Member postings for I.M. OUTAHERE

Bazyle's post got me thinking and I decided to have a dig around on eBay.

There are many different shape moulds for ice blocks and chocolate bars that could make usefull draw liners.

What about using some dowel rod cut in half through the centre to give a half round profile along with some rectangle blocks glued to a piece of thin ply ,this could be the base for your own mould .

You could use papier mâché or calico to form your tool tray ,I would use bondcrete instead of pva glue though.

Ian

Edited By XD 351 on 23/03/2014 18:06:37

David Clark described using a similar table in MEW a few issues back .

May have been the same brand as the ebay item , try Axminster or the local hardware store.

Ian

Hi all,

I know of a company here in Australia that sells a modified car airconditioner pump that is then fitted to the engine of a 4WD so to be used to inflate tyres after lowering the pressure for driving or if you get a flat.
I wonder if this would supply enough volume for what you need ?
Could be driven by an electric motor / v belt set up.

Ian

Hi,

try running IE in compatability mode.

at the top of your browser page there is a toolbar and you will see an icon that looks like a torn page click it and set to run in compatability mode.

You could also download Firefox and use it instead but if you use Norton IDsafe to fill in your password it won't work with Firefox

Ian

Sorry my previous post should have said concave not convex

I usually proof read before posting but for some unknown reason the website kept re directing me to the log on page and it took 3 attempts to get it to post .

Ian

My C2 clone is highly adjustable in the headstock department !
The" V" on the bed doesn't even come close to touching the "V "groove in the headstock and I can easily slide an .008 inch feeler gauge between the surfaces !

So the only thing stopping it moving is the tension of the mounting bolts .
Looks like I will get to play in my box of shim stock to fix this and I think it will be tedious at best or I could machine the headstock down followed by an adjustment to the tailstock - more risk and still tedious or maybe roll it on its side drill and ream for some taper pins (after setting the head to turn parallel ) - uncertain if it would work or I could just not worry about it - I think my slightly larger lathe is the same and it has never moved on me even with the worst parting tool dig in I have ever had (prior to rear toolpost and insert type parting tool) .

I was starting to think that the only purpose that "V" groove had was to stop one putting the headstock on backwards !

I was always taught to set up a lathe to turn parallel as it will mean that anything you bore will hopefully have a bore with parallel sides also which in turn covers two of the three most common lathe operations - boring , turning and facing , ideally with the lathe set to turn and bore parallel then it should face flat or very slightly convex.
If it doesn't then the cross slide is out of kilter in relationship to the travel of the saddle along the bed .

Ian

Hi al,

Has anyone tried using a vertical shear bit to improve the finish on difficult materials ?

Ian.

Yes true it can sort of act like a safety devise although no guarantee that damage will not occur elsewhere ,I would have suspected the belt drive to be the next weakest link which is also cheap to fix but more accessible .
One issue I have with running plastic on steel is the relatively rough finish of the steel gears for these machines that I feel would chew the plastic gear up pretty quickly .
I suppose that David will have the weigh it all up and work out which way he wishes to proceed .

Ian

Change the HI/LOW gear leaver to the other range to what you were using and see if you get some drive then .
If you do get drive then the other gear is stripped .

While I don't regard the replacement of the headstock gears as being difficult for me, I can't gauge anyone else's mechanical ability but if you follow the instructions from ARC and take your time you should be ok .

I would replace both gears with steel ones and never have to worry about them again although you may notice that they are a little noisy .

One thing that rarely gets mentioned is how do you lubricate the steel gears once the headstock is back on the lathe ?
I drilled and tapped two 1/4 inch holes (each one aligned to the high and low gear on the spindle ) so I can squirt some chain lube or spray type lithium grease onto the gears every so often and then plug the holes with screws .
It's a simple Mod that is best done while the headstock is dismantled so it can be cleaned and assembled -this Mod also suites the X2 mill as they use the same gears .

Ian

If it is machining to your expectations then leave it alone .

There is no point in worrying about a machine that is machining flat and square as you could end up adding to the problem if you don't know exactly what you are doing .

Ian

I don't take any certificate of accuracy with a grain of salt they are not worth the paper they are written on.

Back to the OP,

I see you have the cube clamped down to the table - take them off and try again .

The surface of the table may not be perfectly flat it may have a small burr or it may be bowed or twisted so clamping the cube is trying to make it confirm to the top of the table .
I would put little blue on the cube and give it a rub across the table where you want to set it up and see if there are any high spots on the table .
Try using a plain old angle plate set on its end , the cube has a much larger area of contact with the table and any indescrepencies will be magnified.
If you must use a clam to hold it down to the table only tighten the nuts finger tight.

You want to be 100% sure that the problem is not how you are measuring it before you try to get the supplier to exchange or repair it .

Even though it is out of warranty and not by years I don't see why Warco would not try to help you as it would be a machining fault that a customer could not easily identify -it's not like you got it home , opened the box and found a dirt big crack in the table that is easily seen .

If all else fails strip it down and take a look at it one of the dovetails may just have a high spot or a burr .

Ian

Hi Paul,

In theory yes but one would have to ensure there is not even so much as a microscopic burr on any of the corners as this would give a false reading and then there is the risk o tool deflection coming into the equation.

Ian

Don't pay for the next renewal and your subs will stop I assure you !

Ian

I was also confused when I watched the first TubalCain video on YouTube as I was expecting a British accent !

I suppose any one can call themselves what ever they want on YouTube .

Tubal Cain (AKA MR PETE 222 ) has many videos on YouTube possibly a hundred ? Maybe more?

Another good one too watch is by turn wright enterprises he has heaps also and does some amazing things in his shop.

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 13/02/2014 16:29:23

The sieg c6 is 400mm between centres and probably a better option than buying 2nd hand

there is also the option of the long bed version at 550 mm bc.

you're not going to get much for a couple of hundred quid and with myford you will pay more for the name and unless you know what you're looking at you will end up buying junk that needs fixing or even worse is unrepairable.

My Hafco al50g is 500 bc and only 100kg and is mounted on a bench that is on wheels so I can move it around if I wish.

Yes a light machine but it does all I ask of it .

Give ARC EUROTRADE a call and check some pricing etc as you will be surprised at what you can get for a similar price as a used myford and it will be new not flogged out.

You need to be careful with how much you have hanging out of the back of the lathe spindle as it can start to wobble and end up whipping around, much better to put one end in the chuck and use a steady to support the other end for machining.

Ian

Hi Keith,

Your wm18 is similar to my hafco unit and if I'm guessing correctly you are trying to set up the surface of the table in the x & y axis to be square to the spindle or quill - aka tramming .

If so you need to pay attention to some minor things that I found were causing a similar problem to my mill.

As it is a dovetail column machine make sure the gibb adjustment on the column are snug as the head can hang down on the column if they are loose and tighten the locking bolts/knobs on the side as well.

Check the mating surfaces between the column and the base as mine had some swarf under there that knocked the column out of wack and also the surfaces between the two mating surfaces for the head swivel and nip the nuts / bolts up but not so tight that a light tap with a rubber mallet won't move it ( you fully tighten after tramming and re check for any movement that may have occurred when tightening the nuts - it happens and is annoying but that's life !

Make sure the table is locked down( x&y axis) so it takes up any play and once you have the dial gauge lowered into position lock the quill

Make sure the indicator mounting is not moving as the adjustable types of indicator bases can move and that's why I use a simple piece of 6mm dia rod with a 90deg bend on one end ( goes in the chuck)and the other end is turned down to fit through the mounting hole on my dial gauge and threaded for a locking nut - simple and rigid .

You can now tram the head to your hearts content !

If your problem is with the x axis not being at 90 deg to the y axis then check the gibb adjustments on the table then mount up an angle plate on its end so one face is parallel to the x axis and tram this to read zero on your dial gauge /indicator as you wind the handle back and forth.

Once this reads as close to zero movement as possible simply adjust the dial gauge / indicator so it can read the other face and you should have zero movement of the gauge or close to it .

If there is something wrong here there could be a burr somewhere on the dovetails so you would need to strip the table down and check it over.

Another thing that can happen is table climb and to check this simply use a nice thick parallel set it up on the axis you wish to check ( by eye is good enough but you can use the dial gauge to get it perfect if you want ) then run a dial gauge mounted to the head across the top by winding the appropriate handle ( x or y ) and there should be zero movement of the dial gauge .

Fixing table climb or the x/y axis not being at 90deg I think would need some experience with scraping and unless you can track it down to a burr or small high spot I would not attempt it without expert guidance as you can make matters worse very easily .

Have a look around on youtube and look for tubal cain or mr pete 222 (same person) I'm sure he did a few videos of mill tramming .

And by "close to zero I mean .002 inch or less - preferably less !

Ian

P.S i had to edit 3 times to kill the pesky winking smiley face that I did not put there ! 

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 13/02/2014 01:07:46

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 13/02/2014 01:08:45

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 13/02/2014 01:11:51

T&C grinder , camshaft grinder , dividing head or small cylindrical grinder are some of the things I would want to make if I had these items at hand .

Ian

Hi All,

My Mill is the same as the Chester lux and I wouldn't want to have to carry it ! Not in 1 piece anyhow.

The machine can easily be broken down into 3 main components ( Head,column and base - table ) that could be moved easily by 2 people the re-assembled at the new site .

4 bolts for the column to base and 3 nuts for the column to head joint .

Ian

Congratulations Neil !

I look forward to seeing where you take the Magazine to .

Thanks David for your hard work and commitment to both magazines and I wish you well with what ever you decide to pursue in the future .

Ian

Hi,

You could possibly use one of those scissor lift type lifting tables to move your mill- you may be able to modify it to use it for the bench to put your mill on permanently ?
Either way if you have to put the mill onto a dedicated bench it is just a matter of un bolting it then slide it onto the lift trolley then wheel it away to the van.
You can lower the trolley for better stability then when you get to the van match the height of the floor and slide the mill into the van .

From memory Dave Fenner made one a few years back in MEW.

Ian