Member postings for MadMike

Paul, like the others have said tram your head first. Then face machine using the X axis so the the relationship between the table ant the cutter centre line remains constant whilst machining.

Then if you can do away with the end mill. Use either a fly cutter or if you have one, or can afford opne, use a face cutter using replacement carbide tips. our friends at ArcEuro do a great one for not too many English Beer Vouchers..

I have a Super X3 from ArcEuro and it does the sort of work you are talking about with no problems. If you are near Leicestershire then you are welcome tp pop in and try the tipped cutter.

P.S. We don't charge for the mugs of tea either.

Presumably if discussion about motorcycles etc was to be excluded from this great forum then people like me would not be allowed to register and join in, albeit fairly infrequently.

I have no real interest in actually making model trains and boats and planes (hmmmm that sounds like a good title for a song) or other 2models", however I do have an interest in "things engineering". This forum and others like it are a great source of ideas, information, inspiration and pleasure simply because of the great diversity of abilities, skills and knowledge. Remember that one mans facing off a chuck back plate without concavity is another mans cylinder head.

Indeed on a classic bike site (www.ikba.co.uk) yesterday there was a discussion about the use of copper cylinder head gaskets and how to anneal them. Should they have been banned from that discussion on the grounds that it was really an engineering, model or otherwise, topic? Of course not. Share, learn from and enjoy each others passions and experience especially if it includes engineering practices.

Before anybody asks about the name IKBA in the forum mentioned above, it is merely an acronym for "I Know Bugger All". Can I say that here? Oops I already did.

Continue the good work everybody.

Alan I have a coolant tank with pump which was given to me. It had never been used but the proprietary pump was frankly unreliable. I bought a small pump designed for use in a pond. Making sure it had sufficient power to lift about 2metre.

It has been in regular use for nearly 3 years and it works beautifully. Cost as I recall was about £9.50 from a compnay I found on the internet. HTH.

The spindle speed will have an effect upon the cutting speed in feet per minute (in pre Napoleonic measurements) . However the reality is that this is only critical when facing large diameters. 60mm, regardless of the machine being used, is simply NOT large diameters so it is not necessary to alter the spindle speed when facing.

Now in my early days on my lathes in the Arc, we turned/faced cast iron parts and mild steel components from material of the order of 3 or 4 feet diameter. Now that constitutes "largish" diameters and it was necassary to alter the spinle speed ast various stages to maintain something like the correct cutting speed. At 3 feet diameter asp[inle speed od about 12 rpm woould give you a cutting speed of around 100 feet per minute.

Neil W, lat's face it no matter what anybody else thinks about names, titles, engineering and model making abilities that Ken Sprayson should be considered a Superhero. His knowledge, abilities and sheer ability to build super handling racing motorcycle frames makes him a true legend in his and our lifetimes. If anybody on here considers thenself to be an engineer then theyshould look at Kens work If they have 20% of his ability then they would be truly super engineers.

Wow. All this verbosity regarding a name, and the use/definition of the term engineer.

Well I do not make models but I do use engineering machines in my workshop at home. All of which must mean something, but frankly I do not know, nor do I care, what it means.

I know sometimes my views may sail in the face of numerous posters on here, but for goodness sake have you/we got better things to do than simply discuss a non-subject.

Raymond as usual there is a lot of good sound advice on here. However, without seeming to piss on your parade, I frankly cannot begin to understand why you are bothering at all, unless you have no other work to be getting on with.

I would simply buy a commercially made ground set of V-Blocks. They are so cheap these days. Second hand ones on the well known flea-bay are even cheaper. This would allow you to use them instantly to carry on with whatever projects you have in hand.

I know that many will say that "model engineers" like to make everything themselves, however good engineers do not waste time and money trying to reinvent the wheel, or in this instance the Vee Block. The cost of the material alome, as so much will become swarf, plus the time consumed and then to possibly not have a set of Vee's that are as accurate as commercialy made ones just does not make sense to me.

Sorry everybody if this is not a popular view. Other opinions are available from numerous sources.

Lathejack, I don't know where you live, but I live in Leicestershire, about 20 minutes from Arceuro. If you want to pop in and see a Super X3 in the flesh then you will be made welcome. At least you will get some tea nd biscuits or perhaps cake here. Then you can go and talk to Ketan. Remember if you are after one of Ketans "bundle deals" then they are usually time limited.

I bought a Sieg Super X3 fron Arceurotrade about 18 months ago. Although it is clearly sold as a lightweight hobby machine, which it is, I have not had any problems with any of my work which is predominantly making parts for classic motorcycles. I machine predominantly stainless steel of all sizes, with a bit of aluminium thrown in for good measure.

It has proved to be more than man enough for my work and is consistently accurate. I checked my gibs last week and they truly did not require adjusting.

Add to this the wonderful service I received at the hands of Ketan and his team, and I can honestly say that I am one very satisfied customer.

I well remember suggesting to my toolroom foreman, as a young and much too clever apprentice, that "I didn't understand why we messed about with bolting components/material to the mills and jig borers when there loads of spare magnetic chucks lying aroung on the grinders".

His reply was both loud and full of expletives that are not suited to a family site like this.

But roughly translated he suggested that if I ever contemplated putting a magnetic chuck onto a mill then I should be aware that I would very soon find it inserted into the main downward pointing orifice in my body. He then went on to explaiin in a very kind way that the loads generated on a grinder were nowhere as large or interupted as those created by a milling cutter. The milling cutter may have been removing substantial amounts of metal at any one time, whereas the grinder "cut" would be measured, in the pre-Napoleoic measurement days, in a few thou or tenths at most.

Simply put I guess my advice is clamps/vices for milling and magnetic chucks for grinding alone. HTH.

I was presented with my Zeus book on day 1 of my apprenticeship in September 1962. Still got it and still using it, occasionaly. I have to confess to having a new Metric one as well. Nobody should be allowed near a lathe or a mill without one in their pocket. It should be a legal requirement.

How many times have I read such threads? Anyway are you in fact measuring what you perceive to be runout? By this I mean clocking a piece of piece of pre-machined round bar after you have fitted it into the chuck. If so you are frankly worrying about the wrong things in life.

Take a piece of round bright steel bar and machine it without using a steady or a centre for about 50 to 75mm of its length. Then measure the runout, if there is any, on the bar that you have machined without disturbing the chuck jaws in any way. You will then see if you have real, rather than perceived, runout.

What matters is not what you see on the chuck but what is produced when you turn the bar. Remember that 3 jaw self-centring chucks are not accurate when measured in isolation from the cutting process, are often inconsistent when clamping, and are simply holding devices. What you produce is the important thing when turning. HTH.

Sam et al, You need to consider the use to which you are subjecting the braided fishing line. I spoke to a friend of mane this morning who actually manufactures braided fishing line, as opposed to simply selling the stuff. When I told him the use to which it was being subjected he laughed, oh how he laughed. His view was that the 80lb rating of the line was somewhat irrelevant. You are subjecting the line to a constant loading of some 22-26lbf.

The line is designed to withstand a occasional peak load of 80lbf. Your thoughts on a safety factor of 3 or 4 would only apply for occasional loads rather than a 3 year consistent loading and constant flexing as the line rolls on and off of the clock components..........I can only tell the time with a clock and so the component names are a mystery to me, please forgive my ignorance on this.

In his opinion you are lucky that the line lasted for 3 years. If there is no purpose made line available then he suggests stainless steel or brass braided lines of suitable strength. Many others I note have made similar suggestions. HTH.

I would suggest either a 3/8 dia hole saw/tank cutter or trepanning the holes.

Thanks John (Bog Standard) for that explanation and graphics. This is the problem that I was alluding to in my earlier posting.

Thanks also to John Stevenson for his additional contribution regarding cutters, coolant/lube etc.

Thanks to Andrew for his pictures, clear description and illustration of the need to get feed, speed and depth of cut right.

Finally, Andy the information here is invaluable and come from people with vast experience. I would initially practice the machining to get accurate sizes and good consistent surface finish before trying to make complex components. You will then be better equipped to make quality components in the future. After all "practice makes perfect" as my old granny used to tell me. She had 10 children and said that the practice was very important.

Errrrrrrr. Why not try one of the sites advertisers. Click on the Noggin End Metals advert on the right. After all they do pay to advertise here and thus support the site.

I know 3/5ths of absolutely nothiong about models and so am unsure if you want 6inch dia x 12inches long or 12inch dia x 6inches long. However Noggin End sell both diameters in 6082 alloy.

6 inch dia is £14 per inch, and 12 inch dia is £60 per inch. HTH.

Andy, climb milling is often mentioned on here. It is a way of removing metal very quickly. However I have not seen anybody on here mention one very important requirement, presumably everybody already knows, and that is backlash on your milling table. Wear on your lead screw and/or lead nut will create clearance and this translates into backlash when climb milling.

In order to get the best metal removal rate and a good finish it is essential that the backlash is taken out. Unfortunately many, perhaps most, hobby size mills do not have this facility. The result is severe snatching when cutting, which in turn spoils both finish and accuracy and can even result in components becoming dislodged.

As a matter of interest did you machine out the raked head cut outs by marking the shape on the metal and then locating your cutter by eye? This is where you may want to practice re-setting your work piece to allow a straight cut parallel with the outer surface.

Well done incidentally on your first attempt.

Good evening Bob. Does that mean you are going to miss MadMikes Gathering on the 15th June?

Did I really put 2 c's in specially? Bloody man fingers.

I suspect that the Myford Blue was speccially mixed, and is possibly/probably not a standard colour. However why not just get it from Myford. The blue, green and grey are shown on their website as available. HTH.