Member postings for Bernard Laycock 1

I was interested to see that it might be possible to turn the oval bolting flanges on glands. At the moment I do it by using small and large filing buttons and would be fascinated if someone could explain to me how they can be turned.

Bernard

I agree that the Knupfer link provided by Michael Gilligan looks interesting, but does anyone know if it can be translated to English?

Benard

I think you're gilding the lily a bit. Most of the model engineer suppliers that I'm aware of don't quote the BS numbers for any of the metals they supply, indeed I remember phoning one to ask if they sold EN1A steel and the reply was "All our steels are free-cutting". And stainless steel is even worse.

If anyone can tell me the name, address and phone number of a supplier who even knows about metal grades and is prepared to sell small quantities, I would be delighted to shop with them.

Bernard

Thanks for all the yseful suggestions. much appreciated.

Does anyone remember an article in MEW describing the art of navigating in e-bay and if so, could they let me know which issue as I can't find it in my back issues.

Bernard

The inserts I use are those marketted by Greenwood tools and in an effort to understand the geometry, I have asked them to provide this information (perhaps in the form of a drawing).

Bernard

I spent some time today grinding the necessary rake and clearance angles on a new HSS toolbit and it occured to me that I have some carbide inserts that are all exactly the same in their geometry. The only angles that I can see are the front and side clearances but no top or side rake. Have the manufacturers of these inserts decided that the rakes are not necessary? My inserts are bought from one of the model engeneer suppliers and I wonder if more sophisticated insert profiles are available to the professional users. Or are the rake angles redundant?

bernard

Jason B

Ouch!!

My 700mm dimension should have been 70! The perils of the metric system. I imagine this makes quite a difference - apologies.

Bernard

Hi Springbok

The torch I am using is Cup Alloys Turbo Torch and the componets I'm joining are very small (about 700mm x 15mm dia). I have e-mailed Cup Alloys explaining the problem but not sure if I will receive a response from them.

Hi JasonB

There hasn't been any soft solder near the parts and I will follow up your tip about shelf life with Johnson Matthey and report back.

Bernard

Jason

The silver solder I used is Johnson Mathey's Silverflo 55 and they call it 'paint'. I'm surprised its behaving so erratically, because I seem to get a different reaction every time I use it, although that's probably because I'm using different metals. I'm really intrigued by the little balls that have formed and won't melt no matter how hot I get them.

Stewart

I've checked the phosphor bronze and it is definitely not magnetic.

I wonder if anyone can help me understand why, that sometimes when I silver solder together two components made from phosphor bronze and using solder paint, I find that the solder forms itself into tiny balls which absolutely refuse to melt even though the components were heated to red. Apart from understanding why it has happened, I would be very interested in discovering how it can be corrected. One other difficulty I have encountered with the solder paint is that sometimes when the components are heated, the flux doesn't melt and forms a black crust over the site, completely obscuring the joint from view. Bernard

I have been searching for small snap head rivets in ferrous metal and would prefer soft iron as these would make it easier to form the head. They are difficult to find, but I have been offered steel which has been annealed after manufacture which I am told would be a good substitute.

Is this a true claim? It would be helpfull if anyone could tell me how I could test a steel rivet to know whether it is annealed or not.

Bernard

Andy

Thanks for the suggestions - I've tried Anglia Preceision and River Circle, one said they'd try but couldn't guarantee success. If they failed it would cost me £35 for setting-up costs, the other said it was too small. I hadn't found Qualitech - thanks for the lead, I'll try them. At my age, time is more precious than money and I'd spend some of the latter to save some of the former.

Bernard

Michael

Thanks for the suggestion and detailed instructions - if all else fails, I'll probably give it a try, but as I explained to Andy, my time is now so precious that if some of my children's inheritance can buy me some of the priceless stuff, they encourage me to take that route.

Bernard

It would be lovely if someone could answer my original question?

Bernard

Neil,

This is an entirely new concept for me. Can you give more information of what's involved?

Bernard

I wonder if anyone knows of a firm within reach of Peterborough who could remove a broken 7BA tap in a copper boiler using spark erosion.

Bernard

I thought that those of you who were helpful with my query might like to know the outcome. Contrary to my expectations, a response to my email to [email protected] was virtually immediate and they proved most willing to help me solve the problem. When I sent them photos of my instrument they said it was probably one of the first they produced and was upwards of 50 years old. They offered to do a full service, repair and adjustment and I have accepted their offer. So, good result, thanks.

Bernard

Thanks to Keith and Clive for your very helpful comments. I followed your suggestion Clive and shook it gently and I can hear something loose in the eyepiece. I'll follow Keith's suggestion and contact Isoma by e-mail and see if they can help, although I have heard that they aren't very helpful in this department. Still, I'll give it a go, nothing ventured, nothing gained as my old Mum used to say.

Bernard

Hi Raymond. Thanks very much for your reply and helpful suggestions.

I set about checking the spindle first and ideally would have liked to own a 3MT test bar, but find it difficult to justify the cost of this as my preferred maker is Arrand and hsi cost about £80. There are other and cheaper versions available, but I wouldn't dream of buying one as they publish no information about accuracy. I settled for the next best thing and mounted a ground bar (silver steel) in a collet in the spindle and was pleased to find no deviation from the vertical that I could measre over 4". Rotating the bar, there was no measurable wobble at the collet and 4" away I detected 0.001" TIR. I reckon I should be happy with that - would you agree?

Next I followed your suggestion with the scope mounted (after removing the 3MT arbor and cleaning the contact faces). Initially it was a bit out and I adjusted it to be spot on. Then I freed the taper and re-engaged it at 90deg and the cross hairs were off centre. I repeated this at 180deg and 270deg and at all these positions the scope was off centre ny as much as 0.012". Which is not good news. I found the place where it was correct and marked the spindle, removed the scope and re-inserted it in the same place, but very disappointingly, it was now out by about .006".

I think all this means that the scope is inaccurate, but I don't have any idea what I can do to correct it.

Best wishes

Bernard

I have aquired an Isoma centering microscope (unfortunately without instructions). It is mounted on a 3MT arbor which fits directly into the headsock of my mill. In order to zero it, I usually drill a tiny centre in a piece of metal, zero the cross hairs by reference to the drilled centre and can then use this setup to locate a reference point on the workpiece to be machined. I have found this necessary because each time I mount the microscope, the registration is different.

This procedure is time consuming, but I can't think of any better way of ensuring correct registration, or figure out why the registration is different each time I mount the instrument.

Any helpful hints would be appreciated and/or a photcopy of istructions for this or a similar instrument would make my day.

Bernard