Member postings for MadMike

80 x 80 square material and you want an 80mm diameter washer with presumably a concentric 70mm hole?

You will almost certainly end up with a washer with 4 flat faces on the OD. So start with a larger piece of material.

Frankly I wouldn't do any of the dangerous, haphazard or frankly odd practices described. Sorry if that offends chaps but really.

Treat yourself to a piece of larger diameter bar. Face it off, drill and bore the 70mm hole, turn the OD to the required 80mm and then simply part it off at the required thickness. Undoubtedly others will disagree but that frankly how I would do it

Stainless Automotive Fastenings are actually based in Thessalonika, Greece. They have a reputation for promising the earth, taking your money and not delivering any goods. They have been the subject of many discussions and complaints on motorcycle and car restoration sites. Their site which has more text than any other actually has a portion that says that they no longer take credit cards. They use a convenience address in the north west to receive cheques. Caveat emptor most definitely applies here IMHO.

BA screws are getting more difficult to source due to lack of demand. There is a company in Fareham in Hampshire that sells them however. I shall track them down and report back. HTH.

I have just looked at the photos again. Is it me? You don't even have a complete centre in the tailstock, so how do you hope to match up the tips of the 2 centres when of them is not actually available to line up?

All very interesting, but are we not missing the obvious here. The centre height of an ML10 is a known dimension. So why are you messing about trying to match a centre to the centre of a set of chuck jaws, or to another centre mounted in the headstock or a chuck?

Why do you not simply assemble your tailstock, then measure the position of the centre and simply machine the base, however constructed to match the known ML10 centre height? It seems so straightforward to me, or am I missing something here? It almost feels like you are all trying to re-invent the wheel to me.

If you use ER25 collets then you will need to purchase and fit an ER25 collet chuck into which you can then fit the cutters. Alternatively you can simply get some MT2 (Morse Taper number 2) collets and fit them direct into the spindle and then simply fit the end mills/slot drill straight into it.

Guy Martins speed so far is only a shakedown run, using quarter throttle and about 15psi boost on the turbo. He/they will undoubtedly continue with a programme of testing until the actual record attempt at the end of the month during the annual Bonneville Speed Week. They currently are aiming to set a new record which will be in excess of around 376mph. Their target speed is apparently 400mph. The increases from 376 to 400+ mph require massive power increases, and I guess that is the direction they are heading in. Cal Rayborne's record was set in a specific vehicle class, as all the records are. It is somewhat irrelevant unless it is the same class as the current attempt.

Ooooops forgot to add, look at page 5 of their taps and die list.

Having seen a post saying that Tracy Tools only offered up to1 inch BSW I checked again. My memory is still OK, they offer up to 2 inch BSW taps and dies in 10, 12 14, and up to 26 TPI in BSW thread firm.

That should read "die nut" of course. Link to TT is on this page as one of ou "Shopping Partners"

Die but is strictly for cleaning up existing threads. For up to 2 inch diameter BSW taps and dies Tracy Tools have them in stock. HTH.

In life you get what you pay for. If you only want to pay £145 for a "lathe" then that is exactly what you will get, £145 worth of something. Remember that somebody is expecting to make a profit from that £145. then as you now know it is entirely unsuitable for any sort of work. Now having said that if you look at ArcEuro Trades advert they have a small Sieg lathe for around £280. Twice the price but in reality probably 5 times the lathe, and it will cut metal. They also have a great supply of accessories to fit the machine as well as great customer service. I would suggest that Ketan at ArcEuro would be a great guy to talk to, and to help you getting your first, of many I am sure, lathe. Normal disclaimers etc apply. I am just a very happy and impressed customer. If you are in the Midlands remember that Arc are open to customers and you can view their machinery.

YAWN...........I have never seen so much written, by so many about so little. Has anybody actually cut any metal today?

John as Nick says do not worry about the outside of the chuck body. To some degree ignore the measurement that you get from a dead centre fitted into the spindle, although it may be considered a starting point.

Put a piece of steel in the 3 jaw chuck and face off the front face and then turn down the outer diameter. Then check the turned outer diameter that you have created. That will tell you the true runout of the machine itself. I would suggest at least a 1.5 inch diameter bar and a turned length of around 2 to 3 inches will give you a good reading. HTH.

These cars can be driven in the UK at the age of 16.....yes 16. The driver has only to take the CBT test and theory tests usually done on a moped.

They are restricted to I believe 40 or 45 kph and have a maximum weight restriction. The vehicle class is Lightweight Quadricycle. If you doubt me then Google really is your friend on this one.

I am somewhat confused Norm. Exactly what sizes are you trying to produce by turning and what are your finished sizes. You see you have said that on your Harrison 140 you can achieve 1.1094 and 1,1092 over an 8 inch length with a chuck held piece of bar. Now you are trying to turn final diameters of 0.7500 inch over 6 inches! So why don't you simply use the Harrison?

I am somewhat sceptical that your lathe is that accurate.

A further confusion is caused by your comment of producing journal size 0.0008/0.0010 oversize. Eight tenths to one thou......and then using grit paper to finish to size???????????? Seriously??? What size and tolerance is the finished product, and what surface finish are you looking for?

Can I ask you check these sizes and tolerances, because they simply do not make sense to an old school chap like me. Sorry if that sounds rude, it is not meant to be but your descriptions of sizing capability on your lathe would suggest that you can turn to the finished size.

The solid centre should give better results, but you do not say what machine you are using, its condition or indeed what tolerances you are trying to achieve.

If you are expecting to get accuracy to a tenths of a thou then you have to establish whether your machine is capable of such tolerances. Indeed you may, if wanting very close tolerances, have just found out why commercial products are often ground to achieve the final size and tolerance. You state that your "worn" centre is showing a .0002/.0003 compared with .0001 for the fixed centre. This would be truly impressive if using a model makers lathe IMHO.

Backlash alone in your slides would normally prevent you achieving such accuracy.

There is a lot of good advice here, but first you must check what you are trying to achieve, and determine whether the lathe you are using is capable of doing this, and then look at the centres. HTH.

Good morning Mr Evans. Fancy meeting you here. It's a small world. Bob Rodgerson visits as well you know.

I wonder if you are going to the NEC next Saturday for the classic Bike Show. I shall be there with my Compact Friend, and Geof the Bonnie.

See you soon Chris.

Colin I would suggest that you talk to Ketan at ArcEuro. If you are in the UK and close to the East Midlands then perhaps pop in and see him. HTH.

Thirty six pages, a veritable marathon, to discuss a very poor quality machine. Like I said the other day you should have simply rejected it and got some form of satisfaction out of whoever supplied the thing.

If you now try and involve somebody in Germany or Austria they are likely to express some token sorrow but then insist that you should have returned it so that they could arrange a replacement, or suggest that the issue is between you and the selling agent in the Antipodes.

Whilst I admire your patience and tenacity, coupled with the kind works done by Hopper, I still believe that you have taken and followed the wrong route to solving the problem.

I don't know how much you paid for this ornament but I do know that if you had bought a UK£250 washing machine/dish washer etc, and it had been this bad, then your wife would have made you take it back and get a replacement or your money back. I do not understand why on earth Model Engineers do not apply the washing machine test to buying a new machine. Don't tell me it's because they like to sort out "the problem" because that is nonsense. What they want to do is cut metal and make their models and all of this extra effort merely prevents them from doing this. Sorry if this offends but really chaps real engineers simply would not put up with this.

As a long time motorcyclist with a few bikes I have been reading this general discussion with more than a little interest. I have very strong views about leaking British bikes. I have a few in my garage, and have until a year ago had a lot more. My garage has fitted carpet and as you can imagine oil leaks would be a major problem. They have all been rebuilt, except for my 2012 Triumph Thruxton and my recently purchased Triumph 5TA Speed Twin. The former does not leak and the latter is currently on my work bench awaiting some serious spannering. In order to prevent my bikes leaking I have a very simple technique...............if they have the audacity to drip oil, I shout at them very loudly. They don't do it again.

Whilst I read this site every day, and occasionally post on here the truth is that I do not make models. My machines are used to make parts for my bikes and for friends bikes, mostly in stainless steel.

It's good to see so many motorcyclists on here. Long may it continue.