrews in a similar fashion. At least there are only 2 slides on the S.

You can't safely run this machine fast enough to use carbide tools properly, particularly on small diameter stuff. I'd stick to HSS unless you are taking the skin off a casting. And get yourself a decent piece of free cutting mild steel!

The guy who sold me mine was an old hand and he ground me a special HSS tool that had a lot of side rake (the angle at the "top" of the tool behind the cutting edge, which is usually zero for brass and perhaps 10-15 degrees for steel), something around 40 degrees or so. Sounds rather a lot but this allowed fine cuts up to perhaps 1/4" depth without judder. When honed properly with an oilstone, I could get a pretty good finish this way.

One key advantage of HSS over carbide is that you can get it sharpened up easily. It seems there are some pretty dodgy carbide tools out there and you'd struggle to do much with any of them. You need to give yourself every opportunity to succeed!

Muzzer

Assuming it's the "generic" 6" bandsaw, the adjustment is by one of the 3 bolts on the metal strip - the one nearest the motor. As JasonB suggests, it sounds as if you are just tightening the blade, not changing the angle of the wheel.

Don't you have the handbook? You could probably download one if you Google something like "6" bandsaw", as there are innumerable brand versions of it out there, millions made etc.

Some pics I meant to include in the original post:

Edited By Muzzer on 11/07/2013 05:26:16

On Friday I finished fitting the X and Y scales and display unit of a DRO system I bought on a trip to China the week before. Paid peanuts for it but quite appropriately the operation manual seems to have been written by a drunken monkey using an online translator. The Chinglish is utterly and totally incomprehensible, even once you know exactly how it works. Take a look – it’s absolutely outstanding!

**LINK**

I'll fit the Z scale when a colleague brings it back with him next week - the original one supplied wasn't really long enough. Then finish routing and securing the cables and fit an end stop on the Y axis to protect the scale. So far the setup seems to work nicely. The features on many current DROs seem to be very similar in content and operation, so I've found that operation manuals from the likes of Easson which are freely available from official channels are 95% right. I'm pleased to discover that the firmware messages are actually much more comprehensible than the manual illustrations suggest, so they seem to have improved on that front since the manual was “written”.

I'm also cobbling up a nearly new Grundfoss CH pump for use as a coolant pump and trying to copper up for a power feed on the X slide. The latter may need to wait a few weeks then...

Muzzer

You might outclass a Chinese lathe but it's fairly lightweight. You'll also notice that there are quite a few parts missing like the leadscrew dog clutch and leadscrew gear shaft, back gears etc. And you can't see how worn the headstock spindle and bushes are. They are not easy to repair or replace.

The banjo has no gears and it looks as if there might have been a reverse tumbler which is no longer present? As well as the missing leadscrew gear shaft, the headstock spindle looks suspiciously short - it should protrude past the banjo if you are planning on doing any screw cutting. I wonder if the spindle has been replaced. The rather small faceplate / back plate may also be a modern substitute.

Not sure what's going on with the leadscrew nut. I suspect it's supposed to be permanently engaged on this machine but it's not clear what this example has. Looks like something brass peeking through the slot? If I'm right, you'll also need a handwheel on the RH end of the leadscrew. Is the leadscrew a length of studding? I don't see a course acme thread there.

Looks as if it has a cross slide but the upper assembly doesn't look like a normal top slide and the tool holder looks non-std.

It could end up looking like a nice old beast but it will certainly take a fair bit of time and effort on your part. To do it right you'll need to seek out lots of parts which could be a job in itself. Making them yourself would rather detract from the end result arguably. Depends what you are trying to do - restore antique machines or end up with a useful tool.

Good luck either way!

Muzzer

No, Stub. A real proper degausser would be something like this: **LINK** (scroll down to the description under the second row of pics)

Admittedly this wouldn't fit in most peoples sheds!

I have one of those plastic things with 2 holes and a magnet in it. It cost peanuts but might as well be made of toffee. My calipers remain well magnetised. Perhaps I need something in between these 2 extremes...

Muzzer

Edited By Muzzer on 05/07/2013 21:26:12

There are now 3D printers that produce metal parts and this process is in use for "proper" manufactured components, not just for rapid prototypes or toys.

Search for "additive manufacturing" and you should come up with some interesting results, eg

**LINK**

I wonder how many years it will be before these start to appear in ME workshops....

Muzzer

When I was a student I was required(!) to attend several weeks training at the MSC training centres. One of the instructors showed me a brand new state of the art milling machine and I asked him what it could do. We got through several large end mills whilst experimenting to find out. With high coolant flow and a brand new cutter of something around 1", we were able to take what seemed to me to be a ridiculous depth of cut - something over an inch in one go with a fair rate of feed.

The swarf made a magical crisping noise and the progress was something to behold. But as soon as the cutting edge tipped over the edge ie got a bit too hot, things would get lairy very quickly. That meant the entire cutter turning bright red within seconds. I guess flood cooling would have been appropriate. I was certainly fairly obvious when to stop the machine.

I enjoyed my time at the skill centres. In one I skimmed a cylinder head on a vertical milling machine at one (Bradford) and at the other (Leeds) I skimmed another cylinder head on a grinding machine. Possibly not the ideal machine for the job but I got something useful out of the process. This was followed up by 2 weeks of welding training - nowhere near enough but at least it provoked an enduring interest. The learning process continues over 30 years later...

Muzzer

Sorry Paul, not me, but I used to live in Elland, just outside Halifax, so this is interesting. Fascinating industrial heritage in those mill towns. Many of the old mill buildings remain down near the river, disused and derelict.

I see Lumb and sons were described as "Governance Experts". Perhaps they could have got a job in the city?!! They also seem to have developed motion recording equipment.

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/James_Lumb_and_Sons

Muzzer

An old classic, almost as mad, possibly even more dangerous. A contender for The Darwin Awards if there ever was one:

**LINK**

Muzzer

When I do a search on B&Q website for "felt pad", I get loads of hits including a rectangular "felt pad cream" - 2" x 4" for a pound. Are any of those any good?

**LINK**

Muzzer

Yes, I used the adhesive felt feet sold for the bottoms of chair legs but I was able to buy rectangular sheets for cutting to your own shapes. They are typically 3"x4" or so and sold alongside the pads in hardware stores - and work out cheaper. The last piece I bought cost less than a pound ($1.25). The adhesive is basically double sided tape which peels off easily. You can use wood chisels and a block of wood to cut them out and a hole punch for the screw holes. My Bantam now sports a set of these!

Muzzer

How about you drill and tap an M3 x 0.5 hole into the end of a suitable blank eg 12mm x 12mm x 50mm, possibly with a larger clearance hole right the way through after the first 10mm or so. Then screw an M3 x 0.5mm tap into said hole so that 5mm or so of the nose protrudes. Hold in place with a grubscrew etc.

Could arguably turn the end of the toolholder down eccentrically to fit into the bore of the work piece, continuing the eccentric turning process until the threaded hole breaks through by a mm or two, thus exposing one set of (better supported) cutting teeth once the tap is inserted.

Grind the end of the tap to allow it to work up to the blind end. The faster helix angle of the 3mm thread shouldn’t be a problem surely, given the larger diameter of the bore. Obviously you set up for 0.5mm / turn and screwcut as normal. This is all far too fine scale for the likes of me!

Muzzer

Hi Yoram

Did you get a catalog and manual yet? If not I can send you a link to them on my Google Drive.

Let me know if I can help.

Murray

Very nice indeed. I've got the Sealey version of your old milling m/c. In many ways it's a curse because without it I might have bought a proper one by now. I keep eying up Bridgeport clones. It can't be healthy.

Presumably the Harrison is noticeably more rigid and gives a better cut. And has power feed(s).

Jealous....

John H: google "wewilliams.net" The current edition (1966) is well worth buying if you can find it, as it is more comprehensive. It's freely available near me but then again I am currently living in Canada.....

Note the article on screwcutting too. Just good, common sense stuff, albeit with a distinct US flavour!

Muzzer

If you google "wewilliams.net" you will see lots of early bulletins and guides from South Bend including a very early edition of How To Run A Lathe. The current edition is better and incorporates much of the additional content but to start with this early content is pretty good, nostalgic - and free. It's been there for years so clearly they are out of copyright or SB are happy for them to be available.

The other suggestions were ones I found useful too. I just read everything I could...

Muzzer