Member postings for I.M. OUTAHERE

Hi Corey,

One aspect that needs to be addressed is access to your shed or where ever you wish to store your lathe .
If you have plenty of room , concrete driveway and no steps a larger lathe is no problem but if you have restricted access getting 1/2 a ton of lathe through there can be difficult .
You may have an area that you could set up a small lathe and pillar drill on a movable bench that will allow you to have a go at machining before committing to building a shed .

The components you are looking at are not very large so even a C3 MINI LATHE would accommodate these and you can get a vertical slide to allow the lathe to be set up for milling although not with as much capacity as even an X2 Mill.

Another aspect you may wish to consider is whether you need to cut metric and imperial threads as some machines accommodate this and some do not ,one of my lathes has a Norton box fitted and cuts both but many machines are set for either metric or imperial only - they can be modified but that's another story !

New or second hand ?

I would steer you away from second hand as you have stated you have little or no experience with lathes and you really need to know what your looking at as there is a lot of equipment that is mutton dressed up as lamb if you know what I mean.

Digital readout - You can retrofit a lathe with a DRO but for a beginner in would not recommend them as once you get used to the dials they are easy to use and if you have an eyesight issue a cheap magnifying glass can be kept handy to read the dials.

Cutting tools - I would start you out with tool steel because they are cheaper to replace or repair if you damage them and you will ! plus there will be times that you need to make a tool for a certain job that an indexible tool can't do so you may as well learn how to grind tool steel bits up front .
I would stay away from the Dickson type tool holders and mount the cutting tool in the Tool post using shims to set the height correctly as this keeps overhang to a minimum .
If down the track you are still enjoying your time at the lathe you could buy or make an adjustable toolpost and there are a few designs but the unit made by Neil Wyatt and featured in Model Engineers Workshop is one of the better ones going around .
This makes setting your cutting tools at centre height a breeze !

Gaining the required knowledge - there are many books ,DVD'S , Youtube vids etc around and I can recommend a few because I have either read them or seen them and the usual disclaimer applies .

Workshop practice series : there are heaps of them and I recommend them all especially those by Harold Hall as he along with Stan Bray have published books dealing directly with the lathe and how to use it .

Model engineering a foundation course by Peter Wright - has a good coverage of many processes of metalworking in general.

Swarfrat enter[prises : I have watched all of the DVD series from this producer and even though the postage was a killer I found these presentations to be well made , informative and entertaining .

Youtube : tubal cain ( aka mr pete 222) there are many vids on youtube but these are some of the best and he does one about buying second hand lathes .

Ian

Mascot Airport in Sydney Australia.

I too seem to gain friends because I own a welder or 3 !

I found that if I tell them I have no electrodes or the gas bottle needs filling they suddenly wish to be my friend no longer !

i'm never going to use the my friends feature and the only time I would even bother to look up a members profile would be to see which country they live in if they were asking about where to buy something etc

It is annoying when someone asks where can I get this or that and does not state where they live and does not have this on their profile either.

Ian

100% AGREED Russ!

When I first started to use the forum I was constantly amazed how far most of the other contributors would go to help someone out and even if there were differing opinions on a matter a debate was as far as it went .
If I were new to this forum today I probably wouldn't come back.

There seems to be 3 or 4 forum users who wish to constantly moan about Magazine content , the Editor or the website and I wouldn't be surprised if any of them have never submitted an article , been an Editor or Webmaster .

Maybe there needs to be a thread started for such moaning and the moderators could re-direct any misplaced posts there so it does not detract from the enjoyment that the vast majority of forum users get by reading the various and sometimes bazaar questions that appear on it .

I was unaware that Articles could not be re- published because of the Authors family , I though that if it was already published in ME it would only be a copy of what has already been done .

I would liked to have seen the MASTIFF by Mason in the next Best of Magazine .

Ian

What about the engines by Mason ?

Ian

No problems here although i have noticed the page is larger vertically and the Avertisements are not visible unless i scroll down the page .
Not that it worries me though !

All up i think it looks good and i'm sure once everybody gets used to it and there is still a big chunk of blank space at the bottom of the page for future additions .

Ian

Just out of curiosity have you checked to see that your tailstock is on centre ?

Ian.

Hi Danny ,

I know what you mean !

I have 4 digital calipers and i get varying battery life from a few months to over a year .

As Thor mentioned Silver oxide will last longer but cost a little more and you could probably pick up some on Ebay cheaply - probably out of Hong Kong etc and usually with free shipping .

I have one set of calipers that is over 10 yrs old that tends to chew batteries and it does not have auto power off which is very annoying especially when you open the case to find the damned thing is still on 2 days later !

A recent purchase has a power off feature but when you press the power button it zeros itelf so no memory function - usually not an issue but ....

Now waiting for a new set of Mitutoyo to arrive as all the others are only cheapies but good for general work .
Once they arrive i will have a play and compare the quality , accuracy etc then relegate each one to where i need it most .

I would have thought by now that the manufacturers of these tools would have looked at different options for batteries as i don't think it would be difficult to make them use AAAA or AAA which could be rechergeable or at least a small slide switch to disconnect the battery .

Imagine having the case set up as a charging dock and the tool using a lithium ion battery or similar !

I had a set of Hafco DROs on my X2 mill that used batteries and converted it to run from a powerpack as it chewed batteries like nothing i have ever seen before ! The auto off feature really gave me hell especially the Zaxis unit from measumax - it did not like using anything other than the supplied NiCad on the display which eventually died .

I ended up buying the newer version that comes with a power pack and can run on batteries or the supplied power pack . I found that the display flickered using the power pack so i had a think about it and ended up testing the switchmode power pack with an oscilliscope which showed some noise .
I tried everything to smooth that ripple out and just could not get it right so i tried an old transformer type power supply - Bingo ! the flicker was gone ! My guess is the display has an internal clock or oscillator that is close to or a harmonic of the frequency of the ripple in the switchmode supply and the old transformer type had one at 50HZ so too low to affect anything .

Ian

G'day Danny,

Are you using Erskine Epoxy on thie bindings ?

There are a few options for turning rods as the epoxy dries : an old rotisserie motor from a microwave , a spit roast drive motor (you can get a battery powered unit for around $30 and run it from a small power supply , the oscillating drive from a household fan can be used as it is just a worm drive off the end of the motor shaft , just strip the fan unit down so it is just the motor , power switches and run a pulley off the oscillating drive output .

I have also seen a car windscreen wiper motor used to do this and if you use a pulse width modulated speed controller you can slow the motor right down .

I picked up some industrial drive motors ( 240v) from EBay very cheaply that run around 30rpm but this is for a camshaft grinder I will start designing shortly.

I hope you get to test the rods you build !

Its been a while since I wrapped a rod , usually a beach rod with either double diamond or chevron pattern at the front grip and the guides were mostly a three coulour affair ( main under binding with bands that have a gold single turn inlay )

Ian

I found the cut out in the tail piece ( or stinger ) is usefull for digging out swarf from chuck scrolls .

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 24/09/2013 05:23:57

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 24/09/2013 05:09:12

My copy turned up last week and considering I'm in Australia it's not a bad effort .

I'm happy with content as I like IC engines and it is good to be able to read an entire article in one go instead of waiting for each installment.

My thoughts on content are as follows : If you are unsure of whether the magazine will have something of interest to you then wait untill it is on the shelf at your local supplier or newsagent and have a look at it - if you like you buy .

If you buy it without checking and get it home to read only to find the content is not what you wanted there is little point in moaning about it ,why not make a request or submit and idea for the next issue if there is one to be published ?

Keep up the good work Dc.

Ian

In another thread a question was posted about precision screwdrivers , has anyone made thier own ?

What about a decent tilting vice for the mill, maybe it could be made by modifying a redundant or second hand milling vice ?

Maybe a tailstock stop for the lathe that allows drilling to a precise depth ?

A punch set for making shim washers ?

And finaly from far left field , what about a home made high pressure oil can ?

Nothing ground breaking but maybe a little different and not another toolpost !

Ian

Ian sc ,

I Googled the name and found the manufacturer in the USA , they will post to Australia so i would guess that NZ is likewise .
They wanted an address so they could Quote postage maybe they could use USPS and be a bit cheaper than FEDEX ?

Ian

Phil,

In most cases i would agree with you regarding the wiring diagram but i have seen motors that had nothing inside the cover and have also seen the same issue that Simon has quite a few times .
I believe that a few minutes spent checking the motor over is time well spent .
I know that many will not have access to a Megaohm Meter but even a cheap multimeter will check continuity and allow one to determine that the windings are wired as per the diagram if it has one .

Here in Australia in some states (maybe all by now ) it is against the law to change the washers in your taps unless you are a licenced Plumber ! Although you can buy them just about everywhere !
The Nanny Country gone mad !

Ian .

Unfortunately it is more comman than you may think and a good sparky will test the motor before installing it .

Check and identify the terminals for the windings with a Multimeter then run a Mega on it to check the insulation of the windings .
If all is well install it , if not send it back .

Not sure of how you will go with warranty as may manufacturers state that thier equipement must be installed by Qualified persons - a sparky etc .

Ian.

Hi All,

I have used their tangential tool holder for a few years and find they work very well and are of good quality .

The parting off tool holder as i see it is nothing more than a tool holder that can be turned upside down and uses a pretty standard cutting tool with a slight concave in the cutting surface , this is better than a flat surface but not as good as the Q CUT  as i think the concave surface is more pronounced on the insert  .
I have read somewhere (maybe this forum  about people cutting a grove into the top of a HSS parting blade to help curl the chip but is it worth the effort ?
 .

If your Chuck is a screw on type you will need to run the tool holder as a rear part off tool as to mount it at the front you run the machine in reverse as the tool is inverted .

I went the way of a tool similar to a Q CUT and run it in the rear toolpost as my machine is a little flimsy .
I used to break into a cold sweat at the mere though of parting off when using the old HSS parting tools but now i don't give it a second thought as the insert curls the chip in on itself so it doesn't jam and a little cutting fluid always helps and no sharpening is needed !
It works on every material i have needed and the only issue i have ever had was with Aluminium as it wanted to stick to the cutting tip ,a little cutting fluid on a small brush and applied to the groove created by the cutting tool fixed this .

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 08/08/2013 01:52:04

It would appear that the rack gear is fixed to the column with screws and the head uses this like a key way to stop it rotating around the column , bound to wear out fairly quickly .

I'm not that sinister!

I once supa glued a 10 cent coin to the concrete floor and watched in amazement as anyone who spotted it would nearly rip their fingernail off trying to pry it off the floor !

My Brother supa glued the boiler room radio to the top of the fridge as his co- worker had a compulsion to position it in a certain way and it had to be exactly right or it would drive him nuts, so he moved it a little and glued it down. This guy almost burst a p@@ valve trying to move it !

Anyhow back to the orginal post, I have some dye in a spray can but found it too messy for smaller work but great if you have many or really large items as you can paint the whole thing if needed .

Ian

Hi all,

I use both a marker pen and Dykem/Dymark it just depends on the size and how complex the job is .

For simple stuff where for instance I may only wish to drill 2 or 3 holes I use a marker pen as it is quick ,easy and can be kept in your pocket.

For more complex or larger work the dye wins hands down and any Engineers supply company should either have it or can order it for you.

Used to use copper sulphate to inspect Chrome plated rollers years ago as it won't plate over Chrome and you can see where the roller had worn through to the steel, I'm sure we used to add some acid to the solution to help it etch to the steel. Not nice stuff to play with though and only works on ferrous metals .

I agree that here in Australia the suppliers want to sell by the litre as that was all I could get without a special order, some model engineering suppliers have smaller lots but they can't post it as it is flammable.

The litre bottle has no brush so I purchased some swabs on EBay, this allowed me to decant some dye into a small jar like a medicine jar and keep the rest sealed up and the swabs work well.

Bearing blue (Engineers Blue ) is also good for smearing on Black Toilet seats !

Fun for the whole factory!

Ian